It's Pride weekend here in Brighton so I probably won't be around all that much for the next few days. I reckon I'll be able to update tomorrow and then you probably won't hear from me until Tuesday at the earliest. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Two Hundred and Forty Five
"Okay, honestly, what do you think?" Joey asked as she sat opposite Charlie in the Diner.
They had used their lunch breaks to view what they believed to be their twentieth apartment and both were struggling with how long everything seemed to be taking.
"I liked it," Charlie said.
She had relayed the conversation she'd had with Leah about finding someone less than perfect to start with, at least to get them going.
"Enough?"
"I think we need to follow Leah's advice," Charlie said. "I mean, it's not my dream home but walking through the door, holding you hand, I did think that yes, we could be happy there."
Joey smiled.
"I think I could be happy anywhere if I was with you," she said honestly, hoping it didn't come out too twee.
Charlie smiled. Reaching across the table, she took Joey's hand and pressed it to her lips.
"Then let's take it," she said.
"I'll phone the agency when I get back to work," Joey said. "Post lunch at the bait shop is always pretty quiet."
She grinned triumphantly and admitted that she could hardly believe that they were really doing this.
"You still want to?" Charlie asked nervously.
Joey laughed, wondering aloud why Charlie seemed to have anxiety on this particular issue.
"I just... I never thought I'd ever be in a place where I even wanted something like this to happen," she admitted. "And now everything feels so perfect, I'm kind of scared that it's all going to fall away beneath my feet."
Joey squeezed her hand.
"It won't," she promised. "Like I've said before, you're stuck with me now!"
Charlie laughed.
"I can live with that!" she said.
They looked up as Irene breezed into the Diner looking particularly pleased with herself.
"What's got that smile on your face?" Joey wondered.
"Annie's coming home!" Irene announced.
While Joey headed back to work and phoned the man who had shown them round the beachside apartment block, Charlie wandered back to her car. Work was calming down, which was a relief and the nightmares had almost stopped so she was eager to soon be able to walk away from counselling. Her sessions with Michael had been very helpful but she definitely didn't want to stay in therapy for the rest of her life. Spotting Mink sitting on the beach, Charlie turned away from her car and approached.
Angelo knocked on Charlie's officer door. When she didn't answer, he opened up anyway and found the room empty. Her laptop was on and open. Glancing behind him, Angelo checked he wasn't being watched. Finding the reception area empty, he moved to sit in Charlie's chair and immediately began rooting through her files.
"Listen," Charlie said when Mink had reluctantly permitted her to sit down. "I'm sorry if I overstepped the mark by talking to you the other day but please don't take it out on Ruby. She only told me because she was worried about you. She didn't deserve you to have a go at her."
"She spread my personal business!" Mink snapped. "I'll speak to her however the hell I like, Charlie."
The police officer sighed.
"Okay, well, I'm telling you now to lay off," she said more abruptly. "Ruby was trying to do the right thing. And if you continue behaving badly towards her, you'll have me to deal with."
Mink offered her a mocking glare.
"I'm terrified," she said sarcastically.
"You should be," Charlie said with a hint of a smile. "Look, I like you Mink."
"Not like that though, hey?" the nineteen year old teased.
Charlie laughed.
"Not like that," she agreed. "But... I don't know, Joey and I feel strangely bonded with you since we gave you a lift into town. And if there's anything either of us can do to help you, we will. But you have to play nicely, okay?"
"Maybe," Mink conceded, although she was considering it more than she let on.
"Okay," Charlie said.
Standing up, she patted Mink on the shoulder and told her to call if she needed help.
"Charlie?" Mink called back.
Charlie turned around to face her.
"I need help."
"Working hard?" Aden asked, approaching the bait shop.
"Harder than I used to have to since my colleague walked out on me!" Joey quipped.
She offered him a smirk to show that she was teasing. Aden sighed and hopped up on the counter, asking how she was.
"Well, I miss you," Joey said.
"Alf wouldn't take me back if I asked," he replied. "That ship has most definitely sailed."
Joey nodded. Her boss had said as much to her at the time and she knew he was advertising for new staff this week. She couldn't help but feel a little nervous about who it might be.
"How are things with you now?" she asked.
"Better," Aden said. "I won't turn evil any time soon. And I feel like I'm making more of an effort with Nicole, even if she isn't doing that same."
"Trouble in paradise?"
He sighed.
"It's nothing really," he said. "She's just so hooked on this design course she's doing at school. I hardly get to see her at the moment because she's always doing coursework and stuff. I kind of miss her."
"Just tell her," Joey suggested.
It would never occur to her not to tell Charlie if she was having a problem so Aden's tendency to keep everything to himself baffled her somewhat.
"I can't do that!" he protested.
"I'm not saying scream and shout, but just talk to her gently," Joey replied. "I mean, sometimes Charlie and I get caught up with this, that and the other. In fact, recently Charlie's bee struggling with me spreading my time too thinly. She started thinking I didn't want to be with her anymore. But we talked about it and we make sure that we have at least one day a week – preferably more – where we devote ourselves to each other. Kind of like a date night kind of thing. And it works really well."
Aden nodded, thinking that it wasn't such a bad idea.
"I just don't know what to do," Mink said tearfully.
Charlie remained on the bench with her arms around her as she cried. This turn of events had surprised them both but Charlie was determined to be there if she was needed.
"It's like, I went through hell in the detention centre," Mink admitted. "I got stabbed. I nearly died. And I... I went through it all alone. The first thing I did when I was released was come to find Romeo but it's like, all the time I was missing him, he was just forgetting about me. He isn't happy to have me around, Charlie. He just thinks I'm a pain."
She sighed.
"I mean, I guess I haven't been the easiest person to have around," she continued. "I kissed Xavier to wind Ruby up and I cracked on to you and Joey for fun – although for the record I do think you're both super hot."
Charlie snorted with laughter and blushed at the compliment, making a mental note to pass it onto Joey.
"And I stole Xavier's money..."
"What?"
"Nothing," Mink said, suddenly remembering her companion's uniform. "It doesn't matter."
Charlie raised her eyebrows.
"I gave it back."
"Good," Charlie smiled, still with her arms around her.
"But I genuinely wanted to be with my brother again," Mink said. "But he doesn't want me. I feel like I'm the only person who paid the price for what happened. And it wasn't even my mistake."
"I think you need to talk to him," Charlie said gently. "Romeo is such a lovely guy. He's probably got no idea what you've been through or even how much he means to you. Let him know. Talk it through. You've been to hell and back but now you've got a wonderful chance to start again."
"I don't know how!" Mink said desperately.
"By taking your time to figure out what you want in life, who you want to be."
"That's easy for you to say," the blonde snapped. "I bet you wanted to be a cop the day you were born!"
Charlie chuckled but agreed.
"There must be something you love though," she said.
"Surfing."
"Then maybe you can find a career along that path," Charlie said. "I mean, you were heading for the pros at one time or another, weren't you?"
Mink nodded.
"Why can't you do that again?"
"I guess I could look into it," Mink ventured.
Charlie gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.
"I think you should," she said. "Once upon a time I hated myself so much that I never thought I could be happy. I flew from one disaster to the next and I was intent on destroying myself at every turn. Then I realised that I don't have to live like that. I can be who I want to be. I can have a happy life. I do have a happy life. And you can do it too. I know you can."
Next time... Mink leaves town, Leah frets about her feelings for Elijah and Rachel offends Joey...
