Chapter One Hundred and Eighty Eight
"Ah, Joey, I was hoping you'd come in," Alf said by way of greeting when Charlie and Joey pushed through the doors of the Surf Club.
The couple approached the bar in anticipation.
"I know you've been looking for work and Martha said you might be up for a temporary position here," Alf said. "What do you reckon?"
"That's exactly what I came in to talk to you about," Joey said. "I would love the chance to work here. If you'd be interested in hiring me?"
"I'd love to," Alf said warmly. "But you know it really is only two weeks? My barmaid had an emergency."
"I know," Joey said. "But two weeks is better than anything else I've got going right now."
"Well then I'd love to have you on board," Alf beamed.
"Are you sure?" Joey checked. "I mean, I know last time..."
"Joey, that was a completely different situation," Alf said firmly. "I can assure you that I don't blame you for having to walk out on the job after what that monster did to you."
He smiled.
"To be honest, I wish I could find a way to take you on permanently."
Joey smiled, surprised. She glanced at Charlie who was also looking pleased.
"Well, you've become part of the real heart of this community," Alf explained. "People love you, Joey. You'd be an asset behind this bar."
Joey blushed. She had always been the kind of person to live on the outskirts of the community. But it appeared that through her cherished romance with Charlie, her confidence had grown and she had finally found a home. She thanked Alf and asked when he would like her to start.
"How are you fixed for tomorrow afternoon?"
Joey glanced at Charlie to check that she didn't have plans.
"Go right ahead," Charlie said.
Joey turned back to Alf and asked her what time he'd like her to arrive.
Charlie and Joey arrived home to the sound of a bedroom door slamming upstairs. They found Leah collapsed on the sofa looking stressed.
"What's up?" Joey asked, her bouncy mood immediately overtaken by concern.
"VJ's still being bullied," Leah sighed. "I'm going to have to move him to a different school where he can start again. I can't have him being treated like this."
Nodding, Joey sat on the edge of a chair, putting her arm around Charlie's waist.
"How does he feel about that?" Charlie asked.
"He says he feels useless because he can't even go to school like a normal person," Leah explained.
She sighed again.
"How can I make him see that it's not fault he's being picked on?" she asked.
"I think it's something he has to figure out for himself," Joey said, thinking back to her time on the trawler with Robbo, not to mention her own school days. "He has to not be a victim but he also has to keep his head down, not take on more than he can handle."
Leah's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Could you talk to him?"
"I don't think there's much I can say..."
But Leah looked too hopeful. Joey nodded and headed up to his room. Charlie sank into the armchair and watched her go, a smile playing on her lips. Leah chuckled, finally feeling a little lighter hearted.
"You are so cute," she said.
"What?" Charlie asked, feigning innocence.
"Let's just say that I hope I look at someone the way you look at Joey one day," Leah replied.
The following morning, Joey woke with a definite spring in her step. She was going to start her new, if temporary job and she felt like she had made some progress with VJ too. They had talked for a good hour about how it feels to be bullied but how it is possible to recover from it and start again. She hadn't gone into detail about what happened to her on the trawler but she'd shared a little about her school days. He was already aware that she had been hurt in the past and that was how she and Charlie had met and then fallen in love. Sitting up in bed, she stretched and yawned. Taking a moment to gaze at Charlie's still sleeping form, she slipped out of bed and towards the shower.
Charlie was just waking up when Joey re-entered the room in her towel. Propping herself up against the pillows, Charlie unashamedly watched Joey rummaging through the wardrobe trying to figure out what to wear.
"I don't know," Charlie said unhelpfully. "The towel is distracting. Why don't you take it off and then we can figure it out?"
Believing in her sincerity, Joey was about to drop the towel when she suddenly twigged.
"That is not helpful!" she protested, wrapping the material more tightly around her.
Charlie grinned.
"I'm just saying that seeing the blank canvas would help me dress it up!" she insisted.
Joey dropped the towel and moved to lie on top of Charlie, the blankets safely between them.
"Are you calling my body blank?" she asked.
"No!" Charlie said quickly, wrapping her arms around her and kissing her lips. "You're definitely not blank!"
That afternoon, Charlie and Joey both headed to their different work places. Angelo immediately entered Charlie's office and told her that Irene had been in. Apparently, Donna had been in to see her and she was a total mess. Even Irene was feeling sorry for her.
"Any leads on your theory?" Angelo asked, making himself comfortable.
"I haven't tried," Charlie admitted. "To be honest, I have no idea where to start. What do you think?"
"I think we need to find a way of talking to Hugo."
