Half the World Away

by Rebecca Banks

  ‘This is going to be so much fun,’ she said, clapping her hands with glee.

  Abbie felt the niggles of doubt but she knew something had to change and, now Violet had the bit between her teeth, there was no going back now.

  CHAPTER 2

  On Monday afternoon, Abbie sat in Dave’s office. John Sullivan, the player in trouble, occupied the chair to her right while the manager leaned against his desk, looking down at John with an expression of pure fury that threatened to make his mood on Saturday night look like a mere flicker of annoyance.

  The room was deathly silent, with John looking more and more uncomfortable by the second. He was trying to portray that he was calm and collected but it looked like he couldn’t bring himself to meet his boss’s eyes.

  Abbie kept her own eyes fixed on her notebook. She was ostensibly writing work-related things down but, in reality, was jotting down song lyrics from The Traps, one of her favourite bands, in a bid to distract herself from the awkward silence.

  There was palpable relief when the door swung open and Henry strode in, his calm aura sending soothing waves across the office. John managed a tight smile at the lawyer.

  Henry stood next to Dave and cleared his throat.

  ‘Right, I don’t want you to think that what has gone on is not very, very serious. Innocent until proven guilty and all that, but I’ve spoken to you and I’ve spoken to the girl, and we all know what went on in that room.’

  ‘Like I said, mate, I didn’t do nothing wrong,’ John said in a defensive voice.

  ‘Let me finish, please,’ Henry asserted.

  Dave jumped in, anger flashing across his face. ‘Don’t you bloody dare interrupt him again or I’ll have you packed off to Accrington Stanley quicker than you can say free transfer.’

  Abbie silently fist-pumped the air in admiration for her boss before turning her attention back to Henry.

  ‘Now, what is spoken about in this meeting shall go no further than this room,’ he said. ‘We have had some, shall we say, discussions with the girl to check that she was sure this hasn’t all been a big misunderstanding. We’re taking care of her to make sure she’s okay and we’ve got an agreement that there were maybe some crossed wires and a bit too much alcohol all round, and she’s withdrawn her statements from the police. I’ve also got an injunction preventing the press from naming you. You’re off the hook this time, but I suggest you have a long hard look at what went on and make sure that nothing like this happens again. The repercussions on the club could have been disastrous, and you have a duty to represent your place of work in the best possible way. You’re a role model, whether you like it or not.’

  John started to get up from his seat.

  ‘Sit back down now,’ Dave shouted, making Abbie jump with the ferocity of his order. ‘Do you really think you get to behave like that and walk out of my office with no consequences? Do you really? I am fed up to the back teeth with the utter lack of respect from you. I don’t know what you did and what you didn’t but, whatever happened, you put yourself in this position with a total lack of thought or care because you think you can do whatever you want. You’ve got the morals of an alley cat and you never have to face up to your actions. Well, I’m fining you. Three months’ wages. How do you like that?’

  ‘Maybe he could donate it to a women’s group for victims of abuse?’

  Oh, shit. She had said that out loud. Shit, shit, shit.

  ‘That’s a bloody great idea, Abbie. That’s exactly what we’ll do with it. It’s a hell of a lot of money, that’ll make a big difference, even if this idiot treats it like it’s going out of fashion with his new Bentleys and fancy watches and whatnot every five minutes.’

  Turning to face John again, he growled, ‘Now get out of my office. I can’t stand the bloody sight of you right now.’

  Knowing he was beaten and there was no use trying to fight back, John trudged out of the office, but not before throwing a look of anger in Abbie’s direction as he left. She feigned nonchalance and focused on Dave, who was leaning against his desk shaking his head.

  ‘What a bloody disaster. I’m so bloody angry. He’s lucky he got out of here with his limbs still intact. I feel like skinning him alive.’

  Henry put his soothing lawyer’s voice to use trying to calm Dave before turning to Abbie. ‘Let me finish up here and then let’s you and I head into one of the meeting rooms and go through the press strategy in case you do get any calls. You shouldn’t with the injunction in place, but we’ll cover every possibility so you’re armed and ready.’

