Chapter Four Hundred and Fifteen
"That didn't look so good," Joey frowned, watching Nicole hurry out of the restaurant.
Penn tossed some money on the table for the food they had barely eaten and left with her.
"No, it didn't," Charlie agreed unhappily.
"Should one of us go after her?" Alf wondered.
Penn had all but forced Nicole to let him drive her home. She hadn't been able to work out if he was trying to be helpful or if she was making a grave mistake. Her head was a mess of confusion. She felt like she couldn't breathe.
"I think I'll call it a night anyway," Alf decided. "Then if she doesn't come back, I'll go looking for her. And I'll call the police if I need to."
"Call me personally," Charlie requested. "I know I'm off duty but…"
Alf nodded gratefully. This was the community spirit he loved about Summer Bay. And this was what he was glad no riots or any kind of horror could ever truly break.
Miles was watching TV when Nicole arrived home. The teenager hurried up to her room in silence, fighting tears and slamming her door behind her. Penn hovered at the front door.
"What's going on?" Miles asked worriedly.
"I don't really know…" Penn lied. "One minute things were fine and then… she just flipped."
"What do you mean?" Miles asked, looking at the empty space Nicole had just run through.
Penn took him conspiratorially aside, even though there was nobody else there.
"I don't know how to say this but she… she accused me of planting the needle on the beach," he told him.
"I just hope she's okay," Joey mused.
Charlie sat on the other side of the bar, also concerned about Nicole, as they waited for Alf to call them.
"I'm sure she'll be fine," Angelo said, finishing serving drinks to a couple of customers. "I mean, they probably just sloped off to… you know."
He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and was relieved when the girls laughed.
"It's possible," Charlie agreed. "I mean, did you see her face when she left? I didn't. They might have been leaving eagerly rather than being upset."
"Hopefully," Joey said.
It was definitely something she wanted to believe. Nicole had really been through enough.
Alf arrived back just as Penn left. He immediately approached Miles, asking if Nicole was safely home.
"Well, she's home but…" the curly haired man said.
"What happened?" Alf asked, trying to decide whether he should go up and speak to the teenager he felt so protective of.
"Apparently she's accused Penn of planting the needle on the beach," Miles replied.
Alf sighed heavily and then opted to call her down. He phoned Joey quickly while he waited.
Joey had allowed everyone home early, with her customers having drifted off home before closing time. She and Charlie were also anxious to get back to Ruby, who had been left alone for the first time since her grounding. They had checked in with her regularly, which they knew had been annoying but it was important to them. They couldn't let her lose herself again.
"Hey, sweetheart," Charlie greeted, finding Ruby looking half asleep on the sofa. "How was your night? And why aren't you in bed yet?"
The teenager turned around and smiled at her.
"I've been doing my homework," she assured them, waving a hefty looking textbook at them.
"Well, you're forgiven then," Charlie promised, leaning over and kissing her daughter's forehead. "But you do look exhausted."
"Thanks," Ruby pouted.
"How were you though?" Joey asked. "Were you okay?"
Ruby smiled and assured her that she had been fine.
"Good," Joey said. "I'm glad."
Nicole sat unhappily down with Miles and Alf and explained that Penn had informed her over dinner that he had been the one who had planted the needle on the beach.
"But I don't understand why he'd do that," Miles said.
He wasn't exactly a fan of the guy but this particular move didn't make any sense.
"Because he's a rotten mongrel, that's why," Alf snarled.
He clenched his fists, half tempted to storm right into Penn's caravan and beat the living daylights out of him.
"Are you saying I'm lying?" Nicole asked, sounding desperately hurt.
"No!" Miles assured her. "I'm just wondering if you misunderstood."
Nicole stared at him in disbelief, as did Alf.
"I didn't misunderstand anything," she said firmly.
"I just…" Miles tried.
Nicole stormed off to bed.
Charlie and Joey lay in bed, cuddled up together.
"Try and stop fretting," Charlie whispered.
She placed a gentle kissed on her girlfriend's cheek. She felt Joey smile and snuggled up a little closer. She kissed her again and stroked her thumb on her tummy. Joey closed her eyes, feeling her skin tingle as Charlie worked her fingertips up to her breasts.
"Are you trying to distract me?" she murmured.
"Just a little bit," Charlie purred.
She shifted and kissed her lips. Joey turned and kissed her more passionately, forgetting about the world.
In the morning, Summer Bay House was more than a little tense, although Marilyn was doing her best to keep things cheery. Nicole was quiet and particularly not talking to Miles, who kept trying to communicate with her. Alf was still trying to stop himself from confronting Penn.
"Hello?" came a voice from the front door.
