Chapter Eighty-Two
As soon as Charlie and Joey were dressed in their civilian clothes and their outfits had been hung up in preparation for tomorrow night's performance, they raced out into the lobby to catch up with their family, and, most specifically, Ruby. Charlie still felt totally overwhelmed that her daughter had come to see the play. It meant the world to her. Clutching each other's hands, they made to approach Ross, Morag, Ruby and Aden but found themselves getting stopped several times along the way by people wanting to congratulate their performance. Finally, they reached their destination.
"Hi!" Charlie said, forcing herself to be cheerful.
Her father beamed at her.
"Charlie, you were amazing!" he said. "And you, Joey. You were both fantastic. Just fantastic."
Both girls smiled back and thanked him, blushing when Morag and Aden also joined in with praise. Joey was pleased that Aden had made it. She hoped that perhaps this was the beginning of him getting himself back together again, becoming the boy she used to know. Charlie turned nervously to Ruby, who looked shy.
"You really were great," the younger girl said. "Both of you."
***
Ross convinced everyone to go to the Surf Club and celebrate the success of the evening. Charlie had invited Ruby to go in her car with her and Joey but the teenager had declined. Aden had taken her place and now the three of them were parking. They spotted Morag's car outside the bar and they waited for them. Charlie attempted to walk in beside Ruby but her daughter was less than responsive. Charlie swallowed uncertainly, worrying about how the evening would turn out. It was a big step for Ruby to have come to the play but obviously it was going to take a lot more hard work to get them talking.
***
As the evening drew on, Charlie had tried to engage Ruby in conversation but had failed miserably. She clutched Joey's hand tightly under the table, needing to fully rely on her to get through every minute. Across the table, Ruby felt awkward. She wanted to talk to Charlie. She wanted to be friendly towards her. In an ideal world, they would be able to brush everything under the carpet and forget about it. But it wasn't an ideal world. Things were difficult and they had a lot of work to do to get through it. Ruby sighed quietly, feeling guilty that Charlie was doing her bit and she wasn't.
"So, what have I missed since I've been gone?" she finally asked, directing her question at Charlie who looked surprised and a little nervous.
"Not a whole lot, really," she replied. "I've been busy working and stuff."
"And what did you do at work?" Ross asked. "Charlie was Rachel's hero not so long ago."
Charlie blushed. Her father was trying to help but she knew it would take a lot more than that to make Ruby proud of her.
"What happened?" Ruby asked.
"Harry was snatched," Charlie explained. "I... I helped get him back."
"Well done," Ruby said.
She forced a smile. Charlie smiled back.
"She was pretty awesome," Joey put in.
***
Alf called last orders and everyone began to move out of the bar. Outside, Charlie turned to Ruby.
"Where... where are you staying?" she asked.
All she wanted was for her daughter to move back in and be a family again.
"I'm moving into Irene's," she said. "Geoff asked her earlier if it was okay."
Charlie nodded and chewed her lip, shoving her hands in her pocket and feeling anxious.
"Could we... maybe... meet up or something this weekend?" she asked. "Would that be okay?"
Ruby nodded.
"Yeah, maybe," she said vaguely. "Um... I'll text you or something and we'll figure it out."
Charlie nodded, although she decided not to hold her breath. Ruby seemed no easier to communicate with than before she'd left. All her hopes of things working out, floundered.
***
At home, Charlie flopped into bed as quickly as she could. It had been an exceptionally long day and her joy at performing the play with Joey and making her happy, now felt overshadowed by Ruby's lack of enthusiasm to be around her.
"I guess it's understandable," she sighed. "I mean, I hurt her really badly and..."
She leant her head back against the pillows and frowned. Joey bit back her own comments. All she wanted was to be there for her girlfriend. Climbing into bed beside her, she reached out and pulled her into her arms.
"Do you think she'll ever forgive me, Joey?" Charlie asked, gazing into her eyes.
"I'm sure she will," Joey replied.
She stroked Charlie's cheek and received a kiss on her palm. It was a gesture that Joey loved. It made her tingle and felt so simple and yet so intimate. She moved closer and kissed Charlie's lips.
"I love you so much," she said softly. "I can't even tell you how happy you made me today."
"Glad I did something right for a change," Charlie replied, her voice full of grief.
"Hey," Joey said firmly. "You do plenty of things right. Don't be down on yourself."
Charlie shrugged and gazed at her, feeling emotional.
"You were furious with me this time yesterday," she pointed out.
"Because you hurt my feelings but that was a one off," Joey said.
