Salt Read online

  SALT

  By David G Chambers

  First published in Great Britain in 2018

  David G Chambers has asserted the moral right to be identified as the Author of this Work

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the Author.

  This Work is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the Author’s prior consent.

  In this Work of fiction, the characters, places and events are either the product of the authors imagination or they are used entirely fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Cover design by David G Chambers

  Cover photography by infausto via Shutterstock

  © 2018 David G Chambers. All rights reserved.

  About the Author

  David Chambers grew up in Coventry in the 80’s and 90’s. A time and place not known for literature, never the less he was raised in a road named after Robert Louis Stevenson. His walk to school took him through roads named after Joseph Addison, Rudyard Kipling and Charles Dickens. Oblivious to the inspiration he followed his career advisor into engineering and spent the next couple of decades forgetting his earlier love of reading and writing stories.

  Finally, a change of role left him with lots of flights and nights in hotels. After filling his spare time with reading he decided it was time to create his own stories and finally put pen to paper.

  This book has taken a lot of time due to my procrastination and lack of knowledge of novel writing. Firstly, I’d like to thank Lisa and Bea for putting up with my hiding away in the office for so many hours. Secondly, I’d like to thank Irene for turning her critical eye to one of the final drafts of the manuscript and feeding back on a few key points.

  Finally, I’d like to thank all the people who have inspired this work through their bravery in sharing their stories in public.

  I hope my work goes someway to being worth our efforts along the way.

  Thank you

  David

  Warning: This Work deals with adult themes including but not limited to: rape, violence, sexual abuse, self-harm & racial slurs.

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FORTY

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

  CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

  CHAPTER SIXTY

  CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

  CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

  CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

  CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX

  CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

  CHAPTER SEVENTY

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER EIGHTY

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE

  CHAPTER NINETY

  CHAPTER ONE

  It had been one of those days, one of those weeks in fact. A never-ending drudge of meeting after meeting with agendas focused on making his life more difficult, a client who couldn’t say what she wanted but knew it wasn’t what he’d delivered. As expected the taxi was late so they’d caught the worse the Boulevard Peripherique had to offer. He was thankful he didn’t need to drive in Paris when he noticed that every car on the road was dented or missing a door mirror. He wondered how so many mirrors were coming to a grisly end when five minutes later he watched a scooter take one off, weaving through traffic as if nothing had happened. The remnants of plastic and glass dangled by a wire like a badly broken limb.

  Dan had almost laughed when the security queue forced him to run through Paris Charles De Gaul, his wet leather soles slipped as he side stepped people stopping to check phones or look at flight boards. He rushed past people lucky enough to shop while he didn’t even have enough time to buy food let alone the cigar he had been imagining all week.

  It was no surprise when the snow fell heavier since checking in but he shook his head and sighed when he looked out of the window and saw nothing but bright white where lights lit the huge flakes. Snow didn’t normally bother him but he knew that not being able to see the runway was a bad omen for his chances of arriving home on time.

  Dan managed to board the aircraft without being too late and just as expected it was a full flight. He was surrounded by people trying to get back to the UK after a week of working or a few days of Christmas shopping. He could tell the two groups apart as the workers wore a look of exhaustion while the shoppers were excited about their purchases.

  He pressed his face against the cold glass and checked his watch when he saw the snow had settled on the ground. He could see the foot prints of the ground workers and the dark stripes where the luggage trolleys had been dragged alongside. This wasn’t the first-time Dan had been in this situation and experience told him they would cancel his flight leaving him stuck alone in a snowy Paris.

  He folded his jacket and stood to put it into the overhead locker, he looked back down the plane, there was one empty seat behind him and none in front. He allowed himself a smile when he sat back down, his luck had changed and he would at least have a little more space if the journey did happen. His brief flash of happiness quickly faded when the flight attendant walked down the aisl
e counting empty seats. As she walked the heads of men popped into view like meercats, dozens of pairs of eyes watched her bum in tight trousers. She was one of the older members of the cabin crew but still had the Meerkat Factor. On any normal day he would have found a reason to turn around as she walked past but not today, she was an attractive woman but not attractive enough to break the uneasy feeling he had about this flight. He often wondered how they managed to keep track of their count especially with the distractions that come from a plane full of frustrated passengers but they always managed it and today her job was easier because she only had to count the two empty seats.

