Chapter Two Hundred and Fifty One
Joey stopped off for a solitary, take away coffee on Monday morning, ready to start a new day at work. She was sad that Tony had left so quickly but she was pleased to know that he was doing something he enjoyed.
"Hey, I was just thinking about you," she commented as she ran into her former co-worker.
"Good things, I hope!" he replied.
"Good luck on your first day at the school," Joey said sincerely.
"Thanks. I'm really nervous!" he admitted.
Patting him on the arm, Joey asserted that he would be fine and there was nothing to worry about.
"Now," she said brightly. "Some of us have a bait shop to open!"
She grinned, wished him luck again and then headed back out.
At school, Annie and Ruby were studying a poster advertising for a new school play – Romeo and Juliet.
"Charlie and Joey did this last year," Ruby remembered. "With that drama club they used to go to."
Annie nodded thoughtfully. Ruby studied her expression.
"Are you thinking of auditioning?" she asked her usually shy friend.
Annie caught sight of Romeo walking through the corridor with Xavier, deep in discussion. She smiled.
"I think I might," she said.
Charlie had spent most of the day trying to figure out who was tagging all the vans in the caravan park but so far, she had come up with nothing. I can help catch a human trafficking ring, she thought miserably to herself. But I completely fail to catch a graffiti artist. Sighing as she packed up her things, she called Joey to see if she would like to have dinner in the Diner after work.
"Sounds good to me," Joey agreed willingly. "I might be a bit late though. I'm waiting for a customer to bring some hire equipment back."
"No worries," Charlie said. "I'm heading out now so I'll wait for you there."
Arriving at the Diner, Charlie had indeed arrived before Joey. Spotting Miles nursing a coffee with Tony, she asked to join them.
"Sure," Miles said. "How was your day? Caught any bad guys?"
"Nope," Charlie sighed. "The mystery tagger is complete eluding us. It's driving me crazy."
Miles shifted a little uncomfortably, thinking of Rabbit, the little girl he thought was responsible.
"Well, maybe she... or he, isn't a bad person," he said.
"I'm sure they're not," Charlie said. "But it doesn't mean they're not irritating!"
Miles managed a laugh.
"How was your first day at the school, Tony?" Charlie asked politely.
"Oh, don't even ask," Tony sighed unhappily. "I was the butt of some practical joke and so lost complete control of the class. It was hell. I'm seriously thinking of asking Alf to give me my job back at the bait shop."
"I really think you should give it a bit longer," Miles encouraged.
"You just need to show them who's boss," Charlie said. "Turn the joke on its head. Let them all know that you mean business."
"Do you think I can?" Tony asked.
"Of course you can!" Miles and Charlie said in unison.
Tony laughed but felt encouraged. He thanked them both and then said he ought to get home and rant some more to his wife about the annoying kid in his class.
"And speaking of annoying, am I the only one who feels the need to interfere and get Elijah and Leah together?" Miles asked.
"Definitely not the only one," Charlie assured him. "Especially now we're pretty sure he does feel the same, which... was a secret."
She sighed, feeling guilty. Joey had told her last night about her encounter with Elijah but neither of them had quite managed to figure out what his problem might be.
"He likes her too?" Miles asked, perking up.
"Charlie!" Joey squeaked, making her partner jump as she appeared as if from nowhere. "That was a secret."
"It's only Miles," Charlie said a little guiltily.
"Yeah, it's only me," he agreed. "I mean, hey!"
He looked mock offended but it only succeeded in making Charlie laugh. A little grumpily, Joey took a seat and upon being pestered, she reluctantly began to explain Elijah's words to her the previous day.
"We have to do something," Miles decided. "In fact, I think I've just had an idea."
"Miles, I really don't think we should..." Charlie began.
But he had dashed off halfway through her sentence. Charlie glanced at Joey and apologised.
"Well, you never know," Joey said a little cheerfully. "He might actually help. I doubt it. But he might."
After a leisurely dinner, largely spent putting the world to rights, Charlie and Joey took a walk along the beach, hand in hand.
"I wonder what Miles came up with for Leah and Elijah," Charlie mused.
"And I wonder if it will work," Joey added.
"I hope so," Charlie admitted. "It'd be nice for Leah to find someone to love. And Elijah seems like a great guy."
"I think so," Joey agreed. "I mean, anyone who can help me renew my faith is great as far as I'm concerned."
She smiled a little shyly. Charlie gazed at her and then tugged her hand so they could sit down on the sand.
"This church thing really means a lot to you, doesn't it?" Charlie said.
Joey blushed.
"It's pretty sad, isn't it?" she said nervously.
Charlie shifted closer and put her arm around her. Joey rested her head happily on Charlie's shoulder.
"I think it's nice," the police officer said. "It's special. I mean, I'm still at the very beginning of the whole God/Church thing but I do like it there. And I like that you've found something that means so much to you. And I'm glad that you invited me to be part of it."
"I was worried that you thought it was a pain to keep coming with me," Joey confessed.
