I just wanted to thank my most recent 'Guest' reviewer for their lovely review. Gosh you must have done a lot of reading! Thank you! As for Charlie and Brax, well, you'll have to keep reading (but do remember that the title of this story is A DIFFERENT Way so I wouldn't worry too much!) Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Five Hundred and Eighty Three
Charlie and Joey woke up, snuggled together, the sun peeping through a small gap in the curtains and the radio alarm clock playing a song by P!nk.
"I don't want to go to work," Charlie mumbled.
"Then stay here in bed with me forever," Joey whispered, cuddling her closer.
Charlie smiled and let Joey wrap her warm arms around her. If it wasn't for the nagging sight of the time on the clock beside her, she could have very happily agreed.
In the bedroom next door, Ruby was already awake. She had hardly slept. How could Claire have got back together with Hannah just like that? How could she take her back when she had broken up with her just like that? Claire had been so upset and now they were together again like nothing had happened. Hannah didn't like her, Ruby knew that. She could feel Claire pulling away from her already and she hated it. It wasn't fair. She needed Claire. She needed her love and support and friendship. She didn't want to share her again.
Across town, Claire was reluctant to surface. She had shyly brought Hannah home with her – in her new car – and she had stayed the night. It wasn't the first time she had stayed but Claire still felt shy about it. She felt shy about a lot of things. But it had been a wonderful end to her night and waking up in Hannah's arms this morning was the best feeling in the world. Her twenty first had definitely been the most wonderful birthday she had ever had. She'd spent the day with her best friend, had a surprise party thrown for her, been gifted a car and her girlfriend had come back to her. She could still hardly believe any of it.
"You're quiet this morning," Charlie commented to her daughter at breakfast. "I'd have thought you'd be brimming over with joy at how successful the party was yesterday."
Ruby shrugged and sipped her coffee.
"Aren't you happy?" Joey asked worriedly.
"Of course I am," Ruby replied.
Charlie and Joey exchanged glances.
"Is it about the car?" Charlie asked. "Because we were talking about that and it's your eighteenth soon, don't forget…"
Ruby's eyes lit up.
"If you keep saving and keep showing us that you can be responsible, we're pretty sure we can help you to buy something," Charlie said
"So, Claire gets something outright and I get 'help'?" Ruby said ungratefully.
"Right, well, no, then, you get no help now, whatsoever," Charlie retorted.
Ruby looked furious.
"What the hell, Charlie?"
"If you're going to be a spoilt brat about people gathering together to buy something for your best friend who has never been given anything in her whole life…" her mother said.
Ruby sighed, feeling a little guilty.
"I'm not jealous of the car," she said. "I'm happy for her."
"Is it Hannah?" Joey asked.
"What?" Ruby said quickly. "No!"
"It's okay not to want to share," Joey said kindly. "Claire is a huge part of your life and to not have her available to you all the time can be difficult."
Ruby nodded glumly.
"But you also have to deal with it," Charlie firmly.
Ruby glared at her. She much preferred Joey in this conversation.
"You have Casey," Charlie reminded her. "How many times do you think Claire wants your attention and you're too busy with your boyfriend? It goes both ways. So you have to put your feelings aside and just be happy for Claire. You have to allow her to grow and live her own life, independently of you. You have to let her be happy – without you. It doesn't mean she'll love you less. It doesn't mean she won't be your friend. You two are bonded for life."
She patted her hand across the table. Ruby nodded, knowing her parents were right. Now, she just had to believe it and live it.
Elijah arrived at the homeless shelter, ready for his first day at work. He had been feeling extremely low since Thabo had died and Grace had been arrested and then he and Leah had fallen out. He had tried sulking. He had tried drinking. It hadn't really suited him. So he had decided to do what he did best – help people. He hoped he could forget his own problems by absorbing other people's.
"Oh, look at you two," Joey teased when Claire took her lunch break with Hannah.
Joey put two plates down on the table.
"You're just so cute," she said.
Claire blushed a deep shade of red. Hannah laughed, holding her hand across the table.
"I think she might be about to combust," she said.
Joey ruffled Claire's hair, promising to leave her alone.
