Chapter Three Hundred and Ninety Seven
"Joey, you don't have to be at the restaurant for at least another hour," Charlie protested, preventing her girlfriend from climbing out of bed.
"But I didn't do all the extra cleaning last night," Joey said.
She rolled over and faced Charlie, who was immediately worried. She was pale and washed out. She looked like she could sleep for a week.
"You're exhausted," she said. "Please stop pushing yourself so hard."
"We talked about this," Joey protested unhappily.
Charlie kept her arms around her.
"Yeah, I thought we did," she said sadly. "I thought you were going to ease up."
"When I've got sufficient cover," Joey reminded her. "I'm not ready yet."
Charlie sighed. She too was exhausted.
"Charlie, how can I have pissed you off before I'm even awake?" Joey sighed.
Charlie sighed too and hugged her.
"Sorry," she said. "I think I'm a bit stressed out."
She was about to tell her Bianca's news about Ruby but saw the exhaustion on her face and didn't want to burden her with it. She cupped her cheek and kissed her.
"I love you," she said sincerely.
Joey smiled sleepily, happily kissing her back.
"I love you too," she replied. "And it's only one more day before we're both off and can spend some time together."
Charlie smiled. It was something she was holding onto.
Penn thundered back into his caravan and began to pack, utterly furious that Miles had seen fit to throw him out. Just because he had taken a dislike to him. And just because he had broken up with Nicole, who he imagined had spent the morning so far snivelling into her cereal. She's pathetic, he thought viscously to himself. And they ain't seen nothing yet.
Charlie had reluctantly dropped Joey off at work but had negotiated the timing. It meant that they had had some time together before they both started their shifts. Their day off together couldn't come quick enough as far as Charlie was concerned.
"Charlie!" called a sing song voice as she entered the Diner to grab a coffee.
She turned around and found Marilyn standing behind her.
"Hi," she greeted warmly, having had a soft spot for the woman since pretty much the first day they'd met. "Is everything okay?"
"I'm really worried about Nicole," Marilyn admitted.
Sid headed to work with his head spinning a little. His son had been full of all sorts of strange questions about Marilyn. It was strange because Dex never had any interest in anything he did and he hadn't exactly been supportive of relationships with anyone but his mother. It was all very odd indeed. But then, Dex was also extremely odd indeed.
"I'd really love to say that Joey's the person to help but at this precise moment in time, I think we'll have to do this without her," Charlie said.
She had opted to have her coffee in the Diner instead of ordering takeaway so that she could sit down and talk properly with her friend.
"It's just that Nicole really listens to Joey and she's ignoring the rest of us right now," Marilyn fretted.
She had told the police officer about the arguments and the breakup and that Miles had removed Penn from the caravan park. But Nicole wasn't communicating with anyone and they all feared she blamed them for what had happened.
"Joey's working herself to the bone," Charlie said, sounding unhappy. "I'm having problems with Ruby at the moment and I don't feel I can even burden her with that. But… we'll think of something with Nicole. We'll get her to listen. I promise."
In the kitchen of the Diner, Leah seemed to be following Joey's example and was working herself far too hard. She had picked up a cold and it was impacting her far more than she cared to admit, although she was being very careful about hygiene. However, the thought of taking an actual sick day was horrific to her. At home, all alone, with VJ at school and nobody else to fill her time and now very empty house, all she felt was loneliness. Elijah was off saving the world and she was just sitting, sad and alone, every single night.
On the way out of the Diner with Charlie, Marilyn bumped into Romeo.
"Well, here's a boy who's at least having a good time even if the rest of us aren't," she remarked.
Romeo looked startled and confused.
"I am?" he asked.
"You and Indi," she teased.
"What about me and Indi?" he replied dumbly.
"Well, you're dating, aren't you?"
"No!" he replied quickly. "We're just friends."
Charlie and Marilyn exchanged looks as the school boy hurried away.
Bianca had arranged to see Liam and it was a meeting that made him nervous.
"I'm not going to tell Gina about the Ruby situation," the pretty blonde stated.
Liam looked elated.
"I don't want to cause trouble for either of you," Bianca added. "But you have to fix the situation. And I have spoken to Charlie about it."
Liam looked horrified.
"Why hasn't she killed me yet?" she wondered anxiously.
"Because she understands that aside from not sticking to clear boundaries, you haven't actually done anything wrong," Bianca told him. "Make sure it stays that way. But put the boundaries in place."
Liam nodded, hoping that he wouldn't let everybody down.
"Joey, you look like the walking dead," Angelo remarked when he arrived at work for his shift.
His replacement was on a trial and if it took, then he would be able to leave the bait shop behind and work at Bucktons' full time.
"You really are a charmer," Joey replied, continuing to un-stack the dishwasher.
"Sorry," he said. "It didn't come out quite the way I intended it. But seriously, are you okay?"
Joey straightened up to look at him.
"How did we get to a place where you genuinely care about my well being?" she wondered.
He grinned.
"It must be a miracle," he said.
She chuckled and returned to the dishwasher. He continued to look concerned.