Marilyn looked up, surprised to find Dex standing there. She was also a little anxious, now that she knew her boyfriend's son had a crush on her.
"Hi, Dex," she greeted, determined to still be chirpy with him regardless. "You're up and out early. How are you?"
"I just wanted to bring you something," he said uncharacteristically quietly.
He shuffled forward and gave her a letter. Then he hurried off.
"What was all that about?" Miles wondered.
"It's best not to ask," Marilyn sighed.
It didn't take a genius to work out what the letter contained.
"So, does this mean the reins are loosened for good now?" Ruby asked hopefully over breakfast that morning.
"Let's not walk before we can run, hey?" Charlie said diplomatically.
Ruby frowned and bit into her toast.
"But yes," Charlie added. "You don't need to be supervised at all times now. We'll let you have more independence again. You've proved yourself."
Ruby looked pleased. She thanked Charlie and Joey sincerely.
Alf headed out for a drive before he was due to go to the restaurant to start his first shift. He wanted to start work with a clear head so that he could really focus but right now, he was too concerned about Nicole. He stopped abruptly when he spotted Penn up ahead. He was marching over towards him before he could stop himself.
"What the hell do you think you're playing at?" he demanded angrily.
"I don't know what you mean," Penn replied, unfazed.
"Planting that needle on the beach," Alf accused. "Hurting Nicole like that."
"I did no such thing," Penn denied. "Nicole accused me but she's lying or confused or something. I think the stress must be getting to her."
"You're a liar," Alf stated.
"You should watch what you say," Penn warned.
Knowing he was about to lose his rag, Alf walked away.
"Sorry!" Dex yelped when he bumped into Ruby in the school corridor.
He hadn't been paying attention. His mind was very much elsewhere.
"No worries," Ruby said. "Are you okay?"
He shrugged, still distracted. She couldn't help but hope for a conversation, even with him, weird as he was. The truth was, although things were good at home now, she didn't really have any friends anymore. Indi hated her because of the alcohol incident and where Indi went, so did Romeo. Xavier was nice enough to her and therefore so was April, but things would probably always be weird there because he was twice her ex-boyfriend. Nicole was wonderful but would soon be leaving her behind to go to University. Dex was really the nearest opportunity she had to a friend.
"Yeah… just distracted," he said. "You?"
"Bit lonely," Ruby admitted.
He looked at her.
"Neither of us have many friends, do we?" he realised.
"Not really," she agreed.
"Want to hang out?"
She smiled.
"Sure."
Angelo tried and failed to conceal his bad mood as Joey merrily set Alf up for his first day in his new position as Bar Manager. He liked Alf and he knew they would probably have quite a laugh working together. But he had been hopeful that the job would be his. He'd given everything he had to Bucktons' and he felt he deserved a step up the ladder. Also, Alf had his own businesses. He had so much going on in his life. He didn't need extra work. Why did he have to come in and take what Angelo felt was rightfully his?
"I'm really glad you've accepted the position," Joey enthused.
"You just want to boss me about," Alf teased.
It felt good to relax a bit, even though he was still concerned about Nicole. Fortunately, Joey was also concerned and it had been good to talk to her about the situation when he'd arrived at work that morning.
"Ah, you've caught me out!" Joey joked.
"So, you have a crush on an older woman, who's already attached?" Ruby asked.
She and Dex had taken lunch together on the school field, enjoying the sunshine. Ruby wasn't about to admit it readily but it felt nice to have another friend and not to have to just rely on Nicole and her parents all the time.
"That's about the size of it," Dex confessed.
He figured Ruby was probably a safe person to talk to. She was unlikely to judge him after everything she had been up to of late. And the letter he had given Marilyn that morning had been bothering him all day.
"Would you like the advice of someone who recently dabbled in similar activities?" Ruby asked.
"Yes, please," Dex requested.
"No good is going to come of it, Dex," Ruby told him as delicately as possible. "You're just going to get hurt and if you can avoid it now and get off the path you're on, then you should. It doesn't lead to anywhere happy."
Dex sighed, reluctantly agreeing that she was right.
"I guess you're the one who would know," he said. "And I mean that with respect."
She managed a smile.
"I'll take anything I can get friendship wise," she admitted. "I'm a little thin on the ground right now."
"Falling out with Indi hurt you pretty badly, didn't it?"
"Yeah," Ruby sighed. "Things were already a bit weird with Xavier and April so I needed the Indi thing like a hole in the head because that means I don't have Romeo either. Nicole's great but she's off with Penn now and anyway, she'll be leaving school soon. So I'm kind of on my own."
"Not anymore," Dex said. "You're stuck with me now. Once I've sorted something out."