"Definitely not," Charlie assured her. "I wouldn't go if I didn't want to. But I'm finding it really interesting to open up my mind a bit. Challenge my own beliefs. Develop some kind of spirituality. I've always lacked that in the past. I've never been that in touch with my emotions. But you changed all that last year so I'm totally open to this. I'm enjoying it."
She smiled. Joey tilted her head and kissed her.
"I love you," she whispered.
"I love you too," Charlie replied.
Looking up, they spotted Nicole stomping across the sand in an obvious bad mood.
"Nic!" Joey called out.
The blonde looked at them and then approached, her face very unhappy.
"What's up?" Joey asked. "Didn't your first day with that woman go well?"
Aden had told her at lunch time that Nicole had won a fashion internship with a woman called Britt who had been teaching a couple of classes at the school.
"It wasn't exactly what I was expecting," she admitted.
She'd thought she would be designing or at the very least have something to do with fashion. Unfortunately, most of her day had been spent fetching and carrying. She hated that Aden had been right about what Britt wanted from her.
Stopping at the Surf Club for a drink, Charlie and Joey spotted Martha in the corner of the bar.
"Hey, guys," she greeted warmly.
"How did things go with Liam?" Joey asked, referring to their previous conversation.
She wasn't entirely sure about confidentiality but she couldn't quite help but tell Charlie everything. It wasn't in her nature to keep secrets, especially not from someone she loved so much.
"They're back on an even keel," Martha told her, gesturing for them to sit down. "We're just friends now but we're getting on better. I'm going to help him buy a car tomorrow. His died."
Joey smiled.
"I'm glad things are better," she said.
"You were totally right," Martha admitted. "I was rushing into something I wasn't ready for. I'm just glad I didn't stuff things up too badly. At least at the moment they can be rectified. He's meeting me here in a minute actually."
"Well, we'll leave you to it then," Charlie offered.
"No, stay," Martha said. "It'd be nice if you stayed. We haven't hung out properly in a long time and I'd like for you guys to get to know Liam better. Unless you had other plans?"
"No," Charlie assured her. "We'd love to stay. Thanks."
It was late when Charlie and Joey finally ventured home. They'd had a lovely evening with Martha and Liam. It was nice to see Martha starting to relax and have fun again after everything she had been through. And Liam had surprised them both by being a really nice, entertaining guy. He was a lot different to his reputation.
Walking through the front door, their good moods immediately went on hold as they heard shouting in the lounge. Entering the room, they found Leah and Miles shouting at each other.
"Hey," Charlie intervened. "What's going on?"
"He told Elijah how I felt about him! And he locked us in a damn caravan!"
"I didn't!" Miles insisted. "I told you, I don't know how that happened. I invited you to the house!"
"You told us to go to the van!" Leah yelled. "Look at the damn note!"
She thrust the piece of paper in his face. He pushed it away.
"I was trying to do a good thing," he said bitterly. "I should have known that you wouldn't be grateful. I stuff everything up!"
He stormed past Charlie and Joey and out of the house.
"Ugh!" Leah screeched. "That man drives me fucking crazy!"
Charlie and Joey exchanged nervous glances and sat down with her on the couch.
"I genuinely think he was trying to help," Joey ventured.
"Well, he failed!" Leah snapped. "He's just made an awkward situation even worse. How on earth am I meant to face Elijah now?"
"Look, he doesn't know that you know so why does it have to be any different?" Charlie said.
"I just can't believe Miles did this to me!" Leah said desperately.
"He was just trying to help," Joey said, sticking up for him. "He just wants you to be happy. We all do."
"So, you've all been talking about me?" Leah demanded.
"No," Joey said, holding her hands up in defence. "We just care, okay? Please don't fall out with anyone over this."
Leah sighed and apologised.
"I'm just so embarrassed," she said.
"Look, it's always hard when you have feelings for someone and you're not sure what to do about them, or if they feel the same about you," Charlie said, gazing at Joey, who smiled. "But sometimes it's a risk worth taking, if there's a chance you could be happy at the end of it. I mean, look at the risk Joey and I took. I was so terrified of being with Joey. I was scared of what it would mean for my life and that it might go wrong. I felt like I loved her too much. I so desperately wanted to be with her but I didn't think I was good enough for her."
Joey gazed at her, feeling moved by her words.
"But we took the risk and look at what we've become. Maybe Miles has done you a favour. If Elijah feels the same... you could have something special there."
Leah shook her head.
"I'm not like you two," she said. "I don't have good relationships."
"Hey!" Charlie laughed. "You do recall my pre-Joey dating history, don't you? In less than I year of living here, I managed to date Roman who couldn't have made it more obvious that he didn't like me, and then I fell into bed with Angelo. I don't think I need to explain that little disaster to you, do I?"
"And I didn't fare much better," Joey put in. "If I'd have had to commit to a type before I met Charlie, it would have probably been 'lying bitch'. It was not good!"
Leah laughed, feeling comforted by her friends.
"Just don't panic about this, okay?" Charlie encouraged. "If something is meant to happen between you and Elijah, it will. Just don't run away before you've figured things out."
Next time... the kids win roles in the school play, Liam buys a motorbike and Xavier reacts badly to John and Gina's relationship...
