Chapter Three Hundred and Ninety Nine

"Ouch!" Joey squeaked, jumping back from the kitchen counter in the restaurant.

"What happened?" Angelo asked, rushing right over.

"The knife bit me," Joey complained.

He took her hand and saw that her finger was bleeding fairly heavily

"Hold it above your heart," he instructed as he bustled off to get the first aid kit.

Joey frowned and obeyed orders, leaning against the counter.

"You know, not so long ago, you would have left me to bleed to death," she remarked as he returned to her.

"Well, I don't get paid if the boss is dead, do I?" he replied.

She winced as he began to clean up the wound.

"What happened anyway?" he asked. "You're not normally the clumsy type."

She sighed and admitted her mind had been elsewhere.

"Charlie?" he asked.

"Where?" she said hopefully, looking around

He chuckled.

"I meant, were you thinking about Charlie?" he asked.

Joey sighed and nodded.

"I've really pissed her off," she admitted.

He tried to pretend that he wasn't interested. His feelings for Charlie had very much abated but his interest in their relationship was still strong. It had just shifted from Charlie to Joey, not that he was about to admit that to anyone.

"How?" he asked.

"Working all the time," she replied.

"Well, working is kind of important," he pointed out.

"I know but I've been the world's worst girlfriend," she sighed. "I think I've really messed up."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know," she told him.

"Want my advice?" he asked.

"Not especially but while you're patching me up, I don't have that much choice, do I?" she smirked, making him laugh.

He gazed into her eyes for a moment before struggling with the blue kitchen plaster required for her hand.

"Let her stew," he said. "This place is important to you and she should respect that, not complain that you're not at her beck and call all the time. She's the one in the wrong, not you. Stop beating yourself up."

He stepped back with the plaster firmly in place.

"And don't chop any fingers off, either," he added.

Joey took his words into consideration.


"Is there anything I can get you?" Ruby asked worriedly, hovering over the couch where her mother hadn't moved for at least an hour.

"It's fine," Charlie said. "I brought the bottle over."

She waved the bottle of wine she'd bought on the way home to prove it. Ruby sighed.

"I don't really know what to do," she admitted.

"What do you mean?"

"You and Joey never fight," she said. "It's weird and unsettling and I don't know how I'm supposed to make it better."

Charlie sighed.

"You can't," she said unhappily. "I just need to learn my place, is all."

"Your place?"

"Yep," Charlie told her. "Right at the very bottom of the list of Joey's priorities."

She swigged wine from the bottle without bothering to use a glass, ignoring the bad example she was setting for her daughter.


Joey stared at Marilyn. Having decided that she was too tired and too distracted to safely help with cooking, she had opted to help out behind the bar.

"I had no idea she was having all these issues with Ruby," she said.

The eccentric blonde had come out for a drink, wanting to escape the house where Nicole was so miserable and moody with everybody.

"I mean, she vaguely mentioned them but not… not in detail."

Her mood was further depleted and she felt even worse about how she had been behaving lately.

"Well, maybe she was planning on opening up to you today?" Marilyn suggested awkwardly.

"On the day I let her down," Joey frowned.

There and then, she made a decision.

"Angelo!" she bellowed. "I need your help!"


Ruby headed into her bedroom on the pretence of being on the phone to Nicole. Really, it was Joey and she had hatched a plan.

"Charlie!" Ruby called loudly.

"What?" her mother hollered back.

"Can you come in here?"

"No, you can come here!"

Growling in frustration, Ruby burst into tears, loudly and solely for effect.

"Please?" she begged. "I really need to talk to you."

Charlie was in her room within seconds. Ruby shut the door.


"So, when I gave you my advice…" Angelo grumbled as he drove Joey back home.

"I listened and decided to do the exact opposite," Joey replied easily.

Angelo shook his head in mock irritation. Joey didn't care.

"Right, let's go," she said when he pulled up outside the apartment.

