Hi guys,

Well, here is chapter four – hope you enjoy reading it. Sorry it's taken me so long to update. Life being life and all that – it has a habit of getting in the way when you least expect it to! Anyhow, with a bit of luck I'll be able to be a bit more consistent with updating – stranger things have happened!

Also, I just wanted to say a big, big thank you to everyone who has so far taken the time to read and review my first three chapters. I so appreciate all your reviews, so thank you!

Jsco81 – really loving your story "Girl Afraid". Even Angels Fall was brilliant, too. Keep up the good work!

Jensy25, ashikinz, and SillySally1967 – glad you guys are enjoying the story so far. And thanks so much for taking the time to post your comments. It's much appreciated.

MissToastie – Loving all your fanfics – you sure are prolific!

Iomac3 – Glad you're enjoying my little story. As a Charlie obsessive, I'm a massive fan of your wonderful video clips on YouTube. It's awesome to be able to follow Charlie's story right from the beginning, so thank you soooo much for all your time and hard work and effort. You are an absolute star!

I do hope you're all enjoying the story so far? And please feel free to continue to post your thoughts, comments and reviews – in fact, the more the merrier. I love reading what you guys think and the feedback I get from your reviews will encourage me to post more chapters more quickly!

Oh, and just one last thing… a quick mention to all the other fanfic writers on this site: thanks for all your continued dedication and hard work. I love reading all the other CJ stories and I'm in complete awe of the amazing talent you guys consistently show.

Thanks again for reading 

Cheers!

Paperheart x

Chapter Four

Charlie and Watson had positioned themselves towards the back of the club. It gave them a unique vantage point as they proceeded with their observations. To say they had an arduous task ahead of them was an understatement. With several hundred people frequenting the popular nightspot that evening, it was nigh on impossible to do a productive recce of the place, much less spot anyone doing anything untoward.

Watson sighed. It was late and she was starting to flag a little. Alex would have long since finished her shift and was no doubt tucked up in their bed fast asleep. She smiled fondly at the thought of her partner. They had been together for two years. Alex worked as a fire fighter, and although their different shift patterns often meant they didn't get to see as much of each other as they would like, their relationship was still going swimmingly. So much so, they had even recently found themselves contemplating the whole getting engaged and having a commitment ceremony malarkey.

As she took a sip of her one and only beer (Charlie had insisted), Watson's attention was suddenly taken by the appearance of a rather striking woman, in her mid twenties, who was making her way over to where she and Charlie were seated. The woman was wearing an incredibly short and sexy backless black dress; it exposed much of her bare back and was cut several inches above her knees. With long toned and tanned legs that seemed to go on forever, the woman purposely continued to head in their direction, pushing her way through the crowded club towards them. Watson was certain she looked familiar but from the distance she couldn't quite make out her features. However, as soon as the woman got closer, the realisation hit Watson like a sledgehammer.

"Uh oh, here comes trouble. Me thinks things are about to get interesting", she thought, but verbalized it slightly differently. "Oh shit. What the hell is she doing here!" It wasn't by any definition a question.

"What? Who?" inquired a perplexed Charlie.

"Don't look now," Watson stated, "but I think all hell is about to break loose… it appears your psycho of an ex is in here tonight and she's heading right this way."

Just as Watson finished her sentence, Charlie became immediately aware of the woman in question standing barely more than a couple of feet in front of her. And boy, was she certainly a sight to behold. With long black hair flowing almost down to the small of her back, and full red, pouting lips, she looked a little bit like Angelina Jolie. Most people noticed more than a passing resemblance. She also sported a couple of prominent tattoos, the most noticeable being a rather menacing Bengal tiger tattoo on her lower back.

"Hey gorgeous, fancy seeing you in here tonight. I didn't think a place like Fuel would be your thing… and Georgie too, how lovely…" the woman said, smiling sweetly. Georgie didn't fail to notice that the last few words she spoke were dripping with sarcasm, aimed no doubt squarely at her.

"What the hell are you doing here Kristen?" Charlie barked, scowling at the smiling woman in front of her.

"Nice to see you too, Charlie. May I say, you're looking as exquisite as ever", Kristen replied. Looking Charlie over from head to toe, she flashed her a seductive and appreciative smile.

"No you may not!" Charlie stood up and moved closer until the two women were barely more than a foot apart. "Are you stalking me?" she asked, eyeing the slightly shorter woman suspiciously. She could already feel the anger starting to well up inside her and she certainly wasn't in the mood for small talk with her ex.

Kristen surpassed a slight giggle. "Don't be silly babe, of course I'm not stalking you. Why would you even think such a thing?"

"Then why are you here?" Charlie frowned, crossing her arms firmly over her chest. "And don't call me babe!"

Kristen smiled. She was enjoying being in such close proximity to her ex and she certainly wasn't going to let the opportunity pass by to cast her ex lover an appreciative glance. As she slowly let her eyes roam lustily over Charlie's body, images and thoughts of how she used to trail her hands all over Charlie's amazing toned body started to invade her mind. Kristen could smell the all too familiar sent of Charlie's favourite perfume – Hugo Boss Orange – invading her nostrils and she felt like she was in heaven again. She completely lost it when her eyes landed on Charlie's ample cleavage. Licking her lips, Kristen had a sudden and deeply erotic image of her mouth devouring Charlie's breasts; taking it in turns to lick and tease her nipples…

Oh god Charlie. You look so hot. You always look hot. I must have been mad to ever let you leave me. I just want to take you in my arms, tear off your clothes and devour every inch of you… right here in this club.

