Moving On
Chapter 23
Kate got ready for her first day of work and Lanie inspected her before she left. Lanie had at least talked her into a piece of toast before leaving or she wouldn't have eaten anything.
"You're sure you'll be all right." Kate wasn't sure about leaving her alone on her first day here. Okay, second day but it was the first full day of her being here.
"It'll give me a chance to walk around a little and see the area. Maybe I'll get lucky." Lanie had meant get lucky in finding something, however Kate had heard was find someone and bring him home for sex.
"We can find your work when I get home. Remember Olga gets in tomorrow." Kate was literally counting the hours until she was here.
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Lanie finally got brave, went outside, and looked around. That was when she spotted a trolley that was open air and very colorful. The stand it stopped at had said FREE so she waited for the next one.
She found out that it took her to a store called Hilo Hattie where they sold mostly clothing but a whole lot of other stuff as well. She spent an hour walking around just looking until she couldn't take it any longer and went back and gathered up four things. One was a very colorful lei filled with fake flowers. The second was a box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts. The third was a deep red flower to go in her hair just above her ear to either tell a man that she was married or not looking, or single and looking depending on which side she placed it.
The last one was a native gown that had caught her attention. Something called a muumuu. It also earned her a free Hawaiian coffee cup.
Back out to wait for her trolley to get home, she found that the same trolley would take her to the Aloha Tower and to a shopping complex right next door so she got off there.
With bag in hand she walked up the steps to the top of the tower and stayed there to look around. She also read the plaque that was up there that talked about the tower and just how old it was. From there she went shopping again. Since she'd already spent her money she just window-shopped.
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Kate had a load of paperwork to fill out before she could even make it to her assigned desk. It was almost lunch by the time she was shown her desk then introduced to everyone else. She had new names to try and memorize.
She also found out that they didn't use white boards. That was something she was going to fix right after she found one and had it delivered along with the necessary colored markers. That and the magnetic clips to hold pictures in place.
As usual she skipped lunch and since she was new she was assigned to help an ongoing case. Just getting up to speed took half of what was left of her day.
She was also learning that there was a language barrier of sorts. Everything around here was named using the Hawaiian alphabet that was not the same as the English alphabet. It used far less letters and depending on where the letter was told you how to pronounce it. She'd been told that she would get the hang of it…eventually. She didn't really have a choice. Even some of the names of the people around her were Hawaiian. Though a few were either Japanese or Chinese.
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Kate came home to find Lanie in the kitchen making dinner. "You didn't have to cook," Kate protested though she was grateful that she was.
"Did you eat lunch?" Lanie eyed Kate and listened to her silence. "That's why I'm cooking. …So how was your first day?" Lanie wanted to hear everything.
"Mostly paperwork. I even had to fill out a real job application even despite the fact that I've already been hired. Then they added me to an ongoing case," Kate told her as she went her bedroom to change clothes.
Kate was back so she stood in the kitchen and watched Lanie cook. "Would you believe that they were getting by with only one homicide detective? Though I was told they don't get too many homicides usually, but if things kept up they would break last year's record." Kate had been a little shocked.
"So there's just the two of you?" That didn't seem right.
"Just the two of us. I was told after about a month they'd be moving me to the midnight shift. Once I got the hang of how things worked and where most everything was." Kate wasn't looking forward to that.
"The new person gets the shitty job," Lanie reminded her since that wasn't anything new.
"Yeah, lucky me. They also don't use white boards. That's something I'm going to fix as soon as possible. They're simply going to have to learn a new system. Especially if they're going to eventually leave me alone."
"So what did you do with your first full day here?" Kate had told her just about everything worth hearing about.
"I went shopping. I found this free trolley and it took me to this huge store where they actually make most of what they sell. Bought a few things then got back on the trolley. It took me someplace else and I looked around. …Plates, glasses, silverware, please?" Lanie asked her which got Kate busy.
