Today will be my last update until Monday, as one of my best friends is visiting for the weekend. I have to go to the Doctors in a minute but when I get back, I'll update 'Baby Mine' and then I'll be back with 'Dear Diary' and 'Rebellion' next week. Enjoy! Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Three Hundred and Ninety Three
Irene sat at home, suddenly feeling extraordinarily lonely. She had received a letter from Annie to say that the likelihood was that she would remain in Japan for the foreseeable future. Although she still felt like a giant, she had settled in well and built up a life for herself. She was happy and had got back together with Jai. Things seemed to be pretty serious between them and she didn't intend to return to Summer Bay for at least a good long while.
"I don't want to go to work," Charlie grumped when she'd hit snooze for the third time.
Joey rolled over and snuggled up to her.
"When the restaurant hits the big time, you could resign and become a kept woman," she giggled.
Charlie grinned and kissed her good morning.
"You know, I like the sound of that!" she said.
"Nah," Joey said. "You've spent your whole life committed to the police force. You wouldn't last a day out of that job."
Charlie nodded. Joey was right. Next to her and to Ruby, her job was the most important thing in her world.
"I still don't want to go in," she complained, snuggling a little closer to Joey.
"Well, I'm afraid you have to," Joey said. "But I reckon I could find a way to wake you up a bit better first."
Gina sank down on the sofa with her head in her hands. Xavier hovered over her, obviously upset. April and Bianca let themselves quietly out of the house. Things hadn't been going all that well and this morning, things had hit their peak. Gina felt bad for not being as charitable as she wanted to be but there was no way she could continue having April and, more specifically, Bianca, under her roof. And she had told them so.
Charlie had gone to work in a much better mood than she had been expecting. She marvelled at how easily some 'private time' with Joey could boost her. With her girlfriend working so hard at the moment, they had been mostly sleeping in bed rather than anything else so Joey's suggestion that morning had been particularly welcome.
"Hello, stranger," Watson greeted warmly when Charlie walked into the police station.
"Hey, Watson," Charlie replied, also greeting her other colleagues.
"I bet you haven't missed us half as much as we've missed you," Watson told her.
By lunch time, Sid wasn't quite sure what mood he was in. The plan had been for a romantic picnic with his new girlfriend but they had picked up a third wheel. For some reason, Dex had wangled an invitation. Sid was neither sure how it happened or why his son would even want to spend time with him and Marilyn. Nothing about the day quite made sense.
Joey arrived at the restaurant before she really needed to. She knew Charlie was a little worried about how much energy she was putting into the business but she was too afraid of failure. This was her one chance to prove her worth to Charlie, to herself and to the rest of Summer Bay. She wanted to make a success of everything.
Angelo sat at the bait shop, really not wanting to work. He longed to ditch it and work full time for Joey at the restaurant. Being a bar man and a waiter wasn't any more his life ambition than managing a bait shop was but it was a little closer. And it was a lot less lonely. And he certainly felt that it was more respectable. He just hoped that he could use the mess he'd made of the year so far, to turn his life back around and start again.
The restaurant was open and relatively busy for a new venture at lunch time. Joey found that the evenings were the busiest time and she quite enjoyed people watching when people came to book tables.
Now, with her staff busy, Joey had tucked herself away in a small corner of the kitchen. She had been inspired to create some new dishes already, even though her menu was barely a week old. She was concerned about things going stale and she couldn't bear the idea that people might get bored of her food. The key was to keep things fresh, new and interesting. That was her plan, anyway.
"I'm really touched by how hard you've tried," April said to Xavier. "But I don't want to live with Bianca and she's my sister. I can't blame your Mum for kicking us out."
Xavier sighed unhappily, trying to think of any possible way that he could convince his mother to let April and Bianca stay. He was thoroughly enjoying getting to live with his new girlfriend and he definitely didn't want her to have to move out.
"I just… want you to stay," he said.
Irene wiped their table down with silent interest.
Charlie and Watson were out on patrol. Despite her dislike of being taken away from Joey, Charlie had to admit that she was enjoying being back at work. Joey had been right that morning when she'd said that nothing could tear her away from the job she loved so much and had trained so hard for.
"So, Joey's working flat out, is she?" Watson asked as Charlie drove through the town.
"Yeah, I'm a bit worried that she's going to burn out," the Sergeant admitted.
"Well, it's exciting for her and a lot of pressure to start your own business," Watson mused. "I guess she has to throw everything she has into it if she's going to do things right."
"I know," Charlie sighed. "And I'll do whatever it takes to support her. And to start with, that means putting as little pressure on her as possible."
"Is there pressure?" Watson asked, concerned by the rather dim tone in her friend's voice.
"I'm just really worried about Ruby," Charlie admitted.
"Why?" Watson asked. "What's up with her?"
"I don't know," Charlie admitted. "She just seems really… off."
"Like how?"
"You know, really down," Charlie tried. "She had this crush on Liam but she says she's over it now. But her mood is really low and she's quite snappy. And I think she'd been drinking the other night."
"Have you talked to her about it?"
"Sort of," Charlie said, feeling rather inadequate. "It's just that if I try, she yells at me. Joey's the one who generally knows how to handle her. Which of course makes me feel like the worst mother in the world…"
"You're not a bad mother!" Watson interjected strongly.
Charlie smiled and thanked her. Then she sighed again.
"I just… I want Joey and I to sit down and really talk things through but Joey doesn't have the energy and like I said, I don't want to put pressure on her when she's working so hard. And I'm worried about making it worse if I try to handle things on my own. I really don't know what to do."