  Dan took his iPhone from his pocket and without needing to check he remembered his headphones were packed in his luggage. He was past the point of being angry and now resigned himself to the entire journey being a nightmare.

  Dan had moved completely through the Kubler-Ross model, bad days often worked like grief. First, he denied his taxi would be late, then anger at being stuck in traffic. He tried bargaining with the God of journeys, if he could just make the flight. Security had been a brief depression as he simply knew that everything bad happened to him. Now though he had reached acceptance. He was having a shitty day and each new shitty thing made him smile, perversely he found that each event going wrong was funny. He had embraced the suck and now his trip was like an episode of Fawlty Towers.

  The flight attendant walked past again, looking at her little pad and shaking her head. They were waiting for someone and Dan guessed they had checked luggage on board so the flight wouldn’t take off without waiting. He leaned across to the window and could see the snow building up on the wings, they would need to go through de-icing adding even more time to the delay.

  Dan turned back from the window and there he was. The guy they had been waiting for. He was huge. He looked like a Smeg fridge with limbs, his shaved head brushed the ceiling as he walked sideways between the seats. The monster looked like a white version of John Coffey from The Green Mile and Dan pitied whoever would be sitting next to him for the ninety minutes back to Birmingham. His heart sank when he realised that he would be the one sitting next to the Green Mile giant. The week would end with him pinned against the inside of the aircraft by the walking white goods, there was no way the armrest would stay down so he would have a sweaty thigh pressed against him all the way home. It was no surprise when the giant slowed at Dan’s row, checked his ticket and looked at the empty window seat.

  Dan looked down, assigning himself to the fact that fate had gone to the effort of calling in a giant to add to his torment. A monster who would probably also want to talk all the way back to England and with no headphones there was no defence against a long dull conversation. Dan picked up his water bottle and slid over to the window. Nothing happened, he looked up and the giant was gone. His mouth opened but made no sound when he saw her. She smiled at him, dimples forming on each cheek reddened by the cold. The blue of her eyes almost shone back at him, they were large and almond in shape, her eye makeup accentuated the feline allure they held. Dan had seen a lot of women and many had been beautiful but none like her, she made his stomach flip like they were in turbulence rather than still grounded. All the nerves he had left behind with his acne came rushing back when his eyes broke from hers and locked to the cupids bow of her lips.

  She held up her ticket and smiled again, raising her eyebrows as she did. He smiled back at her, his mind was stuck on her and had no time to formulate a clever greeting. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a high ponytail on her head, his mind raced to imagine touching her hair while they kissed.

  A moment passed before she pointed to the seat beside him and he realised that her smile was the polite kind that means. ‘Could you move your seatbelt please?’ Rather than the kind that means ‘You’re gorgeous, ask for my number.’

  ‘Sorry.’ Dan said pulling the belt across and fastening the buckle.

  ‘Thank you.’ She smiled again. ‘Do you like the aisle or window?’

  ‘Sorry?’ Dan said.

  ‘Do you prefer the aisle or window? I’ve got the aisle seat but you look squished up against the side. I’m happy to swap if you want.’ Her voice was soft but energised, the kind of voice that makes anyone who hears it feel happy.

  ‘I am a little bit cramped but they always ignore my choice for an aisle, so you should just enjoy the extra room.’ Dan said. Ordinarily he would have taken the risk of looking at her body but his eyes were fixed on her face. She was beautiful, she probably had the prettiest face he had ever seen but it was her eyes that held his attention.’

  ‘Oh, ok then, if you’re sure?’ She said.

  ‘Yeah honestly I’ll be fine.’

  ‘Oh, ok.’ She said as she slipped her jacket off and looked for a space in the overhead locker, there was no space for her bag but her coat slipped in above a black Samsonite.

  She stopped and looked down at the seat and then along the of aisle, along the length of the airplane elbows and knees poked out into the centre. ‘If you don’t mind the aisle, do you think I’d be able to sit by the window? I know it’s cheeky.’ She said smiling.

  ‘Err yeah, no problem. If you want to?’ Dan said unfastening his seatbelt.

  ‘If it’s no bother, I hate getting bumped by the air hostesses. Would it be ok?’

  ‘Yeah, no problem, I hate being squashed up against the window. I was just being polite earlier.’ Dan smiled as he slid across the seat and into the aisle.

