City

Chapter One

Chapter One; Of the City

The city in which Kate had grown up in had become smaller over the years. When she was a child it had seemed vast and scary; By the time she went to school she knew her own neighborhood; And now as she moved into her own apartment in the inner city she knew the streets and buildings better than she knew her own apartment.

Kate had never wanted to leave the city. Walking each day to work on the bustling sidewalks made her feel as though she was where everything was happening, like she was at the center of something bigger than she could ever hope to be apart of. She would admit that there were things she didn't know, or places she tried to avoid, but to her these things were exciting - and a part of her home.

Stretching out her arms, tired after a day of moving boxes all the way up to her fourteenth floor apartment, Kate wandered over to the neat kitchen to cook herself up the meal she felt she definitely deserved.

As she looked through all the cupboards and found a cup of instant noodles, a loaf of bread and a box of cereal, Kate felt a frown slide onto her face. She looked at where her car keys and wallet sat on the counter and sighed.

Kate scooped up her belongings and left the apartment, ensuring to lock it carefully behind her. She made her way to the elevator and pressed the down button humming as she waited for it to approach.

After less than a minute the elevator let out a soft chime and Kate stepped in next to a man in a suit who was briefly glanced her way before staring blankly at the elevator doors. 

The elevator continued its journey downward picking up a woman who was rummaging for something in her bag and a teenager who was listening to music with overly large headphones and tapping his foot on the elevator floor. When the lift reached the ground floor all four of its passengers left to go their separate ways. Once outside the teen and the man went left, the woman hailed a taxi and Kate turned right to collect her car.

There weren't many people walking about, but the streets were packed with cars. Turning onto the road was much more difficult than Kate had anticipated. The traffic was moving so slow it might as well have been completely stopped and there was little to no space between the cars. Realising her attempts were futile, Kate turned her car around and parked it back in her designated space. 

Pocketing her keys Kate walked back to the foot path deciding that she would go on foot instead. Most of the restaurants that Kate frequented were on the other side of the main street closer to where her parent's house was. It was only a short drive to get there but it would take much longer to walk, so she decided to go to the restaurant that was just around the block.

Kate walked at a casual pace, strolling leisurely along. It was late spring, so the trees that lined the street were leafy green providing shade from the setting sun, the days were long so that even at six in the evening it was light and it was warm enough that Kate was able to wear short sleeves. The build up of cars continued around the corner and off into the distance.  It was likely the cause of the disruption was just a small car crash but Kate still awed at the delays it had created.

Because she was so absorbed in her thoughts of what had happened, Kate found herself at the restaurant without realising she had arrived. She quickly halted and walked through the door. Inside the restaurant was quite nice. There was an array of people but around half of the tables were still empty. The air was filled with the chattering that made the place seem homely and pleasant.

Kate slid into a booth as a waitress dropped of a menu for her to browse. The menu was fairly standard, but all of the food looked good and was priced reasonably. Awarding her earlier efforts in moving into her new apartment Kate ordered herself a burger with fries and a lemonade.