Chapter Twenty-Six

Skip woke up early. She walked across the caravan park and took a shower. Returning, she dressed and put everything back in its place. She liked to keep things immaculate. Having ensured that everything was perfectly tidy, she took her keys and headed to the police station, where she hoped her bag would have been returned. Her money and all her pictures of Joey were in there. It had been hard to survive a night without them. She replayed the moment she had seen Joey again in her mind. She'd been talking to the attractive policewoman when Joey had arrived, a vision of beauty. In fact, Skip was certain she had become even more beautiful than she was last time they'd seen each other, if that was even possible. She had this incredible glow about her. She chose to ignore the fact that the glow had faded the moment Joey had clapped eyes on her. It was hard to take. They had once been so close and Skip was certain that she could make Joey happy if only she would give her a chance.

***

Joey started her shift and acted cheerful. She served customers, fearing that everyone entering the Surf Club was going to turn out to be Skip. The fact that she hadn't made her move yet was enough to make her nervous. She almost wanted the woman to show up and confront her.

"Hi, Joey," said a male voice.

Joey looked up sharply. Ross approached the bar.

"Oh, hi Mr Buckton," she said, trying to sound comfortable.

"How are you?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty good, thanks. And you?"

"I'm fine."

"Can I get you a drink?" Joey offered.

"An orange juice, please."

Joey served it quickly and accepted his money.

"I just thought I should try and get to know you a little better," Ross said.

"That would be nice," Joey agreed.

She glanced at the door fretfully when someone else entered but it was just a group of guys.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Ross asked, noticing.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Joey lied.

The last thing she needed was to tell her girlfriend's father about her psychotic stalker. That probably wouldn't go down well.

"So, you really love my Charlie, do you?" he asked.

"I really do, Sir."

His mouth twitched. He still wasn't sure he was happy about this.

"You know she's had a hard time with men in the past," Ross said.

"I do."

"She's been cheated on a few times," Ross said. "She always picks people who aren't good for her. And she ended up in an awful relationship a few years back. If it wasn't for her own strength of character, she could have become a battered girlfriend."

Joey looked alarmed but said nothing.

"And as much as I like Roman, it turns out that he never treated her quite right."

"I know," Joey said quietly. "She told me about it at the time – before she and I got together."

"When you were just friends?"

"Yes, Sir."

"So, you cared about her even then?" Ross asked. "You were a good friend to her, yes?"

"I like to think so," Joey said. "I've tried to be supportive of her. And I know you think it's different to what we've told you but I promise I never pressured Charlie to be with me. There's just something overwhelming between us."

Ross nodded.

"And you'll never betray her?"

"Never. All I want to do is spend the rest of my life making her happy."

"You won't try and control her or make her feel bad about herself?"

"I couldn't control her even if I wanted to. Which I don't. I love how independent she is. I love that she and I are two whole people in a relationship. I really don't like the idea of two halves making a whole. I'm my own person and so is Charlie. That's one of the best things about us."

"So, do you see yourselves moving in together and settling down?" Ross asked.

"I hope so," Joey nodded. "I don't want to rush anything but I want Charlie and I to be together forever. From the first moment I met her, I loved her. She's the most amazing person I've ever known."

***

Skip approached the reception desk of the police station. The woman from yesterday looked up. She didn't smile.

"Hi," Skip said.

"Hello, Ms Tudor," Charlie said as politely as possible.

She looked around for Angelo but he was nowhere to be found.

"Did you find my bag?"

"Yes, we did," Charlie said.

"The money and your phone was gone but everything else appears to be there. Can you describe what was inside so that we can confirm it belongs to you?"

"Sure," Skip said. "It was a black handbag. Aside from my purse, I had a pink make-up bag, a blue hairbrush and an envelope of photographs of my girlfriend. She's got…"

"That's enough," Charlie said quickly.

She did not want to hear Skip describe Joey. Looking at the photographs, most of which had been taken while Joey was unaware, and hearing that Skip was describing her as her girlfriend made her shudder. She handed the bag over.

"Thank you, Constable," Skip said happily.

She left quickly and delved into her bag, looking for the photographs. Back at the station, Charlie frowned. She had been very tempted not to give the photos back. She hated the idea of permitting this weirdo to perve over her girlfriend.

***

Joey was already home when Charlie got back. Charlie found her running a bath. She slipped her arms around Joey's waist. Joey jumped in surprise and nearly fell into the tub. Charlie caught her and turned her round, drawing her into her arms and kissing her.

"You startled me!" Joey said with a laugh.

"A thousand apologies," Charlie grinned, kissing her again.

Joey turned back around and tested the bath water. Satisfied, she turned off the taps and began stripping off. Charlie watched, fascinated as if she'd never seen her body before.

"Can I keep you company?" Charlie asked.

"You can get in if you like," Joey said invitingly.

Charlie began removing her clothes before Joey had even finished her sentence.

***

Charlie leant back against Joey's body as they sank under the water. She loved the feel of Joey's breasts pressing into her back and the way their legs intertwined in order to be comfortable. She also thoroughly enjoyed the way Joey ran a lazy hand up and down her torso, getting delightfully low.

"So, how was your day?" Charlie asked, leaning her head back to look at Joey, who rewarded her with a kiss.

"It was fine. No stalker. I had an interesting conversation with your Dad actually."

"My Dad?"

"Yeah, he came into the Surf Club to make sure I had good intentions for his daughter," Joey grinned.

"And do you?" Charlie asked.

"Mostly," Joey said, her voice low.

Her hands continued running along Charlie's body, getting ever lower.

"Some of them might not quite be so honourable," she added.

"Really?" Charlie asked. "Which ones?"

Joey's hand reached its destination.

***

A while later, Charlie stretched out her foot to turn the hot tap on again. The water had long since gone cold but neither woman wanted to get out just yet. She then flipped round so that she and Joey were face to face, body to body. She kissed her.

"How do you do those things to me?" she asked.

"Do you need another demonstration?"

They both giggled.

"I mean it," Charlie said. "You drive me wild. I've never reacted to somebody the way I have with you. It's like you know me so completely, everything that I like, everything that I love."

Joey blushed. Charlie planted gentle kisses on her lips, cheek and neck.

"You're actually perfect."

Joey blushed more. Charlie lowered her mouth and eased her hand between their bodies.

"Perfect," she said again.