TAPESCRIPT FOR UNIT 3

Sue: Cheers!

Tony: Cheers, Sue! Well, what’s the news then? How is everybody? I suppose old Arthur’s still there. Still trying to keep everyone in order.

Sue: Oh, yeah. He’ll go on for ever. Nothing changes for Arthur. or if it does, he doesn’t notice. You remember that friend of his, though, the guy who came from Liverpool…He always came on Fridays, and nobody knew quite why.

Tony: Oh that tall guy, yeah. Had an old Bentley or something, didn’t he? We used to say he was–

Sue: Yes. Well, nobody knows what happened, but he had a nasty accident of some sort.

Tony: An accident?

Sue: In his car. But you know Arthur – he never tells you much. So we don’t really know hat it was.

Tony: Oh dear.

Sue: Anyway, he suddenly stopped coming. Rather sad, really.

Tony: What about Jane and Ted, upstairs?

Sue: Ah, well Ted’s still there. He’s not very happy about it, though, he’d like to move if he could get one, but he sort of seems to be stuck. And Jane – she went about a couple of years ago.

Tony: Really?

Sue: I haven’t seen her for ages, so I don’t know what she’s doing. Nobody seems to be in touch with her. Had Mary come before you left?

Tony: Mary who?

Sue: Mary in Accounts. She’s Irish.

Tony: I don’t think so, no. I knew Sarah. I remember she was in Accounts. And then there was that other Jane, Jane Harrison. And then there was Angela, of course, the rather serious one. But I don’t recall a Mary.

Sue: Well, she must have been after you left, then.

Tony: Did she replace that man who got moved to Head Office? What was his name, now? He left round about the same time as I did. There was a bit of a fuss about it because a lot of people –

Sue: Oh, you mean John Fellows – oh, they say he’s doing very well, incidentally. No, no, no. this was much later. It was some time after John went. No, you wouldn’t have known her I expect. Oh well, there’s not much point in telling you about her, is there – only there was quite a storm about it at the time

…

Sue: You know everything’s been changed now, I suppose?

Tony: Has it?

Sue: Mm, the second floor’s completely different. It’s all open plan now. They’ve opened it all completely. Bit more friendly, really. Those three little offices that were there – you know what it used to be like – well, they’ve gone.

Tony: I can’t remember what it was like, really. Erm … that’s where the coffee room was, wasn’t it?

Sue: Yeah.

Tony: Wait a minute… there was the post room…

Sue: mm.

Tony: … and then there was Arthur’s place … and there was the photocopying room. So where’s Arthur now?

Sue: They’ve given him a room downstairs. Oh, and you wouldn’t recognize the reception area. You know that horrible corridor we had?

Tony: Oh yeah.

Sue: And the little room where the stove was?

Tony: Yeah.

Sue: Well it’s all gone. It’s all plush carpet and easy chairs down there now.

No!

Sue: And there’s a vending machine there now too. We have to go down there for our coffee!

Oh, I bet you don’t like that.

Sue: Well no, not really. I suppose it’s not as friendly as the old coffee room was. But it’s not too bad. Seems a long time since those days now.

Yeah.

Sue: I’ve nearly forgotten what it was like when you and Jane and everybody were around. Oh, there’s a sort of sitting room off to the left, too – we usually manage a chat in there if we’re not too busy…