Half the World Away

by Rebecca Banks

  ‘Here’s to The Salt Scene, and to having too much fun this year,’ Rose said, clinking glasses with Abbie again before they both downed the strong liquid, the alcohol burning the back of Abbie’s throat as it hit.

  They both winced at the taste, with Abbie sticking her tongue out. Then they both sucked the lemons, laughing as they slammed the shot glasses back on the table.

  ‘I have to work tomorrow, Rose, this was not in the plan,’ Abbie said, shivering as she felt the tequila taking effect.

  ‘We’re on a roll now, we can’t stop. Come back to my place and we’ll get onto my computer. We’ll register the domain and start to build the site. I know how to do it; it can be up and running by tomorrow. Let’s plan a bit together then I can carry on during the day while you’re at work.’ Rose’s excitement was palpable.

  Abbie, too, was excited as they left the bar. She realised she didn’t know what part of town Rose lived in and started to open the taxi app on her phone, but Rose stopped her.

  ‘We don’t need that,’ she said as she put a key in a discreet black door next to the bar. ‘As part of my deal when I started work here, they rented me the apartment upstairs.’

  Rose’s place was exactly what Abbie would have expected. Eclectic and cosy. Walking straight into the open plan kitchen and living space, Abbie was met with the sweet lingering scent of a vanilla candle. A huge multi-coloured woven wool rug took up most of the floor space with an inviting-looking soft dark purple corner sofa.

  Grabbing her laptop from the kitchen counter, Rose urged Abbie to sit down as she fired it up.

  ‘It’s super easy to register a domain. Watch this.’

  In minutes they were the proud owners of www.thesaltscene.us and Rose was showing Abbie how you could create your own website using templates that looked ultra-modern and super professional.

  They decided on red for the main theme colour. Red was impossible to ignore and really strong. They mixed it with white and black and picked an old typewriter text for their font. It was looking good.

  Immersed in what they were doing, they decided on the pages they wanted. They needed a listings page to detail upcoming gigs, with links to buy tickets. Then they clearly needed their reviews page. They also created a page about themselves, writing tongue-in-cheek biographies and adding their favourite photos from their Facebook pages.

  ‘Maybe we should add a review, to get us started?’ Abbie suggested.

  Rose agreed. ‘And it has to be Memphis Black, because none of this would have happened if you hadn’t come into the bar the night they played.’

  The feature wrote itself. They took it in turns to tweak and play with the copy as they launched into the story of how the blog was born after an unlikely American-Brit duo met in a live music bar in Salt Lake City one night and saw future stars play in front of fewer than a hundred people. They tipped them for big things.

  Rose said she’d call around venues the next day and find out who was playing where for the next month so they could do their listings. And Abbie planned to write a review about Nicola George, the young songwriter who had played at the football game just a few days before.

  Then, looking at her watch, Abbie jumped up. ‘Shit, Rose, it’s four a.m. I have to be at work at nine.’ She took out her phone and ordered a taxi before grabbing her coat and bag. ‘This has been the best night. I’ll call you tomorrow.’ Rose hugged her as she let her out.

  And, just like that, The Salt Scene was born.

  CHAPTER 12

  Abbie frowned as she looked at her phone. She hadn’t received an email from Violet in weeks now and her texts were being replied to with short, perfunctory messages, with her friend seemingly not wanting to get into a conversation.

  Over the last month she had been busy organising The Half-Time Show for the fortnightly home soccer matches, then spending several evenings a week with Rose working on their website, going to gigs or updating the listings. That, combined with the seven-hour time difference to London, meant that Abbie hadn’t realised the weeks were passing by so quickly with Violet being distant.

  Abbie knew that Violet missed her. She missed her like crazy too. Maybe her friend was finding it easier to stay away. But, deep in her heart, Abbie knew that wasn’t Violet and something was going on. She wanted to update her on everything that was going on in her new city; she craved her familiar voice and wanted news from home.

  She made a mental note to call her in her lunch break.

