Chapter Thirty Eight
April 2009
Summer Bay, Australia
Hugo leant against the fence leading down to the beach. Charlie and Joey were charging across the beach, giggling and racing each other. His lips formed a thin line as they crashed onto the sand, practically on top of each other and still laughing. He gripped the fence too hard when he saw Joey gently brushing Charlie's hair from her face and gazing into her eyes.
"This has to stop," Hugo said to himself.
He turned and walked away.
Down on the beach, Charlie and Joey slowly drew away from each other, feeling a little flushed an embarrassed.
"How about I treat you to a nice, big breakfast at the Diner?" Charlie offered.
Joey grinned.
"That sounds awesome to me," she said.
Holding hands, they got up and trudged up the beach, looking forward to their food.
Hugo arrived at the former development site and waited for Tim and Derrick to arrive. He'd toyed with dragging Angelo along but he was concerned that he would lose his nerve. Hugo hadn't yet made him aware that he knew he hadn't done what he was supposed to with Joey the previous month. But he would... in his own good time. Spotting his colleagues up ahead, Hugo climbed out of his car and locked it. They needed to discuss things in private.
Parked at a table in the Diner, Charlie and Joey were happily tucking into their food and were chattering away with each other as if they hadn't seen each other in years and had a lot to catch up on. In actual fact, they had only spoken the day before and never went more than a couple of days without getting in touch.
"So, you still owe me a boat trip," Charlie said.
Joey grinned, although it was something she had been trying to get out of for a while now. She would absolutely love to take Charlie out on the water and she felt a strong desire to convert her to the appreciation of boats but it wasn't possible. The moment the boat pulled away from the shore, her tag would go crazy and everything would go wrong.
"We will do it one day," she assured her, although she knew it was a lie.
"I'm not letting you get away with it," Charlie said. "You keep going on about how awesome they are but I have yet to become infatuated."
"Oh, you will," Joey said with a grin.
"Ooh, taste these mushrooms!" Charlie suddenly said.
She offered a mushroom to Joey from her fork. Joey accepted it happily. Neither of them had any issues with sharing cutlery.
"Mmm!" Joey enthused. "I so should have order those."
Charlie picked a few from her plate and put them on Joey's. They grinned at each other. Today was going to be another happy day.
"So, you're telling me that if your chick gets any closer to the cop then our whole plan will be destroyed?" Tim asked.
"If Charlie finds out about Kat," Hugo said. "Then obviously, she'll start investigating us."
"Well, what are we meant to do about it?" Derrick asked, clearly feeling edgy.
He clasped his hands together, looking to Hugo for direction.
"I have a plan to keep them away from each other," Hugo said. "I'm not entirely sure it'll work but I'll give it a go."
"What, like your plan to get Angelo to make a move on Kat?" Tim asked sourly.
"Kat clearly has a crush on Charlie," Hugo said. "As far as I know, Charlie's straight. Having some dyke lusting after her has got to make her feel uncomfortable, right? That'll create some distance."
"And if it doesn't?" Derrick asked.
Hugo looked at him very seriously.
"Well, that's where you come in," he said.
After their breakfast, Charlie and Joey headed back to the beach. They'd planned a day of chilling out and sunbathing. Laying their towels out, Joey's breath caught when she saw Charlie begin to strip down to her bikini. She looked down, trying not to stare. Or drool. Charlie cheerfully slunk down onto her towel and rested her head on her arms. Joey lay beside her.
"Kat, you do realise that to get a suntan, you need to expose a bit of your skin?"
Joey laughed and nodded. She removed her top, revealing the upper part of a bikini but insisted on keeping her jeans on.
"You really are strange sometimes," Charlie teased.
"It's one of my more endearing features," Joey said certainly.
"You're right," Charlie said with a smile. "It definitely is."
Hugo left his meeting feeling much clearer about things. Derrick was worryingly eager for his part of the plan, which made Hugo feel both evil and unwell. He just hoped it wouldn't come to that and that he could resolve things more easily and less painfully than that. Losing Charlie would break Joey's heart but it had to be done. As much as Joey promised not to tell Charlie anything incriminating, he knew that love made people do crazy things. And this was far too dangerous a situation for things to go wrong now.
"Kat," Charlie said, gently waking her friend, who had fallen asleep a short while ago. "Kat."
"Mmm?" Joey squeaked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
"You were crying in your sleep," Charlie told her. "Were you having bad dreams?"
Joey nodded, hoping that she'd only cried and not spoken.
"Sorry," she said.
"It's okay," Charlie said.
She pulled her best friend gently into a hug.
Next time... Hugo tells Charlie that Kat has feelings for her, Charlie seeks advice from Ruby and Xavier prepares to meet Ross and Morag...