  Abbie offered her thanks and left the room, leaving Dave and Henry to wrap up their conversation on the whole sorry mess.

  Scrolling through her inbox later that afternoon, Abbie couldn’t really focus on the job at hand. The task of responding to emails seemed trivial when she thought of what the teenage girl might have gone through on Saturday night, and how she must be feeling now having been coerced with a lot of money and, probably, thinly veiled threats. Abbie didn’t blame her for making the decision that she had; she’d have enough money now to set herself up with a house and would have a good level of financial security, but she’d always know that she didn’t get justice and the snake had got away with it.

  Her thoughts were interrupted when the mobile on her desk started to ring.

  ‘Abbie Potter.’

  ‘Hello there, Abbie, how’s it going?’

  ‘Hey, Michael, not bad thanks. Actually, that’s a complete lie. I’m in a horrible state and it’s all down to your better half.’

  ‘Yes, I heard you had rather a rowdy Sunday night.’

  ‘Ah, Michael. Violet and I rowdy? Never.’

  Abbie liked Michael. He and Violet had been together for years. On paper it shouldn’t work. Michael was relaxed, while Violet was a total whirlwind, but they just fit together right, and for all the henpecking and the fights that Violet picked, Michael never rose to the bait. He adored her, craziness and all.

  ‘What can I do you for, Michael? Need some birthday present advice for our Vi?’

  ‘Actually, not this time, no. Violet mentioned you were in the market for a new job, and quite coincidentally we’ve had an interesting role come in this week at MD Recruitment. I wondered if you’d like to chat.’

  Abbie moved quicker than she had all day to run and close her office door before settling back down at her desk. ‘That sounds interesting.’

  ‘I think you’d be perfect for this. It’s in football and it’s a very rare opportunity. I’m not sure how much you know about the industry in America, but the Utah Saints are looking for a communications director and I think you’d be absolutely perfect. They want to take someone from an English premiership club to really bring them up to scratch. I couldn’t imagine anyone better than you, and from what Violet is saying, you need a great new challenge and you need it quickly.’

  ‘I don’t know what to say. I’m really flattered, Michael. I don’t really understand how that would work though. Why on earth would they hire someone in the UK when they’re based god knows where in America?’

  ‘That’s the thing, Abbie, it’s not England based. They want someone to move to Utah to run the whole operation.’

  ‘Aha, that makes more sense now. I have to say it’s slightly annoying as the job sounds amazing, but I can’t move to America.’

  ‘Are you sure? It’s a real once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and they’re only looking for a one-year commitment to start with. You could interview here, and just see what happens.’

  ‘Really, Michael, thanks, but this one’s not for me. I’ve never had any big ambitions to work abroad, and it feels like it’s too far from home. What would I do if something happened to Mum or Dad and I needed to rush to be there or look after Lily? I couldn’t do that from the other side of the world. I’ve got to run as I’m heading to the training ground to meet a TV crew, but could we catch up later about any other ideas you’ve got?’

  Michael sighed down t
he phone.

  ‘Of course, but give this one some thought. I can get you an interview next week.’

  As Abbie put the phone down, she looked at her computer screen and saw the time. She closed the computer down and layered up in preparation for the bracing January temperatures, then hurried out of her office.

  She trudged into the training ground building and said hi to Mavis, the catering lady who had worked there for twenty-seven years and watched many a youth player grow up to either make it to the first team or have their dreams shattered and their contracts torn up. There wasn’t much Mavis hadn’t seen, and the boys (for the most part) adored her.

  ‘You be careful out there on the pitch this morning, Abbie dear, you’ll catch your death. Here, come and get a nice hot cup of tea before you go out, it will do you the world of good.’

