Chapter 1

New Life

The "fasten your seat belt" sign blinked on as Charlie clipped the seat belt in place and pulled it tight. 'My god', she thought, 'I'm actually leaving'.

"Get a grip, Charlie", she said to herself, taking a deep breath, as she realised her hands were gripping the arm rests so tightly, her knuckles were turning white. She needed to gain control of her emotions and not think of everything that she was leaving behind, both the good and the bad.

Ruby was the one that had eventually convinced her that this was the right thing to do, to get away from Summer Bay and all the drama that was her life for the past two years. Two rollercoaster years, almost to the day, since Joey had sailed way and, as it turned out, left her for good.

'No', she thought to herself, 'I'm not thinking about Joey, not today'. She really didn't want to think about Joey, not on the day she was starting her new life. She lent forward and grabbed the somewhat travel-worn inflight magazine, hoping that this could perhaps distract her thoughts away from Joey. Even though two years had passed and, let's face it, so much had happened, holding Joey in her arms really was the last time she had been truly happy.

She flicked through the pages looking for the inflight entertainment guide, quickly skipping past an article on the latest fashion craze, crocheting your own beanie, when the slightly muffled sound of the fight attendant announced they were about to depart. Charlie closed the magazine for a moment to take one last look out of the window. A tear ran down her face but, at the same time, she smiled thinking of the one person she was going to sorely miss, Ruby.

"Don't worry Charlie", she had said, smiling at her mum in the airport departure lounge "you'll love it in London and I'll be fine, just remember I love you and it's only for a year after all".

***

At almost exactly the same time, Joey shivered slightly as she took off her coat and hung it over the back of the chair at what was now her favourite place to hang out. It served really good and, more importantly, cheap coffee. Even though this was her second winter here, she most definitely had not got used to this extremely cold and damp weather.

"Same as usual today darling?", the petite blonde and attractive waitress asked.

"Yes please Anne", Joey blushed as she smiled back at the flirtatious waitress. "But can I also get an apple danish to go with the coffee?"

"Of course you can hun", Anne winked at Joey and headed back to the counter to get her order.

Joey looked for a moment at the departing waitress, thinking how much she'd changed in the time that Joey had been coming in. From being shy and slightly withdrawn to chatty and flirtatious, Joey wondered for a moment what her story was.

As Joey settled into her chair, she got her books and notepad out of her bag with every intention of getting on with some studying. She was doing a business management course part-time at Greenwich University, hoping one day to run her own fishing business back in Australia, taking tourists out for the day, or longer if they wanted to try deep sea fishing. She had come here to get away from Summer Bay and Charlie, to try and forget about her broken heart. At first, she hadn't had a plan, she'd just need to escape. After three months on a fishing trawler, she couldn't face going back to Summer Bay so she'd used all her money to buy a ticket to London. She'd quickly got lucky finding a job working nights in a bar, spending her days just existing. But after six months, enough was enough and she decided that she needed to stop thinking about Charlie and start thinking about her future. That's how she'd ended up signing up for a general course on how to run her own business. It was a start and in the last few months she had even begun to believe she could be happy again. Yes, now and again she lapsed and would find herself thinking about Charlie…kissing Charlie…touching Charlie…but fortunately these lapses were happening less and less as she reminded herself that Charlie was thousands of miles away and most definitely not part of her future.

"Enjoy", Anne said as delivered her coffee and danish. Joey smiled at the waitress, grateful that she had snapped her from her Charlie thoughts.

"Thanks", Joey replied before going back to her books, determined to get on with her course work this afternoon.

***

Charlie had been on the flight for six long hours, she had watched two films, eaten one salad and gotten up four times for the rather irritating man sat next to her who she wished would get his 'pee-ness' under control. He had tried talking and flirting with her about an hour into the flight but, after her effortless indifference to his attempts to strike up a conversation, had given up and started to make the most of the complimentary drinks.

She settled back in her seat, closing her eyes hoping to sleep for a while. Five minutes later, she sighed deeply, sleep was not coming easily as her mind kept whirling. 'Why exactly was she going to London?'

Charlie remembered sitting at her desk in Summer Bay, finishing up the paperwork on a case of petty theft when her phone rang. The call had been from her chief inspector with the chance of a job swap with a police sergeant from the UK, a chance to learn different ways of doing things. At first she wasn't sure if she wanted to go, particularly leaving Ruby for a year especially after everything they had been through together, but she agreed to at least think about it.

Ruby had completely surprised her when she said what a great opportunity it was and that Charlie should go. If truth be told, Charlie had been a little hurt that Ruby had seemed so keen for her to leave. But after Ruby told her why it could be a good thing, she actually started to seriously consider it. Ruby had said it was obvious she was not happy and hadn't been since Joey left, despite trying to move on with her life and the not brief enough, disastrous rebound relationship with Angelo. Ruby had gone on to say a change of life and location, even for a year, might finally help her get over Joey. Her daughter had told Charlie she'd miss her desperately but was old enough to look after herself, with a little help from Irene, and more than anything else wanted Charlie to be herself again and find happiness.

The following day she had accepted the job. That was four weeks ago.

***

Joey paid Anne for the three cups of coffee, making a point of telling her what a tasty treat the danish had been, giving her a much needed sugar boost to help her finish her studying that afternoon. She left a small tip for her favourite waitress.

"Thanks and see you again soon darlin'", she smiled as Joey left. Anne watched Joey leave, wondering for a moment what her story was.

Looking at her watch, she began to hurry as she was due at work in an hour. Nikki, the owner of the bar she worked in, would not be happy if she was late for work again. As Joey hastily made her way home to get ready for work, Charlie finally fell asleep on the plane.