Happy Easter everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the bank holiday and didn't eat too much chocolate. Please enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Four Hundred and Seventy Nine
It was early and Shandi was all packed up and ready to skip town. She headed over to Summer Bay House and knocked on the door. Miles answered, clearly on his way to work. He did not look pleased to see her.
"Can I help you?" he snapped.
"I'm just here to pay my caravan fees," she said. "I'm heading out of this joint."
"I'm surprised," he said. "I'd have thought you'd just leave without paying. That's more your style, isn't it? You don't normally care about how you treat the people or things around you."
"Bitter, much?" she remarked.
"Can you blame me?" he asked. "One minute you were all over me and the next you didn't even want to speak to me."
"Oh, come on, Miles," she said casually. "It was just a fling! Get over it!"
"I am over it," he said. "Money, please."
He held out his hand. She handed it over, flashed him a smile and left.
Dex was all dressed up in a suit. Today was the day he was finally going to woo Detective Graves.
"Nope," Sid said, looking up from his newspaper.
Dex's face fell.
"What?"
"You are not going out like that."
"Why?"
"Because you're going to school. And in school, you wear your uniform."
"Dad, this is my love life, we're talking about," Dex insisted. "It's important."
"Not as important as school," Sid replied.
"It's not like I'm exactly going to fall behind," Dex said.
He was months ahead in all his subjects, if not years.
"Still no," Sid said. "Go and put your uniform on, eat your breakfast and go to school."
Marilyn and Indi tried not to look amused. Dex was distraught as he stormed back into his bedroom and slammed the door.
Moments later, he reappeared in his uniform and aviator sunglasses.
"Fine," he snapped, picking up his school bag. "This will have to do."
At the restaurant, Alf was feeling fretful.
"Are you sure Charlie didn't get into any trouble because of me?" he asked.
Joey touched his arm kindly.
"I am sure," she said. "She's been taken off the case, which she's glad about but there have been no other repercussions. This top boss guy, Nick Parrish came down and had a meeting with her and he really listened to her."
"Nick Parrish?" Alf said with a small smile. "I know Nick from years ago. He's a good bloke."
"He sounds it."
"He worked at Yabbie Creek Police Station for years," Alf said. "Lived here in Summer Bay. Had a brother, Shane. Always in trouble as a kid but then shaped up. Became a family man. But he died on his first wedding anniversary. It was so sad."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Joey said genuinely.
Alf shook himself out his memories.
"I love this town," he said. "I love this town and the people in it. Everyone that's been and gone. I've shared so much with people, the laughter and the loss. I'd never hurt anyone, Joey. Not even someone like Penn."
"I know, Alf," Joey said, squeezing his hand. "I know. And so does Charlie. We'll find out who did this. We know it wasn't you."
Dex sauntered into school wearing aviator glasses. He wasn't sure what he expected but it wasn't the look of sheer confusion or the mocking sneers that he received.
"Why are you wearing those?" April asked, bewildered.
"Um… I thought they were cool," he said.
"Dude, they're not," Xavier said, putting his arm around his girlfriend.
Upset, Dex took them off and walked back out of school.
Charlie and Watson were on patrol, walking the streets of Yabbie Creek. It was good to get out of the station, where Robertson was always throwing his arrogant weight around.
Charlie's phone rang. She smiled. It was Joey.
"Hey," she greeted warmly.
"Date night tonight," Joey informed her. "Up for it?"
"Yes, please," Charlie accepted.
"I'll arrange it all. All you have to do is show up."
"Sounds perfect to me."
They hung up.
"Don't tell me," Watson said. "Something hideously romantic and sickly."
"Date night," Charlie said dreamily.
Watson made a retching motion, making Charlie laugh.
"As if you and Kerri aren't romantic," Charlie said.
"I'm starting to worry that we're falling into that domestic situation," Watson fretted. "You know, the boring stage?"
"Uh oh," Charlie said worriedly.
"I know. I don't' know what do."
She grabbed Charlie's arm dramatically
"What do I do?"
"Date night is a start," Charlie said.
"But I don't have the imagination," Watson said.
"Of course you do," Charlie said dismissively. "You're Watson. You can do anything."
Watson continued to look worried.
"How about tomorrow night, we go on a double date?" Charlie said. "Just dinner. Nothing excessive. Just to get the two of you out of your flat, having a drink, having fun?"
"Yes, please!"
With her bags packed, Shandi caught up with Will on the beach.
"I'm leaving town," she said, getting straight to the point.
"What?" he asked, upset.
"There's nothing left for me here," she said with a shrug. "And I don't like to stay in one place for long."
"What about me?"
"Ah, come on," she said. "It was never going to be a long term thing."
She gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked away. He felt genuinely abandoned.
Dex had no plans to return to school. He went to the Diner, where he was fairly sure Graves did a coffee run in the morning.
"Bingo," he said to himself when he saw Graves and Robertson inside.
He took a deep breath and approached Graves. Robertson was busy chatting to Colleen who was crowing about something insignificant as usual.
"Hey," he attempted.
