JAKE'S PARROT

Chapter 1: Dinner for one

Jake Stevens felt excited.
The plane came down and he looked out of the window. So this was Dublin Airport.
'Goodbye Californian sun. Hello Irish rain,' he thought.
It was warm and the sky was blue when he left his San Francisco home that December morning. Here the sky was dark and cold. But Jake felt good.
He was a writer and he worked for the American computer company Banana Tech, in San Francisco. He was in Ireland because the people at Banana Tech in Dublin needed help with the company's newest computer game. Jake was the writer of the game, so he knew all about it, of course.
Thirty minutes later, he was in the airport building. An old friend met him there.
'Hi, Al!' said Jake. Al once worked in the California office, but now he worked in Dublin.
'Hi, Jake!' answered Al. 'How are you doing?'
'OK,' Jake told him.
Then Jake saw someone with Al - a very pretty girl. His smile was suddenly bigger. 'Who's this?' he asked.
'Brigid,' Al said. 'She works in the office here.'
'Hi, Brigid,' said Jake.
'Hello, Jake,' answered Brigid. She had a nice smile.
'Hmm,' Jake thought, 'it's my first time in Ireland, but I like it here!' Then he saw Al's bag.
'Are you going away?' he asked.
'Yes. I wanted to tell you before, but I had no time,' said Al. 'I'm taking the next plane to Los Angeles.'
'Los Angeles!' said Jake. 'But why?'
'My dad's in hospital now. He's very ill,' said Al. 'And I need to go and see him.'
'Oh!' said Jake. 'I'm sorry, I -'
'So you're going to do the presentation for your game at the Irish Computer Exhibition, not me,' said Al.
'Oh, OK,' said Jake. 'But -'
'Look, I'm sorry,' said Al. 'I must go now. My plane leaves very soon. Brigid can tell you everything. See you!'
'See you!' said Jake. Al walked away, and Jake watched him. Then Jake looked at Brigid. 'What now?' he asked.
'Let's take a taxi into town,' she said. 'You're going to stay at Al's apartment.'
'Oh, right,' said Jake. He smiled. 'Perhaps we can have dinner later.'
She smiled back. 'Perhaps,' she said.
The taxi took them down a long, busy road to the city.
After about twenty minutes, they arrived at a place with lots of modern buildings. Jake was surprised. 'So not all the buildings in Dublin are old,' he thought.
'Lots of big companies have their offices here,' said Brigid. 'BananaTech is here, and Al's apartment is very near, too.'
Brigid talked about the Dublin office of BananaTech.
'Tomas is the director of BananaTech Ireland. He's OK. Then there's Michael, Oona and Erin. They can answer any of your questions when I'm not there. We've also got an office boy, Aidan. He loves computers, but he's very young. Everyone is very friendly.'
'They can't be friendlier than you,' said Jake. 'Or prettier,' he thought.
Some minutes later, they stopped in front of a very tall building. 'Al lives here,' said Brigid. 'It's BananaTech's apartment. You have this key, and I have one at the office.'
'OK,' said Jake.
They went up to the eighth floor.
The apartment was nice, and very modern. There were pictures on the white walls.
Nearly all of them were photographs of Dublin. The chairs were black and white, and there was a TV on a little table, and a bigger table near the window.
Jake walked across to the window and looked out.
'Wonderful,' he said. 'I can see the sea!' It was grey and cold - very different from the blue Californian sea.
'Arraaaggghhhh!' squawked something.
Jake looked across the room quickly. 'What was that?' he asked.
Brigid smiled. 'That's Percy,' she said. She walked across to a tall table.
There was a cage on the table, and a beautiful green and yellow bird in the cage.
'Say hello to Percy,' laughed Brigid. 'He's Al's parrot.'
'Parrot!' squawked the bird. 'Al's parrot!'
'He comes from Brazil,' said Brigid. 'Al's teaching him to talk.'
'Oh,' said Jake. 'Well, I like birds. So that's OK. Hi, Percy.'
'Percy!' squawked the bird.
