Maker, maker

Gusto's

The city of Dublin was easily twice the size of Belfast. The streets were lined with shops depicting both English and Irish names on the front of them. Birds scurried around the ground before taking off into the air as people approached them. Business men and women hurried down the streets, past many school children and casual tourists.

Caleb pulled into a car park at the south of the city; across the street was a luxurious hotel with many shops on either side. "This is very discrete." I noted out loud, nodding over at the hotel and Caleb shook his head. "That is far too noticeable, we're staying over there." I glanced around to where he was pointing.

At the other side of the car park was a small, older building with vines and flowers growing out of the brickwork. I raised an eyebrow at his choice. "Come on, it's a lot nicer on the inside." Reluctantly I followed him across the car park and into the building.

True to his word, the inside was warm and clean, a vast improvement on the outside. We were greeted by a large woman, who was standing behind a small oak counter to the left of the door. "I thought he told you not to come back." Her voice was low and gruff, as if she smoked twenty a day. Caleb ushered me past her. "You know that was a misunderstanding and that I sorted it out with Gusto." The woman glared at us as we went through the door.

"What was that about?" Caleb continued on down a corridor, with me hot on his heels. "There was an issue a few years ago." "What? Did you not call her?" He chuckled a bit. "No, I came back from the shop one day and the whole place was on fire. Elijah walked out of the flames before it all went down. So I guess she sort of blames me, but I managed to sort things out with Gusto." He took a left and brought us down some stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs was a large oak door, soft jazz was coming from the crack under the door. He gently swung the door open and whispered. "Go along with what I say." The room behind the door was like a casino, slot machines lined the wall and gambling tables were placed in the middle of the room. A few people were dispersed amongst the tables around the room.

"Where are we?" I whispered to Caleb, in response he grabbed my hand and pulled me over to a tall man at the far end. Most of the people looked away from their specific games to stare at us walking past. The tall guy dressed in a sharp black suit with a red shirt and black waist coat, with his hair slicked back away from his face, looked visibly aged.

"Gusto, how have you been?" Gusto turned to face Caleb with surprise on his face. "Well, my boy, Mrs. Gibson owes me 20 Euros. I knew you'd be back, and who is this lovely lady you've brought with you?" Caleb coughed and stepped aside so he could see me clearly. "This is Kathy... my wife."

I looked at Caleb before noticing that Gusto was holding his hand out. I reached mine out to meet his; he took it and bent down to kiss my knuckles. After he pushed himself back up he offered my hand back to Caleb. "Feel free to come and go as you desire. I take it you want your normal room?" Caleb nodded before saying his goodbyes and leading me out of the casino.

When we got to his 'normal' room I sat on the bed as he pulled out a computer. "So I'm your wife now?" He blushed a bit and looked at the floor. "Yeah I had to tell him I was getting married so he'd let me leave last time. Want to watch a movie?" He popped the DVD slot of the computer and slid a disc in.

As the credits of 22 jump street rolled I poked Caleb, he'd fallen asleep at the football part. He jolted awake. "What?" I giggled at his adorably sleepy voice. "You fell asleep." He rubbed his eyes and looked at the computer before closing the screen down. "I have something better in mind." Seconds later he had closed the small distance between us. Not too long after there was a swift knock at the door before Gusto burst in holding a deck of cards.

"Did I interrupt something here?" He chuckled as he set the cards down, before reaching for the third drawer down. "Just wanted to let you know that there are clothes for both of you here, and if they aren't to your liking then there is some money beside the mirror. Head into town if you want, but I wouldn't recommend doing it at this time, the crime rate around here is terrible after dark." With another chuckle he picked up his cards and left the room. "That's his polite way of saying bed time."