Hi everyone. Sorry for the lack of updates when I said I would. It was just a really hectic week and I couldn't keep up. I'll be updating this week until Thursday and then I'll be disappearing but I'll be back again on Wednesday. Sorry (especially to those who read and review so regularly) that I haven't been up to scratch with updates lately. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS xxx

Chapter Four Hundred and Six

Ruby grimaced at the way Liam and Bianca were very obviously flirting with each other at school the next morning. She busied herself with rearranging her locker, not wanting to look out at the world around her. Liam was flirting with Bianca, Xavier was holding hands with April, Indi was swooning over Romeo and Nicole seemed to be regaling Dex with the wonder that was Penn, who had rescued her and supported her after the horrific needle incident. Why did everyone seem to be in a happy, romantic bubble apart from her?


At a loose end, especially with the beach closed, Alf headed up to the restaurant when he saw Joey opening up. The builders were still working hard on the lift and claimed that they would be done in a few days.

"I don't suppose you've got any insider information about when the beach will be back up and running, do you?" he asked hopefully.

"Sorry," Joey said, smiling sympathetically. "They're working as fast as they can though."

"Yeah," Alf sighed. "It's just not going to do trade any good at all."

"I guess my lift installation isn't helping much, is it?" Joey replied apologetically.

"It's fine," Alf said. "That'll only take another day or two and then, you're right, it's better to have this place open to everyone and not be exclusive."

Joey smiled, grateful that he believed in her ideals. They both looked up with Angelo arrived amid a ringing mobile phone, which he gruffly turned off.

"Are you being stalked?" Joey asked in mock horror.

"Kind of," Angelo sighed.

Joey looked momentarily worried.

"Shit, really?" she asked.

He pulled up a chair beside Alf and explained that he'd been denying phone calls from his younger brother for weeks.

"How come?" Alf wondered.

"We don't get along," Angelo said.

"Then why is he calling you so persistently?" Joey wanted to know.

Angelo sighed and decided to tell them the story.


"So, my little non-Princess, can I take you out tonight?" Liam asked.

He was stunned when she slapped him hard across the face. Still in the school corridor, everyone turned to stare at them, including Ruby and Gina.

"What was that for?" Liam asked, clutching his reddened cheek.

"Don't you ever…"

Gina marched up to them, silencing them both.

"In my office," she snapped. "Now. Both of you."

Ruby smiled to herself as the Principal led the two teachers away.


Charlie and Watson were taking their turns in scouring the beach for needles, a task they hoped would be over soon, and not just because of the pressure Alf and especially John were applying.

"So, what do you think of Kerri?" Charlie asked.

Watson stumbled and blushed. Charlie grinned at her.

"No way," Watson said. "If you're about to attempt some sort of set up, don't even think about it."

"Why not?" Charlie wondered.

For a moment she worried that Watson wasn't ready to move on after losing Monica.

"She's not interested in me," her colleague said.

"How do you know?"

"Because nobody that beautiful would so much as know I existed."

Charlie paused.

"Monica did," she reminded her.

"And look how that turned out!" Watson remarked unhappily. "She literally moved to the other side of the world to get away from me!"

"Hey, now you know that's not true," Charlie said firmly. "It was a job offer she didn't feel she could pass up. The last thing she wanted to do was to leave you. You know that."

Watson sighed and nodded, resuming their scouring of the beach.

"But I think that was a fluke anyway," Watson added. "One amazing woman being interested is luck, two is impossible."

"Well, she was asking Joey all about you," Charlie revealed.

She smiled at the hopeful way Watson's eyes lit up.

"Still no," the Senior Constable told her Sergeant. "I'm not getting my heart broken all over again. I'm much better off alone."


Things remained tense between Liam and Bianca. They'd been told off by Gina for bringing their personal lives into school. Bianca was still in a bad mood about Liam's comment and Liam was grumpy after being slapped.

"Look, can we just talk about what happened?" he finally asked, catching up with her in the corridor before they both had a free period. "One minute you're kissing me and the next minute, I'm getting a slap around the face. I mean, all I did was ask you out on a date. It's not like it hasn't been on the cards for ages!"

Bianca glared at him.

"I think it would be better if you didn't make assumptions about me," she warned.

"What the hell are you going on about?" Liam demanded.

They launched into a full scale row, unaware that along with other students, Ruby was watching with interest.

"I wouldn't get excited," Xavier said, stepping up behind Ruby and surprising her. "April says that Bianca always argues passionately with guys that she's interested in."

Ruby mood plummeted and she stormed out of school.


"So, you were destined to run your own restaurant but your brother ruined it for you?" Joey asked.

This was a side to Angelo she hadn't expected to see. No wonder he's so invested in this place, she thought to herself. She just hoped that this latest revelation wouldn't turn him maudlin. She always found him extra irritating when he was engrossed in self pity.

"Yep," Angelo confirmed. "Paulie started the fire and although it was an accident, I didn't want him to get into trouble so I took the rap, thinking everything would be okay. But my parents went mental and basically disinherited me. Now he's living the high life and I'm… here."

