Sorry this update is late. I had a hospital appointment today and that aside, it currently feels like the world is falling down all around me at the moment so I didn't quite get this done. But I hope you enjoy the chapter. This one is dedicated to jensy, luckdog and Blue. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Two Hundred and Eighty Seven
"Woah! Civilian here!" Joey squeaked.
Having left her bedroom, she had come rather too close to Ruby's sword as she rehearsed her fight scene for the school play.
"It's not real," Ruby told her, pausing in her thrusts and frowning.
Joey looked unconvinced and mumbled that it could still be painful. From the breakfast table, Charlie chuckled. She wasn't entirely sure who was more amusing – Ruby or Joey.
"How are your rehearsals going anyway?" she asked her daughter.
Joey extracted the sword from her and propped it carefully against the wall before directing Ruby to sit down.
"It's going well," Ruby beamed. "I'm loving being Mercutio. Hey, can you help me run my lines? I mean, you two probably know the whole thing off by heart."
"It's been a little while since we were Romeo and Juliet," Charlie pointed out. "But if you hand me the script, I'm sure we can help."
Having eaten breakfast early, Xavier left home. He went straight down to the Battery in which he and Ruby had hidden Hugo's money. He had left it there for a little while but, unnerved by the fact that someone was obviously hanging around, he'd decided to move it again. Now that Tony was training him to be a boxer, he knew he could reasonably rent out a locker in the gym for a period of time. While he and Ruby were still figuring out what to do next, he thought it would be a good place for the time being.
From a distance, a dark figure watched Xavier approach the Battery. He went inside for a few moments before leaving again with a decidedly heavier looking backpack.
Charlie and Joey gave Ruby a round of applause.
"That was word perfect," Joey said. "Well done."
Ruby grinned. For a moment, Charlie felt like Ruby was her baby again.
"I think I may have found my calling in life," the teenager said.
Charlie chuckled.
"I think you might have," she agreed.
Ruby's eyes lit up.
"You're going to Uni, not drama school but you can do acting type things on the side if classes are reasonably priced," Charlie added quickly.
Ruby tried to pout but ended up smiling anyway.
"Right, my lovely ladies, I have got to go to work," Charlie said. "I have another thrilling day of paperwork and managing Angelo. If you'd like a lift to work and to school, the Buckton taxi is leaving in three minutes."
Ruby and Joey both scrambled to get ready quickly.
"You know, if you..." Ruby started on their way out of the door.
"I'm not teaching you to drive," Charlie interrupted.
Ruby glanced at Joey.
"How does she always know what I'm going to say?" she wondered.
"She's magical," Joey explained.
Realising that he was now cutting it a bit fine, Xavier locked his locker and headed back out of the gym. He felt a little safer that the money was now hidden away properly but he still felt lost as to what he was meant to do with it long term. Hugo had presented it as a gift but it had only ever felt like a burden.
Angelo hurriedly hung up the phone when Charlie appeared in his and Watson's office.
"Guilty conscience?" she asked.
"No!" Angelo snapped. "Why does everyone see the worst in me?"
"Do you actually want me to answer that?" Charlie asked.
Angelo shifted in his chair and sighed heavily.
"Martha and I are consenting adults," he said, his eye blazing. "I didn't do anything wrong."
Charlie's mouth formed a thin line. She folded her arms and leant against the doorframe.
"She might have thought it was a good idea at the time but you must have known it wasn't a good idea," she said. "She's been to hell and back more than once. She's so vulnerable. You shouldn't have..."
"Like you've never made a bad sexual decision," Angelo snapped.
"I've never taken advantage of someone," Charlie said. "And despite the spying on me and trying to cause trouble in my relationship, I genuinely didn't think you were that kind of person either."
It was almost lunch time and Ruby, Annie, Romeo and Xavier had been rehearsing for every free period they had. They were just pondering heading out to the Diner for food when there was a knock on the theatre door.
"Hi, Liam," Xavier said. "I mean, Mr Murphy."
"Liam's fine unless someone else is around," the music teacher said. "Ruby, I was wondering if I could have a word."
Ruby looked a little cautious but nodded and followed him out of the room, leaving her friends to speculate on what they could be talking about.
Martha had agreed to meet up with Charlie and Joey on their lunch breaks. She knew she needed to get out of the house and try to be normal again. But she was fretful that people were judging her about sleeping with Angelo. She was judging herself, after all.
"Oh," she said unhappily when they walked into the Surf Club.
At the bar, Angelo and Alf were in deep conversation.
"It's fine," Joey said gently, taking Martha's hand. "We're all entitled to be here."
"I just feel so awkward," Martha sighed as the three women sat down together.
