The Morning After
Chapter 3
Charlie chewed the end of her pen and gazed thoughtfully out into the main office. She and Joey had enjoyed a wonderful evening together on their first date, and though still a little nervous, she was now enjoying the first pangs of withdrawal symptoms of not seeing Joey. Joey, in reality, was sleeping in her bedroom at The Trawler Club, not five minutes' walk from the Police station. Charlie glanced at her watch; the time was three fifteen in the morning. It would be unfair to ring her at this time; after all, Joey needed her sleep, didn't she?
Charlie laid down the pen and stood. She yawned and stretched and decided on a cup of strong coffee to keep her going through the shift. Stepping out into the main office, she met with Angelo; himself, heading for a caffeine fix.
"I can do without these shifts, you know, Charlie; a newly married man needs the softness of his woman's arms!" He complained.
"Yeah, well, we can all do without shifts, Constable, but someone has to do them! Besides, who's to say you are the only one loved up?"
The words escaped Charlie's lips before she had time to check them. If she could rewind the moment, she would. As it was, she had to fight the impulse not to cover her mouth after such a statement. Instead, her face flushed and in her haste to pour out a coffee and be done, she slopped a little of the hot contents over her thumb and silently cursed; wincing in pain.
"Oh yeah?" Angelo laughed, quite oblivious to her plight. "Is there something you're not telling me, Charlie?" He said, digging her in the ribs rather annoyingly, with his big, fat elbow.
"No. Why?" She squeaked; her thumb glowing.
"Come on, you can tell me! Is there a new man in your life?"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Charlie said, rather too quickly.
"Ah! There is! I knew it! You've been sitting there starry eyed for the last two nights! So come on, spill."
"Angelo, I swear I haven't got a man in my life! Now, can we just forget about it and get on with our work?"
Charlie turned and walked back to her office; her thumb throbbing in discomfort. Angelo watched her go, with a silly smirk on his face.
***
Charlie put her thumb in her mouth to get some relief as her mobile phone bleeped. She picked it up and smiled when she saw Joey's name on the display.
'Hey! I can't sleep, so thought I'd drop you a text. I miss you and can't wait to see you again! J.x'
'I miss you too! Put on your dressing gown and meet me outside your place. I'm going walkabout! C.x'
Charlie jumped out of the chair and quickly put on her leather jacket. Her heart started to thump with excitement at the prospect of seeing Joey and breaking the rules. At least the pain in her thumb was temporarily forgotten!
"I'm gonna take a break. See you in twenty." She remarked casually to Angelo as she headed for the Police station door.
"But...!"
It was too late; Charlie was out of the building before Angelo could protest. She jumped into a police vehicle and drove towards The Trawler Club.
***
She parked a little way from the entrance to the club. She got out and cagily walked along towards the main doors. Yabbie Creek was quiet, but for one or two cars passing through from time to time.
"Hey! Charlie!" Joey hissed.
Charlie looked towards the sound and saw Joey beckoning her towards a concealed entrance to a storage shed next to the main building. Charlie quickly followed and found herself in a small room containing boxes of provisions normally reserved for club nights.
"Hey, can I tempt you with a packet of crisps and a bottle of pop?" Joey asked seductively.
"Hey." Charlie replied; too in awe of Joey to say more.
Joey grinned and took Charlie's hand.
"Ouch!" Charlie winced.
"Charlie! What's wrong? Where have I hurt you?" Joey panicked.
"No, it's not your fault! I burnt my thumb on some hot coffee just now and it hurts like hell!"
"Let me see!" Joey said, taking up Charlie's hand. "Did you run cold water on it?"
"No, I didn't have time."
"Charlie!" Joey cried incredulously. "You should have done that to take the heat out. Come with me!"
"Where are we going?" Charlie asked as Joey led her away from the store room and into the main building.
"I'm gonna run cold water on it now and hope it's not too late!"
"Too late for what?" Charlie laughed.
"Well, you never know! It might just drop off!"
Charlie giggled.
"Besides, maybe I like to administer to my girlfriend's needs." Joey said quietly.
'Girlfriend'. It seemed odd being referred to as a woman's girlfriend, but not unpleasantly so. Charlie found it quiet exciting. It was like being in a secret club when she was a kid; having passwords and initiation tests before joining. Of course, in this club, there were only two members and so far, the initiation tests had been simple and very pleasant!
