Chapter 15

The green light flashed on the door lock, allowing them back into their room. They looked around, feeling the relief of being back in their own private little space. Joey walked over to the sliding doors that had given them so much grief that night - and so much adventure! She unlocked them and stepped onto the balcony to get the rest of their bed clothes. Moments later she returned with everything they had taken outside.

Silently they began to fix their bed together, each taking a side of the undersheet and tucking the edges neatly under the mattress. They took the white sheets and fixed them on top, and replaced their pillows. Charlie glanced across at Joey every few seconds as they made up the bed. Something was on her mind and Joey began to sense it.

She caught Charlie's gaze. Charlie was beaming broadly.

"What?" Joey suddenly felt a little shy. She didn't know why she was being stared at in that way.

"So ...," began Charlie, "... I'm an animal, huh?"

Joey blushed and bit her bottom lip. "Umm ... yes!" Her cheeks turned bright red. "I wasn't joking about that part."

Charlie climbed across to the other side of the bed and wrapped her arms around Joey's waist, drawing her closer until their noses touched, their lips almost brushing together.

She gazed into her eyes. "Well maybe it's time to let the animal back out of her cage ... don't you think?" she whispered playfully.

Joey smiled and simply nodded her head in agreement. Their night was not over yet.

--------x--------

The morning Sun shone brightly, illuminating their room. Joey was the first to stir, and she squinted as the rays of light invaded her pupils. She raised herself up on one arm and glanced down at Charlie through half-open eyes. She was still fast asleep.

She lay back down again and watched her, listening to her breathe softly. She had noticed that Charlie always had such a peaceful and happy expression in her sleep and it relaxed her. She could stay like that for hours. She wondered if Charlie was dreaming about her birthday. Maybe she was having a nice dream about her lion cub. She knew that she was not dreaming about bespectacled dragons and key cards! Joey reached across and picked up her phone from the bedside cabinet. The time said 7:45 and to her surprise she had a text message waiting for her.

She opened it. It was from Charlie. It said ...

'If u r reading this then I'm probably still asleep beside u and u are waiting for me to wake up. I just want to say thank u again. For everything. I love u – Charlie xxx'

Joey was touched. She wanted to kiss her, but didn't want to wake her up, so she settled for a delicate, soft kiss against her forehead. Her lips barely brushed against Charlie's skin but it was enough to cause her to stir. Damn, thought Joey. Charlie inhaled deeply, stretched and blinked several times, trying to focus her eyes. She smiled when she saw Joey looking at her.

"Good morning," she said.

"Good morning," replied Joey. "I'm sorry for waking you. I got your message and I just had to kiss you."

Charlie grinned at Joey's words. She loved the idea of that. It was just the response she had hoped for when she wrote the message as Joey lay sleeping beside her several hours earlier. Charlie had put Joey's phone under her pillow so that the message alert signal would not wake her up, then she set it back beside her on the cabinet.

She snuggled close to Joey and kissed her tenderly. She buried her head in her neck, kissing her soft skin. "Y'know ...," she began, "... I wish yesterday was ... like ... Groundhog Day or something ... and we could get to live it over and over again."

Joey giggled. It was a nice idea.

"And y'know what? I wouldn't change a single moment of it. I'd do exactly the same thing day after day."

Joey kissed her again. It was probably the nicest compliments she had ever been given.

"Shall we go get breakfast?" she asked tenderly.

"Yeah ... I'm hungry," replied Charlie, " ... but after a shower."

"Don't forget you have a cucumber lying around here somewhere ... if you're really hungry and can't wait."

Charlie pretended a look of scorn, which quickly changed to a grin. "No thank you ... I'll wait until after we shower."

"You go first," said Joey.

Charlie sat up on the bed, swung her legs around to the side and stood up. Joey's mouth dropped when she saw the deep scratches on Charlie's behind. "Oh my god, Charlie ... look at you." She began to giggle.

Charlie turned back to face her and looked down at herself, frowning. She didn't know what Joey meant at all.

"No ... the other side. Go look in the mirror!"

Charlie walked over to the full-length mirror on the wall to look at her backside. She saw the marks left by Joey's nails the night before - all eight of them were long and bright red.

Charlie smirked at her. "And you call ME an animal? It takes one to know one!" She stuck out her tongue at her cheekily.

Joey laughed out loud. "Point taken!"

--------x--------

The journey back to Summer Bay seemed shorter than it had been in the opposite direction the night before. There had been less traffic going home. The car pulled up outside Leah's house and they got out. Ruby was there and she opened the door to wave at them.

Charlie got out of the car, grinned and waved at her. "I'm going to kill you, madam!" Her words didn't match her gestures, especially since she had said them with a smile locked across her face. Ruby giggled at the contradiction.

"Remember to thank her first, Charlie," Joey reminded her as she got out of the passenger side. "And go easy!"