'His food is in the little bottle next to the cage,' said Brigid. 'Remember to give him food and water every day.' She went to the door. 'The office is two minutes from here, so I can come for you tomorrow at nine o'clock and we can walk to work.'
'OK,' said Jake. 'But what about dinner? We can find a quiet little restaurant, and you can tell me -'
She smiled. 'Not tonight,' she said. 'Al left some food for you in the kitchen.'
'Then what about tomorrow night?' asked Jake.
Brigid laughed. 'Perhaps. See you in the morning.'
'OK,' he said.
After she left, Jake smiled and walked across to the cage. 'I like Brigid,' he said to the parrot. 'But it's dinner for one tonight, Percy. And first I must give you some dinner.'
Jake gave some food and water to the bird. Then he went and ate his dinner in the kitchen, and after that, he went to bed in his room. He slept at once, and didn't hear Percy in the front room.
'Like Brigid! Like Brigid!' squawked the bird. 'Dinner for one!'

Chapter 2: Beautiful Brigid

The next day was warm. Brigid arrived at nine o'clock. Jake was happy. 'Thanks for coming for me,' he said.
'Oh, I walk past this building every morning. It's not a problem.' Her face was very red, but she smiled.
So they walked to the BananaTech office and Jake talked about his work in America.
The BananaTech offices were on the twelfth floor of a tall building. Tomas, the BananaTech Ireland director, was there to say hello to them.
'Good to meet you. Jake,' he said. 'Al talks a lot about you. We want to see your new game. It's very good, Al says.' Jake met everyone in the office - Michael, Erin, Oona and Aidan. Only Aidan did not smile when he said hello. 'We can all meet now. We need to talk about the computer exhibition,' said Tomas. 'Aidan, bring some coffee, please.' Aidan said nothing. He walked away, his head down. Tomas took Jake through the office to a different room. In this room, there were eight chairs and a big screen on the wall. Everyone sat down, and Jake opened his laptop. Minutes later, Aidan came in with the coffee.
'Look at that! You forgot the biscuits again!' Tomas told him. 'Can you bring them now, please?'
Aidan did not answer. He walked out of the room.
'He always forgets the biscuits,' said Tomas. 'He's clever, but he's very young.
He must do more office work before he begins making any computer games. Now, Jake, let's look at your new game.'
It was an exciting car racing game.
'Al was right. It's very good!' said Michael.
'I love the cars,' said Brigid. 'They're wonderful.'
'I like the music and sound effects,' said Oona.
'It's going to be the best game at the Irish Computer Exhibition,' said Tomas.
'Is it?' asked Jake.
'Of course,' said Tomas.
'Better than Snecksoft's games,' said Brigid.
'You're very clever, Jake,' said Oona.
Aidan brought the biscuits in just then, and he heard all this. He walked angrily out of the room again.
When it was time for lunch, Brigid took Jake to a restaurant near the office.
They waited for their food and Jake talked.
'When did you begin working with BananaTech?' he asked Brigid.
'Two years ago,' she answered. 'I like it there. Everyone's very friendly.'
'Aidan doesn't smile very much,' said Jake. 'Does he like working there?'
'No, he doesn't,' answered Brigid. 'He's always angry. Aidan wants to work on computer games, but he's not ready for that, you see.'
'What must happen before Aidan can work on some computer games?' asked Jake.
'He needs somebody to help him,' said Brigid. 'He loves computer games, but he's sixteen years old, so he needs to be an office boy a little longer. He learns quickly, but there's nobody to help him. Nobody has time.
'Where does Aidan live?' asked Jake.
'With his family near the airport,' said Brigid. 'They don't have a lot of money, and Aidan's mum's very ill. So Aidan wants to make computer games and become rich and famous.'
Then the food arrived, and Jake and Brigid forgot about Aidan and his problems.
'This is wonderful!' said Jake, after a minute or two. 'I like Irish food!'
Brigid laughed. 'Well, pizza isn't Irish, but the seafood on it came from the sea near Dublin.'
Jake went red. Brigid laughed again.
'What about this evening? Would you like to come to dinner with me?' Jake asked.
She smiled, but said, 'Sorry, I can't. Not tonight.'
