Chapter Eleven

Charlie woke in a state of bliss. She felt warm and happy, entwined with Joey's beautiful body. She gazed into her face. Her eyes were still closed and she looked so peaceful. Charlie decided that she wanted to wake up this way every single morning, although she was aware that for this to be practical, she'd need to make a drastic amount of changes in her life. Joey may be claiming to be smitten, but Charlie still wasn't sure how long she'd be willing to sneak around for the pure and simple reason that Charlie was embarrassed of being labelled a lesbian. Charlie continued to look longingly at her lover, a smile playing on her lips. Life had been a whirlwind since Joey Collins had arrived in town but Charlie couldn't seem to mind. Just like she had three years ago and just like she had eighteen months ago, Joey had captured Charlie's heart in a matter of moments. She was intoxicating. There was just something about her that made Charlie want to abandon all her responsibilities and run off into the night. She carefully leant down and placed a very gentle kiss on Joey's perfect lips, hoping not to wake her. Just as she was pulling away, she felt Joey's lips curl into a smile and her hand slip out from beneath the covers to bring her head back down. They kissed for longer.

"That is one of the best good mornings I have ever had," Joey said sleepily.

Charlie cuddled her closer beneath the duvet.

"I was thinking something pretty similar myself," Charlie replied.

When they pulled back, Joey studied Charlie curiously. She observed her features and the way her long hair fell around her beautiful face.

"What?" Charlie asked.

"So, you're pretty much perfect and beautiful all the time, huh?" Joey said.

Charlie blushed.

"Especially when you blush."

Charlie blushed more. Joey ran her fingers through Charlie's hair, along her shoulders, across her collar bone and towards her breasts. She was just reaching her goal when there was a loud knock on the door.

"Charlie!" Ruby yelled. "Are you up?"

Both women froze and stared at each other.

"Charlie?"

"In there!" Charlie hissed, pointing to the wardrobe.

Joey leapt out of bed and hurried to the closet while Charlie jumped up and shoved their clothes, which were strewn across the room, in there too.

"Do I have time to point out the irony of you shoving me in a closet?" Joey asked, as Charlie fumbled with the doors.

"No!" Charlie said, kissing her quickly and diving back under the duvet.

"Charlie? Okay, I'm coming in!" Ruby yelled, pushing the bedroom door open.

Charlie attempted to regulate her breathing as her sister appeared in the room.

"Hey, are you still in bed?" she asked.

"Obviously," Charlie said.

"You're normally up so early."

"Joey stayed pretty late last night so I thought I'd have a lie in. What can I do for you, Rubes?"

Her heart was racing as she suddenly panicked about Ruby wanting to borrow her clothes.

"I wanted to borrow your red top."

"No!" Charlie said excessively loudly.

"I won't hurt it, Charles," Ruby said, surprised by the outburst.

"I… I don't even know if it's clean."

"Well, I'll just have a look…"

Ruby walked over to the wardrobe.

"No, wait… Look, I've just got up, I'm not wearing anything. Could you just give me a minute to sort myself out and I'll find it for you and bring it out?" Charlie asked, hoping she sounded pathetic enough for Ruby to move on.

"Okay," Ruby sighed. "But I'm meeting Annie in an hour so don't be long, okay?"

Charlie nodded and Ruby left.

"Can I come out now?" came a very meek voice from the wardrobe.

Charlie chuckled and climbed out of bed, rescuing a pouting Joey, who was holding up what she suspected was the red top that Ruby was so eager to borrow.

"Thanks," Charlie said.

"So, do I have to hide out here until everyone's gone?" she asked.

"I'm not working until the afternoon so once I've dealt with Ruby, I'm all yours again."

"Then put some clothes on and deal… quickly!" Joey urged. "I'll wait for you."


Charlie arrived back in the bedroom after a prolonged fifteen minutes with a cup of coffee.

"I'm afraid we have to share," she said awkwardly. "Or else I would have drawn attention to myself."

Joey laughed.

"I'm more interested in you than the coffee," she admitted.

Charlie smiled, setting the cup on the bedside table, shrugging off her robe and crawling back into bed.

"So, what are you doing today, Joey?" Charlie asked.

"I'm free all day and then working this evening," she replied.

"Maybe I'll come and visit you when I knock off."

"That would be delightfully distracting."

They kissed. Joey leaned Charlie back against the pillows, trailing kisses down her jaw, neck and collar bone. Charlie rolled them back over, determined to gain control. Joey giggled.

"Fine! I'm at your mercy!" she relented.

"Music to my ears," Charlie murmured.

She kissed her passionately, letting both hands wander down to Joey's breasts, teasing them in preparation for her mouth. She took her time exploring each part of Joey that took her fancy, enjoying the thrills that went through both of them the deeper things developed. She loved learning new things about her body and the things she enjoyed. She loved being responsible for making her happy. And she wanted to continue making her happy forever.