"Your older lady?"
"Yep," Dex said, standing up. "I need to go and retract something stupid I told her."
Charlie took Watson to the restaurant for lunch. She needed Joey's help to try and nudge her friend into action with Kerri.
"I mean it," Charlie said. "Just ask her out."
"What if she doesn't like me?" Watson fretted.
"She likes you," Joey said, by way of greeting when they reached the bar area. "You're discussing Kerri, right?"
Charlie grinned. Watson blushed.
"I just don't want to make an idiot out of myself," the Senior Constable protested.
"You won't," Charlie said. "And even if you did, isn't that better than missing your chance completely?"
"Do you think I will?" Watson asked, panicked.
She thought of Brax, who had looked extremely interested that day his boys had been hassling her.
"If you keep dithering," Joey said honestly. "A pretty woman like that isn't going to be single forever."
Charlie patted her on the shoulder.
"Just go for it, Watson," she said. "You've got nothing to lose."
They looked up when Nicole arrived, looking stressed.
"Hey, Nic," Joey greeted warmly, concern evident in her voice. "How are you? We've been worried."
Alf immediately appeared, relieved that she had shown up.
"Wow, do people actually exist that aren't faithful followers of Penn Graham?" Nicole asked sarcastically.
"Nicole, we heard what happened last night," Charlie said seriously.
"And what?" Nicole snapped. "You think I'm making it up? Like Miles does."
"No!" Joey said urgently. "Of course not. And I'm sure Miles is just… confused. If you say Penn told you he planted that needle then that's what he said."
Alf and Charlie both nodded. Nicole burst into tears. Joey rushed round from behind the bar and gathered her into her arms.
Dex took a deep breath and knocked on Marilyn's door. He was half relieved and half disappointed that she was home. She didn't look terribly pleased to see him.
"Marilyn, I need to apologise," he said, all his words tumbling out in a rush.
She didn't reply, just folded her arms and waited for him to continue.
"I should never have given you that letter."
"No, you shouldn't," the usually cheery blonde replied. "It was completely inappropriate and I'm sorry, Dex, but I have to tell your father what happened."
Dex swallowed anxiously.
"It was project for school!"
The lie was out of his mouth and floating in the air before he could stop it. Sometimes he really worried about himself.
"Sorry?"
"It was a project for school," he repeated. "I had to see if I could write something moving and then test it out on someone."
Marilyn eyed him curiously, trying to work out whether he was telling the truth or not.
"And it looks like it worked and now you know it wasn't real so it's all good," he said brightly. "So we can draw a line under everything and forget all about it. Bye!"
He dashed off back to school.
Kerri was out doing errands when once again, she ran into Brax. For a moment, she wondered if it was timed or just coincidence.
"You haven't called me yet," the River Boy remarked. "You're starting to hurt my feelings."
She couldn't help but smile.
"I'm still thinking about whether I should," she replied.
"Don't think too long," he told her. "Someone might steal me away."
He grinned at her and wandered off. She chuckled to herself and continued on her way, still toying with the idea of spending more time with him.
Charlie, Joey and Alf were still consoling Nicole, who had ditched school for the afternoon, when Marilyn arrived at Bucktons'.
"Oh, Nicole, I've been hoping to see you all day," she said, hugging her housemate.
Nicole burst into tears all over again. She felt like an idiot, crying in public, but she was a little overwhelmed at the support she was receiving from her loved ones.
"I'm so sorry for what you've been going through with that horrible, horrible man," Marilyn said.
"I really could take you down to the station to make a statement if you like," Charlie offered for the third time that day. "We could arrest him, get him away from you…"
"But it's only his word against mine," Nicole pointed out. "Even Miles doesn't believe me."
"Hey, that's why the police exist," Charlie said. "If there's evidence out there, we'll find it. It's doesn't have to be your word against his, Nicole. He could have all sorts in his caravan. He could give up all sorts in an interview. What do you think?"
"No," Nicole said, shaking her head. "I just want to forget all about it."
She looked up at her friend and smiled.
"Thank you though," she said. "Thank you to all of you. I really appreciate your support."
"That's what friends are for," Joey said.
"Speaking of," Charlie said. "Leah's pretty keen for another girl's night out – and we're desperate to give Watson another chance to get it together with Kerri. So what do you two think?"
She directed her question to Marilyn and Nicole.
"Would you like to come out with us?"
Both women readily accepted.
"You could always come too, Alf?" Joey said sweetly.
Alf chuckled and politely declined. Angelo looked on, silently longing to be part of their conversation.
Next time… Penn ends up in hospital, Ruby offers her friendship to Nicole and Indi gets the wrong idea…
