Half the World Away

by Rebecca Banks

  ‘Let me get this straight,’ he started, before collapsing back into laughter.

  She felt her mouth twitching but fought to stay straight-faced.

  ‘You’re celebrating passing your probation by letting Kitty take you to a jewellery-making class?’ He was in fits of laughter again before he could let her answer.

  She swatted his hand and fought her own laughter. ‘Stop it. She put loads of thought into it. She said she thought it would be nice if I could make myself a piece of jewellery to always remember the day by. She means well. It’s a really nice gesture.’ She felt awful that Kyle was teasing Kitty.

  ‘She’s uptight and overzealous. But she seems to have taken a liking to you, so if you want to mark this occasion by making a friendship bracelet, go for it.’

  ‘I don’t want to, idiot. But I could hardly say no, and she thinks I don’t have anyone else here to celebrate with. She was being sweet.’

  Kyle sighed. ‘Look, Abbie.’

  It was never a good sign when he called her by her proper name. She braced herself. She knew what was coming. This would be the third time he brought it up.

  ‘I know you’re trying to protect her feelings, or whatever it is you’re doing, but she’s going to find out about us sooner or later and she’ll be more pissed if she thinks her new BFF has been keeping stuff from her. It’s like a Band-Aid – the quicker you rip it off, the less it hurts. You’re going to drive yourself crazy keeping this a secret much longer. Every time that door opens your head flies around so fast you almost give yourself whiplash.’

  ‘I know,’ she nodded.

  ‘And also, I slept with her once, sixteen years ago. When we were teenagers. I think you’re making this into a much bigger deal than it actually is.’

  Abbie ran her fingers through her hair. ‘I’ll do it. I promise. I’ll find a time.’

  He raised his glass of orange juice. ‘Okay, enough lecturing for now. I want to raise a toast to my beautiful, brilliant England, who I knew didn’t have anything to worry about today, but she’s British and modest and doesn’t know how great she is, so she worried anyway. Here’s to the future.’

  Happy tears pricked her eyes. This was definitely a day to remember.

  Kyle clinked his glass to hers and said, ‘We’ll celebrate properly later in the week. And there will not be a bead or an earring in sight.’

  After the jewellery class, Abbie managed to persuade Kitty that they really should go for some drinks, and Kitty had excitedly said she knew the perfect place where she’d been going for years. It wasn’t the kind of bar Abbie would normally go to but they served alcohol so, at that moment, there was nowhere better.

  While Kitty was in the bathroom, Abbie looked around. The bar was completely devoid of personality. It was a long, thin room and everything was white. A bench ran the length of the back of the room with small, low tables and cushioned cubes forming the table areas. On the opposite side was the bar, the bright lights on its frosted plastic front illuminating the rest of the room. The barman, wearing a Hawaiian style shirt somewhat unironically, looked about fourteen and the wire-bound, laminated cocktail menu had photos of the wide variety of multicoloured concoctions that they specialised in.

  He was making piña coladas for them. Kitty had insisted Abbie have one, as it was her favourite drink. Abbie could see the cocktail umbrellas and neon straws at the ready to add the final flourish. Had David Attenborough really not got the plastic straw message this far? This kid was wholly responsible for killing some turtles tonight.

  The saving grace was that she had organised for Rose to meet them later. She was on an early shift at work and would join them when she finished.

  As Kitty retook her seat on one of the white cubes, Tom Cruise’s lovechild put the cocktails on the table in front of them. Kitty held her glass up.

  ‘I want to propose a toast. Congratulations on your permanent role!’

  Abbie felt like a bitch as she brought her glass up to meet Kitty’s. She had sat judging this place for the past five minutes when Kitty had made this effort to make her feel at home and like she had a friend.

  She ran her fingers across the beads of the bracelet around her wrist. They had indeed made friendship bracelets at the class, and Kitty had looked like she was having the time of her life.

  Yes, they were different, and she wasn’t Violet or Polly or Rose, but Abbie really should value her the same as her other friends. She went to speak but Kitty spoke at the same time and Abbie told her to carry on.