"What's with the flower in your hair?" Kate questioned after they sat down to eat.
"If you wear a flower behind your left ear, it means you're married, taken, have a significant other, or maybe you just don't want anyone bothering you! If you wear a flower behind your right ear, it means you're single, available, and approachable," Lanie explained. It was what the sales lady at Hilo Hattie had told her about how to wear her flower.
"Well that makes it simple." Kate liked the idea. Now she just needed to find one or more of her own and get some for Olga as well.
"This place is NOT New York City." Lanie had learned that very quickly. No trash on the streets, no sirens blaring in her ears, no skyscrapers trying to reach the clouds, and everywhere she went she saw a beach. "People wear swimsuits everywhere. Even bikinis."
"Noticed that, did you? Olga had teased me about I would be wearing a bikini all day when not working. She just might be right." Kate hadn't decided and hadn't worn one since she had been here, but that might change. Especially after they moved to the boat.
"So where are you putting this yacht of yours when it gets here?" Lanie was curious and teased her at the same time.
"It's a boat, not a yacht. It's only 79 feet long. Which is a good thing since where we want to put it is a 2 minute walk from here and they have a limit of 85 feet for boats. They also have lots of parking for the car," Kate explained.
"You can show me then we can drive to my work." Lanie wanted to see both.
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"You weren't kidding when you said you can walk here from the apartment. So where does this boat of yours go?" Lanie saw mostly smaller boats and yes, there was a lot of parking but most of the boats were tied up to docks you could only walk on.
"Out there somewhere. Currently they don't have an empty space and it usually takes a year for one to open up for the length we want. So this is going to be close. The boat will be done in about a year then moved here; a space might be open in a year." They were going to have to come up with a plan for if they didn't have a space. They needed to tell them where to take the boat.
"Definitely different from New York," Lanie stated it again and Kate nodded her agreement. Their lives here were going to be very different.
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Kate had put the address Lanie had for her work into the GPS and with the top down, they started driving.
They went across the canal next to their apartment building, then west, and always had water to their left. There were also a lot of stop lights along the way.
"There, I went there with that trolley. Aloha Tower." Lanie recognized it when she saw it to their left.
"We can see if we can stop on the way back." Kate was willing to look.
"China Town." Kate smiled wide as they drove right through it with water still on their left. It meant she might be spending some of her time in this area. Get some authentic Chinese food.
"Here we are." Kate pulled into the parking lot and looked at her dad's watch. "Twenty minutes. That's not bad. Now we just need to figure out how to get you here and home again."
"Maybe a bus," Lanie suggested since even on this ride she had seen a few that looked like metro transit buses and not large tour buses though she had seen a lot of those already.
It was white with two floors, palm trees, and a parking lot in the back which was were they were.
"Want to go in? We can see what it looks like. I have a feeling I need to get used to coming here in the future," Kate said and they both got out.
Kate's building was much bigger. It was more beige and was three stories tall.
"You're Lanie Parrish. The new medical examiner. We weren't expecting you for another week." They had caught them by surprise.
"We're trying to get used to where she works and where she lives so we stopped," Kate answered for her.
"If you want to wait a minute I can get our present Medical Examiner. Show you around." She left them and made a call. "He'll be right up. And you are?" She meant Kate since she was looking at her.
"Kate Beckett. The new homicide detective." Kate showed her her new badge.
"I guess we'll be seeing you here on occasion as well," she noted. "I'm Maggie. I'm the receptionist."
"I'm Dr. Birch." He looked between the two. He spotted Kate's ring so guesses it wasn't her that was replacing him.
Dr. Birch wasn't what either of them were expecting. Both were expecting an old man who was retiring. This man wasn't old, not even close.
"I'm Dr. Parrish." Lanie held out her hand and shook his. "We were out trying to get used to the area and to see how far I really had to go to get here," Lanie explained.
"I'm Kate Beckett, homicide detective." Kate shook his hand.
