Sitting at the table with Joey while her mother takes a call, Ruby smirks at the faraway expression on Joey's face.
"Earth to Joey." Her mind drifting back to the dream she had of Charlie last night, Joey's oblivious to everything. "Joey...Joey." Ruby hits her on the arm.
"Hey!" Joey says in protest, rubbing her arm.
"I was trying to get your attention."
"Try saying my name."
"I did but you were so absorbed in Charlie world, that you didn't hear me."
Joey frowns. "Charlie world?"
"That's where you were, wasn't it?" She snickers when Joey glares at her. "Or is there actually something other than my mother that you think about."
"No, just your mum," Joey admits with a grin.
"Yeah well, just don't go giving me any details."
"Details of what?" Charlie asks. Finding it increasingly difficult to keep herself from touching Joey, Charlie takes the seat as far from her as possible. Ignoring Joey's knowing smile as she sits, Charlie asks her daughter again. "Details of what?"
"It was nothing mum."
Charlie glances between the two, having a feeling she had been the topic of conversation. "Right."
"So Ruby, any plans to honour your debt any time soon," Joey asks.
Ruby rolls her eyes. "Great, I was hoping you'd forgotten."
"I may have but Graves never forgets."
"Losing to Graves was just as much your fault, you know," Ruby accuses her.
"How do you figure that?"
"You're the one who taught me how to play poker."
"Which means you should have won."
"You had to teach her poker, didn't you?" Charlie says in amusement.
"Obviously not very well," Joey says, her eyes on Ruby, "Or she wouldn't have lost." Ruby pokes her tongue out at her.
"I hope you learnt a lesson here Ruby?" Charlie says.
"Yeah, I need a better poker teacher," she mutters.
Charlie tries not to laugh when she catches Joey returning the favour to Ruby by poking her tongue out at her, still constantly amazed at how different Joey was to when she had first met her. "Ruby, you shouldn't have been betting on poker."
"Fine," she mumbles in defeat. "It'll have to be the weekend."
"That's perfect, I have a feeling the week is going to be very messy at home," Joey informs her. "So there'll be plenty of cleaning for you to do." Ruby scowls at her. "Look at it this way Ruby, it may help to cheer Graves up."
"Well, when you put it like that. How is Dex?"
"He's going to be fine. I'm going to stop in and see him on the way to work."
"I'll come with you," Charlie offers, before having second thoughts. "Unless you don't think that will be a good idea."
"Graves was just worried for Dex yesterday, she didn't mean to be snappy at you."
"Can I come with you?"
"Ruby, you have school," Charlie reminds her.
"That sucks," she sulks.
"Let's just eat," Charlie suggests.
Heading toward her husband's hospital room, Graves curses and swerves, blocking the path of the young woman. "Indi, what are you doing here?"
"I've come to see my brother of course."
"I want to talk to you first."
"After I see my brother."
"No, now," Graves says, gripping her arm and dragging her away forcefully. "You're drunk."
"No I'm not."
"I can smell it from here."
"Ok, I had one or two."
"It's not even 9 in the morning Indi."
"So, what of it?"
"So, you're not seeing Dex in this condition."
"You can't stop me."
"Actually, I can."
Indi tries to yank her arm from Graves grip. "Let go."
"I told you, we're going to talk and you can sober up over a coffee while we do."
"Fine, we'll talk." Graves lets her arm go. "God Penny, you can be such a controlling bitch and just because you're married to my brother, it doesn't give you the right to tell me what to do."
"Where my husband is concerned, it does. Indi, you're a bright girl, why the hell are you throwing your life away?"
"I'm not."
"What do you call being drunk this early in the morning?"
"I'm not drunk."
"You're as good as." She pays for their coffees and leads Indi outside.
Indi sits on the seat next to her, a dreamy expression on her face as she recalls her earlier encounter with Angelo, the way he had taken her again with renewed vigour when he had found out she was Dex's sister. She has a flush of arousal as she remembers the feel of him so hard and deep inside her, how she had cried out when she'd come harder than she ever had. She didn't care when he told her about his fiancée, she just wanted him again and she knew he wanted her. She glances at her watch, counting down the hours when she'd see him again.
"Let me guess, you've met someone," Graves says sarcastically when she notices her dreamy look.
"I met the man of my dreams this morning Penny, someone who really knows how to show a girl a good time."
"There's a surprise," she mutters, staring at the marks on Indi's wrists with distaste.
"Lay off Penny," she snaps, pulling her sleeves down to cover her wrists. "I've been under a lot of pressure lately and this guy kindly made me relax."
Graves shakes her head, "I can't believe you can be so reckless."
"Yeah well, Angelo seems like a great guy."
Graves drops her coffee, "Fucking hell Indi, that's the prick that put Dex in hospital."
"If that's true, then why is he still wearing his uniform?" Indi says, seemingly unconcerned she'd spent over an hour with the man who'd hurt her brother.
"Just trust me and stay away from him Indi, he's dangerous."
She shrugs, "That just adds to the thrill."
Graves stares at her sister-in-law in disbelief. "Don't you care that he hurt Dex?"
"You don't know he hurt Dex."
"He did."
"Well, until he's charged, I'm going to choose to believe he's innocent."
"As long as he's a good fuck, you couldn't give a shit if he hurt Dex or not, do you?"
"Don't you dare fucking judge me," she barks at her.
"Jesus Indi, why the hell are you even here, it's certainly not out of concern for Dex?"
"That's bullshit."
"You could care less about him," she accuses Indi. "You go months without even talking to him, then you always turn up out of the blue, wanting something." Graves sighs in resignation when she sees Indi's response. "What do you want this time?"