Marilyn had been a little perplexed when Dex had shown up, wanting to spend time with her. But he was a nice boy and she was eager to impress his father. Sid was known as a womaniser and but she really hoped she might be special enough to tame him. Dex seemed to like her though, which was encouraging and she thought it was sweet that he cared so much about his father.
It was lunch time and the restaurant was teeming. The business side of things was great but even Joey had to admit that she was exhausted. She barely had time to breathe and was starting to wonder if she had taken on too much responsibility and not enough staff members. Still, hopefully Angelo would be going full time soon and if she could find the time to interview and hire some more people, things might improve. And then maybe Charlie wouldn't be so cranky with her.
"Hey, is Indi here?" Romeo asked, as she presented a table with their starter.
"Behind the bar," Joey told him, heading back into the kitchen.
The surfer nodded and approached Indi, who promptly ignored him. He had been avoiding her all day since the comment Marilyn had made and it had only served to piss her off.
"What do you want?" she snapped.
"I want to apologise," Romeo told her. "For being off with you."
"I don't care," Indi replied.
She turned away and served another customer instead. Helplessly, Romeo turned to Joey who was serving another table.
"Look, Romeo, I'm really sorry but I just don't have time today," she said, feeling terribly guilty. "I'm rushed off my feet. Apologise profusely for whatever you've done and eventually, it'll stick."
VJ had been playing soccer with Miles on the beach but even that couldn't lift his mood. He missed Elijah and he was worried about his mother. And not even Joey had been around all that much to talk to.
"I know I'm not Joey," Miles told him, once he had shared his woes. "But you can talk to me."
VJ sighed and sank onto the sand. Miles sat beside him.
"I'm just really worried about Mum," VJ explained. "I don't know how to help her."
It was the evening and Charlie was glad to finish work, although she knew it would take a lot of effort to prise Joey away from her own job. Seeing lights on in the Diner, she stopped and poked her head round the door.
"Leah?" she asked.
The venue was empty of customers as it should have been closed by now. Neither Irene nor Colleen were there either.
"Leah?" she called again.
She stepped further into the room and behind the counter. She was shocked to find Leah collapsed on the floor.
"What is your game, Dex?" Sid finally asked.
He was absolutely exasperated by his son's interest in his new relationship.
"I'm trying to be supportive," Dex insisted. "There's no point you going out with Marilyn if she isn't good for you."
"But she is good for me!" Sid protested. "Better than any other woman I've ever been interested in!"
"I agree," Dex said.
"So, you'll leave it alone now?" Sid asked.
"I didn't say that…" Dex replied
"Leah!" Charlie gasped, hurrying to her friend's side.
She helped her sit up slowly and figure out where she was.
"I must have fallen…" she mumbled.
Charlie felt her head. She was burning hot.
"You've got a temperature," she said.
Leah sneezed.
"You're sick," Charlie concluded. "What were you even doing working?"
"I was trying to escape my life," Leah admitted.
Romeo arrived at the restaurant with something on his mind. He found Indi waiting tables and hung back until she had her hands free. Then, without warning, he stepped closer and kissed her. She was surprised but happily accepted his lips. The restaurant applauded. Joey felt the urge to go home to Charlie.
"I just feel like I can't breathe without him, you know?" Leah sobbed.
She and Charlie were sat on the Diner floor, hugging each other.
"I miss him so much and I don't know what to do without him," she continued. "I keep coming into work, arriving early and staying late just because if I'm stuck at home by myself, I can't think about anything but how much pain I'm in."
Charlie sighed and kept her arm around her friend.
"I know it's hard," she said softly. "But you were a whole person before you met Elijah…"
"I wasn't!" Leah interrupted. "Don't you remember? After the riot, I was a total mess and he's the one who brought me out of it. How am I supposed to be okay without him?"
"Honestly, I don't know," Charlie said. "But you will be okay. You absolutely will. You've been through so much in your life, Leah. This isn't going to beat you."
Joey frowned and looked around the venue.
"Are you alright?" Angelo asked on his way to serve behind the bar.
"Yeah, it's just that Charlie was supposed to be here by now," Joey explained, following him.
"Maybe she got bored of waiting for you," he remarked.
Joey frowned, worrying that she had pissed her girlfriend off. She sighed.
"Well, I guess I can make myself useful while I'm waiting," she mused.
Angelo shook his head and watched her bustle into the kitchen.
The conversation had moved from Leah's fragile state of mind to Charlie's. The police officer had vowed to be there to look after her for whatever she needed, on the promise that she went home and stayed there until she was healthy again.
"So, you hardly see her at all?" Leah asked.
"I see her for about thirty seconds before she passes out from exhaustion each night," Charlie sighed.
"Have you talked to her about how you're feeling?" Leah wondered.
"I thought I had," Charlie told her. "I thought we'd sorted things out but nothing has actually changed. And I feel like a terrible girlfriend for not being supportive and stuff…"
"I don't think anyone could be more supportive than you, Charlie," Leah pointed out. "If it wasn't for you, the restaurant would never be up and running in the first place."
Charlie nodded but didn't look convinced.
"I just hope that nothing gets in the way of tomorrow," she said. "I'm desperate to spend some time with her."
Next time… Joey lets Charlie down, Charlie tackles Ruby and Romeo messes Indi around again…
