and she knew that there was a belt that matched somewhere.
She was just putting her other clothes away when the front door went and she heard her mother call out.
‘Damn it!’ she thought. ‘Of all the nights for you to get home early.’
There was a knock on her door and her mother’s face appeared round it.
‘Hi darling!’ she said cheerily. ‘I’ve managed to get off work early and I have the whole evening free.’
‘Really?’ said Angelina, trying to hide her annoyance.
‘Yes. I thought we could order a pizza or something and have a nice evening in.’
‘Is Derek coming round?’
‘No, he’s working tonight,’ said her mum. ‘Listen Angel, I really enjoyed the time we spent together last week and I want to keep it up.’
‘There go my plans,’ thought Angelina.
Out loud she said, ‘That would be great.’
And so another evening went by and another long school day had to be endured, which included an afternoon of PE that left her sweaty and tired after a tough game of hockey. She enjoyed playing, but had never seen fit to apply herself to it in a way that would show her true potential. She was happy being average, at that at least.
She went straight home again at the end of the day and immediately jumped into the shower. She could not be sure that her mum wouldn’t surprise her again by arriving home early, so when she got out she stuck some food in the microwave and began getting ready. Her clothes were all ready for her in the wardrobe and it was not long before she was dressed and fed and on her way out of the door.
It was half past five, which was clearly far too early to be heading round to see Zeus, especially with the queues of rush hour traffic snaking back up Eastbury Road. She decided to take a wander down through Oxhey Park, to the river that flowed along at the bottom of the hill. There wasn’t much to look at down there, despite an optimistic nature board highlighting the various forms of wildlife that supposedly lived on its banks. They would have been better off adding shopping trolleys, condoms and suchlike to the list, since they were far more common than any species of waterfowl.
Still, it was pleasant enough and she wandered aimlessly along its banks for about a quarter of a mile, until she came to a playing field with some swings and a seesaw in it. She sat on one of the swings for a while, watching the offspring of a girl not much older than she was running wildly around screaming and laughing. The sun was still quite warm, and as she swung back and forth she enjoyed its gentle touch on her face. She closed her eyes and leant back, holding the chains of the swing as she had done when she was younger, and for a while let all her worries fall away. She was as carefree as a toddler, swinging back and forth with nothing save the next change in motion to think about. It was bliss.
Before she knew it, it was quarter to seven and the sun was dipping behind the chimneys of the nearest houses. She looked around her and saw that the roads had quietened down, and she decided it was time to go. She started walking, and as she went she suddenly found that she had a strange feeling in the depths of her stomach. She couldn’t quite figure it out. Was it nerves? Surely not. She had chatted with Zeus on several occasions and never once had she felt anything other than relaxed. She tried to ignore it, but the feeling grew as she neared the Arches, and by the time she was close enough to see the light shining from under the door she had almost changed her mind about the whole idea.
She stopped by the battered phone box and composed herself. There was still some traffic around, but the glow from under the door was too enticing to ignore, and once she had got her head back into line she waited for a decent sized gap before crossing the road and heading straight for it. Before her mind had a chance for any more second thoughts she had rapped her knuckles on the green paintwork. There was the muffled sound of a dog barking and her heart began beating like a tom-tom. She reached out a hand to steady herself, and at that moment the door swung open a short way and Zeus’ friendly face appeared.
‘Heya!’ he said smiling. ‘I thought you’d be round tonight. I got home early and made some supper. Come on in!’
Breathless with anticipation, Angelina stepped across the threshold and into the cool yellow light that lay beyond. It took a moment before her eyes could fully take in her new surroundings, but once they did her mouth fell open.
She had expected little more than a shed. Perhaps a room containing maintenance equipment for the railway lines. She could not have got it more wrong. What lay before her was as close to a brand new show home as she had ever come across. From the modern laminate floor and fittings, to the vast arch of brickwork that formed the ceiling, everything about it was exquisitely finished. True, it was not very large, perhaps fourteen by ten metres in total, but the addition of an extra half storey that sat about the kitchen, and what was presumably the bathroom, really helped to add some character to it. Leading to the upper level was a wooden spiral staircase in the far corner that looked for all the world as though it had been hand carved from a single tree trunk. In fact, many of the fittings looked like they had been hand made; from the mock fireplace to the ancient-looking wooden table that formed the centrepiece of the downstairs room.
