Undercover Cop!

[Nicom]

Chapter 11

Jack was sat on a nearby beach, thinking about Martha and what she’d done. It had hurt him so much when she rejected him, and especially when he saw Martha and Corey together. He didn’t know why, but it didn’t make him feel any better knowing that Martha had no feelings for Corey, maybe it was because she’d intentionally hurt him by making him jealous. He sat there, staring out into sea, thinking about how it used to be with Martha, and how sad he’d been when she left. It had taken him months to get over not seeing her everyday, but he was starting to think that maybe he would never get over her, but after his argument with her today, he couldn’t imagine liking her again. He looked at his watch. “6.15” he said. He decided to head back, he wasn’t keen on seeing Martha again, but he had to carry on with the investigation.

Martha was at home. She stood back and admired the beautifully set table that was serving up gorgeous foods. It was obvious by just looking at it that she had taken a lot of care and effort in making it. She looked at her watch. “Hmm where could he be?” She said. Then she heard the door shut. “Jack!” She thought, smiling. She jumped around, turning the lights off and hiding behind the door. She cupped her hand over her mouth, trying to stop giggling, but it got worse when the door slowly opened and the light was switched on. She jumped up smiling, but she soon calmed down when she found out who it was. Dave stood there confused.

“How’d you know I’d be back?” He said to Martha.

“Erm, lucky guess!” She said, faking a smile. He grabbed her and started kissing her. She pulled away.

“You’ve been drinking, haven’t you?” She said. “God you stink of it.” He laughed.

“I had a couple. Hiccup!” He pulled her back in.

“You’re drunk, aren’t you!?” She said. Dave started to use more strength in pulling her in. “Dave, you’re hurting me.” She started panicking. “Dave, we’ve talked about this.. No!” She started pushing away more than before, but he was persistent.

“Come on!” He said. Martha had one final push, knocking the drunken Dave into the table. He angrily stood up and tipped the table upside down, he went along, smashing things and throwing ornaments onto the floor. Martha who was now petrified started to back out the door, but Dave noticed and grabbed her arm, swinging her round. She screamed as his grip got tighter and he started to use all his force on her.

“Dave you’re hurting me!!” She screamed, but he wasn’t listening. He pushed her around, knocking her into bookcases and furniture. She fell on the floor, crying for help.

“Please, please don’t hurt me!” She said, cowering on the floor. Dave smiled as he bent down to her, gathering the rest of his energy for his next move, when the door swung open.

Jack rushed in, sensing straight away what was happening.

“Get off her!” He ordered, trying to stay calm. Dave didn’t look up from Martha’s scared face.

“Jack, give us some space mate.” He said, but Jack didn’t move, he kept the same fierce face that he’d been holding ever since he’d walked in. Dave now looked up at him.

“Get out Jack. I’m warning you, if you don’t then you aren’t having anything else to do with me and the business.” He said in a stern voice. “And you’ll be in serious bother with me and my other mates.” He added. Martha looked worried. She knew that Dave was definitely able to hurt Jack and carry out his threat, she didn’t want Jack being hurt, and she’d already stuffed it up with him as it is. Then again, she feared for what Dave was going to do to her, she didn’t want Jack to leave because when he was around, she was safe. Martha and Dave both anxiously waited for a response from Jack, who surprised both of them. He bent down and dragged Dave off Martha. He lifted him up by the collar.

“Get Out!” He shouted, shoving him into the sofa. Dave laughed as he stood up.

“You don’t scare me.” He said, coming up close to Jack. “Now leave me and Martha alone, or else.” Jack stepped back and looked at Martha.

“Sorry Martha.” Jack whispered. Dave had a massive grin on his face as he looked at Jack. For a second it looked as if he was going to obey Dave and leave. But this soon changed as Jack’s fist stormed into Dave’s cheek. Dave was knocked off his feet, but Jack continued and walked over to him, in a pile on the floor. Dave quickly stumbled up and made for the door, saying on his way out. “You’ll regret this Mate!” and the door slammed shut.

