Hi everyone. I hear you about the Penn storyline. I struggled with it a bit myself on the show so I hope I will be able to put a CJ spin on it and make it a bit more interesting. Less about Penn and more about Alf and Charlie and Joey and also the other stories going on. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Four Hundred and Fifty One
Charlie and Joey woke up entwined in each other's arms, still feeling the glow of their rather passionate lovemaking the night before. Charlie reached out and rather hurriedly switched off the alarm clock and snatched her arm back in under the blankets, not wanting to disturb her cosy cuddle with her partner.
Across town, Bianca woke up rather abruptly. She looked anxiously at Vittorio, still asleep beside her, having spent the night in her bed. Butterflies fluttered in her tummy, as she continued to wonder if she had absolutely done the right thing by giving their romance another chance. So long as I don't think about Liam, everything will be okay, she told herself.
A little later, Romeo sauntered over to the Diner. His girlfriend was working there all day and he was already bored without her. So, without anything else to occupy himself, he decided to go and spend all the time he could with her, hoping to steal her attention any moment possible.
"I so don't want to go to work," Charlie complained.
She hated working on a weekend. It tore her away from Joey and now that she was back, Ruby. Thankfully, now that she was in a more senior position, she got most weekends off but she still had to work them sometimes and it was always a pain. And this morning, dragging herself out of bed and away from Joey was a real wrench.
"We'll have tonight," Joey said, although she was no more inclined to climb out of bed and depart from her girlfriend than Charlie was.
"Yeah," the police officer sighed. "See, I remember the days when I had no life and work was all I had."
Joey grinned.
"As long as you don't miss those days," she said.
Charlie kissed her.
"Never ever ever," she said.
They kissed again. Time rapidly ran away from them.
Bianca and Vittorio got dressed and headed to the Diner for breakfast. Bianca was feeling nervous and a little shy while Vittorio was feeling confident and elated that they were finally back together.
Sitting down together, they ordered coffee and perused the menu for food.
"What's going on over there?" Bianca asked Irene, noting Leah getting very flustered at the counter with Indi and Romeo.
"Oh, don't ask!" Irene flapped. "Apparently it's Bring Your Boyfriend to Work Day! Not to mention Get on Everybody's Nerves Day!"
She shook her head and bustled off, telling them to wave when they had decided on food.
Watson appeared in Charlie's office looking decidedly harassed.
"What's up?" Charlie asked.
She had hidden herself away at her desk, having finally dragged herself away from Joey and forced herself to go to work. She really hated being on shift at the weekend.
"We're receiving complaints," Watson informed her.
"What are the River Boys doing now?"
"For once it's not them," Watson said.
Charlie sat back, eyeing her curiously.
"People are irritated that the paparazzi are hanging around all the time, waiting for glimpses of Bianca's handsome Prince," her colleague explained. "They feel it's infringing on their personal space and their freedom. They want us to police the situation and keep them at bay."
"Right," Charlie said a little tiredly. "Yeah, we should."
She stood up, preparing to work out a team.
"So," she remarked with a smirk. "You think he's handsome, do you?"
Watson blushed.
"Right, that's it!" Irene finally barked, startling Romeo, Indi, Leah, Colleen and most of the customers in the Diner. "You cannot stay here, getting under everyone's feet, swooning over your girlfriend all day!"
Romeo looked abashed.
"Go on, off with you!" she said, shooing him out of the venue. "Go and pester Joey. I'm sure she'd love to have extra hands over at the restaurant."
"But…" he tried to protest.
"Go!" Irene said. "Go!"
With no choice, he scurried out, waving a sad goodbye to Indi as he went.
Sid entered Mitzy's hospital room in order to see how she was. They were both silent as he monitored her progress. Taking a breath, he stepped up beside her bed and looked at her directly.
"How are you feeling?" he asked. "Really?"
"Tired," she said. "Sad."
"Mitzy, did you lie to Marilyn about her cancer?" he asked.
He had been turning the question over and over in his mind all night and harsh or not, he just had to ask.
"Excuse me?" she asked, looking genuinely startled and offended.
"Did you lie to her?"
"No!" she said. "Of course I didn't! Why would I lie?"
"Because you were scared to go through all of this alone."
"No, I didn't lie," she said through gritted teeth. "Now get out of my room."
Sid stood up straight, his jaw set and his face determined.
"Fine," he said. "But when you think about the pain you're in right now, how scared you are, how grief stricken you feel… remember Marilyn. And be kind enough to set her free of this end date curse you've landed her with. Whether it's true or not, it's the kindest thing to do."
Then he left.
The restaurant was busy with the lunch time rush and it was all hands on desk with Joey, Alf, April and Claire on shift. Angelo had already left to take Paulie back to their parents to get his debts sorted out once and for all and hopefully to reconcile with the family.
"Hey, Jo," Romeo greeted a little glumly.
"Hey," Joey replied. "What's up?"
"I think I just got barred from the Diner," he said, still a little puzzled by what had just happened.
She looked puzzled also.
"How?"
"I was just hanging around, keeping Indi company…"
"While she was working and you were getting in the way?" Joey asked.
"Maybe just a little…"
"And so you decided to get in the way over here, hey?" Joey teased.
"Actually, Irene told me to come here," Romeo said.
"Remind me to thank her personally," Joey joked.
"I'm not entirely sure how to take that."