Angelina’s mouth hung gormlessly open as she took it all in. Meanwhile Zeus had gone over to the kitchen area to where a kettle was boiling on the side next to several bottles of mineral water.
‘Tea?’ he asked, seemingly oblivious to Angelina’s awe.
‘Yes please,’ she replied blankly. ‘Milk, no sugar.’
‘Right you are.’
Zeus made two cups and set them down on the large table. He motioned for Angelina to take a seat.
‘So, what do you think?’ he asked when she had taken a sip of her drink.
Angelina looked at him with a rather bemused expression on her face.
‘I don’t understand,’ came the reply. ‘This place is… and you’re a… I don’t get it,’ she finished lamely.
‘OK, but do you like it?’ said Zeus, changing tack slightly.
‘Like it?’ repeated Angelina. ‘It’s fantastic. It’s unbelievable. I never expected this. Not in a million years.’
‘I’m glad,’ he said. ‘It has taken a little time to get it to this state, but I am happy with it.’
‘Zeus, I don’t understand,’ said Angelina again. ‘You sell the Big Issue on the High Street. You dress… well you dress oddly, it would be fair to say. I thought you were homeless when I first met you, then when you told me you lived here I thought you must be squatting. I never expected this.’
‘It’s interesting you should say that,’ said Zeus. ‘Appearances, it would seem, count for everything in this world. Was it just the way I looked that brought you to the conclusion that I was homeless?’
‘And the way you stink of booze, and the dog, and just the fact that you sell the Big Issue. It’s what anyone would assume.’
‘I see,’ said Zeus.
Then a thought struck Angelina.
‘Hey,’ she said. ‘There’s sort of an urban myth going round that there was some millionaire chap, who left his job and started selling the Big Issue in the centre of London. I never believed it, but now I’m not so sure. Are you that man?’
‘No indeed,’ said Zeus with a smile. ‘I am a simple man from a more traditional trade. But please, do not trouble yourself with this too much now. There will be plenty of time to find out more about me at a later date. Please, enjoy my hospitality.’
He got up and walked back to the kitchen, where he began wrestling a tray of baked goods out of the oven. As Angelina continued to gaze dreamily around the room, she noticed an LCD TV on the far wall showing a tranquil scene of a waterfall in the middle of a rainforest. Turning round she saw another near the door depicting a stretch of sandy coastline with azure waters gently breaking and a flock of pelicans gliding along the beach. Looking up, she saw a third, much larger screen on the wall to her left, facing the upper floor opposite. Angelina’s head
was spinning. Was it all real? Something nudged her leg and she looked under the table to see Judas’ happy face staring back at her. She reached down and he licked her hands as she ruffled his fur.
‘Come on now Judas, leave her be,’ said Zeus, returning to the table with a tray of cookies and a plate with multi-coloured slices of cake on it.
‘Angel layer cake,’ he said with a wink.
Angelina smiled.
They sat and ate for a while, not speaking except to comment on the food. When they were done, Zeus asked if she would like to see upstairs. Angelina nodded. He led her up the spiral staircase to the upper level, where a sofa sat looking directly at the massive TV on the far wall. The roof began its broad sweep across the room, intruding a little into the headroom, but all in all it was a very neat solution to the lack of floor space.
‘It folds out into a bed,’ said Zeus pointing at the sofa, which had a couple of rather girly cushions on it. ‘I thought it made the best use of space.’
‘It’s great,’ said Angelina peering over the low railing down to the floor below. Judas, who was now curled up on a beanbag in the corner of the room looked up and gave a small yelp.
‘Listen,’ said Zeus. ‘Thank you so much from coming over, but you had best be getting back. I don’t want your mum worrying about you.’
‘Oh she won’t be in for ages yet,’ said Angelina.
‘Still, school tomorrow and all