Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty Three
Charlie forced herself to go to work the following morning. Having spent most of the night making love with Joey, she had had very little sleep and now had to face the day, working uncomfortably closely with Angelo trying to track Hugo down. Martha's boyfriend was proving to be terribly good at playing hide and seek.
Also rather exhausted, Joey hauled herself out of bed at the same time as her girlfriend. She'd made her breakfast and sent her off to work, warning her not to be too tired when she arrived home that evening. Then she'd hopped into the shower, ready to start her own day, which largely involved teaching Romeo how to sail.
Ruby met up with Xavier on the beach, as planned but she was rather alarmed at the bad mood he was in.
"What's going on?" she asked worriedly.
"That's pretty much the same question I wanted to ask you," he replied stiffly, staring out to sea.
Ruby settled beside him, twisting her fingers together rather anxiously.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"What's going on between you and Liam?"
She blanched but recovered quickly.
"We're writing music together," she replied evenly, sounding much calmer than she felt.
"You know what I mean," he insisted. "You're either having an affair or you have a crush on him."
This time, Ruby did turn pink.
"Neither of those things are true," she lied.
Xavier finally turned to look at her properly.
"I don't believe you," he stated.
Joey stopped off at the Surf Club in order to get a couple of juices for herself and Romeo, as well as the keys for the Blaxland, which Alf had kindly donated for the sailing lessons.
"How's lover's paradise?" she teased her boss.
He did not look impressed. Miles stepped up beside her.
"They're being ever so polite," he said. "They're even in separate bedrooms!"
Alf turned red and barked at them both to be quiet. Joey giggled and apologised.
"I wish I'd never agreed to this stupid trick," Alf admitted glumly.
"Okay, we've got a Detective Eaves arriving next week," Charlie informed Angelo and Watson.
"Next week?" Watson said. "Don't the powers that be realise that this is an emergency?"
Charlie shrugged and explained that he was on leave at the moment but would be there as soon as possible. Angelo looked sour as usual.
"What's your problem?" Watson asked, all the while wondering why she bothered.
She didn't like him any more than Charlie did. He had got himself into a difficult situation and seemed intent on making it worse instead of better. It was irritating and Watson couldn't help but hope that once they'd wrapped this case up, he might get the message and move on.
"We don't need some Detective coming in from the city," he insisted. "We can handle this just fine."
"That as may be," Charlie said diplomatically. "But we've got extra help coming so we may as well go with it. The more hands on deck, the quicker this whole damn thing will be wrapped up. I, for one, cannot wait to see the back of everything connected to Hugo Austin and human trafficking."
Xavier and Ruby had launched into an argument. She had denied any romantic interest in Liam and he hadn't believed a word of it. Storming off, the first person Xavier bumped into was the person he perceived to be his love rival.
"Watch it!" Liam protested when the teenager shoulder barged him.
"Yeah, I should have been watching sooner," Xavier snarled.
Liam rolled his eyes.
"And what's that supposed to mean now?" he asked tiredly. "I already…"
"Lied to me!" Xavier snapped. "I know there's something going on with you and Ruby. And I swear, I'm going to get proof and I'm going to destroy you."
He charged off down the road. Ruby ducked out of sight, mortified to have overheard the entire exchange.
"I told you the truth!" Liam yelled at Xavier's retreating back. "I'm not interested in her! She's just a kid!"
Ruby's silent mortification increased.
"So, this is all easy for you?" Romeo asked when Joey helped him take the Blaxland out on the water.
"Yeah," Joey grinned. "I grew up sailing boats. It's easy!"
"If you say so!" Romeo laughed. "I'm not sure I'll ever get the hang of it."
"You already have," Joey assured her. "Now you've just got to wait for it to become like second nature. But you're already a natural. You should put in for your exam."
Romeo nodded thoughtfully.
"Maybe," he conceded. "I do enjoy being out here. Although that might be the company too."
He winked and offered his most charming smile, making Joey snort with laughter.
"Charmer," she said.
"You know it!" Romeo agreed.
"As long as you know you're barking up the wrong tree, it's all good," Joey told him.
He smiled again.
"I know," he said. "I don't have the right equipment."
Joey snorted again. She pictured some of the equipment she and Charlie had used the night before. And she was very much hoping for a repeat performance.
"But I do genuinely like your company," Romeo added sincerely.
Joey patted him affectionately on the back.
"And I like yours," she assured him.
"I hear there's a big piece of news you've neglected to inform me of," Irene declared, appearing in the Surf Club and heading straight up to the bar.
"What are you talking about?" Alf asked, unusually flustered.
"You and Marilyn are engaged!" his friend announced loudly.
He turned red all over again and shook his head, hissing quietly that it was all a big mistake.
