Hi everyone. I won't be posting tomorrow. I might post on Tuesday. I won't be posting on Wednesday. But I should be posting on Thursday. I hope you enjoy the chapter! Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Twenty Nine
"No," Joey said sadly.
Romeo's heart sank. He'd come to the house and braved the terrifying Mr Collins really believing there was a point, that Joey would really go with him, believe in the future.
"Why not?" he asked, his voice flat and disappointed.
"What's the point?" Joey said. "Every time I hope for something I just get let down."
Romeo took her hands.
"We could really make this work though," he insisted.
"My Dad will never let me out of here now," Joey said. "I've fucked everything up."
"How?" Romeo asked. "You didn't do anything wrong, Jo. It was Brax and Heath and that guy."
"I fell in love with my bodyguard and I got her fired," Joey said sadly. "I ruined her life."
"You can't help who you fall in love with," Romeo persisted. "I mean, despite what my name suggests, I have no experience in the matter but that's what everyone says, isn't it? And surely if you do love her, you've got to fight for her?"
"I don't have any fight left in me," Joey said tiredly.
She shrank further under the blankets, desperately to be left to hide away.
"Come on," Romeo urged. "You're Joey Collins. You always have fight left in you."
His boyish grin succeeded in making her laugh just a little.
"I had one shot to prove to my Dad that I could make it on my own," she said seriously. "That night, the party, your birthday… it was night to say goodbye, grow up and then move on. That was what it was meant to be. Then I was meant to pass my exams and Dad was going to let me go to University by myself. I wasn't going to need a bodyguard anymore if I could prove I could be a grown up."
She sighed heavily.
"Charlie was going to come out there as my girlfriend," she told him. "We were going to be happy together and it's like… in just one moment, everything conspired together to ruin both our lives."
"But it's not over," Romeo insisted. "We can still turn all of this around."
"How?" Joey almost demanded. "I had one chance and I blew it!"
"But what happened was that you were attacked," Romeo pointed out. "Regardless of what happened afterwards, you were attacked, Joey. That's not your fault."
"Try telling my Dad that," Joey remarked.
"Fine," Romeo said. "I will."
Joey tried not to feel amused at the distinct quiver in his voice. Everyone she knew was scared of her Dad.
"Because I don't see how he could possibly use what happened to you, what that monster tried to do, could be your fault," Romeo said. "It wasn't. You were a victim. You came to the party because you didn't want to let me down and because you wanted to say goodbye. And I can't comment on what happened afterwards because I wasn't there but the feelings you and Charlie have for each other seem sincere enough."
Joey smiled sadly.
"So I don't think you should be hiding away in here, Joey," Romeo pleaded. "I think you need to go and rant at your Dad until you make his ears bleed, make him understand what happened to you."
"So, I depress him and then what?" Joey asked.
"And then you… okay, what actually happened with Charlie?" Romeo asked.
Joey smirked at him.
"You want the nitty gritty details?" she asked.
"No," he said, blushing.
He laughed when he realised she was teasing him.
"What I mean is, did anything happen between you?" he explained. "Was it honourable or…?"
"It was as honourable as possible," Charlie tried to explained.
Unable to hide in her room any longer, she had been summoned downstairs to face her parents. Ever faithful, Ruby was sat by her side while Ross and her mother, Elsie were on the opposite side of the table.
"What on earth could be honourable about screwing your charge?" Ross snapped.
"Language, Ross," Elsie warned.
"I'm not a kid, Mum," Ruby complained.
"No, Ruby," Ross said. "You're exactly that. A kid. And your big sister shouldn't have you here, fighting her battles."
He turned and glared at his eldest daughter.
"Just when I thought I couldn't be more ashamed of you, you do this," he said. "I mean, how did you lose a basic security job, Charlie? A monkey could do that!"
He shook his head in disgust.
"I tried my best," Charlie said through gritted teeth.
"Well, your best wasn't good enough, was it?" Ross yelled, slamming his fists on the table, making everybody jump.
"Dad, if you'd just give Charlie the chance to explain…" Ruby begged.
"Ruby, this is between me and your useless sister," he said.
Charlie swallowed, wondering when she would ever stop being disappointed at the obvious favouritism her father had for her little sister. She doubted she ever would.
"But she didn't do anything wrong!" Ruby protested.
"By her own admission, she did!" Ross insisted.
"I made a judgement error," Charlie agreed. "I got distracted that night and Joey nearly got hurt. It was a fraction of a second, Dad. I accept that I lost my job but I don't deserve the way you're treating me."
"You've brought yet more shame on our family," Ross snapped. "You got thrown out of the police force, you've messed this job up… I could fix you up with the simplest job in the world and you'd mess that up too. You'd probably get fired from a voluntary position. Hell, you could be living off the state and screw that up too! You're a waste of space, Charlie. And if you think I'm putting you up and having you here, shaming us all over again, having people pointing and laughing about the eternal fuck up that is our eldest daughter, you've got another thing coming."
"What?"
"Get the hell out," Ross said. "You're not welcome here."
Charlie continued to stare at her father, as did Ruby and Elsie.
"Ross, you can't be serious…" Elsie tried.
"I mean it," Ross said. "I'm tired of having faith in you, Charlie and I'm tired of being constantly let down. This time, you're on your own."
"But you haven't even listened…" Ruby said desperately.
"Don't bother," Charlie said sadly. "He's already made his mind up."
She stood to return to her room to get her bags.
"So, you kissed once but other than that, you just gazed longingly at each other?" Romeo paraphrased thoughtfully.
His tone also had some slight disbelief to it. Amongst their friends, Joey had had quite the reputation, especially when it came to her bodyguards. It was almost a joke.
"Yep," Joey said. "It was the real thing, Romeo. I mean, I would have been with her in a heartbeat but the ironic thing about it was that she didn't want to break the rules. She didn't want to disrespect my Dad or take advantage of me when she was in a position of authority. She got fired for something she didn't even do."
Romeo sighed heavily.
"So you need to explain all of that to your parents," he told her.
"I have," she said. "Charlie did too. But it doesn't matter. Dad's already decided what he thinks he knows is the truth and that's the end of it."
"It's only the end of it if you let it be," Romeo insisted. "If you force them to understand then we can still get out of here. You can still pass your exams, still escape the need for a guard and go to Uni. You can still find Charlie and be with her. But you have to come out of your room, Jo. You have to try. And I need you. I need your help."
"Why all of a sudden?" she wondered.
"Because that night showed me what Charlie showed you," he explained. "I don't want to be here like this. This life isn't me any more than it's you. I want to break free like you do. So maybe… maybe we can do it together?"
Joey pondered her options. She hardly dared hope it was possible.
"You really think it's worth trying?" she asked.
"I really do," he said.
Charlie tearfully hugged Ruby and her mother goodbye and once again packed herself up and into her car. She started the engine immediately and drove away without a destination in mind.
"What the hell am I meant to do now?" she asked nobody.
Because once more, nobody was there but her.
Next time… Joey makes a plea to her father while Charlie tries to start again…