  ‘Now you’re here for the long-term, we really need to get you on the dating scene, right?’ she asked, although Abbie felt it was more of a rhetorical question. She was proved right when Kitty carried on talking without giving her a chance to respond. ‘I have this friend from my church group who says she knows this guy around our age who said he loved the British accent the other day. So, we thought we could set you up!’ She clapped her hands excitedly and Abbie’s stomach sank. She knew she had to say something. And, as Kyle said, she needed to rip off the plaster.

  ‘Actually, I have some more good news to share with you!’ Abbie delivered it in the most upbeat voice she could muster, hoping that she could project onto Kitty that this was a good thing.

  ‘You met someone!’ Again, it was more of a statement than a question. ‘Tell me all about it. Where did you meet him? When? Is he American?’

  Abbie smiled her widest grin, a smile that she knew didn’t quite reach her eyes, and took a long drink of her cocktail. In fact, when she put the glass on the table, it was half empty already. Dutch courage was a real thing.

  ‘Yes, he’s American. It’s such a funny story and couldn’t be more unexpected.’

  What was this weird giggle coming out of her mouth? She sounded like an animal being strangled.

  Kitty looked at her strangely. ‘You seem nervous, Abbie. Is everything okay?’

  ‘Totally fine, completely okay. Oh, god. Okay, I’m going to tell you. I’ve been worried about this because the last thing I want to do is upset you or cause any weirdness because you’re a friend.’

  Kitty wasn’t smiling anymore. In fact, she was looking at her stony-faced, legs crossed and arms wrapped tightly across her body.

  ‘You’re babbling. Are you sure you’re okay?’

  ‘Yes. Sorry, Kitty. Honestly, I’m a bit nervous.’

  ‘You don’t need to be nervous with me. You can tell me anything. I’m here to help you, remember? Your first friend in Salt Lake.’

  ‘Okay. I’ve been on a couple of dates with Kyle.’

  She decided to take the Kitty approach and not let her respond, but carry on talking.

  ‘It’s early days and you don’t need to worry about me. I didn’t want you to find out another way and think I was keeping anything from you. And I know you probably don’t even really care as you guys went to prom about a hundred years ago but, you know, it’s the girl code so I really wanted you to know even though there’s not all that much to know.’

  She took in a deep breath and waited for Kitty to respond. She was completely unreadable.

  Then Kitty smiled at her. It looked strained, but then Kitty never really looked relaxed. Abbie twisted her hands together in her lap, the silent seconds feeling like hours.

  ‘Abbie. It’s fine. Like you said, we went to prom a long time ago. I only warned you about him because I didn’t want you to get hurt. I just want you to be happy. I had kind of guessed anyway.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Absolutely. Please don’t give it a minute’s thought.’

  As though an angel had been sent from above to save her, at that moment, Abbie saw Rose walking through the door of the bar and jumped up to beckon her over.

  She had explained Kitty’s unique nature to Rose already and, to her relief, when Abbie introduced them, Rose immediately embraced Kitty and told her how much she had been looking forward to meeting her, how much Abbie had talked about her, and how she knew what a great fri
end she had been since Abbie arrived in the US.

  The timing couldn’t have been better.

  Abbie dashed to the bar to order another round of sickly-sweet cocktails, leaving them for a few minutes to catch her breath and slow her heart rate down.

  She didn’t think that whole breaking news went excellently, but it could have been worse. At least she had ripped off the plaster and it was out there in the open. Kitty might not be over the moon about it, but Abbie was sure she’d get used to the idea. And she’d make sure to keep Kitty excited about their projects and the trip to London.

  The rest of the evening passed without incident. Abbie was quieter than she usually would be, but Rose did a great job of asking Kitty lots of questions, which was clearly making her feel good as she was positively glowing being the centre of attention.

  As they headed home, Abbie sank deep into the seat of the taxi she was sharing with Rose.

  ‘So, you finally told her, huh?’

  ‘Yeah, you picked up on that?’ Abbie turned to face her friend.

