B2 · Upper-Intermediate · Networking · 506 words · ~3 min read

🍺 Among the Nomads

Language focus: Sophisticated phrasal verbs · networking

Act 2 · The Digital Nomad’s Trail

The meetup was held in a cavernous former brewery, its brick walls plastered with posters and its air thick with the smell of cheap beer and expensive ideas. Developers, designers and assorted digital nomads milled around in loose clusters, swapping war stories and business cards. Elif and Hana slipped in among them and quietly set about making connections.

Networking, Elif had long believed, was an art form she had spent twenty years refining. The trick was never to come on too strong; instead, you warmed people up with genuine curiosity, drew them out with the right questions, and let them do the lion’s share of the talking. Within an hour, she had struck up half a dozen conversations and steered every single one of them, ever so gently, towards Helian Labs.

Most people clammed up the instant the name came up. Helian, it transpired, had a reputation for paying generously and demanding absolute discretion in return. “They look after their own,” one developer confided, dropping his voice, “provided you never ask where the ideas actually come from.” It was hardly a glowing character reference.

Jonas Keller, when he finally took to the small stage, did not disappoint. He delivered a fierce, funny talk about the way the technology giants hoover up the work of smaller creators and pass it off as their own. The room lapped it up. Elif noticed how his humour never quite concealed a deeper, slow-burning anger underneath.

Afterwards, she approached him directly. “That landed rather close to home for one or two people in this room,” she remarked. Jonas eyed her warily. “And which firm are you here to spy for?” he shot back, only half joking. Elif decided that honesty, used sparingly, would serve her far better than any rehearsed cover story.

“I run a company in London that someone has been quietly robbing for the best part of a year,” she said. “The trail leads straight to Helian. I am not here to spy — I am here because I suspect you already know precisely what they do, and it has been eating away at you ever since you left.” For a long, weighing moment, Jonas said nothing at all.

“You don’t pull your punches, do you?” he said at last, a reluctant smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “All right. But not here — there are people in this very room who would sell their own grandmother to Helian for a contract.” He scribbled an address on a beer-stained napkin. “Tomorrow afternoon. Come alone, or don’t bother coming at all.”

Elif folded the napkin carefully into her pocket, her heart thudding against her ribs. She had managed to get a foot in the door, yet she was under no illusions about the risk involved. Jonas might be exactly the ally she so badly needed — or he might be quietly testing her on Helian’s behalf. Either way, there could be no turning back now; she would simply have to follow the thread wherever it chose to lead.

Key vocabulary (6 words)

cavernousadjective
Very large, like a cave; vast and echoing.
discretionnoun
The quality of keeping information private.
reputationnoun
The general opinion people hold about someone.
waryadjective
Cautious about possible danger or problems.
cover storynoun
A false explanation used to hide your real purpose.
allynoun
A person who supports and helps you.

Phrasal verbs in this chapter

  • warm up — To warm someone up means to make them feel relaxed and friendly.
  • clam up — To clam up means to suddenly stop talking, especially from nervousness.
  • pass off — To pass something off as your own means to falsely claim it.

Comprehension quiz

  1. Where is the meetup held?

    • A former brewery
    • A library
    • A hospital
    Show answer

    A former brewery

  2. What is Elif skilled at?

    • Networking
    • Cooking
    • Driving
    Show answer

    Networking

  3. “Come on too strong” means to be…

    • too forceful
    • very shy
    • very quiet
    Show answer

    too forceful

  4. How do most people react to the name Helian?

    • They clam up
    • They cheer
    • They laugh
    Show answer

    They clam up

  5. “Clam up” means to…

    • suddenly stop talking
    • eat seafood
    • speak loudly
    Show answer

    suddenly stop talking

  6. What is Jonas’s talk about?

    • Big firms stealing smaller creators’ work
    • Cookery
    • Football
    Show answer

    Big firms stealing smaller creators’ work

  7. “Pass off as their own” means to…

    • falsely claim someone’s work
    • give it away
    • sell cheaply
    Show answer

    falsely claim someone’s work

  8. How does Elif win Jonas’s interest?

    • With careful honesty
    • With a bribe
    • With threats
    Show answer

    With careful honesty

  9. “It has been eating away at you” means it has…

    • troubled you continuously
    • made you hungry
    • disappeared
    Show answer

    troubled you continuously

  10. What does Jonas give Elif?

    • An address on a napkin
    • Money
    • A laptop
    Show answer

    An address on a napkin

All 20 B2 chapters

More graded reading & practice