  Looking up at the sound of the door opening, she smiled as Kitty entered her office, where Abbie had been waiting for her.

  ‘Abbie, you’re here early.’ She smiled as she swept in and started discarding bags and taking off her coat.

  ‘Yes. I knew you always got here early and wanted to talk to you before work. How was your weekend?’

  Even though they had formed a steady sort of friendship by this point, with Kitty regularly helping on The Half-Time Show and nothing being too much trouble, Abbie still couldn’t relax entirely in her presence. It hadn’t been the fast, easy bond that she’d made with Rose, or even with Kyle.

  She hadn’t seen him around for a couple of weeks as he’d been off around the country on a scouting mission, and she found herself missing him as she looked for him each day. She daren’t ask Kitty when he was due back, though.

  Kitty seemed delighted that Abbie had asked. ‘Great, thank you so much for asking. I was invited to check out a ghost-hunting experience. I’m earmarking it for a social committee activity for Halloween. Doesn’t that sound so fun?’

  ‘So fun.’ Abbie nodded, even though you wouldn’t get her going hunting for ghosts if you paid her. She would find a way to get out of that. ‘I wondered if I could talk to you about my apartment,’ she asked, offering Kitty a blueberry muffin that she’d picked up on the way to work, which she politely declined.

  ‘Of course. Is there a problem? I can get on it straight away.’ Kitty already had her mobile phone in her hand poised to dial, a concerned look on her face.

  ‘No, the opposite actually. I really love living there and I can afford the rent. I wanted to know how to go about staying on longer term. I could commit to it for the duration of my current contract.’ Abbie had come to the decision she didn’t want to go anywhere and she wanted to sort it as, unbelievably, her initial three months were coming to an end in just two weeks’ time.

  ‘I just knew you would be happy there.’ Kitty grinned. ‘Let me make some calls and see what I can do to keep you in your dream house.’ She waved the phone at Abbie. ‘Scram. Let me do my thing.’

  Abbie stood up and uttered her thanks, brushing the crumbs from her own muffin from her sweater into her hand and into Kitty’s bin on the way out of the office.

  A couple of hours later the ping of an incoming email titled ‘Apartment News’ indicated that Kitty had an update. Excitedly opening the envelope icon, Abbie scanned the text and then felt her heart sink with disappointment.

  Abbie

  I’m so sorry. I’ve tried everything. I even shouted at the realtor but there’s nothing I can do. The apartment has already been rented to a new tenant and the contract is watertight.

  I’ll help you with anything you need to find a new place. I’m devastated this didn’t work out! I know how much you love the place!

  Lunch? We can talk about it some more? Start searching for somewhere even better for you?

  Kitty (at your service)

  x

  Ugh. She was already so busy that the thought of finding a new place to live – all the admin that went with that, and then moving – was exhausting. She had thought, probably naively, that she could simply stay on where she was.

  She quickly sent a thank you email back to Kitty, turning down the offer of lunch as she now needed to spend her time researching apartments for rent. Checking her diary, she hoped that there would miraculously be more than two weeks for her to do all this but, no, the dates were clear.

  She parked the housing c
risis for the rest of the morning as she got on with some work. Then, as the clock signalled 1:00 p.m., she took the sandwich she’d made that morning out of her bag and opened up a browser to search realtor websites for properties that were available immediately.

  She focused her search on where she was living now as she loved waking up each morning to the view of the Wasatch Mountains and being close enough to walk to the park. She’d been doing that most weekends to try to keep vaguely active as she drove everywhere the rest of the time.

  There seemed to be a few options. Nothing as spectacular and stylish as she had now, and all of the ones she could find were unfurnished. That would add an extra job, and a lot more expense, to the list if she needed to furnish an entire apartment.

  She did what she always did in these kinds of circumstances and started to write a list of all the things she needed to achieve in the next fourteen days to have a fully functioning new place to live. It was all doable if she focused on the task for approximately twenty-five hours each day. She sighed.