"Well, take a drink," she said, offering a lemonade. "And go and sit at that table and keep Ruby company because she's bored too."
She pointed to a corner table where her daughter was half doing homework and half gazing out of the window at the sea.
Miles was just heading out when there was a firm knock at the front door. He opened up and was startled to find Penn standing in front of him. He found that he didn't even know what to say.
"What, aren't you going to invite me in and offer me a coffee?" Penn sneered.
"I'm not going to offer you any kind of pleasantry," Miles said, hating him for everything he had done to the people he loved.
"You seem to think I'm a bad guy," Penn said. "That I've done bad things."
"Because you have," Miles snapped. "You are!"
Penn stepped closer.
"I haven't even touched the surface of what I'm capable of, what I want to do," he said. "Every day, I struggle not to hurt every single person Alf is close to, just to show him the pain he's caused in my life. But it's coming. There's so much pain coming."
He left without another word.
Charlie had set up a rota to staff the paparazzi that were so keen to catch a glimpse of Prince Vittorio and Bianca. She and Watson had taken the first shift and it was a long and boring task, especially as Vittorio was nowhere in sight. She couldn't for the life of her understand what was so interesting about him. It wasn't like any of them had ever heard of him before. He was hardly Beyonce strutting around the Bay!
"I can't believe that Irene kicked you out of the Diner," Ruby chuckled.
"She was really loud about it too!" Romeo laughed.
Ruby continued to giggle.
"At least you get to come here," she said. "Joey seems happy to put up with both of us."
She looked over at her step mother, who was hurrying around the restaurant serving customers. Romeo smiled.
"She's pretty great, hey?" he said.
Ruby nodded.
"I'm lucky," she said.
"So… how are you?" Romeo asked. "I mean… if you don't mind me asking? I don't know if it's… okay to ask?"
Ruby turned back and smiled wistfully at him.
"It's okay to ask," she assured him. "And I'm… okay. I mean, it's kind of surreal being back here and it's not easy. But I'm okay. Charlie and Joey have been amazing and I love that I have Claire as well. And you guys, you know, Xavier and Dex and everyone have really helped."
"I'm glad," Romeo said. "We all do really care about you, Ruby."
Ruby looked at him gratefully.
"Thank you," she said, genuinely touched by his kindness. "I appreciate that."
Mitzy was even more out of sorts than usual when Marilyn showed up at the hospital.
"Mitzy, what's wrong?" Marilyn asked. "Is everything okay?"
"I'd really like to go home, please," Mitzy said.
"But you're sick. You need to be looked after."
"Marilyn, I'm already dying," Mitzy said. "Being here isn't going to help. I'd rather be at home than stuck in a hospital."
With Sid, she added quietly.
"Please?" she persisted. "Take me home."
When the next team came to take over, Charlie and Watson popped into the restaurant to grab a quick bite and of course, also to see Joey.
"You look busy," Charlie commented, stealing a quick kiss from her girlfriend.
"Yeah, we've been pretty rushed," Joey said. "Not that I'm complaining. How's your day going?"
"Slow," Charlie said. "We've had to set up a team to police the paps because people have started to complain about them hanging around."
"Sounds thrilling," Joey remarked.
"It really is," Charlie complained.
"Here's your take out," Claire said, appearing with boxes of food for the police officers.
"Thank you," Watson said gratefully.
"Enjoy," Joey said.
"We always do," Charlie said, stealing another kiss.
Joey was pleased to have a happy break amid the chaos of the day.
"Thank you Claire," Charlie added.
"You're welcome."
Miles went over to the Diner and sat down with Irene and Leah, explaining his encounter with Penn to them.
"So, what do you think I should do?" he asked. "I mean, he openly threatened me. And all of you. The kids. Joey and Charlie. Everyone that Alf is close to. Alf himself."
He ran his hands through his curly hair.
"What do I do?"
"I think it's time to call the police," Leah said. "I don't think we can keep trying to handle this by ourselves."
"I agree," Irene said. "And I mean, it's not like the police are going to be strangers. You just listed a cop as a potential victim, as someone who Alf is close to. If we just talk to Charlie…"
"I know but… this is about Alf, not about us. I think it should be his decision," Miles protested.
"But you know what he's like," Irene protested. "He'll refuse."
"Then how can we go against his wishes?" Miles said.
All of them were at a loss.
At the end of a long day, Charlie and Joey were very glad to be back at home. They had opted for take out from the restaurant and a DVD with Ruby and Claire. With the girls on an arm chair each, it was nice to cuddle up and take over the sofa, just relaxing and winding down for the day. Plus, neither of them were working the following day so they were looking forward to having the day together.
That night, Miles, Leah and Irene sat down together with Alf in order to try and persuade him to speak to Charlie about Penn.
"No," he said firmly.
"But…" Miles protested.
He had already explained what had happened earlier in the day but it hadn't moved him. He had already spoken to the kids and told them to be wary of Penn and stay well away from him.
"No," Alf said. "I'm not involving Charlie and I don't even want to discuss it with Joey anymore because of the position it puts her in with her girlfriend. It's not fair."
"Alf, you can't let this continue," Leah pleaded. "It's getting too dangerous."
"Let me deal with this in my own way!" Alf snapped. "Please!"
He stormed off to bed.
Next time… Alf's friends make an official complaint against Penn, Romeo and Indi decide to take the next step and Dex buys a new pet…