He tried to ignore the fact that she looked like she had rolled her eyes.
"How are you this morning?"
"Shouldn't you be at school?" Graves asked.
"Nah," he said casually. "I didn't really feel like it today."
"Well, I'm busy," Graves said, looking at Robertson who was approaching them.
"Good morning, young Dexter," he greeted, patronising him.
"Morning," Dex mumbled.
"Shall we?" Robertson asked Graves.
"Yep," Graves said brightly, her tone completely changed.
Dex watched them walk off together.
Will returned home, miserable. He felt lost and alone and utterly miserable. He knew that Shandi was reckless and ultimately bad for him but he felt protected when he was with her. He felt like they were in it together. She made him feel safe. And now she was gone and he didn't know what to do.
"Hey, love," Irene greeted when he walked through the door. "You don't look great. What's up?"
"Shandi's left town," he told her.
"Oh, fantastic!" she said, unable to hide her true feelings.
"No," he snapped. "Not fantastic! I really liked her, Irene."
"I'm sorry, love, but she was no good for you," Irene told him. "Now you can stop being so distracted and you can focus on what really matters."
He looked somewhat blank.
"Your daughter," she said. "Remember her?"
He sighed heavily.
"And maybe your marriage?" Irene pushed. "You've got a wife out there and a daughter who needs both her parents. You need to start shaping up."
Annoyed, he stormed into his room, feeling like the angry teenager he used to be.
"Hey, um… you know we're doing the whole double date thing tomorrow…?" Charlie asked, approaching Watson at the reception desk.
"What do you want?" Watson asked.
She was very familiar with the tone Charlie used when she was after a favour.
"Well, I just had a call from Joey and we were wondering if Ruby could have a sleepover with Claire tonight," Charlie said, leaning against the desk, opposite Watson. "She's perfectly fine to stay the night on her own while we out overnight but she's a bit… up and down at the moment. She's got this crush on her driving instructor and you know what she's like when she likes someone. And with everything she went through before… We've not actually left her alone overnight before and we just want to be able to relax while we're out and not worry about her."
Watson put her hand on Charlie's, interrupting her.
"It's cool," Watson said. "You don't need to explain. Or even ask. We'll have Ruby any time. She's no trouble. She's part of the furniture anyway, she and Claire are inseparable."
Charlie thanked her gratefully.
"No worries. Have fun."
They both looked up when Dex walked through the front door, an unusual site. Then they saw Detective Graves looking frozen to the spot and embarrassed. He was holding a rather sad bunch of flowers. Robertson paused in the doorway to his office, an amused smile on his face.
"Hey, um… Detective Graves…"
He panicked slightly when he realised he didn't actually know her first name.
"I was wondering if I could take you to dinner tonight."
Charlie and Watson tried not to giggle as Graves looked like she wanted the world to swallow her whole.
"I really don't think so," she said flatly.
Dex looked crestfallen.
Charlie couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He really had no luck.
"Oh, Graves," Robertson said, stepping forward. "Give the guy a chance. He bought you flowers."
Graves looked confused, as did Charlie and Watson, although Charlie had worked out a while ago that Graves had a crush on her superior.
"He's a nice boy, handsome enough," Robertson continued, putting arm around them both. "And I hear he's super smart. Give him a chance. And if it breaks the tension, why don't you make it a double date?"
Dex and Graves looked even more bewildered.
"Your sister and her boyfriend would make it easier, wouldn't they?"
"Indi and Romeo?" Dex asked.
"Yeah, they're the ones! Double dates are way easier than the tension of two people on a first date," Robertson said. "Isn't that right, Watson?"
"Um… yeah?" Watson said.
Charlie remained silent, knowing full well that Robertson was up to something.
"Fine," Graves said. "At the weekend. We'll do dinner or something."
She wasn't happy about it. But she always did what Robertson told her.
Dex was thrilled. Now he just had to persuade Indi and Romeo to play along.
Bianca stopped abruptly in the lobby of Vittorio's hotel when she spotted him leaning across the reception desk, flirting with a pretty, young member of staff. Bad memories hit her hard and she froze. She couldn't help but wonder if she was ever going to be able to trust him or if she was going to hate him every time she saw him talking to someone.
He paused when he saw her and she could read the guilt on his face. She knew then that she hadn't been imagining it. He had been flirting with her. He had been flirting with another woman, after everything that had happened between them. He had been flirting with someone else when he knew how much she was struggling at the moment. It made her feel like he didn't care about her. And if he didn't care about her, what was the point?
Will came out of his room several hours later. But it was the wrong moment. Lily was in the lounge watching TV. Irene was on the phone and Will knew exactly who she was speaking to. She was on the phone to Gypsy, spilling everything that had been going on with him and Lily. He was furious. He started shouting before she had even hung up.
"Now, you wait a minute, young man!" Irene countered.
He stopped.
Irene sent Lily off to her room to play, explaining that she and her Daddy needed to have a chat. She obeyed without complaint.
"You haven't been very honest with me, have you?" she accused.
"I don't know what you mean," he lied.
