City of IF

[scissorkitty]

ChapterFour

The door chimed it's irritation as it rebounded off the tiled wall behind it, jangling continued streams of abuse as it settled back into the frame.

"Anyone seen George around?"

While normally shouting into a crowded restaurant wouldn't necessarily guarantee the shouter any kind of positive answer, shouting into a restaurant filled to the brim with George's relatives was a different kind of story. And shouting was the only way to be heard. Leah stood near the long suffering door, and tried to focus through the wall of sound.

"George? GEORGE?! Has anyone seen George today?"

An older woman, two younger aunties, and a child all pointed in different directions. A middle aged man, halfway through a plate of vegan tortellini, shot Leah a sympathetic glance and waved a finger in a general upwards motion.

"Hew ubtheth"

Upstairs. Leah bounded up the fire escape, not willing to risk the interior stairs, likely to be even more crowded with relatives than the eatery below. Wind blew chill across her cheeks and made her eyes water slightly, blurring the iron beneath her feet into an angular sea of chipped black paint. She could have climbed the fucking thing in her sleep.

sshhhHHHHHeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEee

Nails scratched ominously across the glass, Leah smooshed her face against the window pane and blew out her cheeks. George triple-taked at her, and snorted a mouthful of soda out his nose.

"Fuck, Leah! You're so weird." He helped her in with one hand, and fumbled through a tissue box with the other. " Get your ink finished?"

"Yeah.. dude. It turned out really well but.. I dunno. Did.. " She stumbled over the words. "I had the weirdest, and I mean the goddamn strangest mother fucking dream last night, man. I don't know what else to say. I just felt like company."

Leah settled herself into an overstuffed floral armchair, and kicked her boots off to dry near the heater. She loved George's apartment. His family owned the entire block, as well as the restaurant downstairs, and most of the units belonged to some relative or another. George's apartment was one of the few on an end, so it was graced with windows on three sides, and less noise than the rest. The floors were wood, mostly covered with a bizarre assortment of rugs gleaned from the market, and the walls were bare. George wasn't much of a decorator, all told, and he preferred to keep things plain, much to the chagrin of his collective female relatives. There was no shortage of furniture, art, lamps and plants offered up in the name of a little interior decoration, and boasting rights in the restaurant downstairs. Luckily, he had yet to succumb.

He disappeared into the galley kitchenette, and returned with two microwaved sandwiches and a second glass of soda.

"Did you know I was coming, or something?"

"No, man. I just.. you know." George gestured around. "I always expect some sort of company.. but I hoped."

Leah grinned.

[Chinaren]

Huzzah! Another slice. :D

[TruePurple]

Could it be begun, not begin, since its past tense?

[D-Lotus]

Hmm... they own the entire block? What are they, gangsters or something?

[scissorkitty]

no, just a really large Greek family. ;)