Okay, people seem to want an extra chapter of this today. And considering it's a happy day with the wedding and everything – the Queen is walking into the Abbey as I write – I thought I would celebrate the romanticism of the day and post you an extra chapter. This isn't exactly the most romantic story in the world (yet) but I hope you're all still enjoying it. We are beginning to make progress, I promise... Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Seventeen
Charlie was in the gym the following morning, working up a sweat and mulling over what Ruby had suggested the night before. Being so early in the day, it was largely empty and Charlie was enjoying the solitude until Joey walked through the door. The former lovers glanced a little anxiously at each other before Joey set up on the other side of the room, making sure she kept her distance.
An hour later, having done her best to ignore Charlie for the whole time she had been exercising, Joey finished and headed into the changing rooms to get showered and then ready for work. When Charlie saw Joey leave, she waited a few moments and then headed to the showers herself.
Out in the main changing room, with her hair still wet, Joey began to dress. She paused when she saw Charlie emerge from the showers, wrapped in a towel. Unable to stop herself, Joey's eyes roved over Charlie's body. She swallowed and licked her lips, cursing herself for still being so affected by her beauty. Charlie made eye contact. Joey broke away quickly, turned around and sat on the bench to pull her jeans on. When she stood to pull them up the rest of the way, she turned back round and saw Charlie standing, in no kind of hurry, wearing only a thong. Joey felt her mouth go dry. Her heart pounded and her desire, mixed with bitterness, grew.
"A little public, isn't it?" she remarked.
Charlie glanced casually at her, as if she had forgotten she was there. Joey remained on edge, wondering what kind of game her ex was playing.
"Well, it's only you here," Charlie replied, rummaging slowly through her bag. "And it's nothing you haven't seen before."
Rather than putting a bra on, she pulled out a pair of trousers, still displaying the wares Joey had always been rather hooked on.
"Seen," Charlie continued. "Touched. Kissed."
She caught Joey's gaze and smiled.
"Licked chocolate body paint off."
Joey turned pink, hardly knowing where to look or what to do. She gazed at Charlie for a few moments longer, catching her smile and suddenly becoming irritated. Without thinking it through, but determined to get the upper hand, Joey marched across the room, pressing up close to Charlie who was firmly standing to attention. She gazed into the police officer's eyes, placing her hands on her hips. Charlie's heart pounded at the close proximity of the woman she loved, wondering if Ruby had been right after all. Maybe this latest scheme was working.
"Are you trying to use your body to tempt me back?" Joey half whispered.
Forcing confidence, Charlie studied her face.
"Is it working?" she asked.
Joey bent her head, lowering her lips to Charlie's breasts, taking each one in her mouth in turn. Charlie sucked in her breath and closed her eyes, at the feel of Joey's lips offering so much pleasure. Releasing her, Joey cupped Charlie's face, looking longingly at her for a moment.
"No," she said. "It's not."
Charlie's heart sank but fluttered again when Joey pressed even closer to her and captured her lips. All the while, Joey wondered what on earth she was doing. It felt wrong to be making up reasons to kiss her ex. But she was lying. Charlie had affected her. Every day, she tempted her back. And every day, it was a battle to hold onto her hatred and not fling herself back into her arms. She brushed her lips against Charlie's, holding her close and trying to make the moment last as long as possible. For her part, Charlie offered no arguments, even though she felt sure that the moment their lips parted, it would all be over.
"You don't get me that easily," Joey whispered.
With that, she shoved her feet in her shoes and left. Charlie watched her go, feeling conflicted and confused. She put the rest of her clothes on and sat down to deal with her shoes. She paused when she was hit with a sudden flash of memory. She and Joey had been on the Blaxland and they had nearly kissed. It hadn't been the day they realised they loved each other, it had been since their break up – it had been recently. Joey's kiss remained on Charlie's lips and her body was still tingling from her touch. Replaying Joey's last words in her head, she wondered, with an emotional flutter, if there might be hope after all. She'd felt emotion in their kiss and Joey almost seemed to have set her a challenge. She couldn't get her 'that easily' but perhaps there was hope that she could get her with a little more effort. Shaking her head, Charlie picked up her gym bag and headed out of the venue, passing Tony at the desk, who seemed to be very jittery. Stepping out into the sunshine, Charlie wondered what she ought to do next to prove how desperately she needed to have Joey back in her life.