"I need some money to pay off debts."
"Then you really came to see me and not Dex," she says, no longer surprised by Indi's selfishness.
"Come on Penny, you're loaded."
"I'm not giving you money."
"We're family."
"Funny, I thought I was just the rich, stuck up bitch who married your loser brother, at least that's what you said to me on my wedding day."
"I didn't mean it."
"Sure you did and if you want money, why don't you ask your father."
"I already have."
Graves rubs her temples, trying to dispel the headache she always got when she dealt with Indi. "I'm not giving you any money Indi, you'll just blow it on booze or snorting it up your nose."
"I don't do drugs anymore."
"So if I piss tested you, you'd test negative."
"You know what, fuck you Penny, I don't need to listen to this shit." She leaps up from the seat.
"Where do you think you're going?" Graves demands.
"To see my brother."
She steps in front of her again, "Not like this you're not."
"Don't push me Penny. You may share his bed, but I shared the womb with him and if I ask him, he'll choose me."
"If you believe that, then you don't know Dex at all; he would never choose between us Indi." She glares at her in disappointment. "If you want to fuck up your life, then go right ahead but I'm not letting you fuck up my husband's."
"He's my brother."
"Only when it suits you. I'm warning you Indi, you keep your shit out of Dex's life." She turns her back on her.
"Ten grand and I'll leave." Graves halts when she hears the offer. "Come on Penny, that's pocket money for you."
Graves turns back to face her, sorely tempted to slap that smug look off her face. "If you want to see Dex, then I won't stop you," she steps up to her, forcing Indi to take a step back. "But if you do anything to hurt Dex, you will have me to answer to."
"What about the money?"
"You will never get a cent from me Indi."
Indi throws the rest of her coffee on her before walking away, in the opposite direction of her brother's room.
With Ruby gone to school, Charlie finally has some time alone with Joey, or as alone as they could be in a crowded diner.
"Ruby told me that you came to her rescue again."
"She does seem to attract it."
"It's only going to get harder for her when people find out about her and April."
"For both of you."
Charlie smiles wryly. "It's certainly going to surprise a lot of people."
"About you or Ruby."
"Both." Charlie plays with the spoon in her coffee. "I really do want people to know about us Joey."
"You're just not ready," Joey says for her.
"Just when I think I'm ready, there's this doubt that creeps in."
"It's not easy, I know, especially the first time."
"Who did you tell?"
"Actually, it was one of my foster brothers. He found me after I made a fool of myself with some girl at school."
"How'd he take it?"
"He said he wasn't that surprised and told me if I ever needed to talk, he was available."
"Did you talk to him?"
"Of course not, there was no way I was talking to my big brother about girls. In the end, I spoke to Georgie, who pretty much said the same thing he did."
"I just hope that I get the chance to tell people before we're sprung again," she says, noticing how close her hand had come to taking Joey's. She pulls her hand back, clasping them together. "It's getting a little harder to pretend that we're only friends."
Joey watches in concern when Charlie's expression closes over. Looking over her shoulder, Joey mutters, "Fuck."
Martha walks over to their table. "Good to see that you're still friends," she says with a fake smile.
"Why wouldn't we still be friends?" Charlie asks
"You seemed kind of pissed at Joey the other night."
"I must admit, I was a little disappointed in Joey sleeping with someone like you," Charlie says, feeling satisfaction when Martha scowls at her. Charlie shrugs her shoulders. "Then I realised that I was being stupid, Joey can sleep with whomever she pleases," she says, surprised she was able to say the words when just the thought of Joey with another left her with a sick feeling.
"Believe me, she certainly pleased me," Martha grins, trying to provoke a reaction, annoyed when she doesn't get one.
"Martha, a friend of mine is in the hospital, so I don't really feel like discussing my sex life at the moment," Joey says.
"A friend?"
"Dex."
"The kid?"
"Yeah, he was bashed yesterday."
"I'd heard about that, just not who. I hope you arrested whoever was responsible."
"Not yet," Joey says.
Having listened to Angelo's endless complaints about Dex, Martha quickly reaches the same conclusion that Graves and Joey already had, silently fuming at Angelo's stupidity. "I hope your friend is ok," she says, before rushing off.
Charlie shudders. "I don't know how you could have slept with her," she says, immediately regretting it when she sees Joey's look. "I 'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
"It's ok, I know you're still upset about it."
"It's not you, it's Martha." She sighs, "Even though it was before we were together, it's just the thought of you and Martha together."
"It was just sex, Charlie, nothing more."
"I'm just irrational where Martha is concerned."
"No shit," Joey says with a grin. Charlie chuckles. "Charlie, you're the only one for me."
Charlie feels the shadow of Martha leaving them as Joey looks at her with such love in her eyes. "You're the only one for me too."
They gaze at each other a moment longer, before Joey stands. "I think it might be an idea to leave before we do something."
"That sounds like a marvellous idea."
Leah watches them leave the diner, surprised that others didn't see the obvious love between the two women, before deciding that that was the answer there; it just never occurred to them that Charlie could return Joey's feelings. "Not for much longer though," she mutters to herself. "Not if they keep looking at each other like that."
Walking along the corridor to Dex's room, Joey suddenly finds herself pulled through a door and pushed up against the wall, Charlie's lips working hungrily over hers as her hands find their way under her top.
"I was never going to survive all day at work if I didn't do that now," Charlie says breathlessly, running her hands along Joey's back, her skin hot against her hands. Their lips meet again as Charlie presses against Joey, their breasts crushed against each other as they lose themselves to their desire.
A cough has both of them jumping apart in surprise as they realise that someone was already in the toilets when they had entered.