Short story: Eurovision contest

It was ‘nul points’ for Elena at the office party – but could she still walk off with the prize?

Elena was Italian and, although she’d drawn Croatia in the office sweepstake, she still turned up on Eurovision day with the Italian flag painted on each of her fingernails, wearing an AC Milan football shirt, and carrying a plate of calzone. She took the song contest seriously. No way was she cheering for anyone but Italy.

All week she’d been trying to convince Graham – who had drawn Italy – to swap with her. Knowing how much she wanted it, Graham refused.

‘You really should,’ she said, pointing a perfect nail at his plate of frozen pizza, all limp and unappealing. ‘You couldn’t call that Italian anyway.’

He laughed. She might have accused him of offending her national pride with that pizza if he hadn’t then spent 10 minutes agreeing with her about the greatness of Italian football.

‘Careful, you two,’ their supervisor said as she entered the office. ‘Anyone would think you were getting along.’

Elena’s and Graham’s rivalry was notorious. They were the two highest performers in their shift group.

The call centre wasn’t a bad place to work, even if their shifts did include Saturday evenings. Their managers let them have events like this on special occasions to keep them motivated.

For all the competition between them, Graham shared tips and information with Elena that often helped her with difficult customers. He had an easy charm that made clients putty in his hands.

For her part, Elena was tech savvy and frequently helped Graham when new software or procedure changes had him bamboozled. And once, when he beat her to winning a staff bonus, she left a ‘congratulations’ cupcake on his desk that she’d made herself – though she did it anonymously. She wasn’t a sore loser, but she couldn’t bring herself to say ‘Congratulations’ out loud.

‘I wish I hadn’t given him that cupcake now,’ she thought grumpily when, for the third time, he turned down her invitation to swap Croatia for Italy.

‘Special announcement!’ their supervisor said, calling everyone to gather round. She was dressed in a carefully neutral beige suit.

People reluctantly left the food to join her. Already they’d started picking at the houmous, Turkish delight and bratwurst on the conference table, sweet and savoury all mixed in together under colourful paper flags.

‘In honour of Eurovision, and to thank you for all your hard work this financial year,’ the supervisor said, ‘we’re holding a raffle this evening. The prize is a short city break to any European country of your choice.’ A cheer broke out.

✣ ✣ ✣ ✣ ✣ Everyone was in good spirits that evening while the contest played out. But Elena’s mood declined with Italy’s place on the scoreboard, which had dropped to somewhere in the middle of the table.

During her break, she sent a text to her mum, trying to sound positive, knowing her mother would be surrounded by family and neighbours as she hosted her traditional Eurovision get-together.

‘You need to be more like the UK,’

GRAHAM HAD AN EASY CHARM

Graham said, stopping by Elena’s desk with a portion of her calzone on a paper plate. ‘We’re so used to coming last, for us it’s just as an excuse for betting and eating.’

‘We’re not coming last!’ she exclaimed, but then gave him a reluctant smile. ‘The betting and eating is fun, though. We do that at home, too. My mother started cooking three days ago. Everyone in the neighbourhood comes to our house…’

She trailed off, picturing Sofia, their elderly neighbour, in her usual chair, singing along with the music, and Uncle Lorenzo swearing at the TV every time Italy missed out on points.

‘Sorry,’ she said, embarrassed that she was becoming emotional. ‘It’s been some time since I’ve been home.’

He came closer and perched on the edge of the desk, licking crumbs of calzone off his fingers. ‘I loved Italy when I visited.’ ‘Oh, you’ve been?’ ‘Only to Rome. I love to travel, though. I save all my pennies for it. I try to go somewhere different every time. I’ve been to every country in Europe.’ ‘That’s incredible.’ He held up a finger to fend off her admiration. ‘Except Luxembourg. I keep forgetting that one…’ he mused. ‘But you know what it’s like when you have an urge to see the world.’

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I know that urge. It’s how I ended up here.’

‘You’re much braver than I am,’ he said. ‘I only visit. You live here.’

She glanced at up him, surprised by

the compliment.

Sometimes it was hard to tell whether the dynamics of their relationship wasn’t more for the benefit of everyone else, who found the drama between them something to keep them entertained on long shifts, rather than something true to their own feelings.

‘You can have Italy in the sweepstake,’ he said suddenly, surprising her further. He gestured to the TV screen. ‘They’re losing anyway,’ he chuckled. Elena groaned Graham stood up, taking his empty plate with him.