Charlie lifted her bag from the car and walked up the path to meet her sister. She threw her arms around her and hugged her tight. "Thank you, Rubes. It was a lovely present."

"So I take it you guys had a good night?"

"It was fantastic," replied Charlie.

Ruby looked at Joey. "Did everything go according to plan?"

"Perfectly," she replied, giving her a thumbs up.

"Where's Leah?" asked Charlie.

"She's in the living room."

They entered the house together and went to find her. She was sat on the sofa and her eyes lit up when Charlie and Joey walked in the room. She stood up to greet them.

"Hey guys ... how was the concert?"

Charlie hugged her tight. "It was great. And thank you ... for the hotel room. I had no idea you guys had planned all this."

"It was Ruby's idea," said Leah.

Charlie smiled broadly at her little sister. She decided against mentioning the extra, adult gifts in her overnight bag – for now!

"Would you all like some coffee? I've just put some on," Leah offered.

"Yes please ... that'd be nice," said Joey.

--------x--------

The four of them sat at the kitchen table drinking their coffee as Charlie and Joey told them about the concert and their night at the hotel.

"God, Charlie ... you really went down there like that and asked that woman for a spare key? You're braver than I thought!" exclaimed Ruby.

"Well ... there was no other choice. It was either do that ... or sleep outside ... or in the hotel corridor," said Charlie.

Ruby frowned. "What were you guys doing up on the roof anyway?" Her question was innocent. She was wise beyond her years, but sometimes she didn't quite pick up on everything. She was still getting used to the idea of her sister being with another woman. Besides, it had never occurred to her that Charlie would do something so bold as to have an outdoor liaison.

Joey and Charlie glanced at one another, trying not to laugh.

"Eh ... we went up to ... um ... look at the stars," said Joey.

"Yeah," said Charlie, joining in on the cover story, "they were ...," she looked Joey in the eye,

"... amazing." The last word was meant just for her.

Leah stared at them both, one at a time and smiled knowingly. "Stars, eh?"

Finally Ruby caught on. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" She blushed and giggled, shaking her head at her own naivety.

"That woman sounded so rude," said Leah. "You did well to keep your cool, Charlie. I don't know what I would have done if she had been like that with me! Probably would have given her a piece of my mind."

"Well ... Joey took care of that," said Charlie. "She strolled up to the reception with her bare ass half hanging out ... told her a few things about us that was definitely more information than she wanted to know ... then insulted her work skills in the best possible way ... then she mooned at her. She was brilliant." Charlie grinned.

Leah and Ruby giggled at the description Charlie gave them. They pictured it in their minds.

"You rock, Joey! Good for you," said Ruby.

Joey had finished her coffee, and since everyone had put her on a pedestal at that moment, she saw it as the perfect time to make her exit – and leave them impressed. "I'd better go home. With any luck ... Brett won't be there until later."

"Does he know about you two yet?" asked Ruby.

Joey and Charlie glanced at one another.

"No," said Joey. "I know he'll go crazy. He doesn't accept who I am ... or what I am. But he has to know before he hears it from someone else ... so I'll tell him soon."

"I can be there with you ... if you want me to," Charlie suggested, her voice filled with tenderness.

Joey smiled weakly. "I think it'd just make things worse, Charlie. He'd probably kill you and I both. No ... it's better if I do it alone."

Charlie slumped back in her chair. "Well ... that's a pity. I'd even planned to have a special t-shirt made just for the occasion." She smirked.

All three looked at her, frowning and wondering what she meant by it.

Charlie began her explanation. "It would have been made from all the colours of the rainbow ... and on the front ... in big white letters ... it would have said 'I'M HUMPING YOUR SISTER' "

The room erupted into laughter.

Charlie grinned broadly. "And on the back," she continued, "it would have said '...AND SHE'S LOVING IT!' "

They laughed harder. Leah was bent over, tears began to stream down her face.

Ruby was a little shocked amidst her own giggles. She had never heard Charlie say anything like that before, but she loved it. She could see that Joey was having a positive influence over her. She was becoming a little bit more free-spirited – and more fun-loving. She felt Charlie needed it. Her life was usually all work and no play, and sometimes it was difficult to get her to shake off her professional guise, even when she wasn't in her uniform. She stood up and hugged all three women. Home had become a much more fun place to be since Joey had entered her big sister's life.

-------- x END OF EPISODE 3 x --------

Author's note: Hi everyone. That is the end of the third instalment. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Because I split my story up into smaller instalments, it means you won't be notified of the fourth story unless you select the 'Author alert' box – (I think!) I'll get started on it as soon as I can.

Please don't forget to let me know what you think about this chapter, and the overall story. Do you want more? I really do appreciate your comments and emails, so thank you once again for all of your support and dedication to reading it!

FirstCenturyBC