'Why does she always say no?' thought Jake.
That afternoon, Jake worked on his presentation for the Computer Exhibition.
At seven o'clock in the evening, there was a phone call for him. It was Al, from America.
'Hi, Jake,' he said. 'How's everything?'
'OK,' said Jake. 'What time is it there?' 'Eleven o'clock in the morning,' said Al.
'How's your dad?' asked Jake.
'He's very ill,' said Al. 'I can't come back to Dublin for some time. Perhaps not for some months. Dad is going to need help when he leaves hospital. My mum's dead, and I don't have any brothers or sisters. I'm his only child.'
'I understand,' said Jake.
'Perhaps you can stay in Dublin for longer,' said Al. 'For four or five months.
I can do your job in the San Francisco office. You can do my job in Dublin. You must ask Brigid about that.'
'Brigid? Not Tomas? But why?' said Jake.
'Because Brigid's the Dublin office manager, so she's your boss.'
'Oh, no!' thought Jake. 'Brigid's the office manager, and my boss. I asked my boss out to dinner!'
Then he thought, 'But after four or five months she's not going to be my boss.
I'm going to ask her out to dinner again. And perhaps one day she's going to say yes!'
'Perhaps I can stay,' he said to Al. 'But let's not tell Brigid now. I want to think about it.'
'OK. Well, have a good time at the exhibition,' said Al. 'Goodbye now, Jake.'
'Goodbye, Al,' said Jake, and he put the phone down. 'And hello, beautiful Brigid!'
'Beautiful Brigid!' squawked Percy.

Chapter 3: Happy birthday

Jake said nothing about Al's plan to Brigid at the office. 'I can ask her about it at dinner this evening,' he thought.
'Can you come to dinner with me tonight?' he said to her.
'Sorry, I can't,' said Brigid. 'I'm going to have dinner at my mum's house.' 'Then what about tomorrow?' said Jake. 'You must come then. It's my birthday, you see. You can bring your mother!'
Brigid laughed. 'My mum doesn't like coming in to Dublin. She lives nearly sixty kilometres from here,' she said. Then she looked at him. 'But is it true? Is it your birthday tomorrow?'
'Yes,' said Jake, 'it is. So you must come - with or without your mother!'
'Perhaps,' said Brigid.
Next morning at the office. Brigid came to Jake's desk. 'Happy birthday, Jake!' she said.
'Thanks,' he answered. 'So are you coming out to dinner with me this evening?'
Brigid smiled. 'Yes. OK,' she said.
'Wonderful!' smiled Jake. 'She said "yes" to me in the end!' he thought.
'I can come for you at your apartment at seven o'clock,' said Brigid. 'I know a good restaurant near there.'
'That's wonderful,' said Jake again. 'This is going to be my best birthday.'
Jake waited for everyone in the office to say 'Happy birthday' to him, but they didn't.
'Brigid didn't tell them,' he thought.
He worked on his computer game all day. He made some of the cars bigger and he changed some of the colours. Aidan often came and watched him.
'Do you want faster cars, too? I can help you to do that,' said Aidan.
'OK, Aidan,' said Jake, and he gave his chair to Aidan. Aidan sat down and began working. After some minutes, the cars were faster. Jake smiled. 'That's very good, Aidan. You're clever with computers.'
Aidan smiled, but just then, Tomas called from his office. 'I'd like a cup of coffee, Aidan. And don't forget the biscuits this time!' Aidan stopped smiling, and he stood up and walked away angrily.
Aidan took the coffee to Tomas's desk.
'Did you remember the milk?' said Tomas. 'I like a lot of milk, you know.'
'Yes,' said Aidan. 'I know.'
He walked back to his desk and he sat down. He was angry and he didn't want to do any work. He looked across the office, but nobody looked back at him.
Everybody was busy. 'This is a good time to do it,' he thought.
Aidan took a computer magazine from his desk. There was a picture of a man on the front of the magazine. The man was Arto Sneck, the director of Snecksoft, the Finnish computer company. Inside the magazine, there was some information about him.