"You can both come with me and I can show you both around. Maggie, please get her paperwork together. She can either fill it out ahead of time or take it with her, fill it out, and bring it back," Dr. Birch called out.
"Save a little time on your first day," he said.
Lanie and Kate soon noticed that the place was familiar and yet different. Where Lanie would be working basically looked the same. Save that instead of two tables this place only had the one. They had six refrigerators for bodies in a separate room. Then eventually he took them to his office that would soon be Lanie's.
"May I ask why you're leaving?" Lanie inquired. He was young and looked to be in good shape. He was even possible dating material for her.
"My parents don't live here. They live in Des Moines, Iowa. Mom had a stroke and it's too much for Dad so I took a job in Des Moines to help my dad care for her. My older sister and her family aren't really set up to help," Birch said, his face reflecting his sadness.
"I'm so sorry!" Lanie felt for him. His hurt was her gain since she got a job. But this wasn't how she wanted to get a job anywhere.
"I'm willing to do it. Mom and Dad did a lot for me. Put me through medical school and even helped me get this job. It was time to pay it back and go home," Birch told them.
"You're a good son." Kate was impressed with him.
"These are the basics. There's more, naturally, but you can see the rest on your first day. I'll be here for a week to help you with anything before I leave." He wasn't just throwing her into the pond to see if she would sink or swim.
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"That wasn't so bad." Kate liked the place. Lanie had taken the paperwork from Maggie after she explained each one so she could fill it out at home at her leisure.
"I feel bad for him. That's no way to get a new job." Lanie said it instead of just thinking it.
"Yeah." Kate could agree with that. "Just think it'll be just like old times." Kate was really glad she was here.
"You mean no Perlmutter," Lanie teased her and Kate laughed.
"There is that." Perlmutter had managed to rub just about everyone the wrong way without actually getting everyone angry at him.
"Looks like no place to park. Everyone must be shopping at this hour or out to eat." Kate was driving slowly on the way home and didn't see a thing.
"You can see it later. You live here now," Lanie reminded her. Kate laughed again. She did indeed live here now.
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"Olga lands about the same time you did, more or less. She said she was going to use a shuttle service to get here since she's bringing a lot more than either of us," Kate told her in the morning on her way to work.
"Your little car is nice but doesn't have much space. I was even thinking of getting one for me," Lanie said since she did like the little convertible. "I really need to thank you for letting me stay here rent free." It meant at what she'd be earning she was going to be able to save up a lot of money.
"You're welcome. You're still my best friend. Say hello to Olga for me." Kate left and drove to work.
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Olga was loaded down and was thinking she was ready to drop it all when the elevator door finally opened. She had gotten her key downstairs since having Kate mail her one might have arrived too late.
Olga dropped everything on the floor just outside of her door and was reaching out with the key when suddenly the door opened and she saw Lanie standing there. "I thought I heard something." Lanie had heard a loud noise and came to investigate. "Give me one." Lanie held out her hands and took what Olga gave her.
"This way." Lanie took her to hers and Kate's room. "Kate's at work now."
"I know, that's why I used a shuttle service. Have you had a chance to look around?" Olga was hoping she was fitting in well.
"Yes. Kate took me to my new office. It took us 20 minutes and I'm thinking I can use a bus but need to confirm. Oh and there's this free trolley we can use to go a couple of places if you want to try." Lanie would go shopping with her willingly.
"I love the word free. Let me take a shower and change then you can show me around." Olga smiled at Lanie then opened a suitcase.
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"Your marina is over here." Lanie took her there first. "Kate has confirmed your place on the waiting list. There's lots of parking. You two have a big boat." Lanie was still impressed.
"It's not too big for here only by accident. I had considered a 90 footer but didn't want one that big in the long run. Looks like that was a good idea." Finding a place for a boat that big might have been a big challenge.
