Chapter Four Hundred and Ninety Five
It was the following evening and it had been another long day in Summer Bay. The investigation into Penn's death had been in full force and everyone was feeling the intensity of the situation. Robertson was pulling no punches and Charlie was feeling particularly on edge, as was Watson. They both knew that his main suspect was innocent but neither of them knew how to prove it. Joey had given Alf time off work and she was alarmed that he had actually agreed to take it. And it was bad timing that Miles had gone off to Africa to look after Elijah. Alf needed his friend right now.
Working at the restaurant for the evening, Joey was busy but glad that Charlie had opted to keep her company, even helping out when the occasion demanded. Mostly, she was sat at the bar looking pretty and drinking mocktails.
Over in the corner, the kids – Claire, Dex, Nicole, Indi, Romeo, Ruby, April and Xavier were all out to dinner together, which had been somewhat of a surprise booking. Apparently, Claire had bumped into Dex earlier in the day and he was still feeling a bit down after his failed date with Detective Graves. So, being the kind heart that she was, Claire had sought Nicole's help in arranging a night out for them all. Nicole had jumped at the chance. She was stressed about her exams. Indi was even more stressed out. And who knew where Romeo's head was at when it came to his? It sounded like for different reasons, all of them needed a night of fun.
Sat round the table, Ruby was glad to be out for the evening. She had been hiding away for a couple of days now but it was just like Claire to force her out for the night with her friends. But she was determined to draw a line under her dating disaster with Alex and move on. And not onto some other guy either. She needed to do what her parents said. She needed to learn to be happy by herself.
"Okay, I'm going to be nice to you once and that's it," Indi said to her brother. "That Detective Graves was no way good enough for you. You're smart, you're weird and you're going to meet a nice girl someday who really gets you. Okay? Now I'm officially going back to being your mean sister."
"Thanks," Dex said.
Secretly, it meant a lot. Romeo smiled at his girlfriend and put his arm around her. It had taken quite a lot of persuading to get her to come out tonight but so far, it seemed like it had been a good move.
"You will, Dex," April said. "There's someone for everyone."
Claire winced. This wasn't the sort of encouragement that Ruby needed right now.
"And in the meantime, we single people need to be happy on our own," Ruby said cheerfully. "My parents said so."
"What, the happiest couple on earth?" Xavier remarked, glancing over at Charlie and Joey who just happened to be kissing over the bar.
"Yep, those people!" Ruby said proudly. "They said love comes at the right time."
"Well, thankfully, it came to April and I early," Xavier said.
"Nobody likes a smug bastard," Romeo told him.
"You're a smug bastard too," Xavier pointed out.
"No, I'm not," Romeo shot back. "Indi and I are happy but we're not showing off. We're out to celebrate Dex and Ruby and Claire and Nicole for who they are. Not to show off because we happen to have met each other."
"Yeah, they're not smug," Nicole agreed. "It's just you."
"Definitely you," Ruby said.
"Not me though," April said. "Just you. Please don't tarnish me with him."
"We won't," Dex said. "We prefer you."
Xavier looked irritated.
Liam strolled into the restaurant with his girlfriend, Nina and requested a table. Angelo found him one and got them seat.
"Nice to see you back," he said when Liam had done introductions. "And nice to meet you, Nina."
"Nice to meet you," Nina said, not that she had heard anything about whoever he was.
Liam hadn't mentioned him.
"Are you back for good?" Angelo asked.
"Yes," Liam said. "Summer Bay is definitely my home. I just needed to get away for a bit."
"Well, I'm sure everyone is pleased to have you back," Angelo said.
"Maybe not everyone," Liam remarked, thinking of Bianca.
As if on cue, Bianca walked through the door with Vittorio. Joey stepped forward to show her to her table, which she had thoughtfully pre-booked. Liam didn't know if he was pleased or disappointed that their table was far away. He caught himself being watched by Nina.
"Well, I'll leave you with menus," Angelo said brightly. "Are you ready to order any drinks?"
Back at the bar, Joey and Charlie hoped nothing would kick off between the couples.
