Fed Up

Chapter Three

A whiff of unpleasant and repulsive odour from the customers fills the atmosphere of The Queen Vic. Old Stan Carter was seated at a burgundy cushioned stool, skimming through the Walford Gazette and smoking on a cigarette. The stench of smoke wafts from his mouth and into the air of the pub.

Cora Cotton struggles making her way into the pub, as two Cockney men were blocking the passageway. She eventually managed to get past them and approached the love of her live, Stan Carter. Like Stan, she also stunk of cigarettes. Stan flung his cigarette in the ashtray that was in the centre of the round table and wiped his thick hands on his jiggers, to remove the nicotine from his hands. He greeted Cora with a deep groan, offering her to join his company.

Like him, Cora resembled weathered, as if worn years of hard work. They gathered around the glowing remnants of the fire that sits in the darkest corner. Whilst the flame cast shadow of Stan and Cora became visible on the cracked, broken ceiling.
The pub lights were dim. The daylight sun peeked through the window, hitting the customers at a strange angle.

At the bar, landlord owner Mick Carter was busy serving alcohol and other beverages to the Albert Square community. Whitney Dean gained access to the pub and approached the bar, standing in Mick's vision. She wore a denim jacket, an aqua green top and jeans along with a pair of black and white Converse shoes.

"Hello Whitney", welcomed Mick. "What can I get for you"?

"Can I get a vodka and tonic please Mick"? requested Whitney, grabbing some loose change from her pocket and began counting to make sure she was giving Mick the correct money.

"Course you can, coming right up", responded Mick, clutching a glass from underneath and pulls a vodka and tonic, garnishing the alcoholic beverage by putting a slice of lime in it.

"There you go, get that down you", commanded Mick, in a polite manner, handing Whitney the glass.

"Cheers Mick", replied Whitney, expressing gratitude to Mick's pleasant service and game him the money.

Mick took the money from Whitney and put it into the till. Whitney grabbed her drink from the bar and rotated her body around to find a vacant table and identified Nancy, who was seated in the back corner of the bar.

Nancy sat idle with her knees hunched up to her chest. She was occupied on her mobile phone, smiling widely from reading something amusing.

Whitney strolled away from the bar, dragging her feet along the embellished wooden floor.

Nancy diverted her sapphire blue eyes away from her mobile phone and viewed Whitney, advancing towards her. She pressed the lock button on her phone and set the gadget aside on the table. "Alright Whitney"? she greeted, as she arrived at the table and set her glass on top of the table. Whitney plunked herself down on a grotty stool and began chattering away to Nancy.

Mick observed the Queen Vic, checking to see if the customers were behaving themselves and were drinking sensibly. Johnny appeared out of the bloom, standing in his father's presence and startled him.

Mick glared at him and smirked, as he recovered from getting a fright by his son, "Alright Johnny, you scared the granny out of me".

Johnny sniggered and felt slightly rueful. "Sorry Dad", he apologised.

Mick accepted his son's offering of remorse. He positioned his head forward, inspecting to see if Kitty was play hiding behind Johnny, like always, even though she is prohibited from coming downstairs. But she didn't appear to be in sight. "Everything alright"? he enquired, in interest.

"She fell asleep on me", answered Johnny.

Mick unleashed a snigger in a deep voice, "Did she get bored of you and she thought sleeping was the only solution to get away from you"?

"Haha very funny", said Johnny, in a sarcastic attitude. "We were halfway through Lady and the Tramp and she just dozed off".