She sat back and took both of Charlie's hands in hers. Charlie looked set to object.
"It was a one off," Joey repeated certainly. "Yes, I was hurt but it's over now. It doesn't matter. And everything you did today more than makes up for it. I was so thrilled when you showed up. And I was so proud of you all through the show. You were incredible Charlie."
She moved closer and kissed her passionately. Charlie immediately wrapped her arms around her. When she pulled back, Joey realised that Charlie was crying.
"Charlie?" she said softly, lifting her chin.
"All I want to do is make things right," the police officer said tearfully. "I want to make you happy. I want to make you proud. I want Ruby to love me again."
"She does love you," Joey said. "She's just struggling to express it right now. She'll get there, okay? She'll pull it together and you two will work it out. I mean, who on earth couldn't love you?"
Charlie looked set to object again and then caught the look of sheer adoration in Joey's eyes and blushed. She really meant it. She smiled, making Joey blush in response.
"I honestly don't think I could have got through the last few weeks without you, Joey," Charlie said. "Even during the worst of times, you make everything better. You..."
She cried harder and accepted her girlfriend's embrace. They kissed tenderly. Charlie trailed gentle kisses from Joey's lips, along her jaw and down her neck. Joey took a sharp intake of breath when she felt Charlie's tongue tease her skin. She fell back onto the mattress. Charlie moved with her, never letting their bodies part. She moved her mouth back to Joey's and paused to look her directly in the eye.
"You are so beautiful," she said. "Your body and your soul. Everything about you is perfect."
Joey flushed pink and she kissed Charlie again, wrapping her arms around her neck and pulling her closer. She ran her hands up and down Charlie's spine, making her shiver with delight. Teasing her fingers inside her shirt, she touched her smooth skin, feeling the heat radiating from her. Charlie shifted a little so that she could remove Joey's t-shirt. She smiled affectionately when her girlfriend immediately put her arms up to make it easier to take off. Charlie tossed the top aside and gazed at Joey's exposed breasts, paying close attention to them both in turn. Joey giggled as she felt Charlie's breath, lips, tongue and fingertips play with her. It was a feeling that never got old or unexciting. It felt like every time they were together, things became even more intimate. Charlie sat up a little, and admired Joey's lean body. Then she moved in closer and rested her head on her chest so that she could listen to her heart. Joey smiled to herself, gazing up at the ceiling, following Charlie's lead. After a few moments, Charlie sat up again and smiled.
"I love your heart," she whispered.
She pulled Joey into a sitting position and clutched her close, kissing her tenderly. Joey took the moment to make short work of Charlie's top. She breathed in as she took her turn in admiring her lover's body.
"You're amazing," she said, guiding Charlie back onto the mattress so that she could pay her the same kind of care and attention.
"Absolutely incredible," she added, taking her into her mouth, running her tongue over her skin and breathing in her scent.
***
The next morning, Joey made to slip out of bed in order to get coffee but immediately felt Charlie's grip on her tightening. Joey giggled and rolled back towards her girlfriend, kissing her good morning. It was the happiest they had woken up for a while. Their kiss developed quickly and they wrapped their arms tightly around each other.
"Morning," Joey mumbled.
"Morning," Charlie replied.
"I'm going to go and get us some coffee."
Charlie shook her head. Joey raised her eyebrows.
"You're turning down coffee?" she asked dramatically. "Are you sick?"
She felt Charlie's forehead for a temperature. Finding nothing, she dived under the blankets in order to kiss and touch the rest of her body under the pretence of finding a fever elsewhere. Charlie laughed and pulled Joey back up, kissing her again.
"I never ever want to get out of bed," she said. "I just want me and you to stay like this forever."
***
Ruby was up and dressed and hanging around Irene's house. She didn't want to go out and face the day and the locals yet. It felt too hard a task. There were so many things she needed to do and she didn't have the inclination to do any of them. For starters, she needed to talk to Charlie. Her sister... her mother... had been so desperate for approval the previous night. Ruby had never seen her like that before. She had quite obviously lost weight and there were dark circles round her eyes as if she hadn't slept in awhile. She couldn't help but worry about her. And Ross didn't look so well either. He was another person she felt she needed to speak to and make nice with but she didn't have the energy. She was starting to think she'd come home sooner than she was ready for, although at least Geoff seemed to have settled back into the Bay quickly. She also needed to go and see Xavier, or at least phone him. She hadn't spoken to her boyfriend since their argument when he had dared to offer a favourable opinion of Charlie. Again, she felt bad about it but she didn't have the energy to deal with him yet. She also needed to go back to Charlie, Joey and Leah's house. Some of her stuff was still there and if she was going to live with Irene, Geoff and Annie for good, she needed to do it properly.