Aidan read it interestedly:
'Mr Sneck is taking Snecksoft's new computer football game to the Dublin Computer Exhibition...' Aidan smiled and put the magazine back on his desk.
'I'm never going to make coffee for Tomas, or any of them, again,' he thought. 'I'm going to make computer games, become rich, and help my mum to be well again.'
That evening, Jake couldn't stop looking at his watch. He was excited about seeing Brigid.
She arrived at the apartment at seven o'clock. She smiled when Jake opened the door to her. 'She's beautiful!' thought Jake.
'Where are we going?' he asked.
'Not far,' said Brigid.
They walked down the road by the river for five minutes. Then Brigid said,
'That's the restaurant there. Oh, no! It's very busy tonight. Lots of people are waiting to go in.'
'Are there any more restaurants near here?' asked Jake.
'Yes, but it's Thursday night,' said Brigid. 'I'm sorry. I didn't think. All the restaurants in the city are busy on Thursday. Perhaps we can go back to your apartment and phone for a pizza.'
'Yes, OK,' said Jake.
They walked back to the apartment. Jake opened the door and they went in. The room was dark. 'We need some light,' said Jake, and he went over to the light by the door...
'Happy birthday!' shouted everyone suddenly, and they all clapped.
Jake's mouth opened. 'What...?!'
In the light, he could see them all. Everyone was there - Tomas, Erin, Oona, and Aidan. There were lots of things to eat and drink on the table.
Jake looked at Brigid. She laughed.
'You knew!' he said.
'Of course,' she answered. 'Let's have fun!' she shouted to everyone.
'Happy birthday. Have fun!' squawked Percy.

Chapter 4: Percy's Visitor

Everyone came to Jake and said, 'Happy Birthday!', and gave a present to him.
Tomas gave Jake an old black-and- white photograph of Dublin. Erin and Oona gave him a Dublin football shirt, and Brigid gave him a beautiful hat.
'Happy birthday, Jake,' said Aidan quietly, and he gave something to Jake. Jake opened it quickly. It was a computer book - and a very good one.
'Thanks!' said Jake. 'What a wonderful book!'
'It isn't new,' said Aidan quickly. 'I read it last month. I didn't have any money for a present.'
'That isn't important,' said Jake. 'You didn't need to give a present to me, so thank you for the book.'
After that, they all began to eat the food. And they laughed and talked happily.
But Aidan didn't eat. He stood and looked at Jake's laptop. It was on a little table near the window.
When it was time for everyone to go, Brigid was the last to leave the apartment.
'That was fun,' she said.
'Let's have dinner tomorrow night,' Jake told her. 'You and me. Dinner for two.'
Brigid laughed. 'OK,' she said.
Next morning, everyone went to the office early. Jake needed to finish some
things in the game, and everyone needed to make everything ready for the Computer Exhibition the next day.
Jake worked at his desk. Tomas, Aidan, and Brigid came and watched him. Jake was very busy. He needed to change some things in his computer game before the exhibition.
'I'm going to work on my laptop at the apartment this afternoon,' said Jake. 'It's quiet there - when Percy isn't talking, of course.'
'Last year Snecksoft won the 'Game of the Year' prize,' said Aidan.
'This year, BananaTech's going to win it,' said Tomas. 'And to say good luck and thank you, I'd like to take everyone in the office out to dinner this evening.
There's a wonderful place in Dublin not far from the River Liffey. I'd like you to see it, Jake. There are lots of restaurants there.'
'Erm, thanks,' said Jake. 'So no dinner for two - again,' he thought. 'Are you going to come, Aidan?' he asked the office boy.
'I can't,' said Aidan quickly. 'I'm busy this evening.'
Brigid smiled and said, 'You have something more important to do than come to dinner with us?'
Tomas said, 'Well, you're not busy now. Go and make some coffee for us all, and don't forget -'
'The biscuits,' said Aidan. 'Soon you're not going to be my boss,' he thought.
Aidan looked at Jake, Tomas and Brigid. They were busy. Everyone was busy. Aidan had only two or three minutes, he knew. It was now or never. Nobody saw him when he went into Brigid's office. Nobody saw him when he opened her desk. And nobody saw him when he took a key from it - the key to Jake's apartment. After that, he brought some coffee and biscuits to Jake.