‘Great calzone, by the way,’ he said. ‘But I already knew you were a good cook.’

Elena coloured. What? He couldn’t know about the cupcake…could he?

✣ ✣ ✣ ✣ ✣ The rest of the shift was busy, and Elena didn’t have time to stress about Italy’s position in the contest too much until, finally, at the end of the evening, she glanced at the TV and saw they were finishing in a very respectable position after all, even if they didn’t win.

‘So the winner of the sweepstake is… Jamie!’ the supervisor declared. ‘Don’t spend it all in one place, Jamie.’

As Jamie, the office manager, did a little victory dance, Elena checked her phone for a message from home.

‘Well, you can’t win every year,’ Elena’s mum had messaged. ‘Wish you’d been here, cara.’

Elena swallowed a lump in her throat as she typed a reply.

‘Croatia? Who had Croatia?’ the supervisor was saying at the front of the room. Elena wasn’t paying attention until someone prodded her shoulder.

‘Sorry – that’s me,’ she said, snapping into focus.

‘Congratulations, Elena – you’ve won the raffle!’ ‘What?’ ‘The city break. Flights and accommodation.’

Elena was elated. Her colleagues applauded. She could go home and see her mother!

‘What did I miss?’ Graham called, hanging up after a customer phone call. ‘Elena won the raffle!’ The moment he spoke, she remembered. She didn’t have Croatia after all – he did! What must he think of her?

She blushed, but before she could speak, he gave her a smile that was the most gracious gesture she’d ever seen, and said, ‘Well done, Elena. That should cure your homesickness.’

She was so struck by his generosity that the words dried up on her tongue. He was actually going to let her have his prize.

She looked at him for a long moment, thinking, ‘You’re a pretty terrific person, Graham Jones.’

People began to return to their desks after the excitement and, the shift over, they started to pack up for home.

‘No, wait,’ Elena said quietly, Graham and their supervisor looked up.

‘Graham swapped countries with me so I could have Italy. I completely forgot. The prize is his, rightly.’

She took down the slip of paper with Croatia printed on it that she’d pulled out of the barrel last week and pinned above her desk, and took it to Graham.

Graham shrugged one shoulder. ‘It was only a casual remark…’ ‘Still, Italy was mine. I insist.’ She stood firm, holding the slip of paper out until he reluctantly took it.

‘Now you can go to Luxembourg,’ she told him, feeling better about things.

He held the paper with both hands, as if it was more than just a symbol.

‘I’ll just have to save up for a few more months,’ Elena told herself.

The supervisor tutted in amusement. ‘What’s happened to my two most ferocious competitors?’

✣ ✣ ✣ ✣ ✣ Elena was one of the last to leave at the end of the shift, taking the time to collect the empty plates and tidy up some of the flags and decorations.

When she stepped outside, it was deep into the night and drizzly.

She was startled when Graham met her at the door and lifted his umbrella over her head to include her in its shelter.

‘I was thinking,’ he said casually, as if there was nothing unusual about this at all, ‘I’ve never been to Milan.’

‘But you’ve already been to Italy,’ she reminded him, bemused.

‘Yes, but not to Milan. And I was thinking that if I travelled with a proper native, then it would be as if I actually belonged there…which would be nice.’

They stood under the umbrella together. He flexed his grip on the handle and said tentatively, ‘There are two tickets. Would you like to come with me?’

She drew back a little to take a proper look at him. His light-hazel eyes were frank and open. There was none of the glossy charm he used on customers and clients. The idea of travelling with him, spending time with him, getting to know him better, was so appealing that it made her whole body tingle.

‘That’s really generous,’ she said, trying to gather her thoughts and feelings.

‘Well, it’s no coffee cupcake with caramel icing,’ he said mischievously. ‘But maybe it evens the score a little.’ ‘So you did know that was from me!’ She shoved his shoulder playfully and he caught hold of her hand, laughing.

‘How about a drink?’ he said. ‘You can think about the holiday.’ ‘All right.’ When he let go of her hand, she slipped it into the crook of his arm and together they headed for a pub across the road.

‘Does this mean I might get to meet your mother?’ he said.

She ducked her head to hide a smile. ‘Don’t get ahead of yourself.’

THE END

IT MADE HER WHOLE BODY TINGLE