Chapter Thirteen

It had been another long day for the Bay, although, in some good news, Roman's sight had been miraculously restored. He'd gone blind after a car accident on a date with Leah a month or so before and finally things seemed to be working out.

Instead of bringing back a shark on their trip out to see, a very grave Alf, Hugo and Miles had returned with the half eaten body of Lou DeBono. Extensive tests had revealed that a shark had taken a bite or two after he'd already been dead for a few hours and that he had died from a gunshot wound. With no evidence that anyone else had been on the boat, Irene had been charged with his murder and they were still waiting on news of the police officer she had shot and critically wounded. The move, led by Angelo, had made him even less popular and Charlie had been torn between wanting to support him and work with him, and being angry with him for the way he was bulldozing his way through town. She believed that Jack's death had been a genuine accident and not murder but it didn't make her or anyone else miss him any less. And Charlie had enough on her hands between missing Joey like crazy and struggling to solve a spate of robberies in Summer Bay and the surrounding area. She hardly had time to breathe.

In a rare moment off that evening, Charlie headed to the Surf Club to wind down with a beer. Crystal greeted her merrily, which Charlie found particularly irritating. She had seen the way the barmaid looked at Joey and she hated her for it. Fortunately, Joey didn't seem to look back in the same way but Crystal was a beautiful girl and Charlie wondered if it was really only a matter of time.

Taking her drink, Charlie headed over to one of the table and surveyed the room. It took only a matter of seconds for her to spot Joey playing a game of pool with Aden. She was laughing for the first time in a long time and seemed not to have a care in the world. It only made Charlie feel more depressed.

At the end of a difficult shift, Angelo headed to the Surf Club to try and relax a little more before yet another day started and with it, was sure to come a lot of hassle. Spotting Charlie sitting at a table, he ordered a drink and awkwardly approached her.

"Are you expecting company or could I...?" he ventured nervously.

Charlie vaguely gestured for him to sit down, which he did.

"You look stressed," he said.

"Got a lot of my plate at the moment, not helped by being accused of dating someone I have no interest in," she told him.

He apologised.

"You were just defending him so much..."

"Because I don't think he's done anything wrong," Charlie said. "Not because I'm interested in him."

Angelo nodded and apologised again.

"So um... are you seeing anyone?"

Charlie glanced up at Joey who was celebrating a good shot in her game. She swigged her beer.

"No," she said. "No, I'm not."

"Me neither," Angelo said.

Charlie nodded.

"I um... I heard on the grapevine that you had a pretty rough break up recently..."

"I don't want to talk about it," Charlie snapped.

"Sorry..."

"Look, I'm your colleague, okay? I'm not your friend. I'll help you do your job while you're here but that's it."

Abashed, Angelo looked down, unsure whether to leave or stay.

"You can stay," Charlie told him, reading his mind. "But I don't want to get personal. Okay?"

"Sounds fine to me," Angelo said, offering a smile.

After losing the pool game, Aden had to buy Joey a drink so the two of them headed up to the bar. Joey's breath caught in her throat when she spotted Charlie having a drink with Angelo. She hadn't noticed her ex arriving. Pulling up a stool, she sat down beside Aden and immediately struck up a chirpy conversation with Crystal. She could feel Charlie's eyes on her the whole time and fought waves of sadness. She missed her happy times with Charlie more and more and her resolve to stay away from her was dwindling rapidly. But she knew she had to push through it and hoped one day that she could truly have moved on with her life.

"What is up with you and that Joey girl or is that too personal?" Angelo asked Charlie.

"Too personal," Charlie replied quickly.

He nodded. She continued to gaze at her ex-lover's back, longing for her to turn around and tell her that they could give things one more try.

"So, how are things?" she asked, changing the subject. "Is life getting any easier?"

"Well, I haven't had my tires slashed for a whole three days!" Angelo said with false cheer.

Charlie chuckled. She couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him.

"And I met a nice woman today," he ventured.

"You did?"

"Her name's May and she's just started teaching at Summer Bay High," Angelo explained. "We're actually going out to dinner tomorrow night. And um... at the weekend, Tony's invited me to go fishing."

Charlie choked on her drink. Joey immediately turned round, glanced at Charlie to check she was alright and then returned her attention to Aden and Crystal.

"Tony?" Charlie asked, trying not to raise her hopes over Joey's brief attention.

"Yeah, it surprised me too," Angelo admitted. "But he said that he's trying to let go of his anger and the only way he feels able to do that is to create some kind of peace between us and try to start again."

Charlie nodded.

"I hope it works out," she said.

The following week, Summer Bay had changed all over again. Angelo had started dating May and things seemed to be going well. But his fishing trip with Tony had gone wrong when Tony had revealed that he had no intention of forgiving him for Jack's death and had lured him out to the cliffs in order to end things once and for all. Martha, Hugo and Charlie had just about talked Tony round and the four of them had saving Angelo's life, which had literally been hanging in the balance.

Charlie and her team had caught Roman and Gardy out during another robbery and while Gardy had escaped, Roman had confessed to crimes committed over the last few weeks and back when he was in the army. He had been handed over to the military police and Nicole had been sent to live with Miles and Kirsty. Roman's admission had shaken his friends and family up and everyone was missing him from their lives.

In better news, Aden and Belle had had a heart to heart and, having broken up a very brief relationship with Liam, the former couple had reunited and now Aden was back on cloud nine. He'd tried to use his experiences of having a second, or was it a third, chance, as a way of encouraging Joey to make a go of things with Charlie again. Unsurprisingly, she had refused but everyone knew just how much she missed the love of her life.

Both Charlie and Joey floated around town in a world of their own, performing necessary duties and tasks and generally feeling empty and abandoned. Charlie hated herself for the way she had messed everything up and dreamed of the day that Joey might be willing to give her another chance. Joey continued to feel utterly lost. The more desperate she was to forget Charlie, the more impossible it felt.

Next time... Charlie and Joey have another explosive encounter and Angelo's feelings for Charlie resurface...