Chapter Twenty Five

Having escaped Brett, Joey was sitting on the beach with her head in her hands. Her mind was reeling. She remembered it clearly now. Brett had vandalised Charlie's car after finding out that they were dating. Then he had made a formal complaint at the police station, accusing Charlie of abusing her. They hadn't been allowed to see each other for a night and Joey had been thrilled to be back in her arms the next day. They'd stayed together for a week or so after that and then Joey had discovered the truth. Charlie had slept with a man called Hugo, the brother of Ruby's then boyfriend, Xavier. Joey had moved out immediately and then, hurt beyond belief, she had accepted a job on a long haul and intended to leave without saying goodbye. Charlie had found her at the last minute and begged her to stay but Joey hadn't been able to cope. Her plan had been to leave for three months and then come home and see if she and Charlie could make things work. Then everything had gone black.

Joey wiped her eyes when she saw tears drip onto the sand beneath her. She took several deep breaths as she tried to regain control of her feelings. Not only had Charlie messed her around, she'd broken her heart by sleeping with some other guy behind her back. Then she'd lied about it. And now, after weeks of being back in each other's lives, with Charlie professing to be her angel, her hero and her saviour, she had continued to lie. Joey had fallen in love with her all over again. She'd even been so bold as to want to take that step with Charlie on a physical level. But Charlie had taken advantage of her situation. She'd lied about why they'd split up. She'd even allowed Joey to feel guilty for overreacting.

She jumped when her mobile phone starting singing at her. Pulling it out of her pocket, she stared at Charlie's name – one of the only people she actually had stored in her phone book. Sighing heavily, Joey gently tossed the phone onto the sand. Charlie Buckton was the last person she wanted to speak to now.

It was an hour later and Charlie was relieved to finally be finishing her impromptu shift. Her concern was that she had tried to call Joey several times but she hadn't picked up. It definitely wasn't like her and Charlie was most concerned that something bad might have happened. She was nervous anyway. Tonight was the night that she was going to tell Joey the whole truth. It was a big risk but it was one she knew she had to take. All she could hope was that Joey wouldn't hold something she couldn't remember against her. And that she would forgive her for holding off and telling her the truth. She hoped it would count in her favour that she had been honest and told her voluntarily, rather than letting her find out some other way. She had wondered more than once if, had she been honest about Hugo the first time instead of letting Joey find out the way she did, might she have kept her? But she supposed that unless Joey got her memory back for real, that was a question she would never get the answer to.

Sighing, Charlie tried calling Joey one more time. Once again, she got no answer. Driving towards home, Charlie hoped that her girlfriend would be there. Her plan was to take her out for a drive and tell her everything. Then she would let Joey decide what to do. But hopefully, she would see that Charlie had changed and that she was ready to be with her now. She was desperate to be granted another chance.

Arriving home, Charlie marched through the house, calling Joey's name. Her girlfriend appeared, looking pale and unhappy. She was clutching a packed bag. Confused, Charlie stared at her.

"Joey, what's going on?" she asked.

"You lied to me," Joey replied.

Charlie swallowed a couple of times, looking scared. She shoved her hands her pockets before pulling them out and folding them across her middle. She shifted from one foot to the other and her throat felt tight.

"What... um... what do you mean?" she asked nervously.

"You slept with someone behind my back," Joey accused. "That's why I broke up with you."

Charlie sighed heavily.

"Joey, I'm so sorry..."

"For cheating on me or for taking advantage of my situation to get me back into your bed?"

She sounded and felt bitter. And close to tears.

"Joey..."

"I can't believe you'd do this to me," Joey said, sounding more weak than angry. "I trusted you. I thought... I thought you loved me."

"I do love you!" Charlie said desperately, stepped forward.

She tried to touch Joey's hands but she jerked out of the way.

"Don't touch me," she hissed.

She closed her eyes as another jolt of memory slapped her in the face. She'd said the same thing when she'd found out about Charlie's betrayal the first time. Looking Charlie directly in the face, she glared at her, trying not to feel compassion as Charlie openly began to weep.

"All this time, you made me feel that I'd done something awful by abandoning you," Joey said. "When actually, had I not had the accident, I shouldn't have come back to you. Ever. You're not the person I thought you were. You're not even half that."

Pushing past Charlie, Joey hurried out of the house, marching down the road towards the bus stop.

Next time... Joey goes home and Charlie tries to explain herself...