'Here you are,' he smiled. 'Good luck with the game.'
When it was time for lunch, Aidan took the computer magazine from his desk and went out. He walked a hundred metres down the street from the office. Then he took his mobile phone from his coat pocket. He looked inside the magazine for a phone number, and he quickly called it.
Minutes later, he began to speak. 'Is that Snecksoft?' he said. 'I'd like to speak to Mr Sneck...'
Jake and Brigid went for lunch near the office.
'Again it's not dinner for two tonight,' Jake said. 'I'm sorry about that.'
'It doesn't matter,' said Brigid. 'Perhaps tomorrow night.'
Jake and Brigid talked about Al's dad, and about Al's plan to stay in America for some months.
'Perhaps I can stay and do Al's job here,' Jake finished. 'Al's OK with that.
But what do you say?'
'It's a good plan, I think,' said Brigid, and she smiled.
Jake went back to his apartment. He worked on the racing game all afternoon.
Then he put his laptop on the table near the window.
'I must give you some food before I go out, Percy,' he said.
'Food!' answered the parrot.
'Tonight I'm going to eat near the River Liffey,' said Jake. 'What do you think about that?'
'River Liffey!' squawked the parrot.
'And I'm going to see beautiful Brigid,' said Jake. 'Beautiful Brigid!' cried Percy.
Jake laughed. 'That's right!'
Tomas phoned at 6.30 p.m.
'I'm waiting in a taxi outside your apartment building, Jake,' he said. 'We're meeting everyone at the restaurant.'
'OK,' said Jake. 'I'm coming down now.'
Across the street and fifty metres away, Aidan watched Jake's apartment. He saw when the taxi arrived. Some minutes later, Jake came out of the apartment building and got into the taxi with Tomas. Then they drove away. Aidan saw all this.
He waited for two or three minutes. Then he walked across to the apartment building. He went up to Jake's apartment. He took out the key from his coat pocket and he opened the door. He went quietly into the apartment and he walked quickly across to the table and Jake's laptop. He put the laptop into a bag.
Suddenly, there was a loud 'Squawk!'
Aidan looked quickly across at Percy's cage. 'Be quiet, you stupid bird!' he said. 'What are you -?'
Just then, he heard his mobile phone...

Chapter 5: Herbert Park

'Hello?' he said. 'Oh, yes, Mr Sneck... Yes, I've got it... What?... You want to meet tomorrow morning before the exhibition?... Yes, that's OK... But when and where?... Eight o'clock... by Herbert Park... Yes, OK. But please remember to bring the money... Goodbye, Mr Sneck.'
He put the phone back in his coat pocket. 'Eight o'clock, by Herbert Park,' he said to himself. 'Thank you, Mr Sneck. Now I'm going to be rich!'
He looked at the parrot. 'Did you hear that, you stupid bird?' he laughed. 'I'm going to be rich! I'm going to have lots of money! At eight o'clock, by Herbert Park!'
He looked at the nice things in the apartment. 'Perhaps Snecksoft can give me an apartment when I work for them,' he thought.
Aidan left the apartment quickly. Once he was down in the street again, he ran home with the bag.
Up in the apartment, Percy spoke some new words.
'Eight o'clock!' he cried. 'Herbert Park! Mr Sneck! Eight o'clock! Herbert Park!
Mr Sneck!'
Jake was tired when they left the restaurant. He wanted to sleep. 'Saturday's going to be a busy day,' he thought.
When he arrived at the apartment, he walked over to Percy's cage. He didn't look for his laptop. He was tired but happy, and he didn't want to think about work.
He had more interesting things - or a more interesting person - in his head - Brigid!
'I love Brigid!' he said.
'Love Brigid!' squawked Percy.
Jake laughed. 'Good night, Percy.'
At seven o'clock the next morning, Jake went to look for his laptop. Of course, it wasn't there. He ran quickly from room to room, but the laptop wasn't in the apartment. What am I going to do?' he cried. Just then, Brigid phoned. 'I'm waiting for you outside. Are you ready? Come down.'
