Hi everyone. Sorry for the delay in updating. I fell behind with this one so I needed to write the next chapter before I could update this one. I should be able to update the final chapter of Baby Mine tomorrow but then I will be absent for a few days as I am going to see Jessie J in concert TWICE! Yes, I am very excited! I will be back in action on Tuesday, what with activity days and rest days, managing disability, pain and fatigue levels all that. But anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Four Hundred and Thirty Nine
"Damn, you look good," Joey said, a wicked smile on her face.
Charlie beamed at her, rather flattered at the lusty look on her girlfriend's face. It was Saturday and the girls were getting dressed for their day at the races with Angelo, Paulie and Nicole. Rather excited at a posh day out, Charlie had gone shopping and bought a bright yellow, sleeveless dress, cut to the middle of her toned thighs, that ruffled out at the bottom.
Joey, dressed in smart black trousers and a white shirt with a tie, moved closer to wrap her arms around her. Charlie closed the gap between them by grabbing hold of the tie, eager to press their lips together as they tumbled back onto the bed.
"Oh!" Charlie cried out. "My fascinator!"
"What the fuck is a fascinator?" Joey replied.
What to Joey just looked like a small, yellow hat, fell onto the floor. Charlie giggled, promptly forgetting all about the item, as she quickly began loosening the tie Joey had just taken great pains to put on. With that out of the way, she made short work of undoing her buttons, kissing her hurriedly.
"We're going to be late," Joey murmured.
"It's only Angelo," Charlie pointed out.
"Good point," Joey agreed, slipping one hand under Charlie's deliciously short dress.
Angelo pulled his black suit jacket on and checked his reflection in the mirror. He looked smart, even if he did say so himself. Taking a breath, he left his room and found his younger brother buttoning his waistcoat, looking as full of himself as he normally did.
"It's not too late to pull out of this ridiculous scheme, you know," Angelo said sourly.
Paulie placed his hat on his head and spun round with a big grin.
"Why would we want to do that?" he asked. "We get to make all the money we need and we get a fun day out."
"Well, we could at least leave the girls out of it," Angelo said. "Charlie and Joey have given us enough without them being blindly dragged into this stupidity."
"They're just going to have fun," Paulie said. "They're not involved in any of our bets."
"It's taken a million chances for me to earn their trust," Angelo said. "I don't want to blow it all again."
"We won't," Paulie said confidently. "Relax. Everything is going to be fine."
Charlie and Joey hoped they weren't blushing when they got into Angelo's car, having been most definitely running late after round three in the bedroom. They also hoped that in their hurry, they didn't look untidy.
"What on earth were you doing?" Angelo asked. "You're never late."
The blushing began.
"Never mind," the former police officer said, pulling away from the kerb.
"No, no," Paulie grinned from the passenger seat. "Feel free to share any details."
Charlie leant forward and swatted him lightly on the shoulder.
"Hey, I'm only human," Paulie told her. "And you're the ones that put the imagery in my head."
"Anyway," Joey said. "Shall we move on?"
"Yes, lets!" Angelo agreed.
"Oh, as if they don't make you tight in your trousers!" Paulie mocked.
Angelo flushed and focussed on the road. This was going to be a long day.
By the time the afternoon had rolled around, everyone had been having an interesting time. All five of them had enjoyed being all dressed up, swanning around the venue in the open air, enjoying the sunshine, placing their bets and watching the races. However, the girls had no idea, as yet, just how big stakes the boys were placing and how much was riding on the day.
"Hi, there," a young woman said to Nicole, who had just gone up to the bar to get drinks for herself, Charlie and Joey.
Angelo and Paulie had lingered at the track to bet some more.
"Um… hi," Nicole said.
"I really love your outfit," the woman said.
For a moment, Nicole wondered if she was hitting on her.
"Um… thanks," she said uncertainly.
Obsessed with fashion and hopefully about to study it at University, she had taken a lot of time with her clothes that day.
"We're actually running a little show today called Fashions in the Field," the woman said. "Like a catwalk competition. Would you be interested?"
Nicole was torn between feeling shy and excited.
"Okay, I think that's enough now," Angelo said. "We've done well. It's time to quit while we're ahead."
"Come on!" Paulie said, clapping his brother on the back. "Live a little! One more bet and we're home free! We can make all the money we need and then some!"
Angelo glared at him.
"Isn't that the kind of thinking that got you into the shit in the first place?" he asked sourly.
Paulie glared back but then broke into a grin, his default expression.
"One more bet and then we can find the girls and go home," he promised.
"Speaking of the girls," Angelo said, grabbing Paulie's arm to stop him walking off. "Since when do you have a thing for Nicole?"
"What do you mean?" Paulie asked innocently.
"You've been flirting with her all day," Angelo accused.
"Well, she's hot," Paulie said. "Why not?"
"Well, she's been through a hell of a lot of crap recently so leave her alone," Angelo snapped, feeling surprisingly protective. "Her Dad's in jail, she's not got any other family, the guy she loves walked out on her and the guy she's been dating recently turned out to be an arsehole. She doesn't need another arsehole trying his luck."
Paulie raised an eyebrow.
"And why do you care so much?"
"I don't," Angelo denied.
The truth was, he hadn't realised he did until just now. Not that he would ever dream of doing anything about it. She was his ex-girlfriend's daughter's best friend. No way. Plus, he still had feelings for Joey. Who was his ex-girlfriend's girlfriend. He really needed to get out a bit more.
"Please, Charlie? Please?" Nicole begged.