Romeo sat, slumped in a chair in Gina's office. He had been mouthy in Miles's class and got himself thrown out and now he was facing the consequences and he had very little patience for them.
"I just don't know where all this attitude is coming from, Romeo," Gina said, sat on the other side of the desk.
She looked more disappointed than angry.
"You've always been such a bright, motivated student," she said.
"Not to mention an eternal one," he said sourly. "I mean, how many times have I done this school year?"
"And this time, you're going to complete it," she told him.
She had been extremely disappointed when he had thrown his exams, more disappointed than for any other student's grade. He had worked so hard all year and he had thrown it all away for some stupid reason.
"You have such a bright future ahead of you, Romeo," she said. "But you're on the verge of destroying it all."
"You know what?" he said, sitting up. "You're right. So, I need to nip this in the bud right now."
He stood up resolutely.
"I quit."
Gina stood up too.
"What?" she said.
"I quit school," he said. "I can survive just as well on my own. I don't need this crap. I don't need all of you telling me what to do all the time. I'm an adult for starters. I don't need to hang around with stupid kids. I'm sick of all shit. So, thanks for everything. Or more to the point, thanks for nothing."
He turned and left.
Watson and Charlie were just heading into Buckton's for lunch when Brax stopped them. He looked to be just heading to his car.
"Hello, Sergeant," he said. "And whatever your name is."
He nodded at Watson.
"Senior Constable Watson," she said stiffly.
"Does that make you Sherlock?" he asked Charlie.
She ignored him. He waited a beat and then returned to what he had been about to say.
"It's nice of you to let Ruby have lunch in my measly establishment," he said. "I wasn't expecting her to rock up with Casey today."
Charlie's face was immediately thunderous.
"And… I'm guessing you had no idea," he concluded.
"No," she said. "I didn't."
"Look, Casey's in your place all the time," he pointed out. "I don't get mad about it."
"Well, we didn't set up to put you out of business," Charlie snapped back.
"Hey, it wasn't personal!" he said.
"Look, just leave it, Charlie," Watson advised. "He's just trying to wind you up. Call Ruby when we go and sit down."
Charlie shook her head and barged past Brax, heading into The Pizza Oven. Immediately, she spotted Ruby, sat, laughing with Casey, Xavier and Dex.
"What do you think you're doing here?" she demanded.
"Oh!" Ruby said, a little anxiously. "Okay, I didn't skip school exactly…"
Charlie's eyes widened in yet more fury.
"Oh, you didn't even know that part…" Ruby realised.
"I mean, why are you here?" Charlie said.
"Because this is where my boyfriend wanted to celebrate his win," Ruby said, lifting a small trophy. "Casey won the top prize at the Science Fayre."
"Congratulations," Charlie said to Casey.
He thanked her quietly.
"But I'm still not happy," Charlie said to Ruby. "And if you skipped school…"
"To go to a school event!" Ruby protested. "And you're starting to embarrass me now, Charlie…"
"If I really wanted to embarrass you, I'd drag you out of here," Charlie warned.
"Okay, can you just go now, please?" Ruby asked, starting to get frustrated.
She could see Casey and Dex felt awkward and could feel Xavier's silent mockery. She had wished all along that Xavier hadn't been invited but somehow, he and Casey had become friends.
"We're going to discuss this later," Charlie said firmly. "I am really disappointed in you."
She left, passing Roo as she did so.
"What's a boy like you doing all alone on the beach in the middle of the day?"
Romeo looked up to see Emily, a girl he vaguely knew from school approaching him. He considered ignoring her. He wasn't in the mood for company. He knew he had messed up at school and he had no idea how to take things back. He wished he could rewind the day and start again but it was too late for that now. Once more, he was going to have to live with the consequences of his own stupidity.
"Not much," he said. "This is where I spend most of my time."
"All the time in the world now, from what I've heard," she said.
He looked up sharply.
"What have you heard?" he wanted to know.
She sat down beside him, so close they were touching.
"It's all round the school," she said. "That after you slated Mr Copeland, you had a go at Mrs Austin and quit school. Everyone's talking about it."
Romeo was mortified but didn't show it. He felt too bitter about his own life.
"They deserved it," he said.
