Chapter Five Hundred and Forty Five

Alf bumped into Charlie and Joey in the car park outside the Diner the next morning. Charlie was dressed in her uniform, ready to tackle work again for the rest of the week. Not especially wanting her to go, Joey had persuaded her to go for a coffee first.

"What are you up to this morning?" Joey asked.

"I've got a meeting with John to discuss the handover for the Surf Club," he explained.

Joey smiled.

"You're really getting into the swing of things, aren't you?" she remarked, pleased to hear him so positive now that everything had been sorted out with the case.

"Yeah," he said. "I am."

He headed into the Surf Club while she and Charlie headed into the Diner. They said hello to Leah and took a table.

"Now, you're not going to get yourself into any kind of trouble today, are you?"

"I promise," Charlie said. "I'll be a good girl all day long. Well, maybe until tonight."

They both laughed when Colleen, who had been attempting to eavesdrop, nearly dropped a cup and scuttled quickly away.

"Oops," Charlie remarked unapologetically.


It wasn't long before Alf had thundered back out of the Surf Club, his mood completely evaporated. His meeting with John had not gone well at all. He had asked his friend to look after the Surf Club while he had been battling criminal proceedings. He had not asked him to completely change how everything was run. But evidently, he had waited until Alf was incarcerated and unable to witness what was going on before wading in and making changes that he knew that Alf wouldn't approve of. Alf was absolutely livid. They had argued until for both of their sakes, Alf had stormed out of the building.


"Doesn't this feel good?" Watson remarked.

Charlie eyed her curiously from the driver's seat. The pair of them were out on patrol.

"We haven't just done this, a normal patrol forever!" Watson said.

"That's true," Charlie agreed. "That's true. We have no murders to solve. No insane cases right now. It's just you and me…"

"And some River Boys," Watson said, pointing ahead.

A group of guys were smashing up a car.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Charlie complained, pulling over.


Alf stormed into the Diner, red faced and angry. Joey felt like she had been caught out for still being there. She had got distracted, talking to Leah and then spending some time with Irene and Lily who were still struggling in the wake of Will's incarceration.

"Alf, are you okay?" Colleen asked worriedly when she saw him.

Alf waved her away and headed over to Joey, who he had hoped would still be around. She pulled him over to a table. Leah poured them both cups of tea, deciding that a soothing drink might be in order.

"What's wrong?"

"John flamin' Palmer!" he raged.

"Oh."

"Do you know about all these changes he's made to the Surf Club?" he asked. "And the whole bloody building?"

"Well, of course I do," Joey said. "I'm upstairs, aren't I?"

Alf growled in frustration.

"He's just taken over the whole place!" he said. "I asked him to look after the place, not eradicate me! Not start changing it all!"

Leah brought their drinks over, asking if everything was alright.

"John's changes to the building," Joey explained.

"Oh."

"Why is everyone saying that?" Alf demanded. "Why haven't you objected? Stopped him?"

"We've kind of had other things on our minds, I guess," Joey said quietly. "Parents dying. Other parents in jail."

She looked sadly at him. He mellowed and reached for her hand.

"I'm sorry, love," he said. "I'm not getting at you."

Leah watched them, thinking to herself how sweet they were.

"I was just really eager to get back into the swing of things with the bait shop, the restaurant and taking over at the Surf Club again," Alf explained. "And the first two things are fine but John's just stamped all over the place and I don't know where I fit anymore."

"Hey," Leah said firmly. "You fit right back where you were. You're the beating heart of this town and don't you ever forget it."

"What she said," Joey put in.


That evening, Marilyn was nervous as she waited for Nicole to arrive for dinner with Sid and Nicole to discuss the way forward with the adoption. She prayed that it would go well. All she wanted in the world was this baby and she was terrified that it was going to fall apart somehow. For so many years, there had been a void in her life and this child could be the thing that filled it.


Charlie, Joey and Ruby were having dinner together.

"So, he's just quit the Surf Club altogether?" Charlie asked.

"Yep," Joey confirmed. "He was in an absolute rage about all the changes John has made."

"Well, some of them are pretty shitty, like the parking charges and stuff," Charlie remarked.

"Then he calmed down, met with John again and handed it all over to him," Joey continued. "Just like that. Like, 'if you think you're so good at the job, you do it', kind of thing."

"Well, I think it's very sad," Charlie admitted. "He's much better suited to the job than John. I've been longing for him to come back."

"Me too," Joey agreed. "I just want everything to go back to normal."

"At least he's reopening the bait shop and coming back to the restaurant," Ruby said, trying to be more positive.

Her parents smiled at her and agreed.

"So, what are you up to this evening?" Charlie asked her daughter.

"I have a study date with Romeo," Ruby said, unable to hide her glee.

"You seem to really be getting stuck into school this year," Joey said. "That's good."

"I just want to make the most of my last year," Ruby said.

She also wanted to spend as much time with Romeo as she possibly could. On cue, her phone beeped. Her heart sank when she read the message. Romeo had cancelled.

