Hi everyone. Apologies for not posting The Same Side on Friday – I was poorly. I will post it tomorrow to catch up. For now, I hope you will enjoy this chapter. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Five Hundred and Ninety One
"So, how was your dinner party?" Ruby asked over breakfast with her parents and Claire the following morning. "We saw you peeping in on us when you got home. You weren't as late as we were expecting you to be."
"Well, it wasn't the most thrilling event of the season," Charlie admitted. "I'm not sure I'd accept another invitation."
"Oh," Ruby said, disappointed. "But Bianca was there, wasn't she? You always have a good time with her. I mean, she's not exactly my idea of fun but…"
She wrinkled her nose. Even though she was long over Liam, her dislike of Bianca had remained, rather like a stuck record.
"Yeah, they didn't really stay," Joey said. "Liam wasn't in a great mood."
"What about Nic?" Ruby asked. "Or was it just too weird that my friend is suddenly going to dinner parties with my parents?"
She pulled a face.
"And don't even get me started on Angelo…"
Joey raised her eyebrows.
"What about Angelo?" she asked, keen to know what she knew.
"Nothing, just… I mean, they're hanging out a lot," she said.
"Ruby, you are such a gossip," Claire scolded.
"Do you know anything?" Joey asked Claire, who blushed and shook her head.
"Joey, you are such a gossip!" Charlie chuckled.
Joey frowned.
"I just want to know what's going on!" she protested. "I mean, are they a thing or not?"
"It's so weird!" Ruby said. "I mean, you used to date him, Charlie!"
"Only for like five minutes," Charlie reminded her.
"But still, he's your age," Ruby said. "Nicole is eighteen."
"Does age matter though?" Claire asked more reasonably. "I mean, Nicole is going through the most tumultuous time in her life. She's pregnant. Her parents aren't around. She's preparing to have her child adopted and still be in its life as a friend and neighbour. She's trying to study at University, which in itself is so hard, let alone doing it pregnant. I mean, all that is such a lot. Perhaps Angelo is someone she feels she can rely on. He's being so kind to her, so supportive. She told me how much he listens to her and makes her feel really safe."
Joey and Charlie both smiled.
"So, there's what, ten years or so between them?" Claire said.
"Twelve," Ruby corrected her.
"Twelve," Claire said. "Does it matter so long as he's kind to her? If he makes her happy?"
"I guess not," Ruby shrugged. "But still, it's Angelo!"
"That, I can't debate!" Claire giggled. "Although, he's always been good to me, ever since I got here. Maybe someone like Nicole giving him the chance to show what a good person he can be is just what he needs."
Charlie and Joey had stopped at the beach with coffees before they both had to start work for the day. Sat on the golden sand, they both enjoyed the heat of the sun and the sound of the waves crashing upon the shore. Surfers were already out and people were already swimming. They could see kids walking lazily to school, hesitant to begin their lessons.
"There's Marilyn," Joey noted, nodding a few metres to their left.
The lone blonde woman was sat, a sad, huddled figure.
"I think you're up."
Charlie nodded. She couldn't sit by and ignore her. She leaned over and kissed her, fiancée, promising to stop by at lunch.
"I think you're up too," she said, pointing towards Romeo, who was just exiting the sea.
He did not look very happy. Joey sighed and closed her eyes, guessing that his job hunt had not gone as well as he had planned. Charlie stood and pulled Joey to her feet. They kissed and went their separate ways.
"Marilyn?" Charlie said quietly, not wanting to startle her.
Marilyn looked up at her, ghostly pale. She smiled weakly and nodded when Charlie asked if she could sit. Charlie smiled brightly and seated herself beside her.
"How are you doing after yesterday?" she asked.
"About as great as I look," Marilyn admitted.
It was startling to see her so unlike her usual positive self.
"Sid and I ended up arguing, all about Nicole and Roo and everything," Marilyn admitted. "It was awful and awkward and horrible."
"I'm sorry to hear that and I'm sorry if I made anything worse," Charlie said.
Marilyn put a hand on her arm.
"I was very grateful to have you there," she said sincerely. "It was nice to have someone on my side for a change. I never have anyone on my side anymore. Sid has the kids. And now he has Roo. And Nicole and Roo are some sort of team so he has Nicole too. And I'm just… on my own."
"You are most definitely not on your own," Charlie assured her. "You are one of Summer Bay's most cherished residents!"
Marilyn laughed softly.
"I don't feel like it," she said sadly.
"You are," she said. "You always have been and you always will be."
"I'm grateful for the support," she said. "I just don't know what to do anymore. Sid was just so angry with me. He said I made the evening awkward. I lost my temper. I accused him of having feelings for Roo."
"What did he say?"
"He denied it," Marilyn said with a shrug.
"And how did that make you feel?"
Marilyn sighed again.
"I know his reputation," she said. "And I'm not blind. Or stupid. I know he and I aren't the obvious match. He's a Doctor. He's so clever. And Roo is so intelligent too. They just bounce off each other in conversation. They have so much in common. And then there's me… He doesn't believe in anything I believe in. I mean, what are we even doing together?"