"Yeah," she agreed. "I wish I had the confidence to tell people what I think."
He looked at her, at the coy way she was smiling at him.
"I love a bad boy," she remarked.
He half laughed. Never in his life had been 'bad' before.
"Really?" he said.
She nodded. He leant in and kissed her.
Walking past the beach and back to her patrol car, where Watson was waiting, Charlie caught sight of Romeo making out with some girl she didn't know. Shaking her head, she walked on by. She was just glad that he was currently staying away from her daughter. Even Casey was a better option than the mess that Romeo was right now.
"Great!" Roo said.
She was sat at a table with Joey at Buckton's, having delivered a proposal for the Carnival event that she and John had been working on together.
"I think it's going to be a great community event and it'll bring a lot of tourism to the town, which in turn will bring in a lot of cash," she said.
"It all sounds pretty great to me," Joey said.
She had genuinely been impressed with the plans.
"So, you think you'd be up for plastering your restaurant name across our merchandise then?"
"If we can work out a good price, I'd definitely be up for that."
"Well, I have some figures here…" Roo said, sliding a sheet of paper across the table.
"You are so organised!" Joey said.
They had come a long way from the days when Roo had been jealous of Joey's relationship with Alf.
"Aww, are you texting your soulmate?" Scott teased, nudging Claire.
He hadn't stopped teasing her all day and secretly, she was quite enjoying it. Things were going well so far with Hannah, although she got the feeling that Ruby wasn't all that happy about things. But she was determined to make things work this time.
"I am texting Hannah, yes," she said diplomatically. "She wanted to know about dinner tonight."
"Oh, Blake and I would love to go for dinner tonight," Scott beamed. "Thank you so much for asking."
Claire laughed.
"I'll let her know!" she said.
"This is going to be the queerest double date Summer Bay has ever seen!" he announced.
Charlie and Watson arrived just as Joey was saying goodbye to Roo. Charlie eyed her fiancée a little quizzically. Roo said goodbye with a wave and Joey called Charlie and Watson over, feeling a little guilty that after a business meeting, she was now going to take a lunch break. Things were getting busier and she hadn't been serving or cooking at all.
"What did Roo want?" Charlie asked, leaning in to kiss her.
"I've just agreed a sponsorship deal with her for this carnival she's putting on," Joey explained. "Our brand gets onto all the advertising and branding if we put in a percentage of the funding. It seemed like a reasonable investment."
She handed over the documents to Charlie who read through them and nodded.
"I think that's a good idea," she said. "It sounds like it's going to be a pretty big event – any publicity we can get has got to be a good thing, right?"
"I thought so," Joey said.
She reached across the table for Charlie's hand.
"Thanks for trusting me to just go with it," she said.
"Of course," Charlie said. "You do such an amazing job here, Jo. Why wouldn't I trust you?"
At The Pizza Oven, Ruby was trying to forget about Charlie. This was Casey's day. It wasn't about her stupid fight with her mother. It was about celebrating his big achievement, his first ever academic win. She was so proud of him. That was what had brought her here, to a restaurant she would never ever have set foot in otherwise. And she was offended that Charlie hadn't so much as stopped and thought about that before she'd come charging in.
"Ruby's at Brax's place?" Joey asked. "The Pizza Oven?"
"Yeah," Charlie said unhappily. "I went in and had a go but she was pretty adamant that she was staying. She skipped school too – to go to that Science Fayre with Casey."
Joey frowned.
"Well, at least it was to go to a school thing but she should at least have mentioned it to us," Joey said. "It's like we go from one extreme to another with her all the time. One minute we're all best friends and the next all communication completely shuts down."
"Well, you know why," Charlie said.
She nodded a discreetly as possible towards the bar where Claire was laughing with Scott.
"You're right," Joey agreed.
"Hey, what am I missing?" Watson asked.
"She's jealous of Claire and Hannah getting back together," Joey explained.
"Well, I mean, they are at that sickeningly in love phase," Watson remarked. "And there's only one thin wall between us…"
Joey coughed. Charlie snorted. Watson grinned, pleased that she had hit her mark.
"Seriously, Watson!" Joey scolded. "Those are images I do not need in my mind!"