  ‘I heard you when I was coming into the bar. Figured I arrived at a good time.’

  ‘The best,’ she sighed.

  ‘Strange chick.’

  ‘Kitty is a bit prickly sometimes but, like I’ve said to Kyle, she’s helped me so much. I just think she’s maybe had some weird things in her life that stop her from being totally relaxed or something. I’ve been trying to work it out. Tonight was nice, though, she seemed to like you.’

  ‘She was tolerating me. I kept seeing her glance at my tattoos, and she definitely thought I was about to steal her purse at any moment.’

  Abbie stifled a giggle as they pulled up outside Rose’s apartment. ‘She’s not that bad, honestly.’

  ‘She’s not who you should have spent tonight celebrating with. Get home to your guy.’

  Rose kissed her on the cheek, and Abbie redirected the taxi to Kyle’s house. She needed a hug.

  CHAPTER 21

  ‘Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you.’ Abbie grudgingly opened one eye as Kyle woke her up with his dreadfully out of tune singing. She had finally found something he wasn’t good at.

  ‘It’s so early, why are you waking me up?’ She threw the covers back over her head.

  He pulled the duvet halfway down the bed and started up his rendition of Happy Birthday again.

  ‘Alright, alright. If I wake up, will you please stop singing?’

  ‘It’s a deal. But I won’t stop fussing around you. You need help now you’re thirty. And it’s not early, it’s ten o’clock.’

  She finally opened her eyes, with the full intention of smacking him, but stopped when she saw he had brought them breakfast in bed. There was toast, eggs and bacon, two steaming cups of coffee and two mimosas in champagne flutes. A single-stemmed pale pink rose in a vase sat next to a card and a small package neatly gift-wrapped.

  She genuinely felt she did not deserve this man. He was a dream come true. And she hadn’t even been looking for him.

  ‘You didn’t need to do this,’ she exclaimed, nearly knocking over the tray as she reached to grab him.

  ‘Woah, steady there. I brought you breakfast in bed. I did not agree to a full deep clean of the bedroom if you destroy it. And, of course I had to. You only turn thirty once. And I really want to take advantage of it because they don’t call them the dirty thirties for nothing.’

  She rolled her eyes at him before turning her attention back to the tray.

  ‘Can I open it?’ She touched the package, looking at him before picking it up.

  ‘That’s what it’s there for.’

  She carefully peeled off the tape from the silver wrapping paper and took out a black velvet bag. Loosening the drawstring, she emptied the contents into her hand and gasped as she saw it.

  It was a beautiful, delicate silver bangle, about half a centimetre wide, etched with the same four-pronged star pattern that had been on the rug they saw when they camped at Arches.

  ‘Do you like it?’ he asked nervously, and she realised she had been holding her breath.

  ‘Are you serious?’ She slid it onto her wrist and reached over to kiss him. ‘I love it. I can’t believe how much thought you put into this. I’m so incredibly touched.’

  ‘It’s nothing really, and there was a method to my madness,’ he said, moving closer to her on the bed. ‘I had to get something to replace that awful friendship bracelet you made with Kitty.’

  She laughed, despite herself. ‘You’re an arsehole. But one with incredibly good taste in jewellery, so I’ll let you off.’

  ‘What do you want to do today, birthday girl?’

  ‘First I need to speak to my parents. I’ve got sixteen messages asking me to text them as soon as I wake up so they can call me. Then I’m easy. The weather’s good, maybe we could go to the park?’

  ‘You don’t want to do anything special?’ He frowned.

  She shook her head, screwing up her nose. ‘I’ve never been one for making a big song and dance about my birthday. It’ll just be nice to be outside and take it easy. We haven’t had a lot of relaxation time recently.’

  ‘True.’ He nodded. ‘But I do have dinner reservations for us and I’m not having any excuses. It can be a chilled day but we’re still celebrating properly tonight.’

  ‘Deal. Now, can I finally eat my food?’ She motioned towards the plate with a fork.

  ‘Fuck it, it’s cold already. Get dressed. I’m taking you out for breakfast.’

