Hey readers! NZGirl25 here :) I've decided that I'm gonna start The Journey again, in the form of this new story. This is basically Charlie and Brax from the very beginning, starting from the Singles Night. This is going to include a lot of stuff from the show so I don't muck anything up this time.
So, I hope you enjoy this story :)
"You guys get my Facebook invitation for the singles night?" Angelo asked, coming up to Charlie Buckton and Leah Patterson at the Pier Diner.
"Yeah, I did actually," Charlie answered. "And your SMS, and your email." She said, turning to look at him.
"And I particularly liked the desperate and dateless." Leah added from behind the counter, where she was working.
"Oh I wasn't talking about you," Angelo said, looking at Charlie. "Or you."
"Yeah and what was it? Free drinks for girls under 30?" Charlie asked, looking at Leah.
"Yeah, its going to cost me a bit but I should get that back with the extra sales," Angelo said. Leah raised her eyebrows. "You guys are over 30. Um, look, how about I give you free drinks anyway."
"I should hope so." Leah nodded her head with a smile on her face.
"So you'll come? Angelo asked hopefully.
Charlie walked into Angelo's. "Hey." She greeted Angelo.
"Hey!" Angelo returned the greeting. "Um, do you need something to eat?"
"No, I just thought I'd pop in to see how things are." Charlie answered.
"Uh, well they're good," Angelo said, raising a hand. Angelo walked towards the bar and Charlie followed. "Fine. Great!" He cleared his throat.
"Are you sure?" Charlie asked. "Because this morning I got the distinct impression that things weren't good, fine, great." She leaned a hand on the bar and looked at Angelo.
"Okay, I'm just managing to pay my staff and the suppliers to be honest." Angelo admitted.
"What, I don't get it, this place is packed on the weekends."
"Yeah, but during the week its hardly worth me putting the stoves on," Angelo said. "You know I really need this singles night to work. And other nights like it. If I don't expand this clientele then I could sink."
"Okay," Charlie said. "Well, I'll be here tonight if that helps."
Angelo breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "Thank you, and twenty of your friends?" He gave Charlie a hopeful smile.
"I can't guarantee 20 but I'll work on Leah." Charlie promised. Angelo smiled. Suddenly they could hear a screech over the microphone and Liam saying "Sorry, sorry."
Charlie smiled at Angelo. "I'll leave you to it." She said before turning around and leaving the restaurant.
Charlie walked into Angelo's that night with Leah and Bianca. They looked around and then back at each other, surprised at how empty the restaurant was. A few guys were hanging out at the bar drinking but that was pretty much it. Angelo spotted them and walked over to them.
"Ladies, hello." Angelo greeted.
"Hey, did we get the time wrong or-" Leah trailed off.
"Unfortunately no." Angelo said.
"Don't worry about it," Charlie told him. "It's still early."
"Yeah, everyone is just fashionably late." Bianca said with a hint of a laugh in her voice.
"Yeah, well I hope so. I spent more money than I could afford marketing this gig and at the moment there's more staff than paying customers," Angelo said, turning around and walking towards the bar. "So, little bit awkward. Uh, how about we start with a free drink. What would you like?"
"I'm fine, I'm just going to have water for now." Charlie answered.
"Yeah, I'll have water." Leah agreed.
"Wine." Bianca nodded. Charlie and Leah looked over their shoulder at Bianca and smiled.
"That's more like it," Angelo exclaimed. "Hey look I'll bring it out to you." After Angelo left Charlie and Leah giggled.
"What?" Bianca asked with a smile on her face.
"So who's that?" Bianca asked.
"It looks like one of Liam's old groupies." Leah guessed.
"Oh god don't look now." Charlie said, motioning to the three guys at the bar who were checking them out. Bianca turned around and smiled flirtatiously at them.
"Stop it don't encourage them," Leah laughed, following Charlie to a table outside. "Otherwise they'll come over."
"Single's night," Bianca said. "What's the point of being here if we're not going to flirt?"
"Bianca!" Charlie reprimanded playfully. "You're the only out of us who does have a boyfriend."
"Yeah, not that you can tell that right about now." Bianca said,
"Right," Leah said. "So I take it that the two of you didn't work things out."
"Nope," Bianca answered. "But I'm not going to let that ruin my evening." She started to walk towards the bar towards the guys and that caught Liam's attention. She plopped herself down on a stool and began talking to the guys. Leah and Charlie looked at each other and giggled.
Later on, Bianca was seductively dancing with one of the guys. Afterwards, she walked over to the table where Leah and Charlie were sitting and sat down on a barstool.
