Chapter Seven

Frustrated, Joey had gone back to work to distract herself and put in enough physical labour to work out her aggression. She couldn't believe that Charlie was asking her to resign from a job that she loved. She was so selfish! And the fact that she didn't trust her, cut like a knife. Charlie might be insisting that it was only Lauren that she didn't trust but it didn't feel that way. Maybe the only solution was to quit. It didn't look like Charlie's paranoia was going away any time soon. But Joey didn't want to leave. She wanted to be able to get up and go to work and come home happily. It felt ironic that her romantic gesture, the thing that had prompted the overtime, was what was destroying them.

***

At home, Charlie was fretful. Joey had stormed out and she didn't know where she'd gone. She wasn't taking Charlie's calls.

"Hey, are you alright?" Ruby asked, wandering into the living room and noticing Charlie's tension.

"I had an argument with Joey," Charlie admitted miserable.

Ruby looked shocked.

"But you guys never fight," she said. "You're happy to the point of irritation!"

Charlie sank down on the couch and her sister came to join her.

"What was it about?" she asked.

"There's this woman," Charlie began. "Her boss. She's really into Joey."

"Into Joey like…?"

"Like I'm into Joey. So I kind of…"

"What?"

Charlie looked at Ruby directly.

"I asked Joey to quit her job."

She frowned. Saying it out loud to a third party made it feel all the more unreasonable.

"You what?" Ruby said, alarmed.

"I can't bear for them to be around each other!" Charlie tried to explain.

"But Joey loves her job," Ruby pointed out. "And she'd never cheat on you. I mean, come on, she doesn't notice any other woman is alive. She's all about you, Charles. There's no room for anyone else. You know that, don't you?"

"I know," Charlie sighed. "It's just…"

"Look, you and Joey are the strongest couple I've ever known. Don't let some stupid, horny woman get in the way."

***

"Hey! What are you doing out here so late?"

Joey looked up to see Lauren climbing on deck. She'd stopped working already, now that it was midnight, and had spent the last few months looking out across the water. She smiled and shrugged.

"I just felt like getting some air," she said. "And being here makes me feel sane."

Lauren sat down and waved a bottle of wine at Joey who came to join her.

"I'm pretty much here for the same reason," she said.

Joey nodded and watched Lauren open the wine.

"So, what did she do this time?" the blonde asked.

Joey shook her head.

"It's nothing."

"You're sitting on my boat at midnight, looking miserable and it's nothing?" Lauren challenged.

Joey sighed heavily.

"She doesn't want me working here anymore."

"What? You're not quitting, are you?" Lauren replied, alarmed.

"No. I've said no but… she's really hurting. I don't think I reacted very well," Joey admitted.

Thinking about it now, yelling and walking out was possibly not the brightest move she had ever made.

"Maybe I should go and talk to her."

Joey got to her feet but Lauren held her arm.

"I've just poured you a glass of wine," Lauren told her. "It's only polite to drink it."

Joey grinned and accepted the glass being offered to her. She took too long a sip and sat back in her chair. Lauren smiled.

"So, what's her problem? Other than her being ridiculously controlling?" she asked.

"Charlie isn't controlling," Joey said defensively.

"She wants to dictate who you see and where you work. Nope, not controlling at all."

"No. Lauren, she's just looking out for me in a strange, upsetting way. She's freaking out abut losing me for some stupid reason."

"How do you think people end up in abusive relationships, Joey?"

"Abusive? No! You don't know what you're talking about," Joey protested.

"Sure I do," Lauren replied.

Joey shook her head.

"Sorry if I'm being too bold, Joey. But it just seems that she tells you to jump and you ask how high. Your whole world revolves around Charlie to the point where it might be unhealthy. And if she's bossing you around with this kind of thing… well, I worry about what's going to happen next."

"You've really got it all wrong," Joey said, hating that Charlie was being misrepresented. That wasn't how it was.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Lauren said, offering a smile. "I just worry about you. I care about you, Joey."

***

Charlie had paced so much that she was making both herself and Ruby dizzy. Time was getting on and Joey was still out and still ignoring her calls.

"Oh, for goodness sake!" Ruby snapped. "Just go and find her and put us all out of our misery!"

Charlie stopped pacing and frowned at her sister, feeling startled.

"I don't know where she is," Charlie pointed out.

"Charlie, this is Joey we're talking about. You don't have to be a genius to figure out where she is."

Charlie sighed, nodded and grabbed her coat.

***

Joey smiled, feeling a little anxious under Lauren's intense stare. She shifted, looked away and finished off the last of her wine in a gulp that made her throat sting. Lauren took the glass out of Joey's hand and put her own down beside it. She took Joey's hands in her own and lifted Joey's chin to convince her to look at her. Panic surged within Joey. It felt terribly wrong to be sitting like this with someone who wasn't Charlie. She felt frozen in place.

"You really do mean so much to me," Lauren said softly. "I never thought I'd ever feel this way again."

"Lauren…" Joey said but before she could get her next words out, Lauren's lips were pressed against her own.

***

Charlie didn't stop to watch. Even from a distance, it was clear that Joey and Lauren were in an intimate situation. She felt like the bottom had just fallen out of her world as she ran hurriedly away. All this time, and after all Joey's protestations, it was true. Joey, who had promised time and again that nothing would make her stray, was now making out with that evil woman. Charlie didn't bother to fight tears as she carried on walking, not knowing where she was headed.