  Abbie took the tea appreciatively, giving Mavis a hug. Things weren’t all bad here, she thought. Unfortunately, her time had been taken up recently dealing with awful events that overshadowed the good people and players. She cursed John Sullivan for ruining things. Although he wasn’t the first to cause her drama, an incident like the one he’d caused made her tar the rest of the not-so-bad bunch with the same brush because it took up so much of her attention.

  She would try to remember that and be patient dealing with things this morning. She wouldn’t let her anger spill into her work today.

  Heading out onto the training pitch, attempting to put a spring in her step, the first face she saw was John, scowling as usual as he knocked a ball around the damp grass. Unfortunately, he was the TV crew’s number one request to interview that day. It pained her to facilitate putting him in the living rooms of millions of children, holding him up as a hero and a role model. But it wasn’t for much longer, if her plan of escape worked. She just needed to grin and bear it for now.

  A commotion behind her indicated that the TV crew had arrived, and she walked over to talk to them about the shoot. When they were settled and ready, she headed towards John.

  ‘John, can you come over here please? Sport TV are here to interview you about the derby.’ Unsmiling, he walked alongside her as they headed towards the crew. ‘Now remember, don’t discuss the team selection even though it’s already decided. Some quick stats for you are that this derby has been held seventeen times and we’ve won the last fifteen of them, so we’re confident the winning streak will continue.’

  John nodded and sneered at her again. This was a fun morning. He leaned in and Abbie moved her ear closer to him. Often the players would want to ask her something before being interviewed – checking a fact, or what they could and couldn’t say – so she was ready for questions.

  ‘You need to watch yourself, with your smart-arse comments. Girls like you need teaching a lesson.’

  Abbie’s blood ran cold. He threw her a menacing smile then quickly moved away and walked straight to the TV crew, all charm and laughter.

  She was completely shocked. He had just threatened her, unless she was very much mistaken. The familiar tears pricked at her eyes but then the anger took over. That bastard was never going to change and she needed to get the hell away from characters like that. As much as there were nice boys in the squad, there were a few too many bad eggs, and for her sanity, she had to get out.

  As she walked past the TV crew, she told them something had come up and she had to get back to the office. They were welcome to carry on interviewing John but she wanted no part of any of it anymore. Let him fuck it up when he didn’t know the answer to a question. She didn’t care any longer.

  CHAPTER 3

  ‘So, you’ve actually done it? Without a job to go to?’ Violet was incredulous when Abbie called her that evening to tell her she had handed in her resignation to Dave.

  ‘Yep, I couldn’t bear it anymore. What John said to me today was the last straw. Dave was amazing, he totally understood. He said he would be sad to see me go, but he’s happy for me to see out my notice, which gives me a month to find something.’

  ‘Abs, I’m so happy for you. You’ve got the fire back in your belly.’

  ‘It definitely feels like I’ve taken a step towards something,’ she said, smiling as she talked to her friend. ‘I’m chatting to Michael about what he’s got available so hopefully things will get sorted pretty quickly. Things are looking up, Violet. It already feels like a weight’s been lifted.’

  ‘That’s amazing.’

  Something had shifted in Violet’s voice, which unsettled Abbie. She thought Violet would be delighted for her, but her reaction had turned flat and Abbie told her as much.

  ‘Um, I don’t know how to say it. It’s shitty timing, and I was going to come over later, but…’

  ‘Spit it out, Vi. What’s going on?’

  Her friend paused, hemmed and hawed, and then suddenly blurted it out.

  ‘Josh and his wife are having a baby.’

  Abbie remained silent at this unexpected news about her former husband.

  ‘I’m so sorry, love. I didn’t want you finding out from someone else or seeing it on bloody Facebook or something.’

  Clenching the phone, Abbie realised she was holding her breath.

  ‘Are you okay, Abs? I can come over there right away. In fact, I’m going to get in the car now, don’t move.’

  Quickly pulling herself together, she moved to reassure her friend. ‘Don’t be silly, Vi. I’m absolutely fine. We’re starting over, remember? It’s been two years now. It’s time I moved on. I’ll be fine.’

