The Story

A/N

Hi I just got some inspiration for a new story the other day that I had to write... So here goes... Please review to let me know if I should continue writing on the story.

Would like to thank Bimboinhales for her suport... thanks girl :)

Enjoy and don't forget to review.

Chapter 1

Charlie once again sighed as she dumped her keys on the desk and sat down in her chair. She ran her fingers through her hair and massaged her temples. She wondered if things would ever be easy again. She wished she could turn back time and undo that dreadful night when she had slept with Hugo. That night had forever changed her life and not once had she felt happy since.

Joey had left her and she couldn't really blame her. She would have done the same if it was the other way around. Joey had told her that she would return after three months but she didn't. Charlie had waited and waited but hadn't heard a single word from Joey. She had even searched the police database to see if she could find Joey, but with no luck.

She had felt so lonely and desperate to find Joey and make things right with her again. She had realised that she loved Joey. She was the one for her. She had also come to the realisation that she was gay, that she found girls attractive, but that wasn't until later. At first she thought it was only Joey she was attracted to. Joey was all she dreamt of and wanted.

Six months after Joey was supposed to return, Charlie walked into the Diner with Watson to pick up coffee for the guys back at the station. She was shocked to see a familiar figure standing at the counter talking to Leah. There in front of her stood Joey, her Joey, the love of her life.

What happened next, Charlie remembers very well. It tore at her heartstrings just thinking about it. She had called out Joey's name and happily started to walk towards her, her heart beating fast at the sight of seeing Joey and the hope that she could be with her again. She was stopped dead in her tracks when Joey turned around and looked directly at her with hard, cold eyes.

"Charlie" Joey said coldly, turning back to pick up her coffee and pay Leah for it before turning around to walk out of the Diner, passing Charlie on the way, without even glancing at her.

Charlie was stunned by the way Joey had said her name and reacted to seeing her again. She couldn't recognise Joey; she was so cold and emotionless. She snapped out of her shock when she heard the door of the Diner close behind her. She turned around and ran out of the door to find Joey.

"Joey..... Joey, please wait up, please don't be like this, please talk to me" Charlie called out for Joey running after her down the beach.

Joey stopped walking, turned around and stared frostily at Charlie. "Don't be like this, are you kidding me Charlie? I have every right to be like this and no I won't talk to you, I never want to talk to you again... ever" she coldly spoke before turning around and walking away leaving a stunned Charlie helplessly watching her go.

Charlie shook her head to get rid of the memories of that awful day. She had tried to talk to Joey several times after that but Joey had either ignored her or yelled at her - telling her to leave her alone, that she never wanted anything to do with Charlie, she hated her and would never forgive her for what she'd done.

A single tear rolled down Charlie's cheek, she had a very hard time forgiving herself for putting Joey through so much. She quickly dried away the tear with her hand.

But time had passed and both Charlie and Joey were living their separate lives in the little town. She had stopped trying to reach out to Joey and settled with just admiring her from afar. It seemed like Joey had moved on. Every time she saw her she looked happy, always smiling and laughing. She had gotten that lovely sparkle back in her brown beautiful eyes that Charlie loved so much.

Charlie sighed, turning her attentions back to the present and switching her computer on whilst taking a sip of her coffee. She frowned and sighed again, cursing how slow her old work computer was. She sat back in her chair with her cup of coffee in her hand, staring at the screen waiting for the desktop to show and started to think about Joey and her life again.

She knew that she had lost Joey forever. Joey would, however, always hold a special place in her heart, but she had to let Joey go and move on. She had already started after her daughter had encouraged her to move on and find some happiness. She wondered how Ruby had gotten so wise and thought it was funny that it was often Ruby giving her advice about love and dating and not the other way around like it was suppose to be.

After many long talks with Ruby and her friend Leah, she had come to the realisation that she was gay, that girls just were more her thing. Ruby had convinced her to get back out there, so she had started chatting and mailing a few people online. She had even met with a girl for coffee once. No one, however, really seemed to give her that tingling feeling that Joey did.

The computer eventually came to life, and Charlie went online to quickly check her mails. She looked at her watch and realised she was still on her break. Taking a sip of her now rather tepid coffee, she opened what had now become her favourite website; Lesbian love fiction (LLF). She logged on and quickly scanned the site for new story updates and saw a new story called 'An Ocean Apart' by a new author 'Blue Marlin' had been posted. She clicked on the link and started to read.

Charlie sat in tears when she had finished the first chapter of the story. She was so moved by the story. It had hit really close to home and in many ways it reminded her of her own life. She quickly dried her eyes so she wouldn't be seen crying at work. Her colleagues would lose all respect for her, she thought to herself.

Still looking at the computer screen, she took the coffee cup in her hand, leaned back in her chair and sat thinking about what she had read. Drinking the last of the coffee in the cup in one big gulp and swiftly sitting upright, she did something she hadn't done before. She hit the review button and started to write.