"What's up?" Charlie asked.

"Romeo's had to cancel," she told them, explaining that Nicole was upset and he needed to spend the evening with her.

Charlie and Joey were both immediately worried about Nicole.

"He didn't say what was wrong," Ruby said with a shrug.

She was annoyed that her friend was taking up Romeo's time when he had reserved the evening for her. She had loads of people to rely on. It didn't have to be Romeo. It wasn't fair.


The next morning, Ruby met up with Claire for breakfast before she went to school. Charlie and Joey took her there and had breakfast themselves, at a table the legally required distance away from their daughter.

"What can I get you?" Leah asked, approaching her friends.

Charlie and Joey both placed their orders.

"How's VJ doing at school?" Joey asked.

"He seems okay," Leah said. "He hasn't given me much detail. But he seems to be making friends. I know Ruby's looking out for him. And Dex. And he and Danny are in a lot of the same classes, which is good."

She looked over at Ruby and smiled. The teenager was in a very animated conversation with Claire, although she seemed to be doing most of the talking. In fact, Claire looked a little concerned. Indi walked past their table. Ruby called her over.

"Well, I'm glad he's doing well," Joey said. "I haven't seen him for ages. You should bring him round for dinner."

"Oh, he'd love that," Leah said. "Well, you know he'd love that!"

She giggled, as did Charlie and Joey. Joey blushed.


Across the Diner, Ruby was busily asking Indi if she knew if Nicole was okay.

"How the hell would I know?" Indi scowled.

"Sorry," Ruby said awkwardly. "I just thought because Romeo spent the evening looking after her… I didn't know if she'd had some bad news or something…"

"Hang on, Romeo spent the evening looking after Nicole?" Indi snapped.

Ruby and Claire exchanged awkward glances.

"I thought he was studying with you?" Indi demanded.

"Well, yeah, that was the plan but…"

Indi was furious. Last night, her Dad and Marilyn had informed her and Dex that they intended to adopt Nicole's baby. She was not on board with the plan. She had wanted to talk to her boyfriend about it immediately. She wanted to talk to her boyfriend about everything immediately. But out of respect for his studying, considering he had thrown his exams out of misguided loyalty to her, she hadn't wanted to disturb him. But now it turned out that he had known about the baby plan already and dumped his study session in favour of Nicole. She was furious.

"Why does everybody lie?" she snapped, storming out.


Charlie caught her daughter's eye across the room. Ruby shrugged and turned back to Claire.

"Why is she so pissed off with Romeo?" she asked. "He didn't do anything wrong. He was just trying to be a good friend."

"You were just literally slagging him off for ditching you," Claire reminded her.

"Well, yeah but that's not the point," Ruby replied.

"I do not miss being a teenager," Leah remarked, opting out of returning to work and joining Charlie and Joey at their table. "All that drama and chaos!"

"Hell no!" Joey laughed, shaking her head. "And poor VJ has it all to come! The girls, the hormones, the social status…"

She shuddered.

"You couldn't pay me to live through that hell again!"

"I agree," Charlie said.

Her teenage years had gone drastically wrong very early. One minute, she'd had friends and been popular. She'd even had what she thought was a nice boyfriend. Then he had assaulted her and her whole life had changed. She'd become pregnant with Ruby and nothing had ever been the same again. It had been that very day that her walls had gone up and truly, it had only been through meeting Joey a couple of years ago that those walls had started to come down.

"I mean, it wasn't so bad," Leah conceded. "But whoever said it was the best time of your life was definitely lying."

"I think I'm living the best time of my life now," Charlie said thoughtfully. "I mean, even with Dad gone… I'm still happy and I know that's what he would want for me. He only ever wanted me to be settled and at peace and I am at last."

Joey reached out and squeezed Joey's hand.

"That's so sweet," Leah said. "I'm happy for you guys. Hey, maybe one day I'll finally meet 'the one'."

She thought for a moment of her first husband, Vinnie. She still thought that really, he was her 'one'. But he was gone now. When Elijah had come to the Bay, he had brought with him the sad news that Vinnie had died, ending her faint hope that one day, they would find their way back to each other. Leah just hoped that one day, she would find someone who would love her like that, would stay with her and commit to her, someone that she would love as much as she had loved Vinnie.

"You will," Charlie said confidently. "If I can, you can."

"Hey, maybe I should have given Robert a chance!" Leah joked.

Charlie and Joey noted the sad tone of her voice.


At school, Ruby caught up with Romeo as soon as she had an opportunity. Like Indi, he was not in a good mood. Ruby was half worried that she was in trouble with her friend and half pleased that perhaps there might be trouble in paradise. There was also a small voice in the back of her mind, concerned that she was beginning to behave erratically. She knew she needed to be more honest with her counsellor about how she was feeling.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I just had a fight with Indi," he confessed, looking stressed.

"About Nicole?" Ruby asked. "Romeo, I'm sorry. I think I dropped you in it."

