Apologies for my absence yesterday. Everything got a bit overwhelming and I couldn't keep up. But I hope you enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Four Hundred and Eleven
VJ felt sad as he watched his mother get ready for work that morning. He was washed and dressed and ready to face the school day but he was deeply concerned about his Mum's welfare. He knew how much she missed Elijah and he wished that there was something he could do about it. But there didn't seem to be anything to be done.
Charlie dropped Ruby off at school and then Joey on the seafront before heading to the police station. Thankfully, the needle investigation was more or less all wrapped up and the beach was back in action again. However, a lot of locals had celebrated that fact over the weekend and there had been a lot of parties. She'd therefore seen a hell of a lot of litter when she'd driven past, which she doubted would impress many people. She naturally suspected the River Boys.
"What are you up to, young lady?" Alf asked, when he spotted Joey putting leaflets around town. "You're not responsible for all the litter on the beach are you?"
Joey offered him a look of mock offence. He laughed.
"The beach is a real mess, isn't it?" she mused, looking out over the littered sand.
"Yep," he grimaced. "We finally got rid of the cops and now there's just junk everywhere. I'm about to go down and see your Mrs to complain."
"I bet she'll be delighted to see you!" Joey remarked.
Alf laughed.
"So, what have you got there?" he asked.
"I'm hoping to hire a Bar Manager," Joey explained. "Now that I've had to get rid of Indi and everything, Charlie and I agreed over the weekend that it was time to have a shift around of the staff and everything."
"Sounds like a good idea," Alf said. "I'm thinking much the same about the Surf Club, to be honest."
"Really?" Joey asked.
"Yeah," he sighed. "I'm a bit restless there."
"How come?"
"Well, John's driving me a bit crazy and there's just so much hassle," Alf explained. "I love the place, don't get me wrong, but I kind of like the idea of doing something for a bit where I can do something I'm good at but I don't have the make all the hard decisions. Does that make any sense?"
Joey looked thoughtful.
"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, it does."
"Ugh, that beach is disgusting," they heard April complain to Xavier as they walked past.
"You've got that right," Alf agreed.
April stopped and turned to him.
"We really need to do something," she said. "We need to stop people abusing our town."
At the police station, Watson put the phone down rather harder than she normally would.
"Why are people complaining to us about the state of the fucking beach when they should be complaining to the fucking Council?" she snapped at nobody in particular.
Charlie snorted as she walked past.
"Language, Senior," she teased.
"Sorry," Watson said. "But that's the seventh phone call this morning and it's not even ten o'clock."
Charlie patted her affectionately on the shoulder and told her she was right.
"Uh oh," she remarked, looking up.
"What?"
"The Council are about to complain to the police…"
Alf Stewart was making his way through the front door.
At school, April was ranting away to Xavier about her new plan. Not content with her recycling at school plan, which Gina had agreed to far too readily, she had put together all sorts of schemes to clean up the beach. She wanted to organise an overhaul of volunteers to clean it up as a community event. And she also wanted to convince the Council to pass the banning of water bottles, which were the items not so easy to recycle in their area and one of the biggest offenders on closer inspection that morning.
"So, what's all this about a Bar Manager?" Angelo asked Joey when he arrived for work.
He'd seen evidence all over town that his boss was hiring.
"Oh, yeah," Joey said. "Charlie and I decided over the weekend that it was time to have one and to shake up the running of things a bit."
"Oh," Angelo said. "Well, can anyone apply or…?"
She caught how hopeful he looked.
"Of course," she said. "There are application forms in my office."
They smiled at each other. She chuckled as he dashed off excitedly, although she was careful not to promise him anything. She liked the idea of promoting him, however cautiously. He was good at his job and although they had their ups and downs and probably inevitably always would, she trusted him for the most part. But at the same time, if there was someone better qualified or who suited the position better then she couldn't overlook them. She very much hoped that Angelo didn't get carried away with the idea before she chose the right person for the job.
"Ms Buckton-Collins?" a gruff voice said.
She turned to find her builder hovering in the doorway.
"Yes?" she said.
"Your lift is complete," he said. "Would you like to try it out?"
"Ooh! Yes, please!"
She hollered for Angelo to join her.