"You think if you're gonna cheat you should really remove the mark the wedding ring left behind." Bianca said, drinking some wine.
"Yeah it's not exactly the classiest night out I've ever had." Charlie said.
"Yeah, there's still a serious lack of women here." Leah added as Angelo arrived at their table.
"Ladies, how's the evening going?" Angelo asked.
"Uhh, well actually we were thinking of calling it a night." Leah told him.
"Yeah." Charlie agreed.
"But it's only early!" Angelo protested.
"Yeah, but we've both got work in the morning." Charlie informed him.
"Just half an hour more please." Angelo desperately asked. He needed the night to improve and fast. "I don't want to sound bad but I kind of need you to stay to keep the guys interested in staying."
"Yeah you're right that does sound bad." Charlie told him as Bianca giggled.
"Yeah. One more drink please." Angelo pleaded.
Charlie and Leah looked at each other.
"Half an hour that's it." Charlie told him.
"Great, thank you," Angelo said before his gaze landed on the door. "Oh perfect, just what I don't need."
"Who are they?" Bianca asked, looking at the guys who just walked into Angelo's.
"The Riverboys," Charlie answered. "Surfie gang from Mangrove River."
"Yeah they don't usually hang out in the bay." Angelo commented.
"Which means they're probably here to cause trouble!" Charlie said with a sigh.
"Excuse me." Angelo said before heading over to tend to the bar.
"Evening gents." Angelo greeted them.
"Oi, friendly face." Darryl 'Brax' Braxton said. His shirt was unbuttoned just enough to see the hint of a chest tattoo.
"Ah, you did me for speeding last year." Brax's brother Heath said.
"That's right, it cost me four hundred bucks," Brax replied. "What are you doing behind a bar?" He looked at Heath. "Oi, undercover aye. Big drug bust going down."
"I own this bar. I don't want any trouble do you understand?" Angelo asked.
"Don't get at me, We're just a couple of lonely, unattached guys," Brax held up a wad of cash. "Come to meet some single girls."
"That's what it said on your flyer after all." Heath said.
"I'll have a bourbon thanks." Brax said, putting some dollar bills onto the bar.
"Same, and a beer chaser," Heath ordered. "Thank you waiter."
Angelo sighed and turned to fix their drinks, while Brax turned around. Straight away, his gaze landed on Charlie. She had his attention.
It didn't take long for the Riverboys to get rowdy. Liam had a brief conversation with Angelo about not performing but reluctantly headed for the stage.
"Yeah, you see him?" Charlie asked Leah and Bianca. "That's Darryl Braxton. Serious trouble. His friends are no angels either."
"Why are the bad ones always so hot?" Bianca wondered out loud just as Liam began to play.
The Riverboys seemed to get more and more out of hand. Charlie walked up to Angelo who was standing near the entrance watching all of it happen.
"Okay, we need to shut this down before it gets even more out of hand." Charlie informed him, her cop side beginning to come through.
Angelo sighed. "Yeah," He headed over to where Brax was sitting. "Look Brax you gotta finish your drinks, the bar closes in ten minutes."
"Well the sign outside says you're open for another hour." Brax said, pointing a finger towards the door.
"Yeah well tonights a special night." Angelo told him.
"And why is that?" Brax asked. "Because refusing our service could be seen as discrimination."
Brax and Angelo continued to argue while Charlie watched on. Angelo spotted a Riverboy trying to hit on Leah and headed over to the entrance.
"Hey! That's it! Hit the road!" He told the Riverboy, who just happened to be Heath Braxton.
"What?" Heath asked.
"You heard me."
"You can't kick me out for talking to a girl." Heath said.
"Watch me." Angelo threatened.
"Okay, the owner's asked you to leave, I'd do as he says." Charlie stated, walking over to Leah.
"Sargent Buckton," Heath said. "I guess this place is full of cops huh?"
Charlie ignored him and instead led Leah away from Angelo and Heath. "You alright?" She asked.
"Yeah I'm fine." Leah said just as Angelo pushed Heath and said, "Get out." Heath pushed Angelo back and Angelo was going to hit Heath when he was held back by someone else. Suddenly everyone started fighting, turning the Single's night into an all out brawl. Amongst all the chaos, Miles Copeland entered Angelo's and was barely there two minutes before getting hit in the head with a glass bottle and collapsing to the ground.
Did you like it? Did you like it? I know it included a lot of dialogue from Home and Away but it is going to be one of those stories.
Let me know what you enjoyed, what you didn't, any tips to make my writing better, it'll be really appreciated.
Ciao for now,
Jaya.