Hi everyone. Thank you for all your lovely feedback on this story. (If there are any characters who were not friends in Opposite Sides who are friendlier now, let's just assume they've grown up and got over their differences). This is the penultimate chapter so I hope you enjoy it. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Seven
Charlie was several beers down by the time Ruby got home. The teenager looked at the state her mother was in and hardly knew what to do or say. Angry music blared. Charlie looked up at her.
"How do you expect to get Mum-J back like this?" Ruby asked despairingly.
"I don't," Charlie replied bitterly.
"You don't even want her back now?" Ruby snapped. "What the hell is wrong with you, Mum?"
Charlie stood up, swaying a little.
"Your darling Mum-J has moved on," Charlie told her bitterly. "You think I'm the one whose given up? Well, she's on a date right now. So why don't you lay into her for a change?"
She tried to ignore the way her daughter's face crumpled. She tried to pretend it didn't hurt to see her so devastated. She tried not to feel guilty that she was the one who had caused all this pain. She threw herself back onto the couch and picked up her beer again as Ruby turned and left the house again, slamming the front door behind her.
Joey had been home for half an hour when there was an urgent knocking on her door. She hurried to open up and was surprised to find her frantic daughter standing there.
"Ruby!" she said.
"You went on a date?" the teenager demanded.
Joey coloured, wondering how the news had reached her so fast and feeling guilty that she hadn't had the opportunity to talk to her about Chloe herself. Ruby barged into the apartment and threw herself onto the sofa, half expecting to find the mystery woman there. Then she jumped up and paced the small lounge.
"Really, Mum-J?" she asked tearfully. "I thought you were going to come home. But you're going on dates now?"
"I went for one drink with one person," Joey said, stepping forward and taking her daughter's hands. "That's all."
"But if you're looking at a new woman then you're not looking at Mum anymore," Ruby said sadly.
"I will always be looking at your Mum," Joey replied honestly.
"Then why are you going on a date with someone else?" Ruby wanted to know.
"Because I can't make things work all by myself, Rubes," Joey explained. "I've tried for too long."
Ruby sighed heavily, understanding. She sank onto the sofa. Joey sat beside her.
"So, who is the new woman?"
"Her name is Chloe. We went for a drink, nothing more."
"Mum-J, you can't go out with a Chloe!" Ruby protested.
Joey looked confused.
"Joey and Chloe? No way!"
They both laughed, breaking the tension between them.
"You might have a point there," Joey accepted.
"So, is this Chloe woman nice?" Ruby asked curiously.
"She is," Joey said. "I don't think it's going to be anything. She's just visiting the Bay for a few weeks. We bumped into each other randomly. She asked me out for a drink and I found that I didn't actually have a reason to say no. So, I said yes. We had a drink. We had a laugh. She made me feel like I was a little bit important, which I haven't felt for quite some time. That's it."
Ruby studied Joey's face sadly.
"I wish Mum made you feel like that," she said.
"I wish she did too."
"What would it take?"
"I don't know," Joey admitted.
Two Years Ago…
"Well, here's to you, Charlie," Joey said. "I am so incredibly proud of you."
"Me too!" Ruby chipped in. "I can't believe you're a Detective! That is so cool!"
The three of them were sat at a table in Salt, celebrating Charlie's promotion to Detective, after a lot of hard work and study.
"Thanks, guys," Charlie said, clinking her glass against both of theirs. "I couldn't have done without you both."
"Aww," Joey said bashfully.
"I mean it," Charlie said, catching hold of her hand. "The support you both give me, means everything. Both of you are my absolute world and that is never, ever going to change."
"Even when you're a big, posh Detective?" Ruby joked.
"As if!" Charlie gasped. "We're a team, the three of us! We always have been and we always will be. Nothing will ever come between us!"
"I will cheers to that!" Joey said, lifting her glass again.
They all clinked together once more.
"And you know… with my promotion, comes a bigger income," Charlie said. "And with a bigger income, once I'm settled into the job, comes the chance for a holiday for the three of us! What do you guys think?"