"Hey, here isn't so bad," Joey said, a little offended.

"Oh, I'm not criticising," he assured her, looking genuinely worried that he'd hurt her feelings.

His tone surprised both Joey and Alf, who both decided they would never quite understand this man. One minute Joey was number one in his hit list and the next, he seemed to worship the ground she walked on.

"I love working here," he said. "I just… well, I guess everyone wants their parents to be proud of them."

Joey nodded. She understood that and she knew Charlie would to. Both of them had been desperate to live up to their parents expectations. Joey was just glad one of them had succeeded, even if it hadn't been her.

"I'm sure they were proud of you for being a cop," Alf tried.

Angelo merely raised his eyebrows.

"Not even after you completed the people smuggling case and everything?" the older man asked.

"Well, being that the conclusion to that was ducking criminal charges and losing my job, no," Angelo said glumly.

"Well, what do they think of you working here?" Joey asked. "I mean, you're doing so well. You've gone from part time to full time, you run the place by yourself when I'm not here…"

"If they knew, I doubt they'd care," Angelo told her. "But thank you for the encouragement."

"You haven't told them?" Alf asked. "Why not?"

"Going from being in line to run a fleet of businesses to waiting tables and working behind a bar isn't something they'd be that impressed with," he said sadly. "Despite how happy I am about it."


That evening, having been caught rowing at school again by Gina, Liam and Bianca had been punished with inventory duty at the library for the next two weeks. Neither of them were happy about it and neither of them could quite figure out if they were glad or horrified to be forced to spend time together.


Ruby hadn't returned to school. She'd wandered around the Bay, feeling lost in her own, miserable world. She had tried and tried to get Liam out of her head and part of her wondered if it was even about him anymore. But she kept failing and she hated herself for it.

Taking a deep breath, she decided that she needed her parents. They were the ones that loved her and were there for her, no matter what. Feeling decisive and ready to ask for help, she decided to go home.


Charlie and Joey had invited Kerri and Danny over for dinner in a bid to get to know them. With Danny busy with video games on the couch, the three women were enjoying a cheeky glass of wine each.

"So, when the lift is ready, you two will come up for a meal?" Joey asked.

"Absolutely!" Kerri said.

"Hey, maybe Charlie and I could eat with you?" Joey suggested. "And there's a little boy around Danny's age that keeps nagging me to spend some time with him so I could invite him too."

Kerri smiled and agreed happily.

"He's a pretty shy boy so I'm worried he's not making that many friends," she admitted quietly. "Pairing him up with a kid his own age would be great."

"Then let's do it," Joey decided. "And if you wanted to get to know some people, maybe we could invite another friend or two? People you could get to know?"

"I'd love that," Kerri enthused. "Danny takes after me in that department, I'm afraid."

Joey nodded. She understood how it felt not to be able to connect with people. She gazed lovingly at Charlie, thinking of the way she had transformed her life.

"Maybe Watson would like to come?" Charlie suggested, hoping that she was being a bit more subtle than she had been on the beach earlier.

"Is she the police officer?" Kerri asked, trying to mask her interest.

"Yeah," Charlie said. "I think you've met a couple of times."

"Yes, she seemed nice," Kerri said.

Charlie and Joey exchanged conspiratorial glances, thankfully undetected by their friend. The dinner was interrupted by Ruby arriving home.

"Hey, Rubes," Charlie greeted. "We kept your food warm for you."

"Thanks," the teenager said.

The wind had fallen out of her sails the moment she'd realised her parents had company.

"I'm not staying though," she decided. "I said I'd meet some friends down at the Diner. I'm just here to get changed."

She was alarmed by how easily the lies fell off her tongue.


Angelo was busy at the restaurant when Ruby arrived. The place was packed out and he hoped that it was the way it would stay and that the novelty of such a nice restaurant wouldn't wear off. Rushed off his feet, he didn't notice when Ruby sneaked in and ducked behind the bar. She stole a bottle of vodka and ran off, eager to drown her sorrows.


"Do you think Ruby's okay?" Charlie fretted.

Kerri and Danny had gone home, leaving Charlie and Joey and finish the bottle of wine on the sofa.

"I don't know," Joey admitted. "She just seems… off at the moment. She's always up and down with her moods."

"Yeah," Charlie agreed grimly. "I don't know how to get to the bottom of it, how to help her."

She sighed heavily. Joey moved to hold her in a bid to offer comfort.


Liam had just arrived home from library duty with Bianca, most of which had been spent bickering, when there was a loud knock at the door. He hoped for a minute that it could be Bianca, admitting she was wrong and that she wanted to be with him. He hadn't been so hung up on a girl since Belle and even then, it had been in a whirl of drugs. This time, it was nothing but genuine feelings.

"Ruby!" he said when he opened the door.

He realised quickly that she was out of her head with booze.

"Help me," the teenager begged.

He sighed heavily and made the decision once and for all that he couldn't handle her problems by himself. He needed to tell her parents exactly what was going on.


Next time… Charlie and Joey try to help Ruby but she hurtles towards another mistake, Joey falls out with Angelo and Penn begins to show his true colours…