At lunch time, April dragged Xavier out to help her find John in order to convince him to take her water bottle ban idea before the Council, having already persuaded her friends that after school they had to help her and as many locals as possible to clean up the beach. Indi took Romeo off for a romantic walk. Ruby had sought permission from her parents to have lunch with Nicole. Dex sloped off alone to the computer room.
"Hi, it's Kerri, isn't it?" said a voice.
Kerri stopped and manoeuvred her chair expertly around, coming face to face with the guy who had made the vile men who had harassed her the other day, apologise.
"Yes," she said. "And your name was…?"
"Brax," he said, extending his hand. "Darryl Braxton."
She took his hand. He lifted it, kissing the back. She blushed.
"It's nice to meet you," she said.
"And you," he said. "In nicer circumstances than the other day."
She willed herself to return to a normal colour. Nobody had paid her attention for quite some time. This was quite a different experience to what she was used to.
"Could I carry your bags for you?" he offered, noting that she was rather laden. "You look like you're overwhelmed."
"Oh, it's fine…"
"I don't mind," he insisted.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
By way of answer, he took the bags from her.
"Where to?" he asked.
April was utterly deflated as she trudged back to school. Her 'meeting' with John had not gone to plan. Much to her upset and Xavier's fury, he had flat out refused to even consider the water bottle ban and referred to it as an utterly impossible and stupid idea. Xavier hated him. Peace was over.
"Thank you so much for your help," Kerri said when Brax had helped her get her shopping bags to her apartment.
She didn't like to admit it but she had been struggling before he'd shown up and offered his services.
"Well, I've never been able to resist a damsel in distress," Brax grinned. "Especially not one as beautiful as you."
She blushed again, cursing herself for acting like she was fifteen years old. She was a grown woman, after all!
"You really are a charmer, aren't you?" she remarked.
"When I want to be," he replied.
They were interrupted by her phone ringing.
"I'll leave you to it," he said. "But call me if you ever want to hang out."
"Maybe," she said.
He nodded and left. Kerri answered the phone to Joey, informing her that the lift had been installed and inviting her and Danny to dinner at the restaurant that night.
"Hey, VJ?" Joey said, when she got through to her youngest former housemate on the phone.
"Hi, Joey!" VJ said exuberantly. "How are you?"
"I'm good, thanks. How are you?"
"I'm okay," he said, although his voice dropped just a little. "I miss you."
Joey chuckled and pointed out that they had only had a milkshake together at the Diner a couple of days ago.
"But that was only for an hour," VJ pointed out.
Joey grinned.
"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to come to the restaurant for dinner tonight," Joey invited. "You know that little boy I asked you to look out for?"
"Danny?" VJ said. "He's cool. We hang out a lot."
"That's really good, Veej," Joey said. "Thank you."
She could tell he was smiling on the other end of the line.
"Well, he and his mother are coming for dinner at the restaurant with Charlie and I and I thought it would be nice if you came too," she said.
"Can my Mum come?" VJ asked anxiously.
"Of course," Joey said, a little ashamed that she hadn't thought of it. "I was just about to call her to invite her myself but I wanted to check you'd be up for it first."
She felt extra ashamed for the lie.
"Oh cool," VJ said, accepting her words without question. "It's just that she's still really sad at the moment, Joey. I don't know what to do. I think she's lonely."
"Well, thank you for telling me, VJ. Charlie and I will try and look after her a bit better, okay? We don't want her to be sad or lonely."
"Thank you, Joey," VJ said. "Thank you."
Watson was in a slightly better mood that afternoon when Charlie caught up with her. Word had got round that April and Xavier had organised a mass clean-up of the beach that afternoon so her fielding of calls had at least resulted in being able to tell people about it.
"What are you up to this evening?" the Sergeant asked.
"Um, not much," Watson said. "I thought I might do my share of the clean-up just to show willing but other than that, I'm free as a bird. Unless you're about to ask me to do overtime, in which case I'm really, really busy."
She grinned, making Charlie laugh.
"The lift at the restaurant is finished," Charlie explained, "so Joey's organising for us to have dinner with Kerri and her son, plus VJ and Leah and Ruby so we wondered if you'd like to join us."
Watson tried and failed not to grin at the mention of Kerri. She eagerly accepted.
"Wait, this isn't some sort of set up, is it?" she checked. "Because I said…"
"How could it be a set up?" Charlie asked innocently. "There are about a hundred of us there!"
