Chapter Three Hundred and Forty Eight
Leah escaped the house as soon as she could, claiming she needed to open the Diner. In reality, it was Irene's turn to open up. Unfortunately, Lijuan and Song's constant bickering was doing Leah's head in and she thought she would probably have a nervous breakdown if she had to listen to any more of it.
"You're here bright and early," Leah remarked when she found Charlie and Joey waiting outside the Diner. "And very smart. What gives?"
"We've got a meeting with the bank this morning," Joey said excitedly.
"Oh, about the loan for the restaurant?" Leah asked, unlocking the building and welcoming them inside.
Irene was obviously late, not that Leah minded.
"Yep," Joey said, almost giddily. "I'm really hoping that we'll get things off the ground soon. Once we have the capitol, the world will be our oyster. Hey! Do you think we should serve oysters?"
Leah chuckled and left Joey to ramble a little more to Charlie while they waited for their coffees.
Liam was about to approach Ruby in the school corridor to tell her that he had started on a new song last night that he thought her voice would be perfect for. He stopped abruptly when he caught wind of what Ruby and Nicole were talking about.
"I just can't stop thinking about him!" Ruby complained.
"Maybe you should just be honest about how you feel…" Nicole said worriedly. "Get it all out in the open and see what…"
She trailed off when she caught sight of Liam standing behind them. Ruby whirled around, also startled.
"Liam!" she said. "Um… Mr Murphy! Uh…"
She looked helplessly at Nicole, wondering what on earth she should do. She had hardly been so embarrassed in all her life. In fact, the last time was a few years ago when she'd gone to war with a boy in school and he had printed and posted pages of her diary all over the school outlining her crush on Miles. I really should stop crushing on older guys, she thought to herself.
"Be honest with who?" Liam asked curiously.
"You!" Ruby said.
Mortified, she clapped her hand over her mouth.
"I mean, not you," she said lamely. "Just um… I've got to go."
With that, she dashed off down the corridor, longing for the ground to swallow her whole.
"It's laughable now really," Colleen said, as she served Alf and Marilyn breakfast in the Diner. "I mean, the thought of you two together…"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Alf asked testily.
"Well, you're far too old for her, for starters," Colleen said, waving her pen around as she emphasised her words with gestures.
She was too busy flapping that she didn't even notice how offended her half-brother looked.
"Do you think they'll notice I'm in the same suit?" Joey asked worriedly as they waited for Greg to see them.
"Stop panicking," Charlie said gently, putting her arm around her. "Everything's going to be fine."
They both looked up when Greg appeared, smiling brightly.
"Good to see you again, Miss Collins," he said, shaking her hand. "And you are… Ms Buckton?"
"Charlie, yes," the police officer replied.
She also shook his hand and they both followed him into his office.
Elijah had given his parents a tour around Summer Bay.
"And this brings us to the Diner," he said, when they found themselves outside the building.
"This is where Leah works?" Lijuan asked.
"Yes," her son replied.
"Well, shall we go in and see her?"
Elijah hesitated. He had been wondering all day if Leah's hurry this morning had been less about the Diner and more about escaping the house.
"She's such a nice girl, Elijah," Lijuan continued. "We're very glad she's going to become part of our family."
Elijah beamed at her, thrilled that his parents were so accepting of the woman he had chosen to marry.
Liam caught up with Nicole as soon as he could. The conversation he had overheard her having with Ruby earlier in the day had been playing on his mind. He had been concerned for a little while now that perhaps Ruby thought more of him than just as a friend, teacher and music partner. First, there were all the things Xavier had accused him of and second, sometimes the way he caught her looking at him, made him a little uncomfortable.
"Nic!" he called.
His blonde ex-girlfriend turned around and immediately looked awkward.
"I really need to talk to you," he said.
"What's up?" she asked, attempting to sound casual.
"What were you and Ruby discussing earlier?" he wanted to know.
"I have to say, I'm really impressed," Greg said evenly, when he had listened to all Charlie and Joey had had to say. "Ms Collins… Joey, I was impressed when you came to me last week. The only reason I had to say no was because of financial stability. It's a big endeavour to start up a new business and the venture won't breakeven immediately. However, with your partner's backing, I think this could be a risk worth taking. I'd like to agree the loan."
"Thank you!" Charlie and Joey both said in ecstatic unison.