"Well, usually, you contact a suspect and bring them in for questioning," Charlie pointed out.
"Yes but if Hugo is the kind of man I think he is then going in hard isn't going to work," Angelo said. "The worst thing we can do is scare him off. He already has that ticket to Indonesia. If he thinks he's under fire then even his love for Martha might not be enough to keep him sticking around here."
Charlie nodded, chewing her lip.
"Then I guess we have to keep watching him and hope he makes a wrong move," she said. "But to be honest, I think time is running out."
It had only been an hour but Joey was already thoroughly enjoying her first shift at the Surf Club. Alf had reminded her of what she had learnt the first time around and she'd managed to confidently tell him this time that he could leave her to it. She'd served drinks and chatted to customers, including Martha who had popped in to see how she was doing and to thank her for her advice over Hugo. Apparently, things were perfect again. Joey just hoped it would stay that way and that perhaps Hugo might turn out to be a good guy.
Stepping out from behind the bar, Joey wandered round the room to collect glasses. She stopped when she saw Xavier pounding a little too hard on a pinball machine.
"You don't have to push the buttons that hard, you know," she commented.
He turns and glared at her.
"Leave me alone," he said, turning back to the machine, although he had long since lost his game.
"Hey, what's with the attitude?" Joey asked.
"Why do you care?" he snapped.
"Of course I care," she said.
"You're Ruby's step-mum. Why would you care about me?"
"I'm Ruby's step-mum," Joey repeated, although the words still felt strange. "And you're someone she cares a great deal about. So yes, I care."
"She doesn't care about me anymore," he stated.
"Of course she does."
"Then why did she dump me for Geoff?"
"Because... Look, that's not for me to say. But I know she cares," Joey insisted. "And besides, I'm working here now so I'm worried for the health of the pinball machine."
Despite himself, Xavier laughed. He threw himself into a chair. Joey sat opposite him.
"So, what's the problem?" Joey asked. "As a barmaid I'm qualified to go 'hmm' and 'oh dear'."
Xavier snorted, recognising a similar line from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then began to explain that he'd got caught up dating two girls at the same time.
"Hmm..." Joey said.
"And it all went a bit wrong last night when I was forced to endure dinner with Mum and John Palmer and both girls showed up."
"Oh dear!"
Xavier laughed again. Joey grinned, glad that he seemed to be cheering up a little bit.
"I don't really know what to do," Xavier admitted. "Mum seems to really like this John guy but I hate him. I actually hate him. I don't want them to be together. And I don't want my Mum to get hurt again."
"So is it that you hate John or that you don't want Gina to get hurt?" Joey asked.
She decided to keep her own thoughts about John to herself, not thinking that her bitterness over him costing her a job would help.
"I don't like him," Xavier said. "But mostly I'm worried about Mum. She's been hurt so much before and..."
He sighed.
"Well, I don't know your Mum that well but she seems pretty sensible," Joey said. "Maybe you should trust her to make her own decisions."
"What if it goes wrong?"
"Then you don't say 'I told you so' and you be the most supportive son you can be," Joey told him. "If she doesn't try to make things work with him now, she's always going to be left wondering and that's not fair on anyone. I think it's better to explore your feelings for someone regardless. Even if you get hurt in the end, at least you know you tried."
"Is that what happened with you Charlie?"
"I guess so," Joey replied. "I mean, it threw Charlie through a loop to realise she had feelings for me. She didn't even know she could have feelings for another woman so she was pretty scared. And well, everyone knows the pain that I was dealing with. But we took the risk and now, almost eight months later, we're really happy and we're really settled."
She smiled. Xavier nodded.
"Maybe I'll try and give him a chance," he decided. "Maybe. I'm not promising anything!"
Alf drove Joey home after her shift. As soon as she had locked up, she crept into bed beside Charlie, who was still vaguely awake. She had come to keep her company for a little while after her shift in the evening but after a long day at work, she'd tired and come home.
"How was it?" Charlie asked sleepily.
"It was amazing," Joey said happily, cuddling up to her. "And I've reached a decision."
"Oh?"
"I definitely want to go to college like you suggested."
Charlie eyes pinged open.
"Really?" she asked excitedly.
Joey nodded.
"If I can support myself and study at the same time then I think it will be good for me," she said. "And then maybe if and when I pass we can talk about your other idea."
Charlie grinned and kissed her.
"I'm proud of you," she said. "We should celebrate."
With that, she promptly fell asleep.
Next time... Aden gets a new job, Joey and Romeo discuss re-entering education and Charlie makes some headway with Miles's case...