  Abbie felt kind of groggy as they pulled up outside the restaurant that evening. They had walked around the park for hours in the sticky September heat, and she had been so tired after a busy week and an active day that she fell asleep on her couch afterwards. When Kyle came to pick her up for dinner after stopping at his own place to get changed into fresh clothes, he had luckily come a bit early and woken her so she had time to get ready and not miss their reservation, but she still felt exhausted. She was sure some food and a glass of wine would perk her up, but she was looking forward to a fairly early night.

  The restaurant was new to her, not somewhere she and Kyle had been before, and she was excited for another new experience with him.

  When Kyle stated his name, the waitress ushered them towards the back of the large room, and to her surprise, Abbie could see they were being led to a private dining area beyond an emerald green curtain.

  She momentarily paused, rubbed her eyes, then screamed in disbelief when she rounded the curtain and saw some amazingly familiar faces. Violet, Lily and Polly screamed too and almost knocked their chairs over in their rush to scramble around the table to reach her, embracing her in a rugby-style scrum.

  The rest of the restaurant must have been deafened by the sound of the four screeching girls. Abbie couldn’t believe her eyes. Suddenly, she didn’t feel so tired anymore.

  ‘What the hell are you doing here? How? What? I don’t understand.’

  She kept a firm grip on Lily, her head turning from Violet to Polly and then to her sister, before she started all over again, still struggling to believe they were all here in front of her.

  ‘It’s all down to him.’ Violet pointed at Kyle. ‘He’s better than a teenage girl at Facebook investigation work, and he tracked me down to get us all over here. He thought a special birthday was worth a surprise, and we were all happy to have an excuse for a little holiday.’

  ‘Mum and Dad really wanted to come, Abs, but Mum couldn’t get the time off work and Dad had tickets to the game today, and they said they’d see you at home for Christmas, which isn’t long away. They did send a present though.’

  Lily pushed a gift into Abbie’s hands. She looked even more grown up than when Abbie had left just eight months ago.

  ‘I’m so happy to see you, Lils. Great timing just before you start university, right?’

  ‘Yep, and you won’t believe this. Polly only upgraded us all to first class on the plane. It was dead posh, Abs. They gave us pyjamas t
o wear and a three-course meal and a dead nice toiletry bag to take away and everything.’

  She looked fit to burst. Abbie stared at Polly, confused.

  ‘You did what?’

  Polly shrugged, as if it was nothing. Abbie knew they had never worked out how she managed to earn her money, but this seemed certifiably crazy. ‘You can’t take it with you. I thought our first collective girls trip needed a bit of luxury.’

  ‘But you can’t afford that. None of us can.’

  ‘My great-grandfather invented Tarmac. I can do anything I want for my friends.’

  At this, Abbie, Violet, Lily and Kyle all looked agog. Abbie’s jaw dropped open. It took Violet to break the silence. ‘You what? How the hell have you never mentioned this?’

  ‘It never came up. Now, drinks?’

  The four girls burst out laughing as Kyle continued to watch, bemused. Abbie giggled looking at his face. He didn’t know what he had let himself in for.

  As they took their seats at the table, Abbie noticed there were three empty chairs.

  ‘I took the liberty of inviting a few more of your friends,’ Kyle said. ‘I just asked them to give us a few minutes so you could catch up with the others first.’

  She clasped his hand.

  ‘I cannot believe you did this for me. I am so overwhelmed right now. But thank you.’

  As she kissed him, her final guests appeared from around the curtain. Kitty walked in, clutching a gift bag and a silver helium balloon with ‘THIRTY’ printed on it. Following right behind, Rose beamed as she walked hand-in-hand with one of the most beautiful women Abbie thought she had ever seen.

  After embracing Kitty, she turned to Rose, who was bursting with pride as she finally introduced Abbie to her girlfriend.

  ‘Abbie, Stella. Stella, Abbie. I am so excited that you’re finally meeting. I feel like I’ve been talking so much about each of you to the other one, and you each must have thought I was making the other one up.’