Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you had a fantastic Christmas and that 2019 brings you everything you want. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Four Hundred and Ninety
Charlie and Joey waited at International Arrivals for Leah and VJ. They had rather childishly written a sign with Leah and VJ's names on it to hold up while they were waiting in order to make them laugh when they walked out.
On cue, Leah and VJ appeared, dragging their suitcases behind them. They both spotted the sign and both burst out laughing.
"Hey!" Leah protested when VJ abandoned his suitcases and ran up to Joey, flinging his arms around her.
Knowing her place, Charlie hurried forward and grabbed the boy's suitcase.
"Thank you," Leah said gratefully. "Sorry."
"I know I'm below Joey in the pecking order," Charlie chuckled.
The four of them stepped out of the flow of people. VJ turned and hugged Charlie tightly.
"Hey, Veej," Charlie said. "Did you have a good time?"
"We had the best time, didn't we Mum?" VJ said enthusiastically. "Oh, we did so much cool stuff! Elijah was so awesome while we were out there. He has this ministry where he helps so many people and we did volunteering and he showed us round the town on his days off and we…"
"VJ, breathe," Leah said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "We have an entire car journey to talk."
"Okay," VJ said, a little embarrassed. "We just had a really good time. And Mum and Elijah had a really good time together too."
He smiled happily at his Mum. She smiled back but it didn't meet her eyes.
"I did miss you though, Joey," VJ added. "And you, Charlie."
"We missed you too, VJ," Joey said.
"Did you really?"
"Of course!" she said. "Shall we get you and your Mum home? The two of you must be exhausted!"
"I'm not!"
"I am!" Leah said. "Please! Get us home!"
After quite an enthusiastic car journey home, where Charlie and Joey had learned pretty much everything there was to know about their trip to Africa from VJ's perspective, the foursome had arrived back at the house.
Leah and VJ had been delighted at all the lovely decorations around the house and also all the food that Joey had cooked and put in the fridge and freezer. Leah had sent her son off to unpack and the chill out for a little while and made some coffee for herself and her friends.
"So, how did the holiday go as far as you and Elijah are concerned?" Joey asked, getting right to the point.
Ruby was walking along the beach with Claire and Nicole when she spotted Alex out for a run. Hormones surged within her as she saw him in shorts and a tight fitting t-shirt. He looked gorgeous, all hot and sweaty – different to his normal work clothes. She froze for a moment before deciding the moment could not be passed up.
"Hey, Alex!" she yelled.
The girls looked up too, having not actually met this guy before. Alex was still too far away and hadn't heard Ruby call.
"Alex!" Ruby yelled louder, waving somewhat erratically.
"Ruby, I don't think he can hear you," Nicole said.
"Alex!" Ruby called again, waving even more.
The driving instructor continued to run some distance away. Ruby bolted into a run towards him until she was standing right in front of him, almost knocking him down.
"Oh!" he said surprised, taking his earphones out. "Hey."
"Hey," Ruby said, trying to sound casual.
Claire and Nicole approached very slowly.
"How are you doing?"
"Yeah, okay," Alex said. "Just… out for a run. You?"
"Yeah, just… out with my friends," Ruby said, vaguely gesturing to Claire and Nicole who were still approaching awkwardly and slowly.
"Okay," Alex said. "Well, uh… see you at our next lesson then."
"See you."
He put his music back on and ran off along the beach. Ruby watched him go. Claire and Nicole caught up with her.
"That was… embarrassing," Ruby said.
"It wasn't that bad," Claire tried.
"Please don't try and make me feel better."
Leah sipped her coffee, not looking very happy.
"Elijah and I got along fine," she said. "We spent every day together. We had a nice time. He did all the lovely things that VJ said. But… it's over."
Charlie and Joey both felt sad.
"How come?" Joey asked.
"We just… couldn't make it work," Leah said. "He needs to be there and I need to be here and we just… couldn't compromise. We care for each other. Love each other even. But we're in different places. Literally."
"I'm sorry, Leah," Charlie said.
"But now VJ thinks everything is fine and we're making it work and I don't want to break his heart," Leah said unhappily.
"He's pretty resilient," Joey said. "He'll cope. You know he will."
"I know," Leah said. "I just hate disappointing him."
"You could never disappoint him, Leah," Joey assured her. "He loves you. He just wants you to be happy."
Leah sighed heavily, hoping her friends were right.
"Look, it's not like he doesn't know you like him," Claire pointed out. "You've both already established that there's something between you. I don't think this is a big deal."