"What are those two always talking about?" Charlie wondered.
She studied the two men curiously.
"Do they do this a lot?" Martha asked.
Charlie nodded thoughtfully. Something just didn't feel right.
"I can't believe this," Ruby said, still sounding as stunned as she felt.
She, Xavier, Romeo and Annie were all walking towards the Diner for lunch.
"It's a great opportunity," Xavier said, putting his arm around her girlfriend.
Liam had taken Ruby aside and told her that he'd been asked to write a song for her character in the play. Ruby had initially been horrified but she'd reluctantly agreed to test her voice out. Surprising her to the extreme, Liam had been so impressed with her voice that he felt he needed to go away and write a better song that would highlight how good she was.
"I just... I didn't think I could sing," Ruby said. "I mean, I sound great when I have my earphones in and not even I can hear me but..."
She shook her head, still completely overwhelmed.
That evening, having received a phone call from Gina inviting them round to dinner, Charlie, Joey and Ruby were seated round the table with their hostess, John and Xavier. Things were tense to say the least. John and Xavier didn't look like they particularly wanted to get along, Joey and Charlie weren't keen on John either and Gina was trying too hard to keep things peaceful.
"Thank you for inviting us round," Joey said politely as they all tucked into their meals.
"Oh, it's my pleasure," Gina said. "I don't know why we haven't done this before."
"Well, maybe we can make it a regular thing," Ruby said. "It'd be nice to join the families."
She grinned cheerfully. Charlie and Joey were both amused.
"So, how was everyone's day?" Gina asked.
Everyone hesitated, feeling shy about who should speak first.
"Ruby had a good day," Xavier eventually volunteered.
Ruby blushed and then told Gina and John about Liam liking her singing voice.
"And Xavier had a good day too, didn't you?" John said. "It seemed like you were having a good sparring session with Tony after school."
Xavier nodded quietly. Gina shifted a little. She still wasn't entirely comfortable with her son taking up a violent sport. But at least she knew that her brother would take good care of him.
"Well, I guess I'd better be heading home, love," Alf said.
Martha followed him to the door of the farm.
"Thanks for coming to visit," she said. "And for not... judging me."
"I think we can safely assume that people are judging Angelo, not you," Alf said.
He clenched his fists as stress immediately coursed through his body. What did Angelo think he was playing at? First he faked Hugo's death. Then he pulled Alf into the plot. Then he slept with Martha when she was falling apart. And that wasn't even taking into account the tragedy that had occurred in the past.
"Thanks," Martha said. "Thanks for always looking after me."
Alf reached out and hugged her.
"You're my granddaughter," he said. "What else would I do?"
Charlie, Joey and Ruby arrived home.
"That was a surprisingly nice evening," Joey mused, flopping onto the sofa in sheer exhaustion.
Charlie moved to sit beside her. Kicking off her shoes, Joey promptly put her feet into her girlfriend's lap. Obediently, Charlie began to massage them.
"It was actually," she agreed.
"I actually enjoyed John Palmer's company," Joey said. "Who would have thought that could be possible?"
Ruby grinned and curled up in the arm chair.
"Are you really forgiving him for losing you your job?" she wondered.
"Well, I loved the job on the trawler," Joey said. "And I loved bossing Aden around. But if John hadn't taken that away then I wouldn't be where I am now. I love working in the bait shop, especially with Alf as my boss. He is a legend after all. Plus, I would never have gone back to college. And my teacher thinks I should put in for my exams sooner rather than later."
"Really?" Ruby said excitedly.
"She said that she'd already taught Joey everything she could," Charlie said rather proudly. "And that she was pretty much ready to start out on her own. Someone just needs to have the confidence to go for it."
"But if I do the exams early then I have to stop studying and then what am I meant to do?" Joey asked a little nervously.
"Um... open the restaurant you've been dreaming of?" Ruby suggested. "I thought that was the point."
"Well..." Joey faltered.
"That is the point," Charlie agreed. "And we all have total faith in you, Joey. You just need to get some faith in yourself."
Out of uniform, keeping himself in the dark, Angelo staked out the hiding place that he thought Hugo might have been hanging around in. He wanted to kill him, which perhaps wasn't a good turn of phrase considering his past. But he hated him with a passion for ruining the plan they'd made. Angelo had helped Hugo stay out of prison. He'd lied to the whole town about how the case had been resolved. And Hugo was ready to blow it all. He was ready to ruin the shaky foundations of the life Angelo was building for himself. It was hard enough to deal with all his own mistakes, let alone the mistakes of a thug who deserved to rot in jail for the rest of his life.
Next time... Joey is protective of Aden, Romeo and Annie fall out and Justin and Marilyn both have revelations to share...