"Well, according to Gypsy, the breakdown of your marriage was down to you, not her," Irene said. "She didn't just run off and abandon you and little Lily, did she? No. You cheated on her."
He hung his head, ashamed.
"How dare you come here and paint her as the bad guy? I've been thinking so badly of her all this time, walking out on you, neglecting her child."
"Well, she did."
"Because you broke her heart!" Irene said, clipping him round the ear.
"Ow!" he complained.
"You need to sort yourself out, Will Smith!" Irene said. "You're a mess. You need to shape up, work hard, stop messing around with stupid girls like Shandi, be a Dad to your daughter and maybe, just maybe, Gypsy will consider giving you a second chance. And if not, it's all your own fault. And you can't dwell on it. You just need to get on with your life. And focus on your child."
He nodded.
"Stop getting distracted by the mess you've made."
"Okay."
"Good."
She sighed and shook her head.
"I used to be so proud of you. Now I'm nothing but disappointed."
She walked away but paused when she heard him crying. She had no choice but to turn back and hold him.
Charlie and Joey dropped Ruby over at Claire's for the night. She had protested that she didn't need babysitting but really, she hadn't minded a sleepover with her best friend. It wasn't like they didn't do it all the time or they ever got tired of each other's company.
After safely depositing their daughter with Kerri, Watson, Claire and Danny, Joey directed Charlie down to the docks, where she had borrowed the Blaxland from Alf for the night. It was the place they had shared their first kiss and so would always be special to them.
"Oh, yay!" Charlie said when they arrived.
"I got it for mates rates," Joey said, as they got out of the car. "By which I mean, for free."
Charlie laughed.
They climbed on board and Charlie was delighted to find that Joey had decorated the board with fairy lights and cushions and blankets. She'd provided music and food and everything they could possibly need.
"Is it okay?" Joey asked anxiously.
"It's perfect," Charlie said, pulling her girlfriend into her arms and kissing her.
Bianca had forced herself not to just turn and leave when she'd seen Vittorio flirting with that girl. She'd stayed and now that were sat at a table in the hotel restaurant. But she knew her mood was unfriendly, bordering on unpleasant. And she just couldn't cheer herself up.
"Look, can we just talk about this please?" Vittorio asked, frustrated.
"What, that every time I see you, you're hanging around some girl?"
"We were just talking," he denied.
"No, you weren't!" she snapped, a little louder than she intended.
A couple of people turned to look.
"Don't lie to me," she said more quietly.
"We were just talking," Vittorio said. "Flirting is just my way. I'm sorry. There's nothing in it. I don't mean it."
"Like you didn't mean it when you slept with that woman? At our engagement party?"
He sighed heavily.
"You're never going to forgive me, are you?" he asked.
"I have," she said.
They both knew it wasn't true.
"I want to," she corrected.
He reached out and held her hand.
"What have I got to do to prove myself to you?" he asked.
"Stop flirting with every girl you meet?"
"I don't even realise I'm doing it," he almost pleaded. "Honestly, Bianca. I would never touch another woman. I'd never do anything with another woman. I love you. Only you. I only want you. For the rest of my life, I only want you. I don't know I'm flirting. I think I'm just talking. I'm sorry."
She sighed heavily. She just didn't know what to do.
Charlie and Joey had enjoyed a lovely dinner.
"You know, I think I struck gold when I fell in love with a chef," Charlie mused.
"Well, now I feel a little used," Joey complained jokingly.
"Don't worry," Charlie said, pulling her in for a kiss. "I love you for all your talents."
Joey laughed.
"I love you for all yours as well."
She pulled Charlie down on top of her, eager for their night alone under the stars.
Bianca and Vittorio had finished dinner. They were now up in Vittorio's hotel suite. Bianca lay on the bed. Vittorio was on top of her, kissing her passionately. Bianca closed her eyes. She saw Liam in her head. She couldn't help but wonder where he was and what he was doing. She saw Vittorio with that girl downstairs. She saw him the night of their engagement party, in bed with that other woman.
She tried to focus. She tried to keep kissing him. She tried not to lose her head. But she couldn't. She pushed him away and climbed off the bed, pulling her top back on.
Vittorio sat back on the bed, looking sad.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I have to go."
And she did just that.
Having had no such problems, Charlie and Joey lay wrapped in blankets in each other's arms on the deck of the boat, which was softened by plenty of cushions.
"Thank you for arranging tonight," Charlie said. "It's been good to get away and spend proper time together, just you and me."
"Well, it's important to have date night," Joey said. "Not get lost in domesticity."
"Oh, speaking of date night," Charlie said. "I need to book a table for four at the restaurant tomorrow night?"
"You do?"
"Me, you, Watson and Kerri," Charlie said. "I think they're suffering… domesticity."
Joey nodded.
"Consider it booked," she said.
They kissed.
"I love you so much," Joey said sincerely.
"I love you too," Charlie said, kissing her again. "You're my soul mate."
Next time… Charlie, Joey, Watson and Kerri double date, Ruby falls out with her parents and Vittorio gives up…
