Chapter Ten

It was much later when Charlie finally left the house. Ben was safely in bed after a lot of tears and things seemed a bit more settled. They had agreed to get family counselling and work hard on fixing their problems. Nothing would be solved overnight but at least they were on the same page now and both wanted to make things work.

Charlie had also put Joey to bed with a bucket just in case, having already made her drink a pint of water and take a couple of pain killers to help with the hangover when she woke up.

In the car, Charlie phoned Brax using her hands-free kit.

"Where have you been?" he asked immediately. "Your shift finished ages ago."

"I had to go and look after Joey," Charlie explained.

Claiming it as work was a bit of a stretch but she was sure she could get away with it. Her role as a police officer meant assisting community members in crisis and Joey was certainly struggling.

"Oh really?" Brax asked.

She could picture him leering just by the sound of his voice.

"What did you do? Anything hot?"

"Brax!" she complained. "Does everything have to be sexual with you?"

"Pretty much," he replied without hesitation.

Charlie sighed. After what she had learned about her friend's past and present, the last idea she wanted to entertain was Brax's longing for a threesome. Sadness swept over her, thinking about what Joey had been through and the repercussions.

"Look, I'll be home soon," she told her husband, ignoring his earlier comments.

"I'll wait up for you," he replied.

Twenty minutes later, Charlie arrived home. The lights were off with Ruby and Casey both asleep in their rooms. She kicked off her shoes and removed her heavy belt, grabbing a glass of water before heading up to bed. As promised, Brax was waiting up for her. The room was lit by a lamp and he didn't have any clothes on. She cringed. He was offended.

"You do realise that married couples sleep together sometimes, don't you?" he snapped.

It was the same old argument and it was frustrating for both of them.

"I know," she said, making a point of changing into fresh pyjamas. "But it doesn't have to be all the time."

"How about once a fucking year?" he shot back.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he put some underwear on before hurrying back under the covers.

"Do you know what kind of night I've had?" she asked, moving to the other side of the bed.

"No," he replied. "Tell me."

"It was shit," she said bluntly. "I spent most of it trying to talk two very distressed people down."

"Joey and Ben?" Brax asked.

Charlie nodded and sighed heavily.

"What happened?" he wanted to know.

"I can't go into detail but it was stressful," she told him.

He looked annoyed at being shut out of a secret but decided not to persist. Changing the subject, he asked if Charlie thought Joey would be interested in their idea.

"Your idea," Charlie corrected. "I have no desire to do this."

Brax smiled and kissed her, remaining confident that he would eventually get what he wanted.

At school the next day, Ben took Ruby to one side. She hadn't been that keen to spend time with him after yesterday but had agreed anyway.

"I'm really sorry about yesterday," he said. "I was really rude to you and it wasn't fair."

"It also didn't make sense," Ruby pointed out. "You were flirting with me as much as I was with you and then you just changed."

Ben sighed and apologised again. He was still terrified and his issues had far from gone away but, like his mother and Charlie had said, he was never going to be able to get past anything if he didn't try.

"I don't expect you to give me another chance but…"

"But what?"

"I'd love to ask you out properly," he said.

Ruby chewed her lip, eyeing him curiously.

"Go on then," she instructed.

"Would you like to go out with me?" he asked. "Maybe to a movie or something?"

Ruby smiled at him, although she was still cautious.

"I'd love to," she accepted.

Charlie and Angelo arrived at the restaurant at lunch time for food and so Charlie could catch up with Brax. At least, that's the impression she gave. Food aside, she knew Joey would be working and she wanted to check that she was okay.

"Hey," she greeted warmly, approaching her friend behind the door.

Joey looked sheepish but pleased to see her.

"How are you feeling?"

"Hungover," Joey admitted. "But a lot better than I would have been if you hadn't stepped in to help. Thank you."

Charlie smiled.

"It's okay," she said. "I'm always here if you need me."

Joey thanked her again, touching her hand for a brief moment. At a nearby table, Brax watched them interact. He smiled, convinced that Joey's obvious crush on Charlie would help him get his birthday present.

Next time… Ruby and Ben make a go of things and Brax invites Joey to his birthday party…