[Nicom]

Chapter 12

Jack didn’t hesitate to run and comfort a crying Martha. She was in tears, curled up on the floor against the wall. Jack sat next to her, with his arm around her. Her head fell onto his shoulder as she wept.

“It’s okay.” He whispered. “Every things fine now.” He looked around the room at the broken photos and ornaments, smashed on the floor, the furniture was spread across the room. It looked like a tornado had ripped through the room. He thought back to all the crashes and bangs that he heard when he came in. But he had also heard something else when he crossed the threshold, something that had frightened him the most. Martha, screaming for help. He looked at the kitchen door that led onto the passage. When he walked through that door, he was scared. He was scared of what he was going to walk into, scared of what might happen, and most of all, scared of what had already happened. His fear soon turned to anger when he saw her pain and tears, he couldn’t understand why Dave was doing this, but he wanted him to stop straight away. Jack was so pleased that Martha was alright, he looked down at her, snuggling into his shoulder. He couldn’t imagine how scared she was when this was going off, he just wished that he hadn’t stormed off before, then he would have been here for her, instead, he nearly wasn’t. One more minute, and he could have been walking into a different scenario. But he didn’t want to think about that, he just wanted to be here now for Martha, he knew that the repercussions of this were going to be bad, and he was going to help her through it.

Martha gently rose from his shoulder and wiped a tear from her face.

“Thank you” She whispered. Jack smiled at her, squeezing her tightly. She winced with pain.

“Oh, sorry Mac!!” He said, immediately letting go. She swallowed the pain and looked back at Jack.

“It’s fine.” She looked around the room. “Look at the mess.” She sighed as she got up. She walked over to a kitchen cupboard and fetched a dustpan and brush, she started to clear the mess. Jack looked on in amazement.

“You know you don’t have to act strong Mac, I’d more than understand if you were upset. Don’t bottle it all up, please.” Jack pleaded. He could see straight through her act. Martha ignored him and continued sweeping up and picked up an object.

“I didn’t even know that we had that!” She laughed. Jack got up and put his hand on her arm.

“Martha-” He started, but Martha pushed his hand away.

“What do you want me to do Jack?” She yelled, her eyes were filling up with tears. Jack looked at her, he just wanted to help her. He went back to touch her arm, which she avoided. “You want me to cry? You want me to talk for hours upon hours of how frightened I was? How scared I was when he was knocking furniture over, hurting me, shoving me around, coming after me..” She broke down into tears. She stood there for a second, crying into her hands, when she walked forward and hugged Jack.

About an hour went by of pure silence, only to be disturbed by the occasional sniff from Martha, but she had calmed down and stopped crying in about half an hour, and the rest was just Martha and Jack thinking to themselves. They’d sat down by now, but Jack still had a comforting arm around her, and Martha was still clutching onto his arm. They didn’t need to talk as their thoughts were keeping them preoccupied. Both were wondering why it didn’t feel strange being this close. It was only a few hours ago that Jack was yelling at Martha, and here they were on the sofa. Not that they were feeling any passion or anything towards each other, they just wanted to be there for each other, like friends.

At about 11.30, Jack woke up to Martha in the exact same pose as she was before. He looked at his watch. “Must have dropped off” he thought. He looked at Martha. She looked so peaceful, so much happier than she had been all night. He looked down at her hand, he noticed that her sleeve wasn’t covering it anymore. In fact, her jacket was off. “Must have taken it off when I was asleep” he thought. Something caught his eye when he was looking at Martha, something on her arm. Bruises. They went all the way up her arm. He slowly slipped away from Martha’s grip, she fell and automatically stretched out and laid down horizontally on the sofa. Jack knelt down next to the sofa and sleeping Martha. He brushed his hand gently across the black and blue arms, slowly pushing the shoulder of her top up slightly, revealing major bruising. His jaw dropped. Martha woke up.