'I can't, Brigid. Something bad happened last night.'
'Oh,' she said. 'I had a good time at the restaurant. The seafood was wonderful.'
'It's not about yesterday evening,' said Jake quickly. 'Someone stole my laptop when we were down by the river. I didn't learn about it last night because I was tired when I arrived home and went to bed at once. Can you come up to the apartment?'
Brigid went up. 'That's strange,' she thought. 'Did somebody break in here last night? There aren't any signs of it.'
'It's OK.' she told Jake. 'We can phone the police about your laptop, and we can phone Al and he can send your game electronically from San Francisco in time for the exhibition.'
'But I changed a lot of things on my laptop here,' said Jake. 'The game on my laptop is better.'
'Well, the laptop isn't here, so the game in San Francisco is better than nothing,' said Brigid.
'OK. It's quarter past seven in the morning here, so it's quarter past eleven at night in San Francisco. Let's phone him now.'
Jake phoned Al's house, but Al didn't answer. He phoned Al's mobile. Again, Al didn't answer. 'Perhaps he's at the hospital with his dad,' said Jake.
'Herbert Park!' squawked Percy.
'Be quiet, Percy!' said Jake. 'What are we going to do now, Brigid?'
'I'm going to phone the police,' said Brigid. 'You can phone Al again.'
'Eight o'clock!' squawked Percy.
'Be quiet, Percy!' said Jake angrily. 'There's no answer at Al's house. And we need that game for the exhibition at nine o'clock.'
'Eight o'clock! Herbert Park!' squawked Percy.
Fifteen minutes later, Brigid finished her phone call. 'The police asked lots of questions,' she said. 'Did someone break in here? There aren't any signs of it.
I told them about the key for this apartment in my desk. I need to find it, they say.'
'Eight o'clock! Herbert Park!' squawked Percy. Brigid suddenly looked at the parrot.
'Why is he saying that?' she asked.
'I don't know. Stupid bird. He's saying some new words now. He didn't stop talking all night. I heard him.'
'What new words?' asked Brigid. 'Do you want to say something, Percy?'
'Eight o'clock! Herbert Park! Mr Sneck! Going to be rich!'
'See?' said Jake. 'Stupid bird.'

Chapter 6: Dinner for two

Brigid was quiet for a minute. Then she said, 'Those are strange words for a parrot. Where did Percy learn them?'
'Well, he didn't learn them from me,' said Jake. 'Perhaps he learnt them from Al.'
'Perhaps,' said Brigid, slowly. 'Or perhaps he learnt them when someone broke in here and stole your laptop. Perhaps he learnt those words from the thief!'
Jake looked at her. 'Yes!' he said. 'You're right! Percy usually says words soon after he hears them.'
'What did he say just then?' asked Brigid.
'"Eight o'clock, Herbert Park, Sneck, going to be rich", I think,' said Jake.
'Sneck!' said Brigid. 'Wait a minute! That's the name of Snecksoft's director!'
'Snecksoft?' said Jake. 'The Finnish computer company?'
'Yes!' said Brigid. 'Mr Sneck is going to be at the Computer Exhibition. Tell me again: what did Percy say?'
'He said, "Sneck, Herbert Park, eight o'clock",' answered Jake. 'Hey! That's a place and a time to meet!'
'So the thief is meeting Mr Sneck!' said Brigid.
'With my racing game!' cried Jake.
'We need to get to Herbert Park - fast,' said Brigid.
Aidan ran through the streets of Dublin to Herbert Park. Jake's laptop was in his bag. 'Soon I'm going to meet Mr Sneck, and he's going to give me a job,' he thought. 'I'm going to have lots more money, and I can help my mum to become well again.' Now he could see the park in front of him. But where was Mr Sneck?
He could see nobody, but there was a big, black car in the road by the park.
Suddenly, three men got out of the car - Mr Sneck and two very big men in black suits. Aidan crouched down behind the car. Mr Sneck and the two men couldn't see him there.
'Where's the boy? He's late,' said one of the men.
'Yes,' said Mr Sneck. 'But he's going to come, I know. He wants money and a job at Snecksoft.'