  Looking at the top of her computer screen, she was surprised to see nearly an hour had passed. She fired off a few emails to realtors enquiring about available properties; she didn’t have time to lose. The hunt would have to continue this evening.

  She suddenly remembered she’d meant to call Violet, so quickly dialled her as her lunch break neared its end. It would be nearly eight at home now, and her friend would normally be at home with Michael on a Monday night.

  After ten rings, the phone went to voicemail. ‘This is Violet, you know what to do.’

  After the tone, Abbie put on her most upbeat voice. ‘Have you been eaten by London street foxes? Kept prisoner by Michael as he ravishes you? Where the hell are you? Call me. I have so much to tell you.’

  Hanging up, a funny feeling in her stomach, she returned to her long list of jobs.

  Exhausted at the end of a long day, Abbie finally decided she had to sign off or the hunt for a house wouldn’t happen. She decisively closed all her programmes except for the web browser and focused on looking for realtors that she hadn’t already searched through, since she’d received two replies already saying the apartments she was looking at were now unavailable.

  She supposed worst case, Rose would let her sleep on the sofa for a few days, but she really preferred to find a new place as she didn’t much fancy waking up each morning with a stiff neck.

  She widened her search around the city as nothing new was showing up in the East of Downtown area that she had been focused on.

  She sighed. This was going to be a long night, and she was going to need a shit ton of coffee. Picking up her empty mug – the LTFC 4 LIFE one the boys had given her when she left London City, which was a fond reminder of home – she went to leave her office and go to the kitchen. As she started to open the door, it flew back and she felt the weight of another freight train hit her as she crashed into someone who was walking into the room as she was trying to leave it.

  This time though, Kyle grabbed her before she had a chance to fall to the ground. ‘We must stop meeting like this,’ he laughed, and let her go after making sure she was steady.

  She returned the smile. ‘You’re determined to put me in the hospital, aren’t you?’

  ‘I figure the only way I can impress you at this point is to get you injured then swoop in to rescue you.’ He wiggled his eyebrows up and down and then left them raised in a question.

  ‘The only way you can impress me right now is by coming to the kitchen with me and making me a coffee, because I need it to give me the energy to get through the evening.’

  He took the mug out of her hand and started towards the kitchen. ‘Your wish is my command, England. I also owe you for leaving you in this place with Kitty for weeks while I’ve been roving around the country.’

  Abbie flicked his arm. ‘Stop being mean. She’s been really helpful. She’s supported me loads with The Half-Time Show and she’s tried to sort out my apartment woes.’

  ‘What’s happened?’ He looked concerned as he paused while heaping instant coffee into two mugs.

  ‘Oh, don’t worry. I need five minutes not thinking about it. Tell me about your trip. Distract me,’ she encouraged him as she hoisted herself up to sit on the counter. She wouldn’t normally, but it was after hours, and she was pretty sure they were the only two on the premises.

  The culture was different at this club, and people didn’t tend to work late. It was very different from every other job she’d had, where people were pretty much expected to do unpaid overtime every day or their dedication was questioned. It was taking some getting used to, but she was enjoying the ability to leave guilt-free when she had plans.

  ‘It went pretty well actually.’ Kyle stirred the coffee and handed Abbie a steaming mug. ‘I visited ten colleges, a different one almost every day, and saw a bunch of matches. I also found a few kids I’m going to offer a place in the youth team, and there are two that I would move mountains to get here,’ he said, his happiness obvious.

  ‘That’s amazing news,’ she said, offering up her coffee mug to clink with his.

  ‘Did you miss me?’ he teased.

  ‘To be honest, I didn’t even notice you weren’t here.’ She winked, sticking out her tongue. Dear god, he was easy to flirt with. She didn’t even know she still had it in her. She was rusty as hell.

  ‘Rude. I’ll be taking that coffee back then.’ He made a mock grab for her coffee and she found herself looking straight into his eyes. The atmosphere felt charged and she looked down, taking a sip of the coffee.