“Jack?” She said. She looked at him smiling, then realised what he was looking at. She quickly grabbed her jacket and put it on, not making eye contact to him.

“Martha?” He said. His face showed clearly that he was worried about what he’d just seen. Martha stayed quiet, her face beamed down to face the floor.

[Nicom]

Chapter 13

“They’re not all from tonight.” He said, staring at the covered arm where he’d just seen the shocking bruises. She wouldn’t respond to him or look at him, she just sat up straight, looking into the distance.

“He’s been doing it for a while hasn’t he? It’s not the first time this has happened, is it?” He asked. Martha looked down at him. Why was he doing this? She was trying to forget about it, but he was bringing it up. It was bad enough when it happened, so she didn’t want to be reminded of it.

“Talking about it will help Mac.” Said Jack. He reached out and held her hand. She looked into his eyes, and eventually gave in.

“You’re right.” She sighed. “It wasn’t the first time today. It happens after he’s been drinking, which is about 2 times a week. It started when I moved in.” Jack’s face dropped.

“But that was about 2 months ago.” He said. Martha looked down at their hands. She gently nodded.

“Yep.” She said. “But it’s never been this bad.”

“He hits you, every time is bad.” He stressed. “Why didn’t you say anything to the me earlier?” He asked. Martha’s eyes began to fill up again.

“Because I didn’t want you to think I was weak.” She tilted her head to the side as she fiddled with the side of the sofa cushion. “How would you feel if someone was doing this to you like twice a week, and you could do nothing to stop it?” Jack shrugged. He didn’t know what to say. He could understand what Martha was saying, but he still wished that she’d told him before, he might have been able to prevent that nights events. Jack knelt there in silence for a couple of minutes, before speaking up.

“Your shoulders aren’t sunburnt are they?” He asked. “The other morning, when I cooked pancakes, I rested my hands on your shoulders, and you jumped up in pain.” Martha slowly nodded. “And when I first saw you with Dave, when he came up to frighten you from behind, you used the move I had taught you at self defence class, because you thought he was after you again?”

“Yea..” She said.

“And that’s why you are helping the police. It’s the only way you can stop it, without being weak, and this way you get your own back. Something that you didn’t manage with Corey.” He said. Martha sighed as tears started to re-form in her eyes. She couldn’t speak in case she burst out in tears, so she just nodded. Jack saw how upset she was and got up and sat on the end of the sofa. He reached out to hug her, but she stood up.

“Why did you just do that?” She asked. Jack looked confused.

“What?”

“You just treated me like someone you were interviewing. Like I was a case that you were eventually cracking.” She was getting angry.

“I’m sorry Mac, I didn’t mean it to sound like that-”

“I want a friend, not a cop to analyse my movements and thoughts. You just sit there, talking about me as if I’m not real, as if you had been given me as a problem that you needed to solve. Well, congratulations! You achieved it! You solved it! Good boy Jack! You’ve managed to sum up my insecurities and problems in a couple of sentences! Real nice.” Martha went to walk away, Jack reached out for her hand, holding her arm. Martha pulled away I pain, holding her arm. She looked down at it. It was red and dry from where Dave would grab her roughly. Jack saw her looking at it. Martha thought about what a mess she’d found herself in. She didn’t want this to keep happening, she wanted the red marks to fade away, along with the events that caused them. She knew she couldn’t do it on her own. She’d tried ever since it started, but this was the result of her stubbornness for getting help. A body full of bruises and pain. She started to cry.

“Help me.” She whispered. “Please?” Jack reached out and hugged her.

“Of course.”

