The Very Thought of You
Chapter 3
The Police Officer knocked quietly at the door to the room at the back. There was no answer, so Charlie decided to enter quietly anyway. She heard quiet sobs coming from the unlit room and walked in the direction of their owner.
"Hello," Charlie said gently. "Are you alright?"
The other girl looked up quickly at Charlie. She wiped one of her eyes with the back of her hand and said "No," very quietly.
Charlie moved a little closer to the girl.
"I'm sorry," the distraught barmaid sniffled. "I can't go back out there."
"That's alright," said Charlie. "Martha will look after the bar. Can I help you at all? My name's Charlotte, by the way."
The barmaid looked at the young woman who had come in so quietly to her bolt-holt. "My name's Jose –Joey," she replied, deciding that she would like to let this kind, stranger use her nick name. "There's nothing anyone can do." She whimpered and looked away from Charlie.
Charlie smiled. "There's always something that can be done. I noticed that chap who came into the pub just now; Robert Cruze, wasn't it?" Charlie probed. "He seemed to distress you." Joey remained silent. "You know, I'm a Police Officer. If you tell me about it, I could probably fix it?" Charlie suggested. Joey looked at Charlie for a few seconds. Charlie's pretty face and compassionate eyes hadn't escaped Joey's notice even before Robert Cruze had swaggered into the bar. Although Joey remained silent, it wasn't a direct refusal of help. "Would you like me to walk you home? We could talk?" Charlie asked.
Joey smiled and thanked Charlie. "That's very kind of you, but I'll be okay. I'm just out of salts at the moment. Thank you for worrying though." She walked over to the chair where Alf had placed her jacket. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your evening."
Charlie watched as Joey slipped her jacket on.
"Please apologize to Mr. Stewart for me. I wouldn't have let him down for the world. He was so kind offering me the job." Again, tears appeared in Joey's eyes. She gave Charlie one more sad smile and slipped out of the back door into the dark night.
Charlie stood looking at the back door and frowning. She knew the girl had a problem and she had an over whelming desire to help her. She wandered back into the bar. It was quite busy now and poor Martha was pulling pints as though her life depended upon it.
"I'm really sorry Martha," said Charlie. Joey was feeling rather unwell and has left. She sends her apologises to Mr. Stewart."
Martha glanced over at Charlie. "Well, these things happen. Poor Granddad. I'll see you around!" She called to Charlie. Charlie waved as she opened the pub door to leave.
Charlie walked out into the darkness of the night. No lights were permitted due to the blackout regulations and it took a few moments for her eyes to become accustomed. When they did, she looked to see if she could spot the young barmaid anywhere, but she had disappeared out into the night without a trace. Charlie sighed and headed for home.