"London?" Ruby asked hopefully.
She had been desperate to go and see Buckingham Palace ever since she had done a project on the British Monarchy at school. Watching The Crown on Netflix had only added to her desperation. She had become obsessed with Olivia Coleman and was currently wading through everything she had ever been in. Not to mention, Gillian Anderson. And Helena Bonham Carter. Charlie and Joey exchanged glances.
"We'll see what we can do," Charlie said. "It'll take some saving but I would definitely love the three of us to take the holiday of our dreams."
"I am so desperate to see Buckingham Palace," Ruby said wistfully. "And Kensington Palace! Do you know there's a whole exhibit there, dedicated to Princess Diana?"
"You might have mentioned it," Joey said with the hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth.
It was Charlie's favourite smile. She resisted the urge to lean across the table and kiss her. Right now, in this moment, she didn't think she had ever been happier. She had her dream job and the most wonderful family in the world. She may have been through a huge trauma as a child but it had led her to finding the woman of her dreams, a woman who had stuck by her through everything. And together, they had raised their beautiful, wonderful, clever and talented daughter. Yes, this was a life to love.
Present Day
"We never took that holiday," Ruby said over breakfast.
Charlie was feeling a little tender, having sunk a couple too many beers the night before, upset at having heard of Joey's date. She looked up at her daughter, dressed and ready for school.
"Sorry?"
"Remember the night you got promoted?" Ruby said. "You said you'd take us to the UK on holiday. Our dream holiday. We never went."
Charlie sighed. That wonderful night of happiness invaded her brain. A lump ached in her throat. She knew that night had been the beginning of the end, even though at the time and Joey had been blissfully ignorant of the fact. It had felt like the beginning of everything.
"No," she said. "We didn't."
"Maybe if we had, you and Mum-J would still be together. If you'd have kept your promises. If you'd have stayed committed to us and not let work take over. If you hadn't stopped making time for us," Ruby suggested. "Maybe that's what it would take."
"What do you mean, what it would take?" Charlie asked.
Ruby sighed, clattering her spoon down in her cereal bowl.
"Mum-J clearly still loves you," she said seriously.
"She went on a date with someone else," Charlie pointed out.
"It doesn't mean she doesn't love you," Ruby insisted. "She's devasted that you broke up."
"She left me."
Ruby stood up, picking up her bowl to the sink.
"I think you'll find that you left first," she replied.
Joey was out for a morning run in a bid to clear her mind. She was eternally confused about her feelings for Charlie. She was desperately hurt. She wanted her to want her back and yet she had made no overtures. She had enjoyed the attention she had received from Chloe but she couldn't see herself even beginning to move on, not yet. And she also had Ruby to consider. She had been devastated at the thought that Joey had been on a date with someone else, that she might be moving on. She couldn't harm her daughter in that way. But she also hated the way she was feeling right now and if Chloe made her feel better, why couldn't she spend some time with her?
She slowed to a jog when she saw Charlie up ahead. She too had clearly been out for a run, undoubtedly before work. It was something they had always enjoyed doing together. She considered backing off but Charlie spotted her. Aware that it would be exceptionally childish just to leave, Joey took a deep breath and approached.
"Morning," she said, trying to sound more upbeat than she actually felt.
There had been a time when her heart soared just at the sight of Charlie. Now it did summersaults for the wrong reasons.
"Hi," Charlie said stiffly.
She shifted uncomfortable, looking around, as if for escape.
"Nice evening yesterday?"
Charlie couldn't stop herself from asking the question even though she had no desire to know the answer.
"It was fine thanks," Joey replied tightly.
"So, is this it now?" Charlie snapped. "Are we seeing other people?"
"Well, we're not seeing each other…"
Charlie shook her head, a lump aching in her throat. So many words and feelings wanted to burst out of her but she held them in. She wanted to fall to her knees, wrap her arms around Joey's waist and beg her for another chance. She remained rooted to the spot.
"Fine," she said. "Great. Well, I'll get myself on Tinder then."