[Nicom]

Chapter 14

After about another half an hour of comforting, Jack insisted that Martha go and have a nice long bubble bath whilst he tidied up. It didn’t take much persuading, Jack knew Martha hated any kind of housework, and was also dying for a nice long soak. Jack swept up, hovered and moved furniture back to their original places. He picked up smashed photos that had fallen off the wall. He looked at each one carefully. Martha always had her arms covered up by either a long sleeved top, or a jacket, apart from one. He carefully took it out of the broken frame and looked at the back. He read aloud Martha’s writing. “Moving in day, 3rd February 2006.” He sighed as he placed the frame on the worktop. He looked at her in the photo. She looked happy, the happiest he’d seen her when being around Dave. It got him angry just thinking about what Dave had done to her, how dare he! He could see how much it hurt her, emotionally and physically, when he walked in to them two earlier. He could still see her face, wet with tears. It chilled him to the bone when he thought about how frightened she was, and how many times she’d been as frightened as that before when he wasn’t around. His thoughts were stopped when Martha walked in.

“Wow, you’re pretty good at this aren’t you?” She said, looking around. The room had very nearly been put back to normal. There were fewer ornaments and photo’s up, and the table in the corner was still on its side, surrounded by the plates, cutlery and food that had been carefully displayed on top. She knew that Jack was looking at the bruising on her arms, as she was now wearing a sleeveless top, with no jacket, but she just wanted to forget about it and carry on tidying up.

“I’ll help you with the table.” She said, walking towards the mess in the corner. Jack nodded. He didn’t want to bring up the incident again, he was pretty sure that Martha had been over it as many times as he had when she was upstairs. They both lifted the table up onto its legs, and bent down, clearing the floor. Jack looked at all the decoration.

“You must have taken a lot of care with all this” He said, picking up pieces of a broken vase. He spotted a red flower. It reminded him of something, he didn’t know what, but all the decorations were very familiar looking.

“I’m sorry about the Corey thing. I was just a bit upset after our break up, and he was there. I didn’t do it intentionally to hurt you, honest. Corey was just a great friend, and I wanted my feelings to grow so badly, that’s why I agreed to moving with him.” Martha explained. Jack could tell that it was hard for her to say it, she wasn’t the kind of person that talked about her feelings, he knew that from when they first met and she wouldn’t admit to liking him. Martha began to speak again, but was interrupted by Jack.

“It’s okay.” He said. “I’m sorry about before.” Jack said. “I shouldn’t have stormed off like that.” Martha smiled at him. She couldn’t believe that he was apologizing to her, he was so nice to her and she didn’t deserve it half the time.

“Mac.” Jack said. “When Dave went to the hotel the earlier this morning, he said something about you being a Christian?” Jack looked confused. Martha started to laugh. “What?” Jack asked.

“Well, I kind of told Dave that I was a strong Christian, and I believed that you shouldn’t do anything before marriage.” She said, sticking her tongue out cheekily. Jack laughed. He thought back to their first date.

“Why?” He chuckled.

“I told you that I didn’t feel anything romantic towards him, and it was the first excuse I could think of!” She laughed. “Pretty rubbish excuse, but it worked with him! I didn’t need to use any excuse with Corey, I think he sensed that I didn’t want us to move onto that level. He was nice in that way.” Jack and Martha joked around till 2am! Martha and Jack decided to go to bed. They both felt a bit sad inside and disappointed that they had to stop their fun, but they knew they had to get some sleep.

“We’ll figure out what to do tomorrow morning.” He said, walking into his room.

“Yea, I hope Dave didn’t mean what he said. I don’t know how you’re going to get back into his good books.” She sighed. “I hope this hasn’t all been a waste.”

“No, I’ll think of something.” He smiled. “Cya tomorrow.” He watched Martha turn around and shut the door, and then did the same.

[Nicom]

Chapter 15.

Sorry for the lack of Jack-ness! lol

Lucas was stood, leaning against the counter, flicking through the day before’s newspaper. Tony walked in, collapsing on his armchair.

“I’ve got 5 minutes to myself!” He said, getting comfy in the chair. “I didn’t realise how much Jack helped around the house until now! I thought he was lazy!” He laughed. “Whoops.” He said. Lucas looked up from a particularly boring political article.

“What?” He said. Tony pointed over at the answering machine.