Watson continued to grin wickedly, adding that it seemed to be the only situation that Claire was loud. Joey shrieked. Charlie turned red and tried to shake the images from her head.
"But why, otherwise, would Ruby be upset?" Watson asked.
"She has a bit of a… possessiveness… when it comes to Claire," Charlie said a little awkwardly.
"Straight Friend Syndrome?" Watson concluded.
Joey immediately understood what she meant. Charlie was bewildered.
"You won't get it," Watson said dismissively to Charlie. "You've probably been the straight friend. In fact, you probably were Joey's straight friend to begin with!"
Joey chuckled.
"I don't get it!" Charlie complained.
"It's the straight girl whose best friends with a lesbian," Watson said. "She doesn't want to date the lesbian but she doesn't want anyone else to date her either. It's utterly infuriating."
"It really is," Joy agreed.
"Oh, well, if I was that, it clearly didn't last long," Charlie shrugged. "I mean, I'm engaged to the lesbian now!"
She beamed proudly. Joey leant over and kissed her.
Miles arrived home after the school day and was shocked to bump into one of his students, Emily, on her way out of the house. He saw her blushing ferociously as he saw Romeo, half dressed, heading into the kitchen.
"So, this is how you're spending your life, is it?" he demanded, throwing his bag down on the chair.
He couldn't even describe how disappointed he was.
"Oh, come off it, it was one afternoon," Romeo said dismissively.
"Well, in case you've forgotten, it was this sort of behaviour that got you into this mess," Miles pointed out.
"I hadn't forgotten, actually," Romeo snapped back, slamming his glass down on the kitchen surface.
The two men glared at each other for a moment.
"If you're serious about quitting school then you need to start paying your way," Miles said firmly. "You need a job."
"I have two jobs," Romeo reminded him.
"A bit of part time bar work and sitting pretty on the beach a couple of hours a week isn't going to cut it," Miles said. "That's pocket money. You need a proper wage and you need to start contributing to this house. You've got a week to find something or to pull your head in and go back to school."
He picked his bag up and went upstairs.
Charlie returned to see Joey, on a brief break from work. The disagreement she had had with Ruby had been bothering her all afternoon.
"Look, I think you should go and see her," Joey said, holding her hands across the bar and looking deeply into her eyes.
Charlie pulled a face.
"There?" she gasped.
"Yes, there," Joey said. "I'm not saying pull up a chair and break bread with Brax but you can go in and make amends with our kid. And congratulate Casey. From what we know, this Science award or what whatever it is probably means even more to him than it would to another student. Go and tell him well done, make sure he knows that we care about him too."
Charlie didn't look happy about it.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Joey offered.
"I can't ask you to walk in there," Charlie said.
"I can do it," Joey assured her. "I am a grown up."
"Then yes, I would very much like you to come with me please."
Romeo was sat on the sofa, idly watching television without really absorbing anything. He glanced up when he heard a knock at the door, surprised to see Indi hovering there. For one, heart stopping moment, he hoped that perhaps she had come to apologise for kissing the guy at the party and to tell him that she had changed her mind and she really did want to be with him after all. Then he felt angry with himself for being so pathetic.
"Can I help you?" he asked, not getting up.
She entered the house, clearly nervous.
"I heard you quit school," she said, stopping to stand beside the sofa.
"Yeah," he said, looking at the TV, not at her.
"Look, I know things have been tough recently, Romeo but you can't throw your whole future away because of…"
"Because of what?" he snapped, looking at her properly. "You? Don't flatter yourself!"
"That's not what I meant," she said.
"Well, I guess it is because of you," he conceded. "If you hadn't been going on and on and on, whinging and whining about failing your exams, when actually you knew you'd done fine and you were just being a pathetic drama queen, then I wouldn't have tried to save you. But I'm not throwing my future now. I already threw it then. The mistake was retaking the year. I shouldn't have wasted these months. I should have just forgotten about school when I got my shitty results. Shitty results that I didn't need to get and I wouldn't have got if you hadn't been making my ears bleed with your weeping and wailing."
He stood up as he spoke.
"So, if you don't mind," he said. "Don't come round here with a speech about me not throwing in the towel. I've had quite enough. You know where the door is."