Ruby caught up with Liam in the Diner, having watched him go in and then rehearsed exactly what she was going to say to the man of her dreams. Bracing herself, she joined him at his table. He didn't look all that pleased to see her.
"You need to set your boyfriend straight, Ruby," Liam said by way of greeting.
She sighed and nodded.
"I know," she said. "And I am so, so sorry and so, so embarrassed. I only found out this morning that he'd cooked up this ridiculous theory. I mean, I told him it was crazy and there could never be anything between us…"
She let the theory linger, still hoping that he might react and indicate that perhaps it wasn't so crazy after all. But he didn't. He just sighed heavily.
"It's insane," he said. "And he's going to get me into a lot of trouble if he doesn't can it. I have never and would never date a student, especially not one as young as you and who has a boyfriend. There's no way in hell, Ruby. I've finally got a good gig here, teaching and working on my music. I don't not want some crazy, jealous boyfriend of yours ruining it for me."
"I get the appeal," Romeo mused. "The idea of just hopping on a boat and escaping all your troubles."
He looked wistfully out at the horizon.
"Yeah," Joey said with a contented sigh. "I'm just relieved to not feel I have to escape anything now. I can just come out here for fun."
Romeo raised his eyebrows and offered a cheeky smile.
"I bet I can picture the kind of fun too!" he smirked.
Joey hit him playfully on the arm and warned him to behave.
"Having said that, Charlie and I did have our first kiss right on that deck over there," she admitted rather wistfully.
"You did?"
She nodded.
"Charlie was so freaked out she tried to swim home!" she chuckled.
Romeo laughed.
"That's so weird!" he said.
"Why weird?" Joey asked. "I mean, I know I'm awesome but…"
"It's just that I've only ever known Charlie to be with you," Romeo explained. "It's strange to think of her as having had a previously straight life and everything. I can't picture one of you without the other."
Joey smiled and nodded.
"You know what?" she said. "Nor can I."
Marilyn was in a bad mood as she made her way over to the Diner. Alf had insisted that she go and tell Colleen the truth about their 'engagement', claiming that it had gone too far.
"Oh, it's you," the older woman said sourly when she spotted her approaching.
"Hi, Colleen," Marilyn said.
"What do you want?" she barked. "Catering for the blessed day?"
Marilyn grimaced at how horrible she always was to her.
"Actually, I'm here to tell you that we're not getting married…" Marilyn began.
"Ha!" Colleen bellowed, making her jump. "I knew he'd wise up and realise he shouldn't be with a harlot like you! I knew…"
"We're already married!" Marilyn blurted out.
She was pleased with Colleen's look of sheer horror but immediately worried about just how angry Alf was going to be with her.
Charlie arrived home a little earlier than she had the night before and was immediately alarmed by the obviously serious conversation Joey and Ruby were having in the lounge.
"What's up?" she asked.
Ruby looked rather tearful and Joey had a look of pure compassion on her face. Kicking off her shoes and removing her ridiculously heavy belt, Charlie came to sit with them.
"Xavier's just destroyed my future singing career with Liam," Ruby said.
Charlie looked confused.
"And how has he done that?" she wondered.
"He's accused Liam of making a play for me or something stupid like that," Ruby explained.
Charlie looked immediately alarmed.
"He hasn't, has he?" she asked quickly.
"No!" Ruby exclaimed. "It's not like that! We're just working together! I don't like him and he doesn't like me!"
Charlie was grateful when her daughter didn't notice the look she and Joey exchanged. Liam might be professional but there was no way Ruby's feelings were platonic. It had been obvious for a while now.
"Well, have you explained everything to both of them?" Charlie asked.
"Yes, but Liam says that we can't sing together until Xavier calms down and stops throwing accusations at him," Ruby sighed. "But Xavier won't take my calls and you know what he's like when he gets an idea in his head. He's ruined everything!"
"I'm sure it'll all calm down," Joey said gently. "This partnership is too important to both of you to just let it go. And Xavier loves you. He's probably just a bit jealous of all the time you're spending with Liam instead of him. But he'll calm down. I'm sure he will."
Ruby sighed glumly. Her head hurt from all the confusion.
"Ruby?" Charlie said anxiously.
"If you ask me if I like Liam, I'm going to walk out on you like I did with Nicole earlier," Ruby warned.
"Okay," Charlie said, falling quiet. "I won't ask."
"I don't like him," Ruby lied. "Not like that anyway."
That night, having discussed their daughter's latest predicament at length with her, Charlie and Joey were eager to retire to their room.
"Are you sure you're not too tired?" Joey checked.
Charlie tossed her onto the bed and quickly moved to straddle her hips. She leant forward and kissed her passionately.
"Okay, you're sure," Joey decided happily.
Next time… A bad man arrives for Hugo, Liam discovers Ruby's crush and Ruby has another confession to make…