Joey turned on the cold tap and gently placed Charlie's red thumb under the chilly water. Her thumb felt soothed almost immediately, but she wasn't sure if it was the cool water against her hot skin or the feel of Joey's hand holding her so carefully.
After a few minutes, Joey turned off the tap and reached for a towel; gently dabbing Charlie's thumb dry. Then she raised Charlie's hand to her lips and kissed the thumb tenderly.
Charlie smiled as Joey glanced up at her.
"How does that feel?" Joey asked with a grin.
"Much better! Your lips did the trick, I think!" Charlie replied with a giggle.
"Good. Now perhaps I can do some more tricks with them!" Joey said, gathering Charlie into her arms and kissing her hard on the lips.
Charlie's heart soared with delight as Joey's lips conveyed all kinds of messages to her. Joey's hand slipped under Charlie's leather jacket and over her work shirt making its way to her back, where it fondled her gently through the material.
The kiss continued until Charlie broke away, needing to breathe. She stood breathlessly looking at Joey who cutely tilted her head; grinning like a naughty school girl.
"Your lungs need a few work-outs, officer!" Joey chuckled.
"They're not used to such attention." Charlie replied.
"Well, I know just the right trainer."
"If only we can get our working patterns sorted out, then maybe..."
Charlie's words were cut short as a door opened and Joey's father stood in his pyjamas looking tired and confused at the sight of his daughter standing with her arms inside a Police Officer's jacket, having obviously been enjoying a crafty fumble. A huge dog on a short metal chain gave an obligatory 'woof' and wagged it's tail wildly when spying Joey.
Charlie stepped back quickly; her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
"What's going on?" Mr. Collins asked with a frown.
"Erm, dad, this is my girlfriend, Charlie."
Mr. Collins looked back at Charlie but was unsure of what to say. Was she a real Officer of the Law or had she just dressed for the occasion in some kind of kinky game for his daughter's pleasure? Regardless of which, she looked totally hot and he couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
He nodded his head and mumbled to Joey to keep the noise down as her mother thought they had intruders. He took one more look at Charlie and made good his escape, pulling behind him a reluctant hound.
Charlie swallowed hard and began to look anxious. Joey's father didn't look too happy to see her there with her arms wrapped around his daughter, at such an ungodly hour of the morning. He probably thought she'd been with Joey all night! What was she thinking of? She quickly pulled away from Joey and blinked a few times.
"I-I had better be getting back." She stammered; edging towards the door.
"Charlie! Don't go yet!"
"No, no I had better. I'm on duty and I shouldn't be here."
She turned and almost ran out of the building.
Joey watched her depart; her heart sinking with disappointment. She wanted to explain to Charlie that her parents had no issues with her being gay and would be glad to meet Charlie; the woman who was causing their daughter sleepless nights.
She tied her short dressing gown about her waist and ran out into the dark street after Charlie. Charlie was climbing into the Police vehicle when Joey called out her name.
"Charlie! Wait!"
Charlie closed the door and started the engine. Too late! Joey had opened the passenger door and jumped inside.
"Charlie! Don't go yet. I'm sorry for what happened. Mum sleeps very lightly and probably heard us moving around and talking. They won't be annoyed, honestly. They'll love you when they meet you properly, I promise!"
"It doesn't matter, Joey! I was still there when I should have been on duty. I'm a Senior Constable for god's sake! I'm supposed to give a good example!"
"Oh Charlie! Relax. It's the early hours of the morning and no one is around. Who can you give a good example to at this time of the day?"
Charlie closed her anxious eyes and laughed. She looked at Joey and grinned.
"I can see you're gonna get me into a right puddle of trouble!"
"Well, maybe that's my intention Officer, and can I say, you look so hot in that uniform?"
Charlie blushed and giggled.
Joey leaned over and placed her lips against Charlie's. Charlie heart jolted in her breast at Joey's contact and she moaned softly.
Suddenly, Joey's lips became still and broke away from Charlie's. Charlie looked at Joey in surprise but noticed Joey's eyes were looking over her shoulder and outside the car.
A pair of dark blue uniform trousers stood the other side of the driver's window. Charlie closed her eyes and sunk lifelessly into her seat.
"What was that I was saying about giving a good example?"