"Well, presumably you love each other?" Charlie suggested.
"I do love him," Marilyn said. "I'm just scared he doesn't feel the same."
Further down the beach, Joey approached Romeo who was immediately defensive.
"No, Jo, I haven't gone to see Elijah about volunteering at the shelter," he said. "I've got enough problems of my own without taking on anybody else's."
Joey held her hands up in protest.
"I just came to check on you and see if you were okay," she said.
He frowned and apologised, sitting down heavily on the sand. She sat next to him.
"I'm not okay," he said. "I tried to get the job at the Surf Carnival but John told me 'no' in no uncertain terms. Not only have I lost the chance to get the courier job with Emily's Dad because of what happened, apparently, he has a lot of friends in high places and some of the sponsors of the Carnival wouldn't want me working there."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Joey said sympathetically.
"And I feel so shitty about how I spoke to her," he said. "I feel so shitty about so many things. But she's blocked me and I haven't seen her so I can't apologise."
"She was pretty upset," Joey said. "It's going to take time to make it right."
"I've got a lot of people to make things right with – Indi, Ruby, Emily, you and Charlie…" he sighed.
"You do," Joey agreed. "But it's not impossible. You can do it."
"I just don't know where to start," he admitted.
"Changing your attitude is the beginning," Joey said. "Being the loveable, sweet boy we've all loved all this time!"
He smiled shyly, letting out a half laugh. He wanted to be that boy again.
"Look, keep looking for work," Joey said. "Obviously you'll be my first port of call for any extra shifts I get. Think about the shelter. Putting some good into the world is a good first step towards correcting your mistakes."
Liam had called in sick to work. He hadn't surfaced from his room all day. Roo was rushing around, getting ready for a meeting with John; Angelo was getting under her feet. He had the day off and was hoping he might get to spend some time with Nicole. He was really beginning to enjoy her company and he wasn't entirely sure how or when that had started to happen.
"So, how was the rest of your evening?" he asked Roo.
"Thrilling," she said, sat at the table, applying makeup. "How was yours?"
She raised her eyebrows curiously, making him blush, shifting his position on the sofa.
"It was fine," he said. "I dropped Nicole back and came home."
"Yeah, right," she said. "Don't think I haven't noticed how much time you're spending together."
"And don't think I didn't notice how much you and Sid seemed to be a team last night instead of Sid and Marilyn," he replied.
He didn't mean to be unkind. He thought she should know it was obvious in case she wasn't aware.
"What do you mean?" she said, looking genuinely concerned.
He sat up, switching off the television.
"I swear I'm not criticising," he said.
"It sounds like you are," she shot back.
"It just… it came across like you and Sid were on one team and Marilyn was shut out," he said. "You might want to try and fix that. I mean, for starters, when your Dad gets back… can you imagine how pissed he'll be if you've upset Marilyn of all people?"
He grinned. She smiled back nervously.
The restaurant was busy and Joey had hardly had a minute to herself. The second there was a lull, she approached Claire.
"Hey, I'm sorry to ask but…"
"Ruby was fine last night," Claire assured her, knowing what she was going to say.
Joey looked embarrassed. Claire chuckled and assured her that it was okay to worry.
"It was just the first time we haven't had her under lock and key these past couple of weeks," Joey explained. "Her grounding ends in a couple of days and I want to make sure she's definitely learned her lesson."
"We did talk a lot about things – the party, how she spoke to Charlie after the party – and I do think she feels really bad about everything," Claire told her. "I hope you're not going to see a repeat any time soon."
"Please be right!" Joey said dramatically, putting her hands together in prayer.
Charlie was frustrated. Once again, the charges against Heath Braxton had miraculously been dropped. This time, due to the work of the family's fancy lawyer persuading the courts that it was a pointless waste of time, money and resources to harass someone for 'fisticuffs'. He had punched Blake. Blake, who had been trying to do his job, upholding the law. It just wasn't right.
She was grateful to see Joey, who looked somewhat shattered, working hard in their busy restaurant. Catching sight of her, Joey stopped, telling her staff that she was taking a break. She waved Charlie into the office, as there were no spare tables. Closing the door behind them, they kissed.
"I literally have five minutes," Joey apologised. "It's not fair to leave them out there when we're so busy."
"Fair enough," Charlie said, although she was disappointed. "I was going to suggest inviting Bianca round tonight but you're probably going to be too exhausted, aren't you?"
"No, no, it'll be nice to do something fun tonight," Joey said. "Invite her. I was worried about her after last night with Liam."
"Me too," Charlie said. "Great. I'll give her a call."
She kissed her again.
"I mean, if you have five minutes and we're behind closed doors…" she ventured.
Joey put her finger to Charlie's lips, halting her.
"When do we ever take five minutes?" she pointed out.
Charlie laughed.
"Good point," she said. "Good point."
Angelo was delighted to open the door to Nicole. He hadn't been expecting her.
"I was actually here to see Liam," she said awkwardly, hating to see the disappointment on his face.
"Oh," he said, feeling dejected and embarrassed. "Well, he hasn't surfaced all day, so…"
"Do you mind if I knock?" she asked.