  Violet hesitated. ‘Well, if you’re sure. Call me anytime, okay? I’m keeping my phone on loud all night.’

  Abbie said her goodbyes and let out a deep breath. She was exhausted after a hell of a few days and now, hearing her ex-husband’s news, she wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep for a week. The notion of letting purposefully repressed memories bubble to the surface didn’t bear thinking about, so she turned her thoughts back to her conversation with Michael and how it wouldn’t hurt to take an interview with the American company he’d mentioned. Letting all her attention turn to the possibilities she might have in front of her, she let herself relax down into the couch, pushing all the unwanted thoughts out of her head.

  She switched on the TV to try to distract herself, but found it difficult to focus on the holiday home search programme that flickered onto the screen. As she worked to concentrate on the couple looking at the Spanish beachside apartment, she felt the lids of her eyes getting heavier and heavier until, finally, she dozed off.

  Slowly moving her cricked neck, it took Abbie a minute to realise that she was still on the sofa.

  A wave of loneliness hit her as the quiet night allowed noisy thoughts back in and the phone call with Violet came flooding back into her mind. Josh was going to be a father to someone else’s baby. She had always envisaged that future for them, but it would never be.

  With the metaphorical door cracked open, physical pain engulfed her as the memories she tried so hard to block out came crashing back into her consciousness. How he would slowly entwine their fingers and gently stroke her palm with his thumb. The way when he was tired, he would nestle his head into her chest, murmur words of tenderness to her and make her feel so loved and needed. And how he used to draw her to him in the still of the night. Now he was doing those things, the things she thought were special between them, with wife number two.

  She brushed away a tear that started to escape and tried to feel some fury towards Josh. The anger was there somewhere but, too often when she allowed herself to think about him, she felt only her own sense of deep failure and sadness.

  She had met Josh when she was just twenty-two and in the first year of her job as an assistant music publicist. Having the time of her life, going to gigs almost every night of the week, the last thing on her mind was a relationship. Then one day she was sent to the coffee shop near her office to buy a round of drinks for her hung-over colleagues. As the barista pushed her order of four double espressos, two ski
nny lattes and two Americanos towards her, she realised she’d forgotten her purse.

  ‘Oh, shit,’ she said to the barista, feeling awkward as she knew a queue had built behind her because of the big order. ‘I’m just from the record company around the corner, I’ll be back in five minutes.’

  As she went to turn around, a suited arm reached past her with a credit card.

  ‘I’ve got this,’ she heard a man say. ‘Add a double espresso to that order.’

  Abbie reddened as she looked up at him. ‘Oh no, I couldn’t. Let me go and get you the cash. My office is close by.’

  The man smiled at her. ‘Mine too. How about you just buy me a drink after work and we’ll call it even. Meet me in The Crown at six?’

  He was cute. And he had kind eyes. And he was helping cure eight people’s hangovers. So it seemed he was thoughtful too. Why not?

  ‘See you there,’ she said, smiling as she juggled the cardboard drinks holders while leaving the coffee shop.

  He swept her off her feet and he wanted to take care of her. A year later they walked down the aisle of a church in her hometown of Liverpool, one of his hedge fund colleagues as the best man and Lily and Violet as her bridesmaids.

  There was no catalyst for their breakup that she could pinpoint. They hadn’t been arguing. She had still loved him, and he seemed to feel the same.

  One day he just told her he was leaving. That he was sorry but he couldn’t be in a relationship at that moment. He’d never given her the decency of a conversation for ‘closure’ but she was pretty sure he felt they’d settled down too young and didn’t want to be tied down anymore. He said she could stay in their riverfront apartment for a while and he would stay with a friend, but she needed to get away from the daily reminders of their five years together, four of them married. She searched for a place as different to Josh’s city pad as she could find and was out within days, living with a Swedish painter and decorator and a Lebanese chef for a few weeks until she found something more permanent.