Joey led the way into The Pizza Oven. It was the last place she wanted to go but she knew they had to resolve things with Ruby sooner rather than later.
"Well, this is a pleasant surprise," Brax said, the second they entered the venue.
"We're not here to see you," she said, breezing past him and looking around for her daughter.
"They're over there," he said, pointing to Ruby, Casey, Dex and Xavier, all tucking into pizza in a booth.
She thanked him, taking Charlie's hand and leading her over to the table. She nodded to Angelo who was serving behind the bar. He didn't look happy.
"What are you guys doing here?" Ruby demanded, the second she saw them. "I've told you; I'm not fighting with you here, today. This is about Casey and celebrating…"
"We know," Joey said. "And we agree."
She was surprised into silence.
"We'll discuss the details of you skipping school and things later," Charlie warned. "But we just wanted to clear the air."
"Oh," Ruby said. "Okay. Cool. Thanks."
Charlie turned to Casey.
"And we wanted to congratulate you," she said.
"We're really proud of you," Joey said. "Well done."
"Thank you," Casey said quietly.
Charlie dug into her pocked and laid some cash on the table.
"Get yourselves some dessert or something," she said.
She looked at Ruby who thanked them both silently.
"See you when you get home."
The two women turned to leave. Brax stopped them.
"That was really cool of you," he said, sounding genuinely grateful.
"We just wanted to clear the air," Charlie said.
"Well, I know it'll mean a lot to Casey," he said. "I don't know if you know about his dyslexia but even before that, school hasn't exactly been his thing. He's worked so hard and this is the first time he's ever really achieved anything even near to this. And I know Ruby and those two over there have been a huge part in supporting him. So, you two coming and congratulating him will have meant a lot. Thank you."
Despite themselves, Charlie and Joey were both touched. They thanked him and left. Behind the bar, Angelo was not happy. Not only had Brax spent the best part of the afternoon striking a business deal with Roo – not to mention flirting with her – he had now seemed to make some kind of connection with Charlie and Joey. That just wasn't on at all.
"I think we did the right thing," Charlie decided, when they were outside.
"We did," Joey agreed.
She hugged her and whispered, 'well done'.
"I know that was hard for you," she added.
"I know it was hard for you too," Charlie said.
She kissed her, ignoring the wolf whistles of a couple of half naked River Boys heading into the bar.
Angelo took a deep breath and approached Brax the first moment he got. Brax looked at him with the same disregard that he always did. Angelo asked himself every day why he had walked away from Charlie and Joey, people who genuinely cared about him, to come here to people who didn't like him and he didn't like either.
"I've seen you chatting up Roo," he said sternly.
Brax laughed.
"We were doing a business deal," he said. "This place is doing some sponsorship for her carnival event. She was just at Buckton's getting sponsorship there. Do you think Joey chatted her up too?"
Angelo shoved his hands in his pockets.
"It just looked like a little more than that to me," he said.
"Aww, you have a thing for her, do you?" Brax mocked. "Listen, she's great but she's a little bit too old for me so you're welcome to go for it if you think she'd look twice at you."
Angelo glared at him. Brax moved to turn away from him.
"And stay away from Charlie too!" Angelo called out.
Brax turned back. He looked him up and down.
"Well, now, that I can't promise," he said. "I mean, did she really sleep with you?"
"We dated for months, actually," Angelo said, irritated.
"And you turned her gay, right?" Brax said. "After you shot that cop?"
"She's bi."
"So, I still have a chance then!"
"She and Joey are engaged," Angelo said. "You have no chance."
"We'll see," he said. "I'll have had her within… say… three months?"
"Had who?" Heath asked, having appeared and sat himself down at the bar.
"That cop," Brax said, serving him a beer.
Heath pulled a face.
"Buckton? What do you want her for?"
"The challenge," Brax said.
Angelo looked at them both, disgusted.
"Can you imagine the look of heartbreak on that little lesbian's face when she finds her girlfriend in bed with me?"
Heath smirked.
"Three months?" he asked. "I bet you can do it in two."
Next time… Elijah begins to make peace; Bianca feels unappreciated and the Braxton's invite the Buckton's to a family party…
