Chapter 7.

Georgie and Charlie left the two friends talking and catching up, and went back on duty.

Charlie turned to Georgie as they were walking to the car "what are OG trials Watson?"

"Olympic Games" she replied. "Joeys one of the best Judo, windsurfers and surfers we've got you know."

"Wow" said Charlie, extremely impressed, " she's quite something."

"I told you she was" said Georgie, suppressing a very large satisfying grin.

When they were in the car Georgie looked at Charlie and said "Look, erm Boss, about this Fridays party that keeps getting mentioned. I'm having a party at mine on Friday, that is" she corrected herself "actually, Anna and I are having a party at ours on Friday. We're having a few friends over to help us celebrate our, erm, engagement. I'd really like it if you could come along. You'd be really welcome to join us, but I'll understand if you've already made plans." There, she'd said it, she'd invited her to their party. Now she just had to see what her boss's reaction would be. She'd even given her an opt out if she needed it, but she hoped she wouldn't take it.

Charlie smiled genuinely at Georgie, and said "sure, I'd love to come Watson, erm, Georgie. What time does it kick-off?"

"7.30 pm to 8 pm. But you can come round before then if you like. Whenever you're ready. Should be a good night. Even if I do say so myself, we can usually throw quite a party!! By the way, it's a sort of formal affair, so no jeans OK. Most of us will be dressed up quite poshly – even me – so it'd be worth you coming just to see me in a dress!!"

"Yeah, sure. I'll have to see what I can find at the back of the wardrobe then – if Rubes hasn't already emptied it of course." They both laughed.

As Charlie drove away from the diner, she turned to Watson and said " so, you and Anna. You'd better fill me in on the juicy details then!!" she laughed.

Watson smiled, and began to talk tentatively at first, but very lovingly and enthusiastically about her fiancée. She knew by now that her boss was genuinely interested, and not just asking out of nosey-ness or gossip mongering.

"Well, her name is Anna Holmes, and she's an A&E doctor at the hospital. She works with Rachel actually – by the way Rachel and Tony are coming to the party on Friday, so there will be a few people you know there. She's 32, and we've been together, like I said before, for about a year. We met when she was helping sort out Joeys problems last year. And we've sort of been inseparable ever since. We decided to get married, well have a civil partnership, as we've both found our sole mate." Georgie blushed. Charlie was pleased she wasn't the only one that did that!! And she thought how lovely it must be for Georgie and Anna to have found each other.

Charlie suddenly twigged " is that why Joey calls you 'Sherlock'?"

Watson laughed. " Yeah, she has a wonderful sense of humour. What with two of her best friends dating, and being called Doctor Holmes and Constable Watson, what else could she come up with to call me?"

They both smiled and laughed together. Completely comfortable with one another.

"You know, like I said yesterday, I can't believe I've worked with you for what, 6 months, and don't know hardly anything about you. I don't even know for 100% if you're gay or bi let alone anything else. Sometimes I wonder what's wrong with me Watson, err Georgie. Or should I call you Sherlock instead now?" She giggled.

"Well, just to clear things up for you Charlie. Anna, me and Joey are all 100% gay, OK. And if you really want to, you can call me Sherlock, but not at work preferably please, Watson will be fine there."

"If I may say so" Georgie continued " you're a very professional cop, hence your meteoric rise to the top. There's nothing wrong with that Charlie. You've focused on your career, and you've done really well to get where you have so quickly, especially being a woman. A lot of people admire you for that. Myself included. You've also had to deal with your mothers death, looking after Rubes, and the problems with your dads health. You've been really strong. I don't think you could have held things together any better than you have done Charlie. It's not surprising you've had no time for small talk you know. Don't take it to heart. I know it's not that you don't care, it's that you haven't had the time more like. People know that, and if they don't, then that's their problem."

Charlie was really touched by Georgies speech, it had brought a lump to her throat. "Gee, thanks for that Georgie. Great speech. You've made me feel heaps better!! But seriously, I can't help thinking that I've been missing out on things by being this hard-faced Senior Constable. You know that I've been out short-term with Roman and Angelo, since I've been here, but apart from that, nothing else has distracted me from my work. That's all the 'life' I've had in the last 6 months. Perhaps it's time to start living again."

Georgie hoped that by that, Charlie meant maybe going out with Joey, but she guessed only time would tell, although all the signs were there as far as she was concerned!!

Georgie said " I don't want to put a downer on things, or jump the gun here, but, you know that for a lesbian, having a bi girlfriend is a nightmare don't you?"

"No, why's that?" asked Charlie.

"Because you have got to watch out for both girls and guys stealing your girlfriend away from you. You need eyes in the back of your head. It can be very difficult."

"Oh. I see." Charlie said thoughtfully.

They were silent for a couple of minutes. Then Charlie said "so, what's Joeys story?"

"Well, I met Joey about 4 years ago. She was in a compo, and I was an officer on duty protecting the 'stars'." she laughed.

"Obviously, we had something in common, and we got on really well, as friends, and have been great friends ever since."

"I will tell you that last year, she was in hospital for 2 months, and has just been away from Summer Bay for 6 months, travelling. In fact she must have left as you came to the Bay, it must have been about the same time. If you want to know anymore than that, then you'll have to ask her yourself. OK Charlie?"

"Fair enough Georgie. How old is she by the way?"

"22 at the moment. Her birthdays in May, so she'll be 23 then."

Charlie thought, umm, and I'm 28 in July. Is 5 years too much of an age gap. Will she think I'm too old for her?

The radio suddenly went off, and distracted her from her thoughts…."Uh oh, here we go" said Watson….