Perfect Match

Chapter 12

The house was quiet as Ruby clicked in and out of Charlie's computer; trying to gain access into her files. She clicked onto favourites and a list of sites which Charlie obviously used regularly came up. Most were work related and held no interest for the teenager, upon this occasion. Scrolling down carefully, she was about to give up when the word "Private." caught her eye. Upon impulse, she clicked the box and was pleasantly surprised to be introduced to the main page of a dating site called 'Perfect Match'.

"Gotcha!" She cried out in delight.

"Got what?" Leah enquired as she walked through the door; surprising the snooper.

Ruby jumped and slammed the lid down on Charlie's laptop.

"N-Nothing!" Ruby stammered sheepishly. "Just doing some research for work – I-I mean... school-work!"

Leah stared at the young girl whose face now had the appearance of a rapidly ripening tomato. She frowned and made a mental note to mention the incident to Charlie. Not wishing to alert the shifty looking teenager, she smiled and switched on the kettle.

Ruby picked up the laptop and headed into her bedroom. Lifting the lid, her eyes devoured the home page of the 'Perfect Match' dating site but was disappointed to learn that she needed a password to enter.

Charlie felt like she owned the world as she and Joey walked along the shoreline, hand in hand, in the moonlight. By now, her former boyfriends would have been irritating the life out of her; trying to persuade her to go home with them for reasons of their own gratification and pleasure. But this was different; this felt nice. There was no rush! This first date had been so different! They had met for a simple meal at The Diner and had left in the knowledge that no one had suspected anything about their new relationship. They had relaxed by a sand dune and enjoyed each others lips in between finding out more about their lives. And now they were walking home; taking the long route along the sandy beach, as the gentle waves kissed the shore.

"So are you ambitious, Joey?"

"Not overly. I want to improve my life, of course! Most of us do! But I'm not looking for power. I want to own my own fishing boat one day... Just so I can boss Aden around!" The younger girl giggled.

Charlie grinned.

"And maybe afford to buy my own home. To get away from Brett will be wonderful!"

Charlie squeezed her hand affectionately.

"I'm sure you will manage it. Does Brett give you lots of hassle?" She asked; remembering the day that she and Watson had arrested Brett for drunken and lewd behaviour.

"Sometimes." Joey replied sadly.

"He...He's never assorted you, has he...?" Charlie's voice evaporated away; a little reluctant to spoil the beautiful evening.

"Well, I've had a black eye before now, but I was trying to take away his Whiskey bottle!" Joey grinned.

Charlie looked shocked as she stared at her companion.

"Don't panic, Charlie! He hit me almost by accident. My face just got in the way of his fist, that's all."

"That's all?" Charlie cried incredulously.

"Really, Charlie! It's not as drastic as it sounds. We don't get on that well... We never have! He took my father's death badly. Dad had all sorts of plans for them going into business together... but sadly it wasn't to be. Dad had the confidence to do it, but Brett hasn't. So he tries to gain his confidence through the bottle."

Joey sighed and felt a warm glow as Charlie's thumb rubbed comfortingly over her hand.

"I just hope that he can stop the drinking and get his life back one day." She smiled sadly.

"He should get some help." Charlie advised.

"Yeah, but he has to admit he needs help before he will accept it." Joey muttered.

Charlie nodded.

"What are you doing under Charlie's bed, Rubes?" Leah enquired when she found the teenager with her bottom in the air and her head tucked under her sister's bed.

Leah had walked past Charlie's bedroom and noticed the door open and some suspicious noises coming from within.

"Err... nothing! Ouch!" Ruby yelled after having bumped her head in her hasty withdrawal.

"You know, if Charlie knew you were snooping about in her room, she wouldn't be best pleased!" Leah advised.

"I'm not snooping, Leah! I'm looking for a pair of Charlie's sandals which I want to wear at the weekend... Don't tell her, will you?"

Leah sighed and shook her head.

"You should ask before you borrow stuff... That's why she gets mad at you, Rubes!"

Ruby smiled innocently and watched as Leah left the room.

Just as Leah had walked in, Ruby's hand had reached out for a little black book tucked away at the back of a tin box. She reached for it again; took it out and quickly flicked through the pages of the small note book marked 'PASSWORDS' and smiled.

"Bingo!"

After a long, lingering kiss, Joey jumped out of Charlie's car and reluctantly bid her new girlfriend 'goodnight'. They smiled fondly at each other. Charlie watched as Joey walked up to her front door; letting herself in, she turned and blew Charlie a kiss. Charlie grinned and caught the airborne kiss and returned one of her own, before waving one last time and pulling away.

Joey watched Charlie's tail-lights as they faded into the distance and out of sight. She sighed and quietly closed the door.

Ruby closed Charlie's laptop lid, feeling pretty pleased with herself.

Joey lay down on her bed listening to the drone of the television set in the lounge playing away to her drunken brother, who slept soundly on the sofa. She had contemplated switching it off, but feared the change would awaken her loutish brother and tonight, she just wanted to drift off into sleep with the memory of Charlie's last kiss on her lips.

Charlie finished brushing through her long, silky hair and placed the brush back on the dressing table. She glanced in the mirror and for the first time, noticed the smile which played on her lips. She blushed at her own reflection and quickly jumped into bed, giggling. She switched off the bedside light and hugged herself. Charlie had just spent the best evening of her life with the loveliest, most uncomplicated person she had ever met. She remembered her smile, her smell and her lovely, soft lips which had been just as hungry for Charlie's as Charlie could have wished. She closed her eyes and prepared to dream of Joey.

Joey tossed and turned in her bed. The television yelled out its magnificent special offers on the all night shopping channel. Not being able to bear it any longer, she pulled herself off the mattress and walked into the lounge. She took a chance and lowered the volume, glancing at her brother as the room became calm. Realising that it would take an earthquake to wake her inebriated sibling, so switched it off altogether and wandered off into the kitchen to make herself a hot, milky drink; closing the lounge door behind her.

The house was now silent and sipping the hot, thick liquid, Joey leaned against the kitchen table and pictured Charlie's beautiful, blue eyes... BLUEEYES!

"Oh God!" She muttered to herself, remembering that she should send her dating site romance a message; to say 'goodbye'.

She logged onto her computer and navigated to the Perfect Match dating site web page. She keyed her passwords and entered. Immediately, a message from Blueeyes000 flashed at her.

"Oh god!" She repeated to herself.

Suddenly, the thought that Blueeyes offering her another chance for a date became increasingly worrying. What should she say?

Ruby slept soundly in her bed; quite oblivious to what trouble was about to brew.