Olga actually liked the trolley and the ride. She also liked the store and bought three flowers for herself and three for Kate after Lanie told her about them like the one she was wearing today. She also bought a pair of leis to take home with her. She hadn't spent enough to earn her a free coffee cup.
Next came the Aloha Tower then some more window shopping. Olga liked that she could reach a shopping area easily enough but didn't buy anything this trip.
"Thanks." Olga was happy to go. Now she had to wait for Kate to come home.
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Ryan and Jenny had their little car from the airport. They had rented it for a week while they worked out just what to do, what they needed, and how much money they had to spend. They hadn't needed a car in New York City but they were going to need one here. However they also needed a place to stay. For now they had a hotel room that was tiny as usual.
"Car or apartment first?" Kevin asked his fiancée which was another cost that was coming up. Getting married could be inexpensive or it could be horribly expensive and anywhere in-between.
"Apartment. I want out of this hotel room," Jenny said.
That had them pulling out the printouts of what they'd found before coming here that they thought they could afford. The question was, did they have an apartment available at this time and which place had just that?
"Keonekai Villages is 30 minutes to the south according to Google. Papakea Resort is 50 minutes over on what is called the Kanapali Coast. Kihei Villages is 20 minutes to the south," Jenny said after reading the printouts.
"Let's go south, then. If we don't like either of them we can go west," Ryan offered and was soon driving.
Kihei Village was first and they did indeed have a unit available immediately. It was on the second floor, corner unit, and recently remodeled.
"Nice colors!" Jenny already liked it. It had fake hard wood floors. It had stainless steel appliances with a big French door refrigerator with water and ice in the door. Dark wood cabinets. Ceiling fans and a small balcony or lanai, as they called it. A tiny dining room in the corner. Jenny sucked in a breath after opening a door. "Full size stacked washer and dryer!" She was in love. The two bathrooms were literally side by side and had an interconnecting door. "Weird!" There were ceiling fans everywhere and since it was a corner unit it had windows on two sides.
"No air conditioning?" Jenny wasn't sure about that. Then she was reminded that the temperature in the area never got below 70 and never above 90 all year long. At $389,500 it was actually under their budget.
They needed to see the other one first before taking this one.
"Keonekai Villages." Ryan parked and they went inside. They had a unit that was available for rent immediately. This one was also on the second floor but was not a corner unit. It had small window style A/C units in the wall. Light colored fake wood floors. It was all white. The kitchen appliances were not nearly as nice. The kitchen cabinets were old and even the ceiling fans looked old.
"I don't like it," Jenny informed both her fiancé and the lady trying to rent it.
"Next?" Ryan asked since it meant a long drive to the Kaanapali Coast and Jenny nodded.
Papakea Resort. They had a unit available in one week. It was empty at the moment but it needed to be cleaned first. However at $434,500 it was above the limit they had set for themselves.
"Gray carpet." Jenny didn't like it already. The kitchen was tiny and all of the appliances were white. It had a large loft for possible future use. The only thing this place had going for it as far as Jenny was concerned was its location and the amenities the complex had.
"The first one?" It was the only one Kevin liked of the three.
"The first one," Jenny confirmed. So they drove back and arranged to take possession of it.
They needed to take money out of the bank and turn it into a cashiers check. Make arrangements for a loan. Have the place inspected and appraised to make sure they weren't paying too much. The entire process was likely to take a month. However, Kevin started his new job in a week so it meant they would be keeping the hotel room for a month and doing a lot of eating out.
Keeping the car for a month was going to be too expensive for them. Though getting a car now would hurt their credit score when it came to buying a place, but they had little choice. Now they needed a car to get around in.
They had already decided on that and it was used. If the place still had it, that is. It was a 2009 Volkswagen Beetle TI. It was a nice enough car and it did have a back seat of a sort. It was a convertible and turbo charged. It was red with a black top and black interior. It had a number of options already installed and it got good enough mileage.
At just over $9,000 it was affordable.