He stepped aside, pointing her towards Liam's room. He threw himself on the sofa, trying not to feel jealous and immature when she entered Liam's room and closed the door.
Charlie had called Bianca and invited her round for dinner and drinks. Bianca had jumped at the chance; things were still not good with Liam. She had then got a text from Marilyn. Apparently Roo had attempted to clear the air with her, assuring her that there was nothing going on between her and Sid and she wanted to be friends with them both. But during the conversation, she had disclosed that she though Sid was very attractive. So now Marilyn didn't know what to do with any of that information. And Charlie didn't know how to help her friend. The more time she spent with the other people in her life, the more grateful she was that she had already found the love of her life.
Nicole was pleased to see Angelo still in the lounge when she had finished talking to Liam. Well, she had mostly talked at Liam. She had been horrified to see him drinking the night before and she had had no qualms in telling him so. She had seen him the depths of his drug addiction. She knew that alcohol was a gateway. She also knew there had to be a reason why he had slipped, even if he wasn't facing up to it. It was clear that Bianca was concerned, even if he was ignoring her. But she wasn't ready to let him ignore her as well. She'd lectured him for a full twenty minutes without taking a breath and made him promise to stop drinking before it took hold of him, before he couldn't stop. She had also made him promise to face up to whatever it was that was causing him to want to drink, even if he needed to take himself to rehab in order to do it. He had promised. She had promised that she would be keeping an eye on him.
"Good talk?" Angelo asked as nonchalantly as possible, which wasn't very nonchalantly at all.
She smiled and came to sit next to him.
"It depends on your perspective," she said. "I mean, I just lectured him for twenty minutes about his alcohol consumption and general addiction issues. So, from my perspective, it was a very productive discussion. From his, it was a lot of noise when he has a banging hangover."
He grinned.
"It's nice of you to look out for him, especially when you already have so much going on," he said.
"Well, we have history," Nicole said. "We'll always care about each other."
Angelo swallowed. He had almost forgotten that Nicole and Liam used to date. On the one hand, it was a positive. It meant that the age gap really didn't matter. On the other hand, Nicole was used to dating the likes of Liam Murphy, Aden Jeffries and Penn Graham. The only more sedate boyfriend she'd been known to have was Geoff Campbell and she'd quickly got bored of him. If he and Nicole did get together, would he be interesting enough for her? Did she even feel that way about him? And if she did, was it just because of the baby? Was she just feeling vulnerable? Once she was back on her feet, would she move on?
"Well, it's nice that you're looking out for him," he said. "If it means anything, I'll do my best to look out for him too."
"It means something," she confirmed.
Bianca arrived at Charlie and Joey's house at seven o'clock. Joey had brought food home from the restaurant. She was pleased to have received a message from Romeo to let her know that his first volunteer shift at the shelter started the next morning and Elijah had been really pleased he had approached him.
"Thanks for inviting me round, guys," Bianca said gratefully. "I was going to bring wine but you guys mentioned the other day about not having it in the house?"
She offered a couple of bottles of expensive looking soft drinks. Charlie thanked her gratefully and called Ruby for dinner.
"Can I eat in my room?" Ruby asked. "I mean, no offence but I'd really rather watch TV than intrude on your girls' night."
The three women exchanged glances, not sure whether to be offended or not.
"Sure," Charlie said, handed her a plate and a glass. Ruby disappeared with a 'thank you'.
Charlie, Joey and Bianca sat down at the table.
"So, how are you doing?" Joey asked, getting right to the point.
"I'm okay," Bianca said, her words coming out in an unconvincing sigh. "I just had a long conversation with Liam. Nic visited him this afternoon and it seems like she drilled the sense into him that I haven't been able to."
"Oh?"
"He said she bullied him for an hour!" Bianca half laughed. "Basically told him he has no choice but to stop drinking – and get to the root of why he started in the first place, even if it means checking into rehab. He has to stop before he can't. She made him promise."
"And?" Charlie asked.
"He's said he will," Bianca said, although she sounded doubtful. "He has apologised. So, all I can do is take him at his word for now."
"Well, it sounds like a real step in the right direction," Joey said.
She raised her glass.
"Thank you, Nicole!"
They raised their glasses to Nicole, although Bianca still looked sad. Joey frowned.
"You wanted to be the one he listened to," she concluded.
"I know it's selfish," she said. "It's good that he's just listened to anyone. It doesn't matter who it is."
Charlie squeezed her hand.
"It's not selfish," she said. "It's human."
"You guys are too nice," she said.
"It's a flaw," Joey shrugged with a grin.
"Look, it's okay to feel however you're feeling," Charlie said more seriously. "Just be honest – even if it's just with us. You need that, especially if you're at the beginning of what could be a long journey of supporting Liam."
Bianca nodded, thanking them. She smiled brightly.
"So, last night was awkward, hey?" she said. "What the hell is going on with Sid, Marilyn and Roo?"
Next time… The community band together for a vulnerable family, Brax impresses Charlie and Nicole goes into false labour…