"So, I heard things didn't work out with that Alex guy," Xavier said insensitively.
April kicked him very hard under the table.
"Ow!" he protested loudly.
"Would you like us to start talking about relationships that haven't worked out for you?" Nicole asked.
He opened his mouth and shut it again.
"No because it's not nice, is it?"
"I said you were smug," Romeo commented.
He put an affectionate hand on Ruby's shoulder.
"Just ignore him, Ruby," he said. "He knows nothing."
Indi smiled, proud of her boyfriend for being such a nice guy. Everyone loved Romeo.
"Ugh, you're so lucky to have someone like him," Nicole complained to Indi. "Why do I meet all the bastards like Penn? And I mean, he was just the last in a long line, quite frankly."
"Come on, there has to be someone eligible round here," Indi said.
"Nope," Nicole said. "I am officially off the market."
"At least you're going to Uni next year," Ruby said. "You've got a whole new world ahead of you. I'm just stuck in the same school with the same people. It's so boring."
"Well, hopefully we're going to Uni," Indi said doubtfully.
Romeo's heart sank. Why did the subject of University have to come up? Tonight was supposed to be about escaping from romantic disasters and exam stress but it seemed to be all anyone was willing to talk about.
"Oh, Indi, shut up," Dex said. "You've not got your nose out of a book for months. Of course you're going to pass. You're only banging on about failing to get attention. It's getting boring."
"I am genuinely anxious!" Indi argued.
"Well, keep it to yourself!" Dex argued back. "Don't you think Romeo and Nicole are stressed as well? It's not all about you, you know."
"Well, this is turning into a great evening," Ruby said sourly.
"Sorry," Claire said quietly.
"It's not your fault," Ruby said. "I just don't think anyone is in the mood."
"Oh my…"Dex managed, looking up.
Robertson and Graves had just walked through the door.
Joey rolled her eyes at Charlie when she saw the two new arrivals. She was just glad that Alf was safely tucked away at home.
"Angelo, can you?" she asked.
"I'm on it," he said.
He was at least feeling better about the investigation since Joey had reassured him.
"How can I help you?" he asked, approaching them.
"Table for two, please," Robertson said pleasantly.
"Sure," he said, deliberately leading them over to a table in the corner, away from anyone else.
Dex watched Graves walk past him. He still felt rejected and used by her. He still wished that someone would like him. Nobody ever did.
"Dex, stop looking," Indi told her brother. "She's just not into you."
"Why not?" Dex asked desperately. "What's wrong with me?"
"Do you want a list?" his sister joked.
Dex sighed heavily. Ruby felt his pain. Sometimes she wished that she liked him. Two lonely hearts together. But he just didn't tick her boxes.
Bianca was struggling to concentrate and she was trying not to let it show. She was trying to focus on Vittorio. She was trying to focus on her fiancé and enjoy her evening with him. But in the back of her mind, she was aware that Liam was only a few tables away from her. He was sat, seemingly having a lovely night out with his new girlfriend. She was jealous. She was jealous that she was torn up over her feelings for him and that she was faking her own happiness when he had moved on so easily. And she was annoyed that he was shoving his new life in her face. Why couldn't he have just stayed away?
"Are you sure you want to eat with me?" Robertson remarked. "You don't want to join your boyfriend and your mates?"
"Give me strength," Graves replied, rolling her eyes.
And actually, Dex was a sweet guy. But there was no way that she would have dated him. There was no way she would have even considered a single date with him if Robertson hadn't pushed it. She actually thought Romeo was quite hot, if any of those guys were. But really, her heart was with Detective Robertson. Not that she thought he would ever notice her.
"Poor guy," Robertson said. "He was quite smitten with you."
"He's a child," Graves said. "I can't believe you made me go out with him."
"The things we do for the truth," Roberson said.
"Right, how are we going to cheer this evening up?" Xavier asked. "Because this was supposed to be a fun night out and so far, all we've done is complain about you lot being single, told me I'm smug because I'm not and then stressed out about your exams. Can we start having a good time please?"
"Yes please," Ruby said.
"Yeah, Romeo promised that tonight was going to distract me from my exams, not make me talk about them," Indi agreed.
