The Plot Thickens

The policeman watched as Ben walked off down the road. Someone else had also watched the whole incident. Grant Perkins. He was coming out of ‘Just So’, a small gift shop which used the services of the accountancy firm for which Ben worked.

Grant had no intentions of speaking to Ben, what if someone saw him? He wouldn’t want anyone to think that Ben was a friend of his, or that he was ‘that way inclined’. No, this was something else he could use against Ben and make his life more uncomfortable.

Ben decided that the best thing to do was to go home. As he waited at the bus stop the rain began to come down in torrents and he realised that he had left his umbrella in the doorway. It was all he needed to complete a thoroughly disastrous day.

By the time the bus came he was soaked to the skin and squelched his way to the only remaining seat on the bus. Unfortunately this was next to a lady of rather large proportions who had in her possession bags of all shapes and sizes. Heperched on the few inches of seat remaining.

He thought  that things could not possibly get worse, but yes they could. The large lady was of the gregarious sort who liked to fill her bus journey times by engaging her fellow passengers in conversation, but not expecting any answers.

‘It’s an awful day isn’t it dear? And aren’t you wet. You should have brought your umbrella with you. Didn’t you listen to the weather forecast this morning? My hubby laughs at me, I won’t leave the house without listening to the weather forecast. I do like that nice lady on the Tele, she’s always right you know. These buses are dreadful. I’ve written to the bus company complaining but it doesn’t make any difference. They never come on time and then you’re lucky if you can get a seat.’ She looked at Ben but before he could answer anything other than ‘Mm’, she was off again. ‘I was only saying to Harry, my hubby you know, we’ll have to get ourselves a little car and save all this bother with buses. Mind you it’s not him who has to do the shopping, he’s sitting at home in the dry, watching the Tele and keeping the dog company. The dog hates the rain; we have to drag him out on days like this to do his business. Our Joan, my daughter you know, she says she doesn’t know why we ever got a dog but Harry wanted him, says it gets him out of the house. Have you got any pets dear? Oh look at me going on, this is my stop. Excuse me dear. It has been nice talking to you.’ Ben got up to allow the large lady to move which was no easy feat considering the number of bags she had, and that the bus was now completely full, with some passengers having to stand. When she had at last extricated herself Ben shuffled over to the seat next to the window and the empty seat was immediately occupied.
The new occupant was an old man, with a rather strange smell, who had no interest in conversations with others only those with himself. He maintained a constant muttering, none of which Ben was able to understand. He felt great relief when he neared his bus stop and politely asked the old man to excuse him. The old man continued with his own internal conversation and it wasn’t until he had missed his stop that Ben was able to make the man understand what he wanted. The old man got up with bad grace giving Ben a malevolent stare as though he were responsible for all the ills that had evidently descended on his head.

He got off the bus with a great sigh of relief and began the walk back to his home. Half way there the heavens once again opened and he got yet another soaking.

When he eventually got home all he wanted was a nice long soak in the bath and astiff whiskey.He lay in the bath washing, and drinking, away the troubles of theday.

He heard the phone ring and decided to leave it for the answer phone.
‘Hi Ben it’s Lisa. Sorry to have missed you. I’ll phone you later.’ He fell out of the bath and managed to collide with the loo in the process. By the time he got to the phone she’d gone. He dropped the phone and then managed to get tangled up in the wire. By the time he had sorted it out and phoned Lisa she was not answering her phone.

He put on his dressing gown and listened to the saved messages on the answer phone. Most were blank, one told him he’d won a wonderful holiday but the one that really cheered him up was from Martin who said he’d had some luck with thespare parts and Min would be back in action before the end of the week. That certainly put a smile back onto Ben’s face.

He decided that he’d try to catch up with ‘The Big Sleep’ from the point where he’d fallen asleep last night. As he put in the DVD his thoughts switched to work. ‘Should I go to work tomorrow? I don’t think I can face another bus journey. I think I’ll phone in and say I’m taking a few days out of my holiday and I’ll be back onMonday. By then Min should be fully recovered.’

He settled himself down to watch the film and this time managed to stay awake. As he was tidying up for the night he realised that Lisa had not phoned him back. It was too late to phone her and it gave him something else to worry about.

Radio Four once again woke him up. As he lay trying to summon up the will power to get out of bed he listened with half an ear to a discussion about global warming. It made him wonder whether there was really any point in getting out of bed. He was warned that his life could well be cut short by the disasters this would bring. He groaned. ‘Why can’t they start the day with something light and amusing. It’s always something gloomy and doom laden which seems to threaten my very existence!’

He phoned the office hoping that Mat would answer, but no, it was Grant Perkins. ‘Grant could you tell Mat I’m still not well and the car’s out of commission. I’ll take a few days out of my holiday; I’ll be back on Monday. There’s nothing vital that needs to be done at the moment.’ There was a significant short pause before Grant answered. ‘Sorry to hear that Ben. I’m sure Mat will understand.’ Another significant short pause. ‘Did you manage to get out at all yesterday, or did you feel too ill? I had to go and see the people at ‘Just So’. You know the little gift shop near the police station. I got soaked; I was pleased to get back to the office. Still, the weather forecast is much better for today. See you Monday!’

Ben groaned internally, he realised that Grant had seen him with the policeman and that by Monday all sorts of stories would be circulating at the office.