To read the story from the start go to: https://the-inkling.com/catch-up-with-the-inklings/

Binta woke up early on Friday morning feeling anxious. At first she thought it was because she was still excited from the meeting the night before but then she remembered that she was expecting an email reply from Bert.

Binta got out of bed and quietly walked over to Ousman’s bed. As Binta watched Ousman sleeping she was reminded of how he’d been as a baby. She smiled and then walked softly to her desk to check for new emails.

Binta saw an email from Bert that had been sent yesterday afternoon and wished she’d checked her emails last night. Binta held her breath and opened the email.

“That’s fantastic! When can you start? Can you come in tomorrow? Tell me when you will arrive and I will be ready” wrote Bert and then he gave her the address of his business.

Binta gasped and looked at the time. She was terrified of seeing Bert again but also excited to have a new job. After calculating how long it would take to get to work Binta replied to Bert that she’d arrive at 9:30am. Binta tip-toed over to the wardrobe and spent a long time quietly agonising over what to wear before putting on her favourite outfit.

Binta was brushing her hair when Ousman woke up.

“You look nice. Where are you going today?” asked Ousman.

“I have a new job!” said Binta.

“Did you forget to tell me?” asked Ousman.

“No, I just found out this morning” said Binta.

“What’s the job?” asked Ousman.

“I don’t know much about it yet but I think I’m going to be helping make a movie” said Binta.

“Cool!” said Ousman. “Are you going to be in the movie?”

Binta laughed and said “No, not me. I’m just helping organize everything”

“You will be good at that” said Ousman.

When Binta and Ousman went downstairs to have breakfast they discovered Mamadou sitting at the kitchen table. He was drinking tea and working on a drawing of some kind of large courtyard with a pond in the middle.

Mamadou smiled when he saw Binta, which made Binta feel happy.

“Do you have time to talk this morning?” asked Mamadou.

“I am going to work – I got a new job” said Binta. “What about tomorrow?”

“Ok, tomorrow” said Mamadou, but Binta thought he looked very disappointed.

After breakfast Binta walked Ousman to the bus stop then she went to the station to get a train. It started raining just before Binta got to the station but she was too excited about her new job to care about getting wet. As she watched other people run towards cover Binta just smiled and took her time.

At 9:29am Binta arrived at Bert’s office. It was in an old, but well maintained warehouse in a trendy suburb. A young man answered the door and took Binta to Bert. As they walked they passed people sitting at computers with headphones on who were so engrossed in what they were doing that they didn’t notice them passing by.

Bert was in the kitchen making a pot of tea. Binta smiled when she saw the tea and was relieved that she still recognized Bert.