The climbed out of the car and opened the back doors to retrieve the food and accessories they had brought with them.

Charlie held onto Ruby and kissed the top of her head.

"As long as you know how much we love you," she said.

"I know," Ruby said softly.

Her original intention might have been to distract Charlie on Joey's behalf but actually, she loved being so close to her mother. She appreciated being able to take comfort in her.

Joey and Angelo sneaked into the flat, glad that Ruby appeared to have sufficiently distracted Charlie and kept her out of the way.

"Okay, you lay the table," Joey instructed.

Obediently, Angelo lay the cloth from the restaurant onto it and set up the knives and forks. He put a candle in the middle. Joey grabbed glasses and a lighter and put them to work while she carefully put the main courses to warm in the oven and set the starters on the table.

"Okay, you can go," she said, bustling Angelo out of the flat.

"You don't need a waiter or anything?" he asked, reluctant to leave.

"It would kind of spoil the mood," Joey hissed.

She shut the door just as Charlie, followed by Ruby, hurried out into the lounge.

"What on earth is going on?" Charlie asked, noting the dimmed lights and the set table.

"I'm attempting to make things up to you after being a terrible, terrible girlfriend," Joey said, taking both Charlie's hands.

Ruby grinned and slipped back into her bedroom.

"What happened to your finger?" Charlie asked worriedly, noticing the blue plaster.

"Call it a wake up call," Joey said.

She stepped closer, gazing into Charlie's eyes.

"I really am so sorry, Charlie," she said sincerely. "I love you so much. And I really didn't mean to get so carried away with the restaurant."

"I do understand that it's important to you," Charlie said, grateful that Ruby had apparently deliberately sobered her up.

"Not more important than you," Joey promised.

She leant in and kissed her, grateful when she was accepted. Smiling, she led Charlie to the table and pulled out her chair. She lifted the lid from the plate and presented her with what she knew was Charlie's favourite starter: special fishcakes.

"Oh, wow!" Charlie enthused, eager to tuck in. "How on earth did you do all this?"

"Well, first you cut the fish…" Joey joked.

Charlie chuckled.

"You know what I mean," she said.

"Well, I phoned Ruby and got her to keep you busy," she said. "And Angelo helped me bring all the stuff over. We have the mains in the oven and dessert in the fridge."

Charlie smiled, feeling completely swept off her feet.

"Thank you," she said.

"No need to thank me," Joey said. "I'm apologising to you. So, you just need to forgive me."

She grinned hopefully.

"I forgive you," she assured her.

"And from now on, when I'm an appalling girlfriend and piss you off, you just have to tell me directly, okay?" Joey requested. "I get all caught up and excited about stuff but you just need to tether me down a bit. Tell me, violently if necessary! And I swear, I'll come right back to you. And I swear I will do whatever it takes not to behave like this again. Not to take you for granted."

She reached across the table, squeezing Charlie's hand.

"I love you so much," she said. "And I'm so sorry for letting you down."

Charlie smiled and lifted Joey's hand to her lips. She felt as happy as she had felt sad earlier in the day. Trust Joey to make things perfect again, she thought to herself.

"And Angelo has found a sufficient replacement at the bait shop so that's going to free up a lot of my time," Joey revealed. "And even if he wasn't, I'm the boss. I can set my own hours and there's nothing that's going to stop me spending time with you. Starting tomorrow when, if you don't have plans, I have the whole day off."

The hope in her face was heartbreaking. Charlie immediately accepted.

"Now, tonight, as far as nookie is concerned, I can pretty much only promise to fall asleep," Joey added. "But tomorrow…"

Charlie chuckled and assured her it was fine.

"Mostly, I'm just looking forward to being in your arms," she admitted.

"Now, is that because you love me and want to snuggle or I've been so awful that you're not hot for me anymore?" Joey fretted.

"Definitely the former!" Charlie laughed.

She gazed at Joey.

"I love you so much," she said.


Next time… Charlie and Joey have a happy day and night together…