Chapter Three Hundred and Sixty Three

It was Friday and Leah's nerves were shot to pieces. All she could think about was the paper on top of the fridge and she kept seeing omens in everything she said and did. She just hoped that they could get through the next couple of days and see the light at the end of the tunnel. Everything had become so stressful since Lijuan and Song had arrived, despite their best intentions. Leah was really feeling the pressure. Her love for Elijah was so strong and yet she knew she had been horrible to him. She just hoped that he understood it wasn't about him and just a reaction to the stress she was under.


"I don't want to go to work," Joey complained as Charlie pulled into her usual space on the side of the road in order to drop her off at the bait shop.

"Yes, you do," Charlie chuckled. "You love your job."

Joey pouted and gestured to the laptop in a bag on her lap.

"I don't like looking for properties to rent," she said. "It was hard enough when we were looking for an apartment. This is way… harder."

She sighed grumpily. Charlie leant over and kissed her.

"You'll find the perfect place at the perfect time," she said. "I already told you that."

"But how do you know?" Joey wondered.

Charlie reached out and cupped her cheek, gazing into her eyes.

"Because nobody more than you deserves you live your dreams," she told her.


In the farmhouse on the other side of the Bay, Sid was in good spirits. He had settled back into the Bay well, he hoped, and aside from a somewhat hostile reception from Miles, people had welcomed him. Even he and Nicole and, more surprisingly, Nicole and Indi, had made amends and considered their history as water under the bridge. But most of all, Sid was thoroughly enjoying getting to know his children again. Dex was weird and Indi was sullen a times but he felt like they were finally getting along as a proper, functioning family. And he loved it. He was desperate to be the Dad they deserved this time.


Charlie sat at her desk in the office she had come to love and appreciate. The hunt for Hugo and Martha had officially come to an end now that they were more than likely out of the country. Detective Eaves had bared all about the people smuggling operation and would be testifying in court on the promise of a lesser sentence. Now they just had to figure out what Angelo's fate would be and the whole thing could be wrapped up. Charlie couldn't wait until she could forget about the whole thing and move on with her life. A case that had originally had very little to do with her, had brought about a lot of consequences of her life. At least the nightmares have gone away, she reminded herself.


Angelo sat in front of his lawyer looking utterly depressed. With the arrest of corrupt Detective Eaves, the powers that be were coming down harder than ever on cops behaving badly.

"And with your history…" the lawyer ventured.

"I don't need a recap on my history," Angelo snapped. "Just tell me when I can get back to work."

The lawyer sighed and leant his hands on the desk in front of him, looking Angelo directly in the eye.

"Mr Rosetta, I'm not entirely sure you understand the gravity of the situation," he began.

"I do," Angelo interjected. "I know I've made mistakes…"

"This is more than a mistake," the lawyer informed him. "The best case scenario, you won't do jail time but even that is very unlikely. The chances of you keeping your job are almost non-existent. And you're certainly not going to be able to return to your duties until the case is over. You're suspended and I'm afraid it's probably going to be permanent. The best lawyer in the world couldn't get you out of this."


Charlie arrived at the bait shop for her lunch break with Joey, to find her chatting with Romeo, on his own lunch break from school.

"You look pleased with yourself," the police officer remarked.

Romeo continued to grin as Charlie kissed her girlfriend and wondered what was so good about the day.

"Well, I managed to get John and Gina back together and therefore away from my Mum, who has finally decided to try and change her life and start going to AA meet…"

He trailed off uncertainly when he saw the expressions on their faces. He turned slowly and came face to face with his mother, standing furiously in the doorway. She turned and left without another word.

"I think his day just took a bad turn…" Joey mused when Romeo ran out after her.

Marilyn appeared in the doorway between her tarot room and the bait shop.

"Could I pick your brains for a sec, please?" she asked hesitantly.


Sid and Liam both paused at the same time as they walked in opposite directions along the beach. Glaring, they both stepped forward and prepared to face each other.