'But he's a boy,' the second man in black said. 'Are you going to give him a job?'
'Of course not,' said Mr Sneck. 'But I didn't tell him that.' The three men
laughed. Behind the car, Aidan felt ill. 'So, Mr Sneck lied to me. He never planned to give me a job,' he thought. 'And now I'm going to lose my job at BananaTech - and perhaps I'm going to go to prison. I need to stay very quiet here. I don't want to give Jake's laptop to Mr Sneck now.' Then suddenly he looked up. Mr Sneck stood in front of him, tall and angry.
'Why are you crouching down there, Aidan?' he said very coldly.
'I felt, erm, tired,' answered Aidan.
'Tired? Well, give that big bag to me then. One of my men can carry it for you,' said Mr Sneck. And the two men in black suits moved nearer. Aidan was afraid, but he said, 'No, I'm OK. You don't need to carry my bag. I can carry it. Erm, the thing is, I don't have the game with me. I came here to tell you that. I couldn't find it.'
'He's lying,' said one of the big men. 'He's got the game. He heard your words earlier and now he doesn't want to give it to us.' And he pulled Aidan to his feet. 'Give the bag to me now, or I'm going to hit you in the face.'
Just then, a woman behind Aidan spoke. 'Is there a problem?' she said. It was Brigid. Aidan looked quickly behind him. Jake and Brigid looked back at him. 'Thanks for bringing my things to the exhibition for me,' said Jake, and he took the bag quickly from Aidan. Mr Sneck and the two men in suits did not look happy, but in front of Jake and Brigid, they could do nothing. 'Come on, Aidan,' said Brigid, and she pulled him to her. The three men got into their car and drove away.
'So, you were the thief,' said Jake. 'You took my laptop and you planned to give my game to Mr Sneck. Why?'
'I wanted a job with Snecksoft,' said Aidan unhappily. 'I love making computer games, and I needed money to help my mum. But nobody at BananaTech understands.
For them I'm nothing more than a stupid coffee maker. But now you're going to call the police and they're going to put me in prison.'
'No, I'm not, Aidan,' said Jake. 'Listen. You're going to be a very good computer game writer one day. But you need someone to help you. I'd like to do that. But you must promise me something: you're never going to do a thing like this again. Do you promise?'
'Yes, I promise,' said Aidan. 'But are you truly going to help me?'
'Of course,' said Jake. 'But first you're going to help me. The exhibition begins in half an hour - and my presentation begins then too. You need to take that bag inside, find the BananaTech exhibition stand and make everything ready for me. Can you do that?'
'Yes!' said Aidan, and he ran.
More than four hundred people listened to Jake s presentation. They watched the racing game on a big screen. They listened to the music and sound effects. Then they clapped and shouted, 'It's wonderful!'
Everyone from the office came up and spoke to Jake after the presentation.
'You were very good,' said Oona.
'It was the best presentation at the Exhibition,' said Brigid.
'We're going to get the prize for 'Game of the Year', I think,' said Tomas happily.
One man did not clap after Jake's presentation. He stood next to the Snecksoft exhibition stand and he was very angry. Angry about Jake's wonderful game.
It was Mr Sneck.
That evening, Jake was very happy. 'Percy,' said Jake, 'it's dinner for two tonight!' Brigid arrived early. 'Come up,' said Jake, 'I must give some food to Percy before we go out.'
Brigid came in and went across to Percy's cage. 'You're a clever thing,' she said. 'We found Jake's game because you helped us.'
'And we stopped Aidan doing something very stupid, too,' said Jake.
'Something stupid!' squawked Percy.
'You're a very beautiful bird,' laughed Brigid. 'Beautiful Brigid! Love Brigid!' squawked Percy. 'Now where did he learn to say that?' she asked.
Jake's face was suddenly red. 'Er - I don't know,' he said.
'Yes, you do,' said Brigid, and she laughed. 'But it's OK. You're a nice man, Jake Stevens, and I like you. So let's go out and have some dinner.'
'Beautiful Brigid! Nice Jake! Dinner for two!' squawked Percy after they left.