Joey can't believe it, she looks at the two faces sitting with her, they have been talking and laughing, enjoying their burgers for nearly an hour now. Ruby and Xavier have her in stitches with stories of Summer Bay High, they introduce her to Leah and Colleen; "a heart of gold but Summer Bays extension to the bush telegraph" Ruby says of the later. Joey is aware she has been carefully steering the conversation away from herself all afternoon, but she knows it is inevitable, and just as she is thinking it, she hears Ruby pipe up;
"So, what's your story Joey? What in the world brings you to Summer Bay, the very heart of Australia's excitement?" Ruby can't help the small amount of sarcasm dripping from her words.
Joey's deep brown eyes become slightly downcast, her smile, is momentarily wiped from her face; taking a deep breath, trying to decide where to start, she pushes the remains of her burger to one side, looks slowly from her hands to her new friends;
"To cut, a long story short, and not bore you with details" she begins, "I have just come from the Sunny Coast, you know, just north of Brisvegas; I'm a deck hand, was a deck hand, may still be a deck hand; if I can get work here" she trails off slightly. "I love boats, the water, fishing; it's all I really know, I guess" she says, almost talking to herself.
Joey is not very aware of what she is saying, feeling like she is beginning to talk in circles, but she can't help it, she hadn't really thought about what she was doing before she got on the bus, now, just because she was here, didn't mean it all made sense suddenly.
"Anyway," she slowly starts again, leaning one elbow on the table, letting the side of her face rest on her palm, while the other hand absently plays with her napkin, "working on boats is fairly much all I have done, it's what I love to do, it's what my father loved to do. He taught me everything" abruptly pausing, she quickly looks at both Ruby and Xavier, trying to work out if she is boring them; "I was working on a great boat up the coast, with a great guy; Josh." Joey, on listening to the name fall from her lips, twists a little uncomfortably on the booth seat; "we had met on the boat, found we were into the same things," her eyes jump around a little, she is not use to talking about herself, her life; "everything just happened so fast, before long we were in a relationship I guess." she pauses, takes a long drink of her coke.
"Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I woke up one day, restless, wandering if this was it? I mean, was this, the best my life was going to be? I felt something was missing, off centre or something. I immediately tried to put the thought out of my mind, I mean, my life was great; great job, great guy, great house overlooking the water. What did I have to complain about?"
Joey could feel Ruby watching her intently as she went on, she couldn't bring herself to look at them anymore, instead she finds herself absently watching her own hands, fiddling on the table in front of her; "but I just couldn't shake the question" she continued, "I knew it wasn't the work, being out on the water everyday, in the sunshine and fresh air, that's heaven for me; there is no way I could work in an office all day, I would go mad." she admits, laughing lightly to herself, taking another mouthful of coke. "So anyway, one day last week I was trying to talk about this to Josh and he just didn't get it, didn't get me. He didn't even try to understand; he didn't feel there was anything missing in his life; he was happy, he said. Don't get me wrong, I was happy too, but I just couldn't shake the niggling thought that there was something, it's hard to explain." Joey pauses, trying to find better words, she can't, it still wasn't making sense to her either.
Joey catches herself gently shaking her head, she can't believe how much she is talking. "I'm sorry, I must be boring you" she hears herself say, "I don't usually talk about myself, my life" a hand raises involuntarily, covering her mouth and nose, in some kind of protection.
"No, go on" Ruby encourages, fully engaged in Joey's story.
Shyly, briefly, glancing into Ruby's hazel eyes, Joey continues: "there was something about our relationship, I couldn't, still can't, put my finger on it; but somehow it just didn't feel right to me. Needless, to say, working on a small fishing boat when you have broken up with someone is not ideal" again a nervous soft laugh almost to herself. "So yesterday, we basically said our goodbyes; I packed up all my stuff and left on the first bus out of town, destination unknown; and here I am, no job, nowhere to stay, no friends, not really sure what I'm doing, really. I'm on a roll, don't you think!" Joey raises both hands, palms up, shrugging slightly, questioning her own decision, trying to make light of the situation.
Ruby watches intently as Joey's lips twist a little, with happiness or sadness Ruby is not yet sure; "Wow, that's quite an adventure" she finds her eyes dry and unblinking as Joey finishes; "what about your family?" Ruby asks.
"My Mum left when I was just six, taking my older brother with her, they live in Melbourne now, according to the last postcard my brother sent. My Dad; my Dad pretty much raised me on his own; he died last year." Joey's eyes darken a little with sadness, Ruby and Xavier watch as they dance delicately around the table not really sure what to focus on; "since then, I have pretty much, just taken care of myself" Joey hears herself finish, she is embarrassed to have opened up so much to both of them, not wanting either of them to feel sorry for her.
Ruby, can't explain it but she feels a strong unexplained connection to Joey, she is touched by the tenderness in Joey's eyes, reaching across the table she rests her hand on Joey's forearm; "well, you're in Summer Bay now, life can only get better right?" her thumb caresses Joey's soft skin, Joey very aware of Ruby's touch gently pulls away.
Ruby continues, "There's a caravan park further along the beach, lets get you a place to stay there and I am sure you will have no trouble finding work here, plenty of boats in this fishing village, right Xav's?" Ruby turns her attention to her boyfriend before adding, "and you can hang out with Xavier and I as much as you want, we'll be your friends."
Leaving the diner they trail off in the direction of the caravan park, the heat of the day clinging to all of them. Having agreed to meet up at the beach tomorrow, Ruby and Xavier say there goodbyes before heading off, leaving Miles to book Joey into her van.
Moments later, stretching herself across the bed, Joey finds she is exhausted, pleased but exhausted, the bus journey catching up with her.
Alone in the caravan, she smiles broadly to herself. Thoughts of her afternoon and thoughts of tomorrow, send her blissfully to sleep.