“It’s been like the for about two days now! I keep forgetting to listen to it.” He got up and pressed play, listening to the message carefully. Tony and Lucas’ face lit up when they heard Jack’s familiar voice.

“Hi babe, it’s Jack!” Tony and Lucas looked at each other, laughing. “Sorry for not being in touch for the past two days. I’m on work business outta the bay, and I haven’t had much time to get to the phone. I’ll ring you soon though, and we can catch up. Sorry if you’ve been calling my mobile, I left it in a petrol stations restroom somewhere on the way here! Anyway, I’ve got to go, missing you.” By the end of the message, Lucas had sat down onto the sofa, close up to the speaker, not wanting to miss any of his brother’s embarrassing message. Lucas and Tony sat there for a moment, looking at each other.

“Well, he’s weird!” Lucas said, getting up. Tony laughed.

“Must’ve wanted us to pass it on to his girlfriend.” He said, reaching for the pause button. Lucas looked shocked.

“He has a girlfriend?” He enquired.

“He must do, unless he’s on drugs.” They laughed again, but were interrupted by a knock at the door. Lucas jumped up, looking at his watch.

“I’ll get it!” He exclaimed, running for the door. Lucas opened the door to see a blonde haired, pretty woman.

“Hi, can I help you?” Lucas said, with a slight tone of disappointment in his voice. He thought it would have been Matilda as she was due any minute now for a lift to school.

“Hi, my names Jenny, I’m Jack’s girlfriend.” She smiled. Tony and Lucas looked at one another, then back at Jenny.

“Come in Jenny” Tony offered. “I’m Tony, Jack’s dad, and this is Lucas, his brother.” She smiled at them as she shyly walked in. There was a moment of awkwardness as Tony and Lucas adjusted to the idea of Jack having a girlfriend. He hadn’t had one since Martha, and as far as they knew, he was still heartbroken by her sudden departure, so him having a girlfriend was a big surprise. There was another knock at the door, Lucas smiled as he opened to see Matilda there, smiling sweetly. Tony remembered about school and work.

“Erm, sorry Jenny, but I have to go. It was nice seeing you.” He smiled picking up his keys from the table. “Oh, and Jack left you a message on the answer machine. Would it be okay if I left you to it, and then you shut the door on your way out?” Tony asked.

“Sure” She nodded, she smiled as she looked at the answer machine. “Nice meeting you” They all waved and said bye, leaving Jenny stood there staring at the machine. She walked over and pressed the play button. She sat down and closed her eyes, imagining Jack being there with her. She smiled throughout Jack’s one-way conversation. She gently sighed and stood up when it finished. “Miss you too, babe.” She skipped out happily in the direction of the door, but an idea popped into her head. She started to walk around, searching the house. She finally found what she was looking for, Jack’s room.

She walked in, she took a deep breath in and smelt Jack. She closed her eyes again, pretending that he was with her. She walked around her room, picking up random objects of his and laughing, pretending that they were all memorabilia’s of their relationship. In her head she came up with different stories for each object, different loving, romantic stories with her and Jack in the starring roles. She finally came across a picture of Jack and Martha. It was tucked away in a draw, hidden from view but stored for easy access for when he had a hard day, and all he wanted to do was talk to Martha. Jenny stared at it, angrily. She slammed it back down into the draw, tears rolling down her cheeks. She ran out, slamming the door on her departure. The picture lay there in the open draw, the glass in the frame had cracked due to the force she’d inflicted when she angrily returned it back to its place.

[Nicom]

Chapter 16

During the night, Jack and Martha both had disturbed sleep. At first, neither could sleep, but eventually Jack drifted off. Martha understandably took longer. Thoughts of what had happened ran through her mind for hours, until she too fell asleep.

At around 4 o’clock in the morning, a great scream came from Martha’s room.

