Poker Face

Chapter 1 - Have you GOT an appointment?

Chapter 1

Have you GOT an appointment?

She observed the town on the other side of the window and sighed as the bus crawled through the slow-moving traffic. Chaos was the only way to describe it. Flashy colourful images painted a vision of happy people, bulging paper bags and smiling faces, but so far it just resembled the site of a gas explosion.

No road had been spared the inconvenience of crossings, cycle paths and bus lanes in this 'environmentally clean retail experience', where traffic was shunned to the outskirts, like the local creepy guy who talked to his hand. This was a complete regeneration, but rather than tackle the job in stages, considering the impact the two-year project was going to have on everyone, the giant bulldozing equipment had moved in, and looked set to stay. Earth was moved, shovelled relentlessly into hungry yellow mouths, leaving behind great holes and muddy mountains.

Ruby's bus had continued to make slow progress up the hill and was now sitting at temporary traffic lights. It rumbled, squeaked, and hissed as it waited and edged, waited and edged, the driver mumbling something about the colour green. Ruby found herself fixated on the greasy hair sprouting from beneath his cap, the rolls of his thick neck turning a warm pinched pink colour. He had always been a short fuse, an unpleasant aspect of the journey between town and the estate where she lived.

The late June sun was beaming through the windows and the onboard temperature, a bit like Ruby's impatience, was rising steadily. Thick, sticky air had started to smell of fermenting bodies and, combined with diesel, made Ruby shift in her seat. She wriggled and picked at her clothes, clasping her hair into a ponytail so she could pull the long dark main away from her face and back.

She tried to focus on something else, anything but the driver's sweaty nape, and there it was, just outside the window. Right in front of her stood a tall, grand looking building that she'd never noticed before. In fairness, she hadn't needed to until the bold claim she'd made to Matthew outside school. Now there was nothing she needed more than this moment. On her million journeys back and forth to school this building had dominated the High Street, yet she hadn't once given it a second glance. So much detail had gone into the stonework, the ornate sash window, the bruised and smudged brick, the putty-coloured pillars, and the sign above the door. In elaborate script it read out the words, Tangle and Alessi Solicitors. She smiled. This was it.

Her heart sped, her lungs fluttered, her face felt hotter than ever as she stood and made her way to the front of the bus, mindful of the switch she was about to trip. Maybe this was what fate felt like. After Matthew and his pathetic gang's goading and tormenting, could it be that for once some kind of God was smiling down on her? 'Can I get off please?' she asked, turning on the charm.

The driver glanced over his shoulder and grunted, 'This isn't a bus stop.'

'Yeah, I know, but –'

'I'm waiting for the lights.' He looked her up and down before turning back to the road. Nothing had changed, the lights were still red.

'Can I get off?'

'Health and safety says I can only drop off at–'

'Does health and safety say anything about people throwing up on the floor of your bus?'

There was a hiss of hydraulics as the doors swung open. Never had a breeze been more welcome.

She stopped at the foot of the concrete steps, a set of black glossy doors just in front of her. Climbing slowly, she paused, wondering what she was doing, what was she even thinking? The handle was a large golden ball and she twisted it, stepping forward into another world, one devoid of noise, smell...life. Utter silence pressed against her ears and, even though the door was unlocked, she couldn't help feeling like a trespasser. She crept further into the hallway, one scuffed black shoe leading the other. The floor was covered in small red tiles, and frosted glass doors led off to separate rooms. A grand looking staircase covered in green carpet curved gently up to the first floor and the ceilings were high. So high. And it was cold too. She shuddered.