  He broke the silence. ‘Tell me about the apartment then. What’s wrong? I thought you loved it?’

  ‘I do love it. I only had it for three months, though, and that’s up in two weeks. Kitty tried to extend the lease but someone else is already moving in. So, I have two weeks to find a new place, sort a contract, find furniture by the look of it as everywhere is unfurnished, do all the utility stuff, blah blah blah, and that’s on top of being crazy busy here. I’m panicking a bit as I don’t really have enough time to sort everything, and the places I’m finding online are all gone when I talk to the realtors.’ She felt her shoulders drop as she finished her rant.

  ‘Wow. Okay. Well, England, what you need is a local, and lucky for you I’m one of those, and I’m ready and willing to help.’

  ‘I couldn’t ask you to do that. Kitty already offered to help, but this is on me. I was stupid and didn’t ask to extend the lease soon enough, so it’s my fault I’m now running out of time.’

  Kyle frowned. ‘Don’t be an idiot and decline help because you think you’re being a burden. You’re not. I love a challenge and I have local contacts. I have at least three buddies who are realtors, I have a pickup truck to carry furniture around so you don’t have to wait weeks for deliveries, and I know much better neighbourhoods to look for a place than Kitty, who put you over in retirementsville. Okay?’ he asked, even though it wasn’t really a question.

  She hesitated, even though she knew she was going to accept. It felt like an impossible task otherwise, and she really did need the help, as much as she didn’t like to put people out.

  ‘Okay, you’re on. But you have to tell me if I’m being a pain in the arse.’

  ‘No question about that. I’ll tell you.’

  ‘And if you can’t help with something you have to tell me and not be a moving-in martyr.’

  ‘You don’t know me that well if you think I’m going to be anything other than upfront with you.’

  ‘And I can pay for your time, gas or anything because I really don’t want to be a massive inconvenience.’

  ‘Abbie?’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘You’re being a pain in the ass.’ He looked at her, mouth stern, one eyebrow raised.

  ‘Sorry.’ She grimaced. ‘One more thing?’

  ‘Shoot.’

  ‘Can you please not tell Kitty you’re helping me?’

  He crossed his arms and
waited for her to continue.

  ‘It’s just, I turned down her offer of help, and I don’t know how she would take it if she knew you’d stepped in.’

  ‘My lips are sealed,’ he said, miming zipping his mouth closed. ‘So, are we going to get this thing going?’

  She nodded and he took both mugs and started to refill them. As they headed back to her desk, he took his phone out of his pocket and started tapping.

  ‘Oh god, I’m inconveniencing you already, aren’t I? You’re having to cancel a hot date?’ she asked, realising that she was digging for information.

  He paused, glancing at her. ‘Important question. Do you like pineapple on your pizza?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘We have a long night ahead. I’m ordering pizza. This is your last chance. With pineapple or without pineapple?’

  ‘With pineapple.’ She smiled, relieved he wasn’t cancelling personal plans because of her.

  ‘Wrong answer. You’re unbelievable, you Brits. Pineapple on pizza.’ He tutted and she swatted him on the arm.

  The next few hours passed quickly as she continued searching for properties online, while Kyle hit the phones to his estate agent friends. The priority was finding the place, he said. Everything else could be sorted at short notice. They ate pizza as they pored over the options that Abbie was finding and the ones that then started coming through to Kyle, with him advising her on the best locations and the pros and cons of each property.

  She saw one apartment that looked beautiful. It was modern, like the unit she was in at the moment, but he vetoed the location as he said it had had a spate of crime recently and he wasn’t having her live there. She thought he was being dramatic and told him so, but he just shrugged and told her it was a no-go.

  Just after eight, his phone rang. There was a two-bedroom house available in the Liberty Wells area. It wasn’t on the market yet and had just been completely renovated with a new kitchen and bathroom. She heard Kyle ask his friend to text him the address and said they would be over at five thirty the following day.