“JACK!” She screamed. Jack woke up from his sleep, rubbing his eyes and yawning he tried to think what had woken him up, when it clicked. Jack ran out of his room into Martha’s, panicking and shouting “Martha!?” He rushed through the open door to find Martha in a ball under her covers. He could hear her crying. He let out a huge sigh of relief as he sat on the side of her bed. “Martha?” He tried to pull up the covers, but Martha wasn’t letting her see him. “Did you have a nightmare?” He said, Martha didn’t respond, as the answer was obvious. Jack carried on talking to the lump in the cover.

“Martha, come on talk about it, it helps me.” Martha remembered about Jack’s nightmares on the girl he shot. She slowly came out from under the covers and sat up.

“Sorry for shouting you. I didn’t mean to, I only realised after I’d done it.” She said, embarrassed.

“Don’t be. I’m just glad your okay, you really scared me!” Martha smiled. “So, I’m guessing it was about Dave?” Martha nodded.

“Yea, it was everything really what happened earlier, except..” Martha stopped. She decided against talking about it, because the more she talked about it, the more she thought about it and the more it replayed in her head. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Jack decided against pushing the matter, it seemed like Martha was pretty sure about this. He just sat there for a moment, looking at her. He wished that he could help her, just like he did when she was recovering from Corey. But this time he couldn’t take her to see Dave in jail, as he was very much free, and very much powerful. He reached out for her hand and squeezed it.

“Well, I’ll let you get some sleep then.” He said, letting go of her and standing up.

“No!” She shouted, not letting go of his hand. She felt embarrassed. “I mean, can’t you just stay with me for tonight? It’s not just in case I have another nightmare, what if Dave comes back? I don’t know why but I feel a lot safer when you’re here…” She added. Jack smiled.

“Sure. I’ll get my stuff.” He went into his room and fetched his quilt and pillows. He thought he heard something thud on the floor and scanned around the room. “I’m going crazy” he laughed to himself. Martha was sat up, listening to Jack laughing, which set her off. Jack walked in, he’d stopped laughing by now and was curious to why Martha was laughing.

“Why were you laughing to yourself?” Martha giggled.

“I was just about to ask the same to you, crazy woman!” He laughed, dropping his things on the floor. He set out his quilt and pillows on the floor, Martha looked at him confused.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She asked.

“Making a bed, it’s a bit obvious.” Jack said, still adjusting his pillows.

“You’re not sleeping on the floor.” She said. Jack looked up at her, and at the bed.

“Erm..” He started but Martha interrupted by laughing.

“I meant on a put up bed, Jack.” She giggled. Jack felt stupid.

“Yea, I knew that.” He lied. Martha got up and reached underneath her bed for the put-up bed. She pulled it out and helped Jack set it up. After their 10 minute fight with it, they finally managed to make it stand and stretch out. Jack laid down on it.

“Hmm, comfy.” He said.

“I’m surprised it can take all your weight.” She joked, Jack hit her with a pillow and laughed. Martha lay back onto her side, talking to Jack. Jack’s bed was next to Martha’s so if anyone were to come in, they’d have to go through Jack first. Martha found it much easier to settle down and sleep now Jack was in the room, but Jack was too distracted. He listened carefully at her gentle breathing, occasionally breaking out into a snore. Jack found it cute, but funny. It wasn’t the first time he’d noticed it. When they were together he’d often lay there, listening and laughing at it. A year ago he would never have heard it again, and here he was, listening and sniggering at it once more. He drifted off to sleep, in the happiest mood he’d been in for over a year.

Next chapter will probably be up later or tomorrow! Please comment!

[Nicom]

Chapter 17

Jack yawned as he got up. He sat up and looked at Martha’s bed, but she wasn’t there. Panic ran through Jack’s spine. “Calm down, she probably woke up earlier and went downstairs.” He told himself. He walked out of the room to go look for her, heading straight downstairs. As he walked down the spiralling staircase he could hear the TV, he let out a sigh of relief and carried on walking down the stairs.