She looked helplessly at Nicole.
"Exactly right," Nicole lied. "So you were a bit silly. It doesn't matter. Brush it off and move on."
"Are you guys sure?" Ruby asked.
"Absolutely," the girls said in unison.
They both hugged her.
"Now, let's do something fun to take your mind off it," Claire suggested.
Nicole couldn't help but wonder if Claire needed her mind taking off it as well. She had seen the pain on Claire's face during all of that. She had seen for months the way that Claire looked at Ruby. And she had seen the disappointment each time Ruby had talked about liking someone or wanting to like someone. Claire was in love with Ruby and Ruby had no idea. She just hoped that poor Claire didn't get hurt.
"I just can't believe I've missed so much," Leah said, astonished at all the news Charlie and Joey had to share with her.
Penn Graham was dead. Alf Stewart was the prime suspect. And Detective Robert Robertson was back in town leading the case.
"He was pretty disappointed to find out that you were away," Charlie told her.
"He was?"
"I think you're the only person in Summer Bay who likes him!"
Leah laughed.
"That's not fair," Charlie corrected. "Colleen is quite partial to him as well."
Leah laughed harder.
"Seriously though, he really has been a pain in the fucking arse since he's been here," Charlie said more seriously. "We've actually nearly come to blows."
"Really?" Leah said. "I mean, he can't be worse than when he was investigating you?"
"He's actually worse," Charlie said. "He's been a nightmare."
"Maybe he'll play nicer now you're back in town," Joey said. "He'll be trying to impress you now you're back."
"Hardly!" Leah said, laughing at Joey's teasing, sing-song voice.
"We'll see," Joey said.
Later that day, with Miles having popped round to see them, Leah left him to catch up with VJ while she went to see Irene and check on the Diner. She just couldn't keep herself away any longer. She was just leaving when she bumped into Detective Robertson outside.
"Hello, Leah," he greeted warmly.
"I heard you were back in the Bay causing trouble," she said.
"I've not been causing trouble," he denied. "I've been here trying to find the culprit of the trouble."
"It's nice to see you," she said honestly.
She had heard all about the pain in the backside that he had been but despite all of that, she had felt a genuine connection with him the first time he had visited Summer Bay and that wasn't something she could ignore.
"And you," he replied sincerely. "You were the main reason I accepted this case."
"I was?"
"I was disappointed when I had to leave last time," he said. "When this case came up, I saw it as an opportunity to come back and see if there was anything between us."
"Honestly, I don't know," Leah admitted.
"Well, I heard you were off in Africa with your boyfriend so…" he sighed.
"Well, I was in Africa," Leah said. "But I don't have a boyfriend anymore."
"You don't?" he asked. "I am so very sorry."
He grinned at his own insincerity, making her laugh.
"I went over there to see if we could make things work but we couldn't," she said. "But it's still pretty raw. I'm not in the right place to consider a new relationship right now."
He was obviously disappointed.
"But I would like to be friends," she said. "With you, I mean."
"I can do friends," he said brightly. "Consider us friends."
That evening, Ruby was feeling down. She was absorbed with her phone and Charlie and Joey could barely get a grunt out of her.
"Ruby, what's up?" Charlie asked. "I can feel the moodiness emanating from you!"
Ruby just glared at her.
"What's wrong?" Charlie persisted. "Can we help?"
"No, you'll just tell me off," the teenager said.
"Why would we tell you off?" Joey asked.
"What have you done?" Charlie asked.
Ruby glared again.
"I mean, we won't tell you off," Charlie corrected herself.
"I just really embarrassed myself in front of Alex today," Ruby said unhappily.
Charlie was confused.
"You didn't have a lesson today," she said.
"Claire, Nicole and I saw him on the beach and I just made an idiot of myself," Ruby said. "He's never going to like me now."
"If he doesn't like you as you are then he's not worth it," Joey said.
Neither of them wanted him to like her as she was. Neither of them thought he was worth it.
"Are you saying I'm an idiot?" Ruby asked.
"Of course not!" Joey said.
"We're saying he's an idiot," Charlie said.
"Nowhere near good enough for our girl," Joey said.
"I know you think you're helping but you're not," Ruby said unhappily. "I think I'm going to have an early night."
She slumped off to her room.
In the early hours of the morning, John sneaked out of Gina's house again. This was turning into quite the habit. In his room, Xavier was sure he could hear strange noises.
Next time… Alex makes his move, Claire is mortified and Nicole is in turmoil…