***
By five o'clock, Charlie's stomach was in knots. Ruby had phoned in the afternoon and arranged to come round to see her. Joey had suggested she go out to see Aden in order to leave mother and daughter to it. Charlie had been afraid of being left at first but agreed that she needed to face this alone. She'd told Joey that she'd call her when Ruby left and Joey had promised to come back immediately. At the door, Charlie kissed Joey goodbye, clinging onto her for a moment before she finally let her go.
"I love you," she said.
"I love you too," Joey said affectionately.
They kissed again and Joey headed out into the evening. Charlie moved to sit on the couch, hands resting anxiously in her lap. She jumped when she heard a knock on the door and instantly felt sad that Ruby felt she had to knock. Once upon a time, it had very much been her house too. Hauling herself to her feet, she opened the door and welcomed her estranged child inside.
***
Joey and Aden sat in the Surf Club, both on soft drinks. Joey tried not to be fretful about how things were going with Charlie and Ruby but Aden could read her like a book.
"She'll call you if she needs you," he told his friend.
Joey smiled guiltily.
"I just worry," she said.
"I know. It's cute."
She smiled.
"How are things going with you, anyway?" Joey asked. "Are you feeling any better?"
"I have to admit that the whole thing with the abalone shook me up a bit," Aden ventured. "I want to start trying to change things. I need to get a job for starters. Now that the boat's been impounded, I'm not sure what I'm going to do but I'll find something. Fortunately, it's only Roman who's my landlord so he won't go hard on me if I need to skip rent for a month or so and pay it back later."
"What kind of work will you be looking for?" Joey asked. "I could ask my boss and see if there's anything going."
Aden smiled and thanked her. Anything would be good right about now.
***
"I did a lot of thinking while I was away," Ruby ventured. "I talked about everything with Geoff and Michelle. She showed me the photo album you destroyed."
Charlie looked down at her shoes.
"I wish she hadn't done that," she said sadly.
"I'm glad she did," Ruby said. "It made me understand a little more."
Charlie nodded and swallowed.
"Charlie, who's my Dad?" she asked.
Charlie looked up sharply, pain evident in her eyes.
"You don't need to know that!" she said quickly. "He doesn't matter!"
"He does. He's my father. I want to know where I come from."
"You come from me," Charlie said firmly. "And I may not be the most wonderful person in the world but I'm better than that, okay? He was just a boy at school."
Ruby nodded and sighed, deciding that perhaps this was an issue best dealt with on a different day.
"I want you to know that I don't hate you," she said.
Charlie looked instantly relieved. She chewed her lip and waited for Ruby to continue.
"I still feel very hurt by you. I mean, you've lied to me for sixteen years. You... you've pretended to be my sister when all along, you were my mother. And you had all this time, after the fact, to step up and be my Mum and you didn't. I get that you needed to run away when I was born. I understand that you were suffering and in pain. But there's been plenty of time after that where you could have..."
"I didn't want to disrupt your life!" Charlie said. "You thought Mum and Dad were your parents by the time I came back. I didn't want to..."
"You should have," Ruby said. "I would have adapted a hell of a lot easier at one year old than I can now. Now... now, I don't know what you and I will ever be to each other. You're not my Mum. I can't get my head around seeing you that way. But also, you don't feel like my sister anymore. I don't know where we stand."
Charlie fought tears.
"I want to be whatever you want me to be," she said. "And I'll wait as long as it takes to have a relationship with you again, Ruby. I love you."
"I know. You've said it a lot," Ruby replied.
Charlie gritted her teeth, feeling like she was a tiresome, irritating person that Ruby didn't want around. Ruby looked back at her.
"And I love you too," she said. "Charlie, I want things to get better. I want us to be around each other easily again. Right now, I don't know how it could ever happen but I do want to try. This whole time, all I've wanted to do was run into your arms. You've always been the person to protect me and guide me through every trouble. It's been weird to go through one of the most difficult things in my life without you."
"I want to be there for you," Charlie said earnestly. "I want us to get through this together."
Ruby nodded and attempted a smile.
"Well, I'd better be heading back but... it was good to see you."
She stood. Charlie followed her to the door. They eyed each other awkwardly, considering a hug that would once have been so natural. Ruby eventually turned and left without one. Charlie watched her until she was long out of sight and then she called Joey.
