The Café (complete story)

Chapter 5: Under the Arches

It was an unusual day for Eve. Ordering replacement cards from the bank was one thing, but getting real money in real hands proved a frustrating experience for someone whose financial world revolved around credit cards.

With cash in hand she travelled in a taxi to the Arches to pay for her car windscreen. Even in daylight the Arches was a foreboding place. Four arches carved into the fabric of the Chiltern Trains Railway Bridge which rose majestically into the heavens casting its dark shadow across the Arches courtyard.

As the taxi turned into the narrow entrance it was blocked by another car trying to leave. Locked bumper to bumper, an expletive filed shouting match ensued between the drivers which ended with the other car backing down.

"Damn boy racers, this always happens here, "said the taxi driver as his words competed with the cacophony of drum and bass music, cars revving and the discordant voices of people talking and shouting.

As Eve was paying for the repair a train thundered overhead, shaking the workshop. Her heart missed a beat but everyone else carried on as if nothing had happened. The sprinkles of wood, dislodged by the trains passing, floated gently around her as if they were fairies, smelling like freshly sawn wood.

It was a real boys own playground and as unfriendly to pedestrians as possible. The only other approach to the Arches was a grassy hill opposite the workshops which competed with the godlike height of the Chiltern Bridge. Steep diagonal stairs jutted out from the grassy hill which required metal handles on both sides in order for people to descend safely.

Eve hoped her shadow would never darken the place again.

Her biggest concern though was her phone. In stealing it the masked men took away her sim card. It would take at least two days to upgrade her temporary number to her original number.

She missed her phone the moment she viewed its replacement. A hideous, featureless square plastic black box, masquerading as a phone. It simply couldn't compare with her Iphone on looks or feel; but it was only a temporary measure.

In the meantime she had a planning workshop to run that day, so she couldn't use her phone anyway. Combined with the evening meeting straight after the workshop, these would take her mind off the whole Mudlark issue, for at least one day.

When she finished her final meeting she went straight home. It should have been the first time in ages that herself, Alan and Bill would be in the same place so early in the evening.

Eve entered the house, "Hello, boys, I'm home," she hollowed. There was no response. She shouted again and checked the master bedroom with the pink theme Alan hated so much he accessorised it with the blue of his Chelsea team, Bill's untidy room where clothes strewn on the floor mixed with his toys in an unholy jumble and the rarely used spare room; but the house was empty. Her first instinct was to whip out her phone from her second favourite bag and call Alan.

"Damn," she said, remembering that she actually didn't know the number as it was on her stolen sim card. She had been so busy; she didn't even have time to charge her ugly new phone.

She suspected that Alan was taking Bill out for some unhealthy treat so she took the opportunity to microwave a spare chicken korma meal. She was about to tuck into her meal for one when she spotted a red flicker coming from her landline phone.

"Oh, that must be Alan," she thought to herself as she went over to play back the message.

"Eve......Angel wants to meet you." Eve recognized the voice immediately; it was Octavia, "she's going to be at the Arches at eight thirty, she's got something important to tell you."