"But I didn't do anything wrong!" Romeo said desperately.

"Hey!" Ruby said, holding onto his arms. "I know. I know."

She felt a little shiver go through her as she felt his muscles. He looked so vulnerable.

"I just… Nicole needed my support," he said. "She came home so upset. What was I supposed to do? Check in with Indi first? Ask permission?"

"No, of course not," Ruby said, reluctantly dropping her hands. "Indi will calm down."

"Yeah…" Romeo said, leaning against his locker and running his hands through his hair. "I just hate this tension between us. She's about to start Uni and I'm stuck at school. She's got all this stuff going on with Nicole and her family…"

Ruby was confused.

"What do you mean?"

Romeo looked anxiously.

"If I tell you… you'll keep it to yourself?" he asked.

"Of course," she promised.

He hurriedly explained the idea that Sid and Marilyn were planning to adopt Nicole's child. Ruby was stunned into silence for a moment.

"So that's why Indi's mad at me," he told her. "I found out last night and I chose to support Nicole rather than her, like I was choosing a side or something."

He shrugged, insisting that it wasn't like that.

"I was just trying to be there for my friend."

Ruby put her arms around him, giving him a quick hug.

"She'll come round," she said, the words sticking in her throat. "You know you belong together."


At the farm that evening, things were very tense. Marilyn was upset with Sid for ruining their dinner with Nicole, asking too many intense questions and scaring her off. Now the teenager was confused about what to do. Marilyn and Sid had very much gone to bed on an argument with Marilyn warning her partner that if Nicole changed her mind because of what he had said, she would never forgive him.

They had also told the kids their plans that evening and while Dex, as ever, had gone along with the idea just fine, Indi had been horrified and not held back in telling them so.

"So, apparently, some chemicals have gone missing from the school," Dex said, in a weak attempt at making conversation.

"Really?" Marilyn asked worriedly. "Are they dangerous?"

"They're chemicals, Marilyn," Sid snapped. "Of course they're dangerous."

Marilyn stayed quiet. Sid sighed and looked away from her.

"Look, if you want to do this baby thing, fine," Indi eventually said. "I mean, it's nothing to do with me, really. I think it's weird but whatever."

"Are you sure?" Marilyn asked hopefully.

"Yeah," Indi said. "It's fine. Whatever."

Sid didn't know whether to be pleased or not. He still didn't know if he wanted the baby.

"I'm going to see Romeo," the teenager decided, standing up and leaving the house.


Charlie was sat at the bar at Bucktons' while Joey worked alongside Alf and Claire. It was Alf's first shift back at work and Joey had wanted to be there to support him.

"Hello, you two," Alf greeted Romeo and Indi when they arrived at entrance of the restaurant.

Charlie and Joey were relieved to see them together, although they didn't exactly look happy. Alf escorted them to a table and handed them a couple of menus, taking their drinks orders.

"Thanks for calling," Romeo said. "I was worried that you were still upset with me."

"I am," Indi said. "But I didn't want to be at home."

"Oh," he said, his voice full of disappointment.

Beside Charlie, Ruby watched the couple carefully.

"I mean… I'm not," Indi said apologetically. "I just… I wish you'd have told me about Nicole and the baby and Dad and Marilyn."

"I only found out last night," Romeo assured her. "And I had to react to the situation I was in, Indi. Nicole came home in tears. She was so confused and upset. I couldn't just ditch her."

Indi sighed.

"I understand," she said. "Anyway, let's stop talking about this. How was school?"

The both forced smiles.

"Yeah, it was fine," he told her. "It's a bit like getting deja vu every single day!"

He laughed self consciously.

"Are you all set for starting Uni?"

"Pretty much," she said cheerfully. "O-Week starts tomorrow. Nic and I are going together. Well, we were. I kind of laid into her earlier about the baby so I need to fix that."

She frowned.

"But otherwise, we're going together and I'm really looking forward to it. It's the beginning of a whole new chapter of my life!"

She smiled broadly. Romeo tried to join in. But the truth was, the more the days continued, the more it felt like their lives were becoming worlds apart.


"Ruby?" Charlie said, waving her hand in front of her daughter's face.

She clicked a couple of times, snapping her to attention.

"What?" the teenager said grumpily.

"You realise they're actual people, right?" Charlie said. "And you're staring without blinking?"

"Sorry," Ruby said, flushing with embarrassment. "I was just worried because they were arguing earlier. They were both pretty upset."

"Well, it's sweet that you care but you should probably give them a bit of space," Charlie said. "Pay attention to your mother instead!"

She grinned, putting her arm around Ruby, who instantly complained. Behind the bar, Claire frowned. She was utterly convinced now that Ruby had feelings for Romeo and she was also convinced that it wasn't going to end well. But just like with the Alex situation, she didn't know what to do or who to tell or if indeed she should tell anyone.


Next time… Leah and Ruby hate being single, Indi lets Romeo down and things come to a head between Hannah and Claire…