As usual, Michael Leavis was the first to arrive, smack on time at 1pm. He didn’t believe that anyone had the right to keep anyone waiting, ever. So he pulled the gladwrap off the sandwiches, grabbed a paper plate, loaded two egg and lettuce sandwiches onto it, and began to wait.
At 5 past, Clark Greatneck walked in, nodding at Michael and talking on his phone. Cradling the mobile in his neck, he put four chicken and mayo on to his plate, then took it and the phone outside the room to continue the conversation.
A minute or two later Adrian Goodenough opened the door tentatively. He wasn’t even in their workgroup. ‘I’ve got a client in next door, can I borrow some sandwiches from you?’
‘Sure,’ sighed Michael, ‘they shouldn’t go to waste’.
The clock on Michael’s phone showed 1:12 when Sean Washburn walked in, with a draft report in his hand. ‘Sorry I’m late,’ he said, grabbing a plate, ‘I’ve got a fair bit on at the moment’.
‘And I haven’t,' thought Michael, as he waited for the cricket scores to come up on his phone.
Sean said, ‘I hope you don’t mind if I check this report while we wait for the others’, as he rounded up a salad sandwich on multigrain.
‘How could I object to that?’ said Michael. He opened his Instagram feed and scrolled down.
‘Can I ask you a question?’ said Sean.
‘I’m listening,’ said Michael, who kept scrolling.
But just then Clark came back in, saying, ‘Sorry, I hope you guys weren’t waiting for me?’
‘No,’ said Sean, ‘we still haven’t heard from Scott’. Michael picked at some breadcrumbs on his plate, and, leaning back, tried to make out the signature on the Whitely on the wall behind him.
At 20 past Scott Saunders, the group leader, came in. ‘Sorry about that guys…’
‘But you’ve probably got a fair bit on at the moment,’ Michael rejoined, looking out the window at a young boy flying a kite on the far bank of the river.
Scott pulled the glad wrap off the focaccia. ’These are cold,’ he said. ‘I suppose it serves me right’.
No-one said anything. Clark’s phone rang. Again. ‘Sorry guys, I have to take this’, he said stepping out of the room.
Scott handed out a paper and said, ‘We might as well start with the productivity data’.
Under the table, Michael opened up a game of ‘Tetris’ on his phone.
Clark stepped back in, saying that he hoped he hadn’t missed anything.
‘No we were just getting started’, said Michael.
There was a knock at the door. ‘Come in’ said Scott.
It was Sean Goodenough. ‘Sorry to interrupt guys, but those sandwiches really hit the spot. Any left?’
'Why not take them all?’ said Michael as his phone pinged, and his Tetris stack crashed.
‘Sorry guys,’ he said, not sorry.