"Really, no," Charlie declined.
The blonde was sat back at the table with her friends, having brought the drinks over to them and told them all about the Fashions in the Field competition.
"Please?" Nicole persisted. "I can't do it without you."
"Of course you can," Joey said.
She instantly regretted speaking when the teenager's eyes widened, looking at her ever so hopefully.
"Oh no!" Joey protested. "Besides, I'm not dressed for something like that. You two are the girlie girls. I'm in a suit. Charlie should do it with you, not me."
Nicole turned hopefully back to the police officer, who glared at her girlfriend.
"Why exactly can't you do it with us just cheering you on from the crowd?" Charlie asked.
"Because it's no fun and I'm kind of lacking in confidence right now," Nicole told her.
She offered her sweetest, most begging smile.
"Oh, fine," Charlie gave in. "But only if you tell us what is going on between you and Paulie. He's been all over you like a rash today."
Nicole held her hands up in surrender.
"I assure you, nothing!" she said. "It's all him. I am flattered, sort of, but after Penn I am firmly staying away from men. I'm actually considering becoming a lesbian."
"We could take you to some awesome bars," Joey grinned.
"You realise that if this horse loses, we've lost everything we just won, right?" Angelo said.
He gripped the rail in front of him, his heart in his mouth.
"It won't lose," Paulie said, sounding more confident than he actually felt. "It's a sure thing. We're going to solve all our problems, Angelo. I promise you."
"Sorry, whose problems?"
"Whatever."
Joey stood in the crowd, excitedly waiting for Charlie and Nicole's turns on the small catwalk for the Fashions in the Field competition. Their day out had turned out to be a lot of fun, even if they hadn't seen the boys all that much. The girls hadn't spoken about it out loud but they individually suspected that something was going on with the brothers that they weren't being let in on. But they were more than happy to stay out of it. They didn't particularly want to be dragged into the latest Rosetta scheme.
Joey cheered and whooped as Nicole strutted her stuff on stage. After everything she had been through lately with Penn and also previously with Aden ending things between them, it was nice to see her enjoying herself so much. Even though she hadn't been so confident to start with, she looked like she had got into her stride.
Next up was Charlie. Joey whooped and cheered even louder. She met her partner's gaze and they grinned at each other. Suddenly, everything got a bit confusing, as she watched her girlfriend, as if in slow motion, leap off the platform and into the crowd. Everyone was startled as a scuffle broke out. Joey lurched forward, past horrified faces, to find that Charlie had pinned a man to the ground. She had spotted a pickpocket in the crowd and saved a woman from being robbed. Once everyone had worked out what she had done and that Charlie was a police officer, they broke out into cheers.
"Fuck!" Paulie cursed.
He hit the barrier in front of him and took his hat off. Stressed, Angelo ran his hands through his hair, wondering what on earth they were meant to do next.
"I guess we'll have to start again," the younger of the two men said. "We have our original pot of money."
"No!" Angelo snapped. "No! This whole idea was ridiculous. We need to get the girls and go home."
"What? No, Angelo, we don't have enough to pay the debt," Paulie protested.
"I don't care!" Angelo yelled. "We have to find another way."
He stalked off, pulling out his phone to call Joey.
All the competition entrants were stood on the stage, waiting for the winner to be announced. In the crowd, Joey jumped and felt embarrassed when her phone rang. She grabbed it, hissed that she'd call back and then hung up.
"Well, today's winner was a no brainer for every judge," the event organiser declared. "Not only is she beautiful and stylish, she is brave too and had no hesitation in throwing herself into the crowd to tackle a thief. Today's winner just has to be the lovely Charlie Buckton."
Charlie looked more than a little stunned, so much so that Nicole had to nudge her forward to accept her award. Joey's cheering could be heard well above everyone else's, even though the whole audience was clapping and calling out loudly, including those on stage.
"Well done, Charlie," the event organiser said.
"Thank you," Charlie accepted.
She stepped off stage and into Joey's waiting arms.
It was a strange atmosphere on the way home. Charlie, Joey and Nicole were still rather high from everything that had happened at the completion. However, the mood in the front seat was more than a little frosty. The boys were barely speaking.
"Seriously," Joey finally broke. "What on earth has happened between you two?"
"Angelo fucked the whole plan up," Paulie said bitterly, looking out of the window.
"What plan?" Charlie asked.
"I didn't fuck anything up!" Angelo snapped. "You were the one in charge of the bets. I just put a stop to the madness – something I should have done from the start. I shouldn't have let it get as far as it did."
He shook his head, focussing on the road ahead.
"So, what was the plan?" Joey asked, repeating Joey's question.
"We were going to win the money we needed," Paulie said.
Charlie snorted her derision at the stupidity of the idea. Joey laughed out loud.
"Wow, that was fool proof," she remarked. "I can't believe it didn't work!"
"Well, I'm sorry it didn't worry," Charlie said more soberly. "But I'm not surprised."
Joey nodded. Nicole remained silent, listening intently.
"Did you lose anything or are you just back where you started? You're not more in debt?" Joey asked a little worriedly.
She didn't want anything bad to happen to ether of them, no matter what had gone down between them all in past.
"No, just back to where we started," Paulie said. "Nothing is worse but nothing is better. Angelo made sure of that."
He glared at his brother, who ignored him.
Nicole sat back in her seat, very glad she never entertained the thought of dating Paulie. She didn't need any more complications in her life.
Next time… Charlie, Joey and their friends go on a girls' night out, Marilyn learns of her end date and things go awry for Indi and Romeo...
