Charlie was up before dawn, she quickly went into the kitchen to make herself a strong cup of coffee. Once again, she had no desire to go to work, but she doesn't have much of a choice. She was so exhausted from the drive to the city, all the walking around in the city and cleaning up the house that she didn't need any sleeping aids to fall asleep, as soon as her head hit the pillow she was out for the night. Today she thought of exhausting herself again that way she could cut down on her beer intake every night. The thought of Joey seeing her with a big beer gut just mortified her to no end. She'll hit the gym every night and jog and that should help her sleep well at night. That way when Joey returns she'll be in the best shape of her life. Charlie is ready to go and decides to stop by the Diner to get a cup of coffee to take into work with her and the person she couldn't help to avoid any longer, was standing right behind the counter.

"Oh! Good morning, Charlie. I haven't seen you in a while how are you doing?"

"Good morning to you Colleen. I'm doing okay, I suppose. How are you doing?"

"Alright, thanks for asking. Would you like your usual cup of coffee?"

"Yeah. That's just what I'd like, thanks."

"I'll get that for you right away. I know how busy you must be and a good cup of coffee will jump start your day the right way."

Obviously, Colleen was doing some small talk, not knowing how to approach certain subjects. Charlie was surprised that she didn't mention Joey or asked her anything regarding the rumors and gossip that have been circulating Summer Bay. She thought that maybe Leah, had spoken to her about it or had asked her not to mention anything in her presences. In any case she was happy that she didn't have to justify or explain her feelings to someone like Colleen or anybody outside her circle of friends and family. She grabbed her cup of coffee, thanked Colleen and proceeded to the station. She went directly to her office and started the paperwork that was stacked up on her desk.

"Well here goes another long day of paper cuts and headaches!" She told Watson who was standing at her door giving her another folder to add on to the pile.

"Well unless a dead body washes to shore, you won't be getting out of this office today!" Said Watson, as she left her office.

Before Charlie started her work load, she grabbed her desk calendar and crossed off another day. She's been keeping track of time, like a kid keeping track of how many more days till Christmas. Unfortunately, for her the days weren't going as fast as she'd like. It seemed already like an eternity since Joey had left, that the thought of more weeks, days, hours and seconds put a heavy weight on her heart. She really wished that Joey would cut her trip short and come back to her as fast as possible. That hopefully Joey was going just as insane as she was without being near to one another. For the moment Charlie had to be patient and wait for Joey, she knew that time heals all wounds and her wounds were still healing. Charlie took a deep breath, a sip of coffee and started to work. Around lunch time Charlie's mobile started to ring, she quickly saw that it was Joey calling, she answered.

"Hello, hello Joey can you hear me?"

"Charlie! Yes, I can hear you...how are you?"

Charlie was so excited, happy and nervous at the same time. Her heart was racing and she got chills all over her body from hearing Joey's voice that she didn't know what to say, but she did manage to say the first thing that came to her mind.

"Joey I love you and miss you so much!"

"I love you too, Charlie... and I miss you like crazy!"

On hearing those words from Joey, Charlie's eyes filled with tears of such unbelievable joy that her heart felt like it was about to explode from the overload of happiness that she was feeling at that very moment.

"Oh, Joey I wish you were standing right hear in front of me! What I wouldn't do to hold you tight in my arms!"

"Me too!"

The connection was starting to break and Charlie just managed to say a few last words to Joey before the call dropped.

"I need you by my side...Hello, hello! Joey are you still there? Hello..."

Charlie dialed Joey's number but the call wasn't going through, she kept at it for about half an hour. She told Watson that she was going out to lunch for about an hour that if someone needed her to call her on her mobile. She raced to the beach hopefully that was the best place to try calling Joey, but it was no use, Joey had moved somewhere were the reception was non existent. After the frustration of not getting through to Joey wore off, Charlie sat on the beach reflecting on the words that Joey had said to her "I love you too, Charlie and I miss you like crazy!" Joey still had feeling for her and it was just a matter of time before things could go back to normal, but there is no such thing as normal and Charlie knew that there were still things she wanted to do differently. She wanted Joey to feel welcomed, she wanted to walk with Joey hand in hand without feeling ashamed or embarrassed. She wanted to be in a proper relationship with Joey, like any other heterosexual couple. She knew that everyday that passed she was making giant steps, but she wanted to be ready for Joey. If she was lucky enough to have a second chance with such an amazingly beautiful woman, she wasn't going to waste the opportunity. She enjoyed the rest of her lunch hour staring at the sea and thinking of Joey and the sweet words she heard her say. I love you too, Charlie and I miss you like crazy!