  ‘Polite is good but not getting banged by trolleys is even better. So, thank you.’ She sat on the seat and slid across to the window.

  Dan stood in the aisle watching as she moved, she looked tiny in the seat, he hadn’t realised how small she was until she adjusted the belt and most of it was through the buckle. Dan smiled as he waited in the aisle watching as she pushed her bag under the seat.

  Dan waited until she was finished and sat down beside her, he reached for the seatbelt and strapped himself in. He still couldn’t believe that he had been given this girl to sit next to instead of the giant some other poor sod was squashed in by. He had sat next to all types of people before on flights ranging from a big bodybuilder guy to an obese woman who spread onto his seat like a puddle of hot snot but the worst he had ever experienced was an old guy with body odour. It had been summer and Dan sweated in just a polo shirt and jeans but this old guy wore fifteen layers, half of which had not seen the inside of a washing machine for some time. The guy smelled bad from five rows away but up-close Dan was close to vomiting. Since then Dan always carried a small tub of Vicks to rub on his top lip. A tip he picked up from a nurse he once dated. He looked at the girl again, she was a sign that God didn’t completely hate him.

  ‘Hi. I’m Dan by the way, how was your day?’ He twisted in his seat and offered his hand to her as he spoke.

  ‘Hi. Emma. I'm good thanks, traffic was a nightmare getting here. I wasn’t sure if I would make the flight, I think without the snow delay I’d have missed the flight.’ She said.

  ‘I know. I’ve had one of those days where nothing goes right. My taxi was late and then we caught all the traffic but fingers crossed we’ll get in the air soon.’

  The pilot’s voice came through the speakers and announced another thirty-minute delay while the runway was cleared of snow and then they would take their turn in de-icing before take-off.

  ‘I wasn’t sure we’d get home with this snow.’ Emma said.

  ‘I'm still not sure if we will, or if we do it’s going to be a late night. Have you got far to go at the other end?’ He imagined a scene where he would save her from the horrendous journey by offering her his bed in a cross between a classic knight in shining armour and a 1970’s pool cleaner porn film.

  ‘Not really, what about you?’

  ‘Well I’m in a hotel tonight, in Birmingham. So just a quick drive.’ Dan said.

  ‘Oh cool, I’m just outside Birmingham. Do you know Leamington?’

  ‘Yeah, kind of. I’ve n
ever been but I know where it is.’

  ‘Where do you live??’ Emma asked.

  ‘Down in Weymouth. Well I’ve got a place there but I travel all the time with work so I stay wherever suits the job.’

  ‘Oh cool, like a flat or something?’

  ‘Well no, I live on a boat but I’m not there that much anyway.’

  ‘A boat? I’ve never met anyone who lives on a boat before. That’s really cool. What do you do?’

  ‘I’m a management consultant which is a fancy way of saying I go and help people do the things they should already know how to do and then go somewhere else to tell them what I just learned in the last place. They say management consultants steal your watch and then charge you to tell you the time.’

  She laughed, ‘That’s funny but isn’t it difficult?’ Emma asked. ‘We had some of those guys in and it looked hard.’

  ‘No not really. It’s like anything, the hardest thing’s dealing with people. All my jobs have been like that, the work’s easy but the people are difficult.’

  ‘I can see that. Do you enjoy it though?’ Emma asked her eyebrows raising as she spoke.

  ‘It’s interesting and pays the bills, I wouldn’t say it’s a calling though, just a job that’s better than the ones I’ve had before. What do you do?’

  ‘Oh, well it’s a bit embarrassing to be honest.’ Emma said

  ‘How so? It can’t be that bad.’

  ‘Well it just always gets questions.’ She said.

  ‘Ok well I promise not to ask questions.’ Dan smiled excited at what he might uncover.

  ‘Well ok, but you will anyway.’ She paused. ‘I work for a women’s underwear company.’

  ‘I see.’ Dan said imagining her in lingerie. He smiled, desperate to avoid asking if she modelled.

  ‘And no, I don’t model it, before you ask.’ Emma said blushing slightly.

  ‘The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind, although I’m sure you could.’ The image was clear in his mind now, she would match any of the girls on Instagram.

  ‘Oh, behave you, those girls are stunning. I’m a buyer, I buy the bits that go into the bras and stuff.’ Emma said.