Charlie emerged from the duvet feeling a little dizzy, breathless and somewhat tired. She flopped down on the pillow and welcomed Joey into her arms as she too recovered from their love-making session. Charlie closed her mind to the fact that time was getting on and she needed to get up and showered, ready for work. She never wanted to leave the room.

"That was amazing," Joey breathed into Charlie's shoulder.

Charlie kissed the top of Joey's head.

"You're amazing," she said.

"I think we're pretty amazing together," Joey grinned.

"I think we are too. I'm so happy you came back into my life, Joey."

"I'm happy too. This is the best move I ever made."

"What did make you come here?" Charlie asked.

"I told you. Summer Bay had a pretty name."

"But why did you leave where you were before?"

"There was an… incident," Joey said. "I'd rather not talk about it."

She snuggled more tightly against Charlie and hoped she wouldn't press the issue.

"The murders or the bank robbery?" Charlie asked, recalling the conversation from the night before.

Joey reached over and idly began teasing Charlie's chest, making her skin tingle.

"The robbery," she said, playing along. "I'm hoping that sleeping with a cop will keep me out of trouble."

"Nice try!" Charlie chuckled.

Joey stopped her circular motions and felt suddenly serious. She looked up at Charlie.

"There was a whole harassment thing going on," she admitted.

"Harassment?" Charlie asked.

"Some woman… she wasn't interested in taking no for an answer," Joey told her. "She kept following me and calling me, sitting outside my house, stuff like that. It all got a bit intense so I bailed."

"Sounds horrible," Charlie sympathised.

"I know I should have stuck it out…"

"Not you! Her! You dope."

Joey stuck her tongue out.

"Is that an invitation?" Charlie asked.


Three days later, Joey was on top of the world. She felt like she had fallen on her feet by coming to Summer Bay. She'd secured a job that she could do in her sleep. Alf Stewart was a good and friendly boss and the locals kept her entertained. She was starting to build some friendships already and Charlie was the best thing that had ever happened to her. It may be a secret but she had the hottest, funniest, sweetest and most loving girlfriend in the world. They had seen each other every day since they first got together and while it involved a lot of sneaking around, Joey wouldn't have changed a second of it. She wasn't used to covert operations but she had to admit that it was actually making things even more exciting that it might otherwise have been, if that was possible.

She smiled when Charlie entered the Diner and made her way over to the table. They touched hands briefly across the table top and then drew away. It was hard to be together in public, not being able to be as natural with one another as they would like but Joey was happy to take what she could get. They chose their lunch orders and Charlie went up to the counter, parting with a smile. She stopped smiling when she realised that Roman was going to be serving her. She felt awkward, but not for the reason he and other people would assume. Charlie had hardly even thought about him since they'd split up and she felt like a terrible person for it.

Roman had been the first friend she'd made when she'd arrived in the Bay. He'd been kind to her and he was attractive and gentle. She had genuinely cared for him. Everything she had felt and everything she had said had been real but now, it was over and she'd recovered abnormally quickly. Now, all that was in her head was Joey. Joey had healed her hurt and overrode the pain of losing Roman with the joy of gaining her. But because it was a secret, Charlie wasn't sure how she should act, how she should explain that everything could be normal between her and her ex and that she wasn't devastated – or if indeed she should explain.

"Hi," Roman said.

"Hey," Charlie replied.

"How are you? I've hardly seen you since…"

"Yeah, I'm pretty good. I've been pretty busy with work and…"

"Joey."

Charlie blushed and began to fret internally, wondering if he had somehow found her out.

"It's just I don't see you often but every time I do see you, you're with her," Roman explained.

"She's been a good friend," Charlie said.

Roman nodded

"How have you been?" Charlie asked, not wanting to be the focus of the attention anymore.

"Fine. I've been fine. Working. And you know I always have my work cut out for me with Nicole."

"Oh, I know that one!" Charlie laughed.

"So, what can I get you?"

Charlie placed her order and headed back to Joey, who was eyeing her intently.

"You okay?" Charlie asked, sitting down opposite her again.

"Yeah. Are you?"

She jerked her head in Roman's direction.

"Oh, yeah, fine. Just exchanging pleasantries," Charlie said. "It's weird but the only reason I feel awkward around him is because I don't miss him and I feel like I should."

Joey smiled in relief. Her single concern in their entire relationship had been that Charlie was using her to rebound from the man she really loved but Charlie's casual mention of not missing Roman felt like confirmation that Charlie was really in this for keeps. As if reading her mind, Charlie opted to ignore the fact that they were in public and reached out to hold her hand. She gazed into Joey's eyes.

"You didn't think…?" she asked.

"No," Joey lied.

"Everything I've said and done with you is real, Joey," Charlie said. "I swear it."

Joey smiled.

"I know," Joey said. "I know that. I guess sometimes I just can't help but wonder why on earth someone like you would pick me."

"Because you take my breath away."

Charlie let go of Joey's hand and smiled up at Belle as she came to bring their drinks over.