"I heard you were back in town," Liam said, feeling immediately defensive.

"Yeah," the Doctor replied. "Indi, Dex and I are back for good now."

Liam nodded.

"Stay away from Nicole," they both warned each other in unison.


"So, the cards read Penn as either perfect in every way or pretty much the worst thing to ever happen to this town?" Charlie clarified.

Marilyn nodded, looking very worried indeed.

"Really?" Joey remarked. "I thought that was Angelo."

Charlie snorted with laughter.

"He thinks he's perfect in every way but really…"

"Okay," Charlie interrupted, still amused. "Maybe we should leave Angelo alone. For today at least."

"Ruin my fun!" Joey pouted.

Charlie leant over and kissed her before returning her full attention to Marilyn.

"Are you really worried about this?" she asked seriously.

The blonde woman nodded.

"I mean, he seems like a nice man but what if he isn't? I mean, I can't ignore the cards. Maybe Miles has been right about him all along and then, what about Nicole?"

"Then we need to be wary of him," Joey decided.

Neither she nor Charlie were completely sure how much they would invest in tarot but since going back to church that year, they had both become much more spiritually open to all kinds of things. And if it was important to Marilyn, then they had to be there to support her.

"There's no point charging in," Charlie agreed. "But we can all certainly look out for Nicole and make sure she isn't getting into anything more than she can handle."

Marilyn nodded.

"The poor girl has been through so much already," she said.

"Between the three of us, and people like Alf and Miles, we can take care of her," Joey said certainly. "And we will."


"Do you have any idea how I felt walking into the Surf Club and finding John and that cow all over each other?" Jill snapped.

Romeo had followed her all the way home, although she had tried and failed to outrun him.

"I'm sorry!" Romeo said desperately.

Jill whirled around and faced her son.

"Sorry you did it or sorry I found out?" she asked.

Romeo hesitated and it told her everything she needed to know.

"I don't know why I even wanted to try and build a relationship with you." Jill snapped nastily. "You're not worth it."


Charlie and Joey were just entering the Diner to collect some takeaway to bring back home to Ruby.

"Woah, where's the fire?" Charlie squeaked when Elijah nearly barrelled into her on his way out of the venue.

"In there," Elijah replied in an uncharacteristically bad mood.

Charlie and Joey exchanged glances before heading over to find Leah stomping around in the Diner kitchen.

"What happened?" Charlie asked worriedly.

"We keep fighting," Leah complained. "How that couldn't be an omen against the wedding, I don't know."


Leaving Romeo looking utterly depressed at their increasingly broken relationship, Jill headed back out to the Surf Club to drown her sorrows. She wished she had never come to Summer Bay in the first place. Romeo was a bitter little boy who would never forgive her for anything. And worse than that, he had set out to deliberately damage the one nice thing she had found in this town. Tonight, she would drink. Tomorrow, she would leave Summer Bay and her son for good. She was just relieved that he had ripped up that cheque after all. She didn't want to give him anything to remember her by but guilt.


Having calmed Leah down and ordered their dinner, Charlie and Joey stopped off at the Surf Club to pick up a bottle of wine for the evening. They exchanged glances when they spotted Jill drowning her sorrows at the bar. Opting not to approach, the couple headed to the other side of the bar and ordered from Alf.

"I was hoping to run into you," said a voice behind them.

Charlie and Joey both looked round to see John approaching. Jill looked up in hope but if he noticed her, then he was pretending not to.

"Us?" Joey asked curiously.

"Yes, I wanted to finish the conversation we were having before," he said.

Joey continued to look confused.

"Alf, you need to be on this too," John said.

A little wary, Alf offered his full attention.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"The Club is in some serious financial trouble," John explained. "With the new gym opening in town, we're losing business in all areas and the Council have suggested that we rent out the upstairs. And I thought that might be perfect for this restaurant you're planning."


Next time… Joey and Charlie view the upstairs room at the Surf Club, Marilyn catches Jill out and Angelo turns to alcohol again…