ELLEN

1.05 P.M.

The entire editorial team turned their heads towards Ellen as she entered the room. She saw her colleagues from the desk, general writers, online reporters, some people from Financial News, Leif and Agatha from Crime Group — which she was part of — and then a few faces she didn’t recognise. Presumably summer interns. The meeting had started five minutes ago. Jimmy was making a presentation up at the whiteboard, but when he caught sight of her, he stopped talking. Their eyes met, and she felt her cheeks getting hot. Suddenly, she felt shy and didn’t really know where she stood.

‘Well now, look at what the fucking cat dragged in. Welcome to “Värmland”,’ Leif said, breaking the silence. ‘Yep, they changed the names of all the conference rooms over summer.’ He grinned.

‘Okay,’ said Ellen, looking at the door where, sure enough, it said Värmland. ‘Nice,’ she said, for lack of anything better.

All the chairs were taken so she remained standing.

‘Yeah, we’re part of Sweden now, it’s a whole new era,’ he said.

The others laughed a little. Leif was known for not liking change. He’d worked in TV for forty years, and if it had been up to him, they would still have been broadcasting in black and white. His whole being resisted any kind of development, but at the same time he wanted to be the wisest, most experienced person on the editorial team. It was a poor fit.

‘Nice to see you,’ said Agatha, who was sitting there with her pen at the ready, wearing pink-and-yellow floral-patterned glasses, which actually went some way to smartening up her otherwise dreary look. Her blonde pageboy cut showed half an inch of grey at the roots. She must not have dyed her hair since they’d last seen each other in May, Ellen thought, but then wished she hadn’t noticed it. Such an unnecessary detail.

‘How nice to have you back,’ Internet said in his cheerful, drawling northern Swedish dialect. He was one of the few in the room who hadn’t become bitter yet — he was young and was working with the TV of the future.

The others greeted her coolly.

Jimmy stood completely silent at the whiteboard on the other side of the table, looking at her.

He was dressed casually in jeans, T-shirt, and white sneakers, but he still dominated the room. So unassuming, but still entitled. He had no need to take up space, he just did.

Now, suddenly, she wished she’d worn something other than her short black leather skirt and white top.

Why wasn’t he saying anything? He was the one who’d asked her to come here. He continued to stare at her with a vacant look. She tried to smile at him, but when she got no response, she turned her eyes away and tried to tell herself that he was obliged to take a professional attitude.

‘How are you doing?’ Internet asked. ‘Are you going to start work again?’

Ellen realised that she was as bad as the others who accepted ‘Internet’ as his name. She shook her head. ‘Soon. We’ll have to see.’

‘I think we’ll end the meeting there,’ said Jimmy. ‘Ellen, can you please see me in my office?’