It was all they could do to stop themselves throwing their arms around him.
"It's my pleasure," Greg said pleasantly. "Shall we sit down and talk figures?"
"She didn't mean she couldn't stop thinking about you," Nicole ventured. "Just… um… your songs."
"My songs?" Liam asked in sheer confusion. "What about my songs?"
"She uh… she doesn't like them," Nicole said, unsure of exactly where the lie had come from. "But she… well, she didn't know how to tell you."
She regretted it as soon as she saw her ex-boyfriend's face. He looked utterly heartbroken.
"Okay," he said quietly. "Thanks… I guess."
Hanging his head, he turned and headed back to his classroom. Sighing heavily, Nicole watched him go. She couldn't help but think she had made a big mistake.
Charlie and Joey were still excited about their news when they got back together for lunch, having parted to go to work for the rest of the morning.
"Well?" Leah said expectantly when they arrived.
"We got the loan!" Charlie and Joey squeaked in unison.
"Oh, that's so great!" Leah enthused, hugging them both.
"What's going on?" Marilyn asked curiously, having been hanging around the venue for most of the day.
Her breakfast partner, Alf had left for the Surf Club.
"We've just been granted a bank loan to help us start our new business," Joey explained.
"Oh!" Marilyn said. "What's the business?"
"A restaurant," Joey said.
"Here in the Bay? That would be lovely! Well done!"
Joey couldn't stop smiling.
"Hey, maybe if they start in time you can go there for your date!" Leah giggled.
Marilyn flushed. Charlie and Joey were both confused.
"You have a date?" Charlie asked curiously. "Who with?"
"My brother!" Colleen barked, stomping past them and heading back into the kitchen.
"You're going on a date with Alf?" Joey asked, surprised.
Marilyn sighed and began to explain the decision prompted by Colleen being so insulting about Alf's age.
Nicole had finished lunch early and headed back into school to work on some designs for the class that was thankfully not being taught by Britt Hobart anymore. She paused when she spotted Liam idly playing his guitar and looking like someone had died. Feeling terrible, she decided not to go and speak to him. But she cursed herself over saying something so horrible to him while trying to cover up that Ruby liked him so much.
"I'm just worried that Elijah and I are going to end up the same way," Leah fretted. "I mean, they argue all the time. I hardly know what to do or how to behave when they start squabbling. I don't want to end up like that."
"Leah, I don't think everyone ends up like their parents," Joey said.
She and Charlie were still on their break and neither particularly wanted to go back to work. Leah's latest crisis was proving to be a welcome distraction.
"Yes but if his parents and my parents are the same then what hope do we have?"
"You have plenty of hope," Charlie insisted. "I mean, do you argue now?"
"Not even a little bit," Leah admitted.
"Then don't panic about something that hasn't even happened yet," Joey instructed. "I mean, if I started panicking that our relationship was going to end up like my parents' then I'd hang myself now."
"That bad?" Leah asked in alarm.
"Well, they never stopped arguing," Joey said. "And I never really got the impression that they liked each other all that much."
"Same with mine," Charlie said. "Well, they didn't argue so much as not talk to each other. But dad and Morag are pretty happy together, which is remarkable in the circumstances. I think there's hope for us all!"
At the end of the school day, Ruby forced herself to face Liam. She dreaded to think what he might have heard and guessed after their last conversation.
"Hi," she greeted anxiously, when she found him in his classroom.
"Hey," Liam said glumly.
"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, immediately worried.
"Nicole enlightened me over what you were talking about this morning," he replied. "I really wish you would have just been honest with me."
"Liam, I am so sorry!" Ruby said. "I just didn't know how to tell you and I feel so awkward and…"
"You just say, 'Liam, I don't like your music," her teacher snapped. "It's not that hard."
Ruby halted, looking utterly confused.
"I don't like your music?" she said.
"See?" he said. "Not that difficult."
"Liam, I love your music," Ruby assured him.
His face turned from annoyed to bewildered.
"Sorry?"
"What did Nicole say to you?" Ruby asked.
"She said you didn't like my music and you didn't know how to tell me," Liam explained.
"I love your music," Ruby confirmed. "And I… I love you too."
Next time… Ruby and Liam struggle with recent revelations, Tony argues with John and Charlie and Joey find themselves agreeing to a double date with Alf and Marilyn…