“When did you get up Mac?” He said, but no one replied. When he reached the bottom of he stairs he looked around, no one was there. He walked to the TV and turned it off, passing a half eaten bowl of cereal. Jack started to panic. He cautiously walked around the house, slowly opening doors and trying not to make a noise. He crept back up the stairs, and onto the landing. He heard a noise coming from his room. Jack silently walked to his closed door. He stood there for a couple of seconds before he barged in, ready to attack. Martha looked up and smiled at him.

“Hey, you’re up sleepy head!” She said. Jack leant against the door, he was so relieved she was ok. “I’m an idiot.” He thought.

“What’s up?” Martha asked. Jack stood up straight and walked over to the end of the bed.

“Nothing. I’m fine.” He sat down on the end of the bed. He looked at her again, sat on the floor. “What are you doing?”

“It’s pretty obvious.” Martha said, looking down at Jack’s suitcase. “I’m helping you unpack.” She smiled. Jack didn’t argue, he hated unpacking so he left her to it. He didn’t feel comfortable doing this though, at first he didn’t know why, but it suddenly dawned on him. He shot up.

“It’s okay, I’ll do it!” He said, taking the suitcase off her and putting it on the bed away from her. Martha sat there.

“You sure?” She said, wondering why he’d just snatched the suitcase away from her.

“Positive.” He said, rummaging around his suitcase. “Where is it?” he mumbled to himself. Martha sighed and walked over to the bedside draws, opening each draw in turn.

“Do you want me to clear out my junk?” She offered. “My beautiful, priceless junk?” But there was no response. Jack was still frantically checking all of the pockets in his suitcase. Martha shut the draw and sat leaning against it, looking at Jack and trying to figure out what was up with him. Jack was now worried.

“I know I brought it with me!” He yelled. Martha looked up, concerned. Jack hadn’t meant to say it aloud, he was just getting frustrated and impatient because he couldn’t find it.

“What have you lost?” Martha asked.

“Nothing. It doesn’t matter.” Jack lied, re-checking his suitcase for the third time. Martha laughed and started to get up.

“Yes there is, this thing must be pretty import-” Martha slipped on a round, spherical object and knocked her head into the draws. She laughed, leaning her head against the wood. “I’m such a clutz.” She giggled. Jack stopped for a moment to laugh at her, and then continued in stressing out over the missing object. Martha wasn’t watching him this time though, she was too curious wondering what the object was. She looked under the bed where she assumed it had rolled. She spotted it amongst her mess.

“Ha ha!” She said, reaching for it. “It pays to have a mess stored under your bed.” She closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out as she felt around for it. She brought out a small, black, eight ball.

“Where the hell did I get this?” She wondered, whilst studying it. Jack sighed, he was never going to find it.

“Get wha-” He looked at the eight ball she was holding in her hand. “Damn.” He thought. He just wanted the floor to swallow him up. Martha looked up at him, curious to why he hadn’t finished his sentence. She noticed the expression on Jack’s face, and looked back at the ball.

“Oh..” She said. “This is what you’re looking for?” She asked, but she already knew the answer. She held it out to Jack. Jack reached out and took it.

“Thanks.” He mumbled. He returned it back to his suitcase and got up.

“Erm… I’m just… going to the loo.” He said, not making eye contact. He quickly got up and left the room. Once he shut the bathroom door he rested his head against the door. He was so embarrassed. He didn’t know why he had brought the eight ball, he didn’t know why he panicked so much when he thought he’d lost it, but he had, and Martha had seen it. “What’s she going to think?” he thought.

Martha was still in the exact same place as she was when Jack had left the room, she sat there in silence. She suddenly burst into a fit of giggles. Jack could hear this, and came out of the bathroom, into the bedroom. Martha was sat there in the middle of an uncontrollable giggle flurry. She noticed Jack standing at the door and tried to stop.

“Aww you’re so cute!” She teased. “Your face! Classic!” She carried on giggling at him. Jack couldn’t help but smile at the state Martha was in.

“What’s so funny?” He asked. Martha took in some deep breaths, trying to stop her laughter.

“You were so embarrassed! You thought