"So what shall we do?" April wondered.
"We could play a game," Xavier suggested.
"Yeah, that was so fun last time," Romeo said bitterly.
"Yeah, I don't want to do that," Indi agreed.
Charlie and Joey's housewarming had not been a good night for them. She was just grateful that they had come back from that stronger than ever. And they had finally left the ghost of Annie far behind them.
"What then?" Xavier asked. "Dex? Any ideas?"
He repeated his friend's name several times but Dex was too busy looking over at Graves who was sat alone at her table. Robertson seemed to have disappeared.
"I'm going to speak to her," he decided.
The others all begged him not to. He ignored them.
"Uh oh," Joey said at the bar. "Don't look now."
Charlie looked.
"I said don't look!" Joey hissed.
They both watched as Dex walked up to Graves. Everyone watching knew it would be a disaster.
"Hey, Detective Graves," he said. "How are you doing?"
"Um… hey. Fine. You?"
"Yeah, I'm good," he said. "Just out with my mates."
"And your sister."
"Yeah, Indi's here too. And Romeo. You remember them."
"Yes," she said.
Things were hideously awkward.
"So um… do you think you'd be interested in going out again sometime?" he tried.
"No," she replied.
At their table, his friends felt sorry for him, none more than Claire.
"Oh."
"Look, I don't want to be cruel or anything but can you just stop hanging around me?" Graves said. "It's getting embarrassing. I went out with you because my boss told me to, not because I was ever interested in you. You're funny. You're weird. You're kind of nice. But you're a kid and you're not my type. So just go back to your friends, okay? Find someone else to be interested in."
Dex sighed heavily and walked away.
"Sorry, Dex," Ruby said kindly.
"There's no chance that you all missed any of that, is there?" he asked glumly.
Surprising them all, Claire got to her feet and walked over to Graves.
"What's Claire doing?" Angelo wondered, stepping up beside Joey.
"I have no idea," Joey said but inside, her pride was growing.
She, Angelo and Charlie watched Claire approach Graves who was still alone at her table.
"Detective Graves?" she said with more confidence than she felt.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Claire," she said. "Dex's friend."
Graves rolled her eyes.
"Don't roll your eyes at me," Claire said. "I'm not a kid. I'm a grown woman."
"Yeah, you are," Joey said to herself with a grin.
At their table, Dex and his friends were watching. Ruby couldn't believe that her meek friend was being so bold.
"What do want then?"
"I want you to apologise for the way you spoke to Dex," Claire said. "He's a nice guy and you made him think that you liked him. You were completely out of order for treating him the way you did. And tonight you've humiliated him all over again. How dare you do that to someone? Who the hell do you think you are?"
Liam sat back in his seat, an admiring smile on his face as Claire stood up to this woman. He accidentally caught Bianca's eye as she too admired the way that Claire was protecting her friend. Graves looked around her, at the way that people were silently praising Claire.
"I didn't mean to upset anyone," she said.
"Well you did," Claire said. "You upset Dex on multiple occasions and it's not acceptable. You can't charge through life hurting people. You can't look down your nose at people thinking you're better than everyone else because one day you'll look around and realise that you're not. And worse – you'll realise that you're alone. So I want you apologise to him."
Robertson arrived back, hovering nearby. Graves looked at him but he remained away and she realised she was on her own. Suddenly, she wasn't in awe of him anymore. She looked at Claire and then over at Dex. She looked around her. Everyone was watching. She sighed heavily and stood up, following Claire over to the table and to Dex.
"Dex," she said. "I'm sorry for the way I've treated you and for the way I spoke to you tonight."
"I forgive you."
She looked back at Robertson and then walked out of the restaurant. Everyone but Robertson broke into applause for Claire, who sank down into her seat, mortified and wanting the world to swallow her up.
"Who knew you had that in you?" Nicole remarked.
"I did," Ruby said lovingly, putting her arm around her friend.
Dex had a new crush.
Next time… Charlie and Watson are on a mission, Roo and Alf attempt to reconnect while Angelo can't hide his crush…