Watson didn't look terribly convinced. But she was excited at the prospect of seeing Kerri again.
Alf was sat at the bar when Charlie arrived with a rather reluctant Ruby. The teenager hadn't particularly wanted to come for the meal but she knew she had to abide by the rules and she didn't want to break her parents' trust or have them be disappointed in her again.
"Maybe I should apply for the job myself!" Alf chuckled.
"I'd love it if you did!" Joey admitted, pouring him another drink.
Angelo stormed off into the kitchen.
"What was he flouncing about?" Charlie wondered, leaning over and kissing her girlfriend to say hello.
"Who?"
"Angelo just stormed into the kitchen," Ruby explained.
"Oops," Alf and Joey said in unison.
"We were just talking about Alf maybe taking on the Bar Manager job," Joey explained.
"I was joking," Alf said. "Mostly."
The role was actually quite attractive.
"Angelo applied this morning," Joey said.
This was exactly what she had been worried about.
"Oh dear," Charlie said.
"Look, I wouldn't want to step on anyone's toes," Alf said, backing off.
"I want the right person for the job," Joey said seriously. "And if you wanted to apply, Alf, then I want to seriously consider you. I'd seriously consider Angelo too. It's not about favouritism or anything like that. I just want the best person."
Charlie reached over and squeezed her hand.
"Joey!"
They looked round at the sound of VJ squealing in delight. Joey hurried out from behind the bar just as the pre-teen bounded towards her and hurled himself into her arms. Leah followed behind him, looking pretty but tired. Everyone knew she was still lost and missing Elijah.
"Shall we get settled?" Charlie asked, aware that their group was beginning to gather.
"Yes," Joey decided.
She called into the kitchen. Angelo reluctantly appeared.
"When Watson, Kerri and Danny arrive, can you show them to our table, please?" she asked.
"Sure," he mumbled.
Joey thanked him and then led Charlie, Ruby, Leah and VJ over to their table. She then hurried back to invite Alf to join them.
"Nah, I think it's more of a girl's night," he declined. "But thank you, love."
"Well um, there are some application forms on my desk if you fancied popping in and grabbing one," Joey said.
He eyed her curiously.
"You'd really like me as bar manager?" he asked.
"Well, you said this morning you like the idea of responsibility without too many hard decisions," she reminded him. "It sounds pretty perfect to me."
He nodded, silently agreeing.
At home, Gina remained oblivious to the renewed tension between John and Xavier. But her son was annoyed with her boyfriend for turning down April's water bottle ban plan. And he had also decided that now was the time to call in his favour.
Charlie, Joey, Ruby, Leah, VJ, Danny, Kerri and Watson were all sat round a large table at the restaurant and for the most part, everyone was having a good time. Charlie and Joey were particularly enjoying being at the restaurant without having to work. And it was nice getting to socialise and relax and having fun without any stress. They were also secretly pleased with their 'subtle' attempts at getting Kerri and Watson to spend time together.
And for their part, Watson and Kerri did seem to be enjoying each other's company. They were both shy of each other, although Kerri seemed more confident than Watson. Charlie and Joey tried not to pry too much but they couldn't quite work out if they were flirting or not.
Danny and VJ had very much bonded and were chatting away like old friends. They evidently spent a lot of time together at school and had done ever since Joey had called VJ and asked him to look out for Danny, knowing he would be the new boy. They hadn't stopped chatting all evening since Kerri and Danny had arrived.
Ruby was a little subdued. She hadn't particularly wanted to come to the meal, although she had tried to be polite about it. At first she had complained that none of her friends her own age would be there, then she had lamented that she didn't really have any friends and then she'd just gone quiet. Charlie tried her best to look after her but she was still desperately worried about her daughter's state of mind. There was no rule book as to what to do when your teenager was battling depression and a liking for booze.
Leah was also quiet but she was doing her best to join in. She laughed and smiled in all the right placed and Charlie and Joey were both glad she was there. They had taken VJ's earlier words to heart and were determined to do their best for their friend.
They were desperate to make everyone in their world as happy as they were if they could.
Next time… Charlie, Joey, Bianca, Leah, Kerri and Watson have a girls' night out, Ruby and Nicole have a sleepover and Miles and VJ have been keeping secrets…