With her head still a mess of confusion, Charlie had just about continued through the day. At lunch time, she typically headed to the Diner to get some food, hoping that Joey might be around. Her heart sank when she wasn't. Ordering her lunch anyway, Charlie sat down. She felt anxious the moment Hugo approached her.
"Can I sit?" the man she had made such a fundamental mistake with, asked.
"Um..."
"Just for a second?"
"I don't want Joey to get the wrong idea..."Charlie admitted.
"It's a work thing," Hugo explained. "I need your help."
"Well, maybe you could come down to the station..." Charlie ventured, glancing worriedly around.
The last thing she needed was for her ex-girlfriend to walk in and find her talking to the man she cheated on her with. Hugo ignored her and sat down anyway. The tension in Charlie's body multiplied.
"I need you to get Angelo to lay off me," Hugo begged. "He's ruining my life, Charlie."
"How?" Charlie asked, automatically going into cop mode.
"He keeps making out that I've got something to hide," Hugo said. "That I lied about the shark attack and that I'm into some dodgy. I'm not. And I don't need him – of all people – hassling me like a criminal. He's the criminal!"
"Hugo, you can make a harassment complaint but otherwise, I can't..."
Hugo shook his head.
"I don't want a big fuss," he said. "I just want Angelo to leave me alone."
"What are you expecting me to do?" Charlie asked. "It all kind of blew up in my face last time I tried to help you with this."
"He respects you, Charlie," Hugo said. "That much is obvious. Can't you have a word? I know you tried before but please try again. Just tell him to back off?"
"I can try but..."
She glanced up and froze when she saw Joey walk in and then walk right back out again.
"I'll try," she promised. "But please don't try and talk to me like this again. You might think Angelo is wrecking your life but I'm doing everything I can to make sure I don't wreck my own."
Nodding but not quite satisfied, Hugo stood and left. Charlie wondered whether she ought to follow Joey and explain or stay put. Knowing that so far, every time she had followed, she'd made things worse, Charlie sighed heavily and resigned herself to waiting for her lunch.
Having escaped the Diner, Joey headed into the Surf Club and ordered a snack. All day, so far, her head had been spinning over her interaction with Charlie that morning. Being so close to her, even if it was amid a power struggle, had opened up old feelings. Charlie was more present in her mind than ever. But now, having seen her sitting and chatting to Hugo, she felt sick and bitter all over again. Apparently while Joey had been replaying their kiss over and over again, Charlie hadn't given her a second thought. It only confirmed to Joey that it was over.
"Here you go," Crystal said cheerfully, putting Joey's fruit juice down in front of her. "Anything else I can get you? A date maybe?"
She grinned with a mix of hope and cheek that made Joey laugh.
"I'm really not the kind of person you want to date," she said.
"I beg to differ," Crystal smirked.
"I'm a bitch, Crystal," Joey said.
"Only to someone who deserves it."
So far, Charlie Buckton had not made a good impression on the barmaid.
"And my head is a big, fat mess," Joey told her.
"I'm sure I could help," Crystal said.
"You deserve a million times better than anything I could give right now," Joey replied unhappily.
"All I'm saying is that you could give the guy a break!" Charlie said.
She'd taken Angelo aside to try and get him to leave Hugo alone but her colleague and former boyfriend had not taken kindly to her suggestion.
"Why do you care so much?" he asked.
"I don't!" Charlie insisted. "He just asked me to ask you..."
"Trying to get you to do his dirty work for him..." Angelo remarked. "Again."
"Just... think about it," Charlie said.
She sank into a chair and rubbed her temples, her head still full of Joey and what she may or may not be thinking right now.
"Are you sleeping with him?" Angelo asked, standing over her with his arms folded across his chest and catching her off guard.