"You do that," Joey replied. "I'll make sure I swipe left."
She turned quickly and hurried away, wiping her stinging eyes. Behind her, Charlie sank down onto the sank, resting her face onto her fists and trying not to cry.
Joey arrived back on land for lunch. As soon as she did, her phone beeped. She immediately hoped it was Charlie. It wasn't. It was Chloe. Her name just didn't raise the same kind of smile that Charlie had always elicited in her. Nobody would ever be able to. Charlie was the love of her life and no matter what happened now, that would never change.
She opened the message. Chloe was asking if she would like to go for dinner. Chewing her lip, Joey hesitated. Did she want to? Maybe. But then, she didn't want to upset Ruby. And she had been so upset last night at the thought of her moving on with someone else.
She closed her phone, deciding not to answer right away. She would talk to her daughter first.
Charlie had stopped for a quick coffee in the Diner on her break at work. She looked up when a shadow fell over her table. It was Willow.
"Sorry, am I allowed to speak to you?" the police officer asked sarcastically. "I thought Joey had custody of you in our separation."
Willow frowned and sat down.
"She had nowhere to go, Charlie," she said sternly. "What were we meant to do?"
"I don't know," Charlie replied. "Tell her not to give up on a seventeen year relationship and try to work things out with me?"
"You know that's not my place," Willow told her. "And don't you think she's been trying to work things out with you?"
"Oh, it's your place to say that to me, is it?" Charlie snapped.
Willow sighed and apologised.
"You're still my friend," she said sincerely. "You both are."
"Just her a little more," Charlie corrected. "And what exactly do I get out of this breakup? She gets you and Alex. She's dating now…"
"She's dating?" Willow asked, surprised.
"Oh, she didn't tell you?"
"No!" Willow insisted. "She didn't tell me anything."
"Well, she's dating," Charlie said flatly. "Ask Dean and Ziggy. They told me all about it yesterday. Really brightened my day."
Willow rubbed her temple. She tried to reach for Charlie's hand but wasn't accepted.
"Charlie, I know you're still in love with her…" she ventured.
"You don't score any points for that," Charlie said coldly. "I'm not the one who gave up. I'm not the one who walked out, despite what my daughter says. Oh yeah, she gets Ruby too. I get a bratty kid who lives with me and yells at me. I pay for her and house her but Joey somehow gets all the love and affection. Figure that one out!"
Willow could see she was fighting tears. She could see the desperation on her face.
"I haven't spoken to her but I cannot imagine that Joey is anywhere near ready to move on with someone else," she said.
"Then why is she?" Charlie wanted to know. "Why is she throwing away everything we had?"
"Because you let her down, Charlie!" Willow said urgently but quietly. "Every single time she needed you and you weren't there, you let her down. Every time you promised you'd show up and you didn't bother, you let her down. It's like a thread, wearing thinner and thinner until one day, it finally snapped. You took her for granted, Charlie. You know you did. You believed that it didn't matter how little you gave your relationship because it would always be there."
"No…"
"Come on…" Willow coaxed. "Be honest with yourself."
"Joey and I were a team. We've always been a team."
"I know that," Willow agreed. "And everyone admired you for it. You were the couple everyone aspired to be. Until you got your promotion. And suddenly, nobody saw you unless they'd committed a crime or were the victim of one. Joey showed up and you never did. It was just Joey or Joey and Ruby. You were just absent. All the time, absent. Joey was running her business and running the house. She's been parenting Ruby during some of the most perilous teenage years, completely alone. Is it any wonder that they're so close?"
The lump in Charlie's throat felt like it was so swollen it was going to burst out of her throat.
"If you don't want to lose her for good, you have to do something about it, Charlie," Willow urged. "All you've done since she left is strop about town. You have to make things right. And it has to be more than a vague apology. It has to be a gesture that actually means something."
Charlie nodded. She wiped away her tears.
"I'll think about it," she said. "Thank you."
Willow patted her hand, hoping that she had done enough.
Next time… Will Charlie and Joey find their way back to each other…?
