Chapter Two Hundred and Sixty Five
"Okay, sweetheart, I'm off to have an affair with Michael," Charlie smirked the following morning.
Ruby looked alarmed but Joey snorted with laughter and shook her head.
"See you tonight," she said, pursing her lips in request of a kiss.
Smiling, Charlie leant down and kissed her tenderly goodbye, ruffling Ruby's hair and waving at Leah and VJ.
"What was that about?" Ruby wondered.
Joey chuckled and then started to explain what had happened the previous day with Angelo.
Angelo drove towards Michael's hose, his camera on the passenger seat of the car. His brain tried to tell him repeatedly that he was only asking for trouble if he hassled his one time girlfriend anymore but it was constantly overridden by his determination to get the bottom of it. He didn't believe for a second that Charlie was innocently seeing a counsellor. She was most definitely having an affair and he was determined to prove it.
Ruby and Xavier walked through the school corridor. On their way to school, Ruby had regaled him with much frustrated animation, the tale of Angelo the stalker. Xavier couldn't understand why Martha had taken it upon herself to forgive him for killing Jack. Yes, it may have been an accident but it didn't sound like he had learnt all that much from his mistakes. He paused when he spotted Gina up ahead. Moving forward, he tried to say hello but she just ignored him and moved away. Sighing, Xavier turned to Ruby for support. He'd been considering asking to move back in but obviously she didn't want him to.
"So, how are you feeling, Charlie?" Michael asked when she'd settled down on the familiar couch.
She smiled.
"Yeah, pretty good," she said. "I've not had a nightmare for a week and a half and I feel a lot more in control of my life now."
"Good," her therapist said. "I'm really pleased with the work we've done over the last few weeks."
Charlie smiled again.
"Minus a bastard that I work with," she said. "I feel like everything is starting to fall into place again."
Joey was curious when she spied Justin walking towards the bait shop with two coffees.
"Did someone pick up my telepathic messages?" she wondered when he extended a cup towards her.
Justin smiled and explained that Aden was spending the day with Nicole. At a loose end, he thought he'd bug her for a while, being that his friends in the Bay were somewhat limited.
"Bug away," Joey invited. "I'm always eager for company."
"Do you get lonely working here on your own?" Justin wondered.
"A bit," Joey admitted. "I mean, it's nice work. And I get some really great customers. But I miss working with Aden."
"He worked here?"
"Yeah," she replied. "We worked on a couple of trawlers together before this and he worked with me here for a while. But he had a tantrum and walked out when I got promoted over him."
"That's my brother!" he remarked with a chuckle.
"Hot headed," she agreed. "But generally a sweetheart."
"Do you think he's happy here, Joey?"
She paused and studied his concerned face.
"I assume so," she said. "I mean, he had a pretty shitty year what with losing Belle and everything and then we lost our jobs at the end of last year. But things seem back on track for him now and he seems to be really happy with Nicole. Why?"
"I think he should join the army," Justin blurted out.
Joey dropped the bucket she'd been carrying.
"What, like... leave here?"
She pictured her life without him and didn't like it.
"Yeah," Justin said. "See what else there is outside life in a small town."
"Some people like life in a small town," she said a little defensively.
"I think everyone should try something new once in a while," he replied.
Martha headed into Xavier's bedroom to try and sort some of his washing out. Gina had already warned her that he was a 'dump it on the floor and then do the sniff test' kind of boy and so far, her new house guest was proving her right. In fairness, Liam wasn't actually all that much better but Martha felt a certain level of motherly love towards the boy that could have been her brother in law. Grabbing a bunch of washing from the bottom of the wardrobe, she was about to dump it into a basket and take it away when she knocked over Xavier's hidden box. She couldn't have ignored it if she'd tried. Inside the box were thousands upon thousands of dollars.
"Well, it sounds like you've done the right thing," Michael said, when Charlie told him the long, drawn out story of Angelo.
"I just hope he gets the message," Charlie replied. "I don't know why he's behaving like this."
"Well, you could recommend therapy," Michael said with a hint of a smile. "I've got a couple of hours free per week now that you're ready to leave counselling behind!"
Charlie laughed.
"Maybe it would be a good idea," she said thoughtfully. "I mean, he's got to have some kind of problem if he's being so obsessive about all of this. I mean, who spies on someone like that?"
They were interrupted by the sound of a high pitched scream outside.
Ruby and Nicole appeared at the bait shop with the blonde of the two looking particularly grumpy.
"Am I totally breaking the rules by coming to you to bitch about my boyfriend?" she wondered.
"Hey, just call me Neutral Girl," Joey said, holding her hands up in surrender.
Ruby laughed. So did Nicole.
"So, what happened?" Joey asked, gesturing for the girls to follow her around while she restocked the shelves.
"Nothing," Nicole said, sighing heavily.
"Then why are you grumpy?" Ruby wondered.
"There's something I haven't told anyone," Nicole admitted.
Joey paused and offered her friend her full attention.
"Britt stole my swimwear design," Nicole admitted. "And she's gone back to using me as a dogsbody."
"Angelo!" Charlie screeched when she saw her colleague lying on the floor, looking winded. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
He groaned in pain and tried to sit up.
"Is this the colleague you were talking about?" Michael wondered.
"The very same," Charlie said.
Angelo managed to get to his feet, struggling to find any kind of defence. Spotting his camera on the ground, Charlie promptly stamped on it.
"Hey! That's criminal damage!" Angelo protested.
Charlie stepped forward and fixed him with her iciest stare.
"And if you so much as look at me again, I will have you arrested for harassment," she said darkly. "Is that clear?"
Next time... Angelo tries to make amends, Justin shares a secret with Aden, and Charlie and Joey help Leah get ready for her date with Elijah...