Charlie stared up at him for a moment.
"If you don't retract the question, I will have no reservations in slapping you across the face," she warned.
Angelo didn't budge.
"You are, aren't you?" he said. "I was right the first time!"
Charlie stood up quickly, irritated and more than ready to square up to him.
"Whatever I think or feel about Hugo Austin is irrelevant when I'm here, okay?" she snapped. "When I'm in my uniform, I am a police officer and nothing else. When I tell you to lay off Hugo unless you have genuine evidence that he's up to something illegal, I'm saying it as a cop. Now get the hell out of my office."
Angelo nodded and stepped back a little.
"I notice you didn't deny it," he muttered as he headed back through the door.
"There is no way that Charlie and Hugo are an item!" Leah protested in the Diner kitchen.
"Well, that's not what I heard!" Colleen squawked. "Everyone's talking about it!"
"Charlie's still in love with Joey," Irene commented. "Everyone knows that. I mean, look at the state she's been in since they broke up."
Colleen pulled a face, mumbling that she didn't understand that relationship at all.
"And anyway, I heard they were kissing this morning," Irene added.
"Charlie and Hugo?" Colleen asked.
"Charlie and Joey!" Leah explained.
Tony had caught them in the changing room and promptly told Rachel, who'd told Martha and Leah, only to be overheard by Irene who had apparently now told Colleen.
"Why would she be kissing Joey if she's dating Hugo?" Colleen asked, becoming more flustered.
"Um, Charlie generally does what she wants. She doesn't tend to care if she's dating someone or not."
All three women turned to find Joey hovering by the counter, listening to them. Flushed at having been caught out, Leah hurried up to her and apologised.
"So, Charlie's dating Hugo, hey?" Joey asked
"No," Leah said quickly. "It's just rumour... It's..."
"I saw them talking this afternoon," Joey admitted. "I figured it was only a matter of time."
"I really don't think she is," Leah said. "All I've seen these last few weeks is her grieving for you. I doubt she'd..."
"I wouldn't underestimate her," Joey said, sounding void of emotion.
"But what's all this about you and Charlie kissing this morning?" Leah asked, aiming to gleam some hope from the situation.
"It was nothing," Joey lied. "It doesn't matter."
"But if you were kissing..."
"It was nothing," Joey said abruptly. "Can I get some takeaway, please? It's my turn to cook and I really don't want to."
"Charlie!" Ruby shrieked when her sister walked through the front door. "Is it true?"
The teenager bounded up to her, grabbing her hands and looking desperate for an answer.
"Is what true?" Charlie asked, baffled.
"You and Joey? You kissed!"
"We..."
Charlie blushed at the thought that someone might have seen the display in the changing rooms.
"Um..."
"You did, didn't you? Are you back together? Are...?"
"No," Charlie said quickly. "We did kiss. But it wasn't like that. If anything, Joey was just proving that she's over me. We're not back together. And if the way she's been avoiding me all day is anything to go by then I'd assume we never will be."
Ruby sighed and sank dramatically into a chair.
"Sorry," Charlie said, sitting beside her. "But I did discover something pretty important."
Ruby looked brighter, eager to hear the tale.
"That day I was drunk... on the boat... we had a moment."
"A moment?"
Charlie nodded and began to explain the memory she had forgotten.
"Well, that's hope, isn't it? That's got to mean something," Ruby enthused.
"I don't know," Charlie said. "I'm not going to push too hard but I'm hoping to get to talk to her soon. Maybe see if there's anywhere to go from here."
With her takeaway in her hands, Joey stopped by the Surf Club before she headed home. She found Crystal at the bar, trembling with nerves but fierce with determination.
"Are you still up for that date?"
Crystal stared at her, elated.
"Are you serious?"
Joey nodded. If Charlie could move on then so could she.
"Tomorrow night?" she asked.
"That sounds amazing to me," Crystal said. "Dinner at the Diner?"
"Meet you there at eight."
Next time... Charlie confronts Joey about her recently recovered memory...