Evening fell and having finally managed to get rid of Dex, Sid had decided to take Marilyn to dinner at Buckton's. He was still rather bemused by his son's behaviour but he was determined not to let it worry him too much. He was having such a nice time with Marilyn and that was the important thing to focus on.
The couple exchanged glances when, having already passed April and Bianca having an argument, they happened upon Xavier yelling at John. Glad that it was none of their business, they entered the Surf Club and mounted the stairs to the restaurant.
"What do you think?" Joey asked, eager for anyone's opinion on the new sauce she had made.
Angelo happened to be the closest to her so she offered him a spoon. He tried it and smiled.
"Delicious," he decided. "Are you coming up with new stuff already?"
"Yep," Joey said proudly. "You really like it?"
"I think I never gave you enough credit for the things you're capable of," he told her.
She looked rather pleased with herself as he took the next plates out to the table that had ordered them.
After work, knowing that Watson was still feeling quite low after Monica's departure and feeling a bit guilty for not making more of an effort with her, Charlie invited her to come for dinner at the restaurant.
"Hello, ladies," Angelo greeted them at the door.
"Hey," Charlie said, surprised by how personable he had become.
He seemed to thrive in this job much more than when he had been a police officer.
"Are you eating?" he asked.
"Yes, please," Charlie said. "I don't suppose Joey's intending on taking a break, is she?"
He led them to a table, promising to let her know that they were there.
"Bianca!" Charlie called when she spotted her friend approaching the entrance, looking rather distressed.
The blonde looked round and eagerly hurried over.
"Do you mind if I crash your dinner?" she asked.
Watson happily gestured for her to pull up a chair. Angelo handed over their menus.
"Can I get you some drinks?" Angelo asked politely.
"A double vodka," Bianca said immediately.
Another row had escalated at home. This time, it was between Gina and Xavier. The teenager felt like nobody, himself included, seemed able to communicate civilly today.
"Ever since you got with John, you've changed," he accused.
"What's that meant to mean?" his mother demanded.
"You don't care about anyone but him!"
He knew it was a low blow and he knew it probably wasn't true either. But he was hurt that April was being forced to move out without anything more than a day's notice and that John had been lame enough to apologise for their earlier argument through Gina and not directly.
"That's not true!" Gina said, sounding wounded.
"It is," he snapped. "You don't care about me or my feelings at all anymore and I'm sick of it."
Joey had been thrilled when Angelo had reappeared and told her that Charlie was in for dinner with Watson and Bianca. Abandoning her fourth new creation of the day, she hurried through the kitchen and to their table, sitting in the last remaining chair. She eagerly kissed Charlie hello.
"Will you join us?" Charlie asked hopefully.
"I'm swamped," Joey apologised. "But I'll keep nipping out and saying 'hello'. Is that okay?"
"It'll have to do," Charlie grumbled.
Joey apologised and kissed her again, promising to make it up to her later. Watson and Bianca exchanged mock disgusted looks.
"I've been busy trying out new recipes," Joey ventured. "Can I test them on you three?"
"Are they free?" Bianca joked.
"Of course!" Joey laughed.
"Then I'm in."
The other two also agreed.
"I'll go get them," Joey said, leaping up and hurrying back the way she came.
"So, why the need to drain the entire bar?" Charlie asked curiously.
"Well, first I had an argument with Gina and got myself and April thrown out of the house," Bianca explained. "Then I had an argument with April because of the argument with Gina. And I just had an argument with Liam because he wasn't even surprised by any of this!"
Watson and Charlie exchanged worried looks.
"We're totally surprised!" Charlie announced.
She grinned, making Bianca laugh.
"I'm really glad I ran into you two tonight," she decided.
Irene headed out of the Diner at Leah's request and over to Buckton's in a bid to beg Joey for some spare bread rolls. They'd gone through a lot more than they had expected.
"Hello, love," she greeted warmly when she found Joey behind the bar.
The restaurant owner had taken a break from her apparently popular creations and grabbed a drink for herself and her friends during her break.
"Thirsty?" Irene asked good naturedly, nodding towards the beverages.
"Bianca's had a bad day," she explained. "The rest of us are just joining in."
Irene turned to look at Bianca, who was deeply engaged in conversation with Charlie and Watson.
"Did I hear that she and April have to move out of Gina's?" she asked.
"Yeah," Joey said. "Anyway, how can I help you?"
"I was hoping to pinch some bread rolls?" Irene asked hopefully.
"Only because I love you so much," Joey grinned.
She sent Angelo off with the drinks and headed back into the kitchen. Spontaneously, Irene approached the table and asked Bianca if she and April would like to come and live in two of her spare rooms.
It was late. The restaurant was closed and all the customers were gone apart from Charlie.
"I'm heading out," Angelo said, having finished his shift.
Everything was clean, tidy and organised, ready for the following day.
"Joey's in the office," he told her.
Charlie nodded and headed on through, only to find Joey crashed out on her desk. Charlie smiled affectionately at her before crouching down and touching her hand. Joey jerked awake, her hair messy and her face confused.
"Where am I?" she wondered.
Charlie chuckled and stroked her face.
"You're at work," she said. "And I need to take you home."
Joey yawned and rubbed her eyes. Nodding agreeably, she allowed Charlie to haul her to her feet. She promptly sank against her in sheer exhaustion.
"If this is you making it up to me, it isn't quite what I'd envisioned!" Charlie chuckled.
Next time… Charlie and Alf worry about Joey working herself into the ground, Ruby gets drunk again and Angelo wants more hours at the restaurant…