"Kristen? Kristen!" Charlie's sharp stern tongue brought her back down to earth, suddenly cutting off any further lust filled thoughts. "I think you should just leave."

But Kristen wasn't having a bar of it. "Charlie, please just give me another chance. We were so good together. I miss you so much; these last few months have been utter hell without you," she said, eying Charlie seductively.

Charlie looked at Kristen with disdain. She couldn't believe that her ex had the audacity to let those words flow from her mouth so freely. Charlie could feel the anger she had for her ex starting to rise again and rear its ugly head. Try as she might, she couldn't find the strength to fight off her emotions as the memories came flooding back …

She broke my heart. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling. My heart had been broken before, more than once. But despite being broken it still worked perfectly well. It still loved. It still trusted. And it certainly wasn't looking to be broken again. Not just yet anyway. I wasn't ready and it was just starting to heal rather nicely after the last time. Not that she knew that, of course. Why would she? But I knew the minute I clapped eyes on her that she had the capacity to one day break my heart. But yet I foolishly allowed myself to love her. I allowed myself to care about her, knowing full well that if you let someone in, let them get close to you, then you give them an open invitation to hurt you; to break your heart. On reflection, I might as well have handed her a loaded shotgun. Perhaps then the pain wouldn't have been quite so prolonged.

Charlie's eyes started to water as she stood there, silently facing off against the woman who had shattered her heart into a million tiny pieces. They had barely had a conversation since their break up just three months ago. It hadn't been the clean break Charlie had so desperately wished for. It had taken Charlie almost two years to finally realize just how controlling and possessive Kristen was, and the best part of another six months to find the strength and courage to walk away from the woman she thought she had loved more than life itself. More memories came flooding back; memories of the moment when the realization had finally hit her, and the heartbreaking moment when she'd told Kristen that their relationship was over; that after two and a half years together, she was finally leaving her…

Goodbye. What a nasty little word. Don't you think? And boy, did I hate that word. Although not as much as I hated the action itself. Perhaps someone far wiser than myself could tell me how to make saying goodbye to someone you love hurt less than it almost always does. Especially when you know deep down in the pit of your stomach that you'll probably never get to see them again. Ever. That your paths will never cross again. That you'll never see them smile. See them cry. Hear their voice. Hear them laugh. Nothing quite compares to the empty pain of letting go of what you love. It's an act that takes strength and courage most of us never realise we possess. And yet they say if you love someone let them go. But why? How can letting someone you love walk out of your life for good be an act of love? Surely if you truly love them, then you'll do whatever it takes to make them want to stay. Of course, if only it were that simple and straightforward. But alas it never is. Not when it really matters. Not when it really needs to be simple and straightforward. But there I was, holding on to her, hugging her with every single ounce of strength I possessed in my fragile body. Deep down inside I was crying out in agony. All I wanted to do was hold onto her forever and never let go, when in fact I was hugging her goodbye and letting go of the one thing that meant the most to me in my whole miserable existence. Yet deep down I knew it was the right thing to do.

A lone tear started to escape, slowly trailing its way down Charlie's cheek, quickly tearing her away from her thoughts and memories. Charlie hated herself for somehow allowing Kristen to still affect her. Deeply annoyed, she brushed away another escaping tear.

"Leave me alone Kristen. Just go to hell!" Charlie shouted with considerable venom, the hurt and pain of seeing her ex in such close confines almost too much to bear.

For a second, Kristen seemed shocked by Charlie's intense anger. But she brushed it aside: "Don't be like that babe. We used to be so good together, don't you remember?" she said, surprising Charlie by suddenly reaching out and brushing her fingers seductively down her arm. "We can be like that again, if you'll just give us a chance."

Sensing that their verbal sparing was far from over, Watson – who had up until this point remained unusually silent - decided enough was enough; it was time to break up their little reunion before it escalated into an all out shouting match. After all, the last thing they were there to do was to cast unnecessary attention upon themselves.

"Kristen, I think Charlie's made her point quite clear. So play nicely now and run along, there's a love," Watson spoke up, forcing a half-hearted smile at her friend's ex.

"Stay out of this Georgie! It's got nothing to do with you!" Kristen barked, scowling at Watson, before turning her attention back towards Charlie. "Charlie, please babe, let's go somewhere a bit more privately… just the two of us… for a talk," she said flirtatiously.

Charlie shook her head and threw up her hands. It was just like old times; the rows, the disagreements. "Oh for Christ's sake, Kristen! Which part of leave me alone and go to hell don't you understand exactly?" she shouted.

Kristen had gone way beyond trying her patience and this wasn't the time or the place for their verbal face off. Fixing her ex with her piercing dark blue eyes – eyes that reflected a mixture of hurt and anger – Charlie positioned herself so that she was standing just a couple of centimeters away from her ex. So close that she barely had to raise her voice to make the other woman understand what she was about to say. This time her words lacked any kind of animosity.

"Let me make this perfectly clear. We're over, Kristen," she sighed. "We were over when I left you three months ago. I did love you and it broke my heart, walking out on our relationship. But I don't love you anymore and we'll never get back together. You need to accept that and move on. So please, if you truly have any kind of feelings for me left, I need you to leave me alone."

And with that, Charlie grabbed hold of Watson and dragged her off towards the crowded dance floor. A dejected Kristen watched as Charlie and Georgie escaped, eventually disappearing from her line of sight altogether.

Over at the bar, Joey, who had witnessed the entire altercation between the two women, was becoming even more intrigued by the tall, slender brunette. After that little incident, she was starting to think that maybe the woman wasn't quite as straight as she first thought, after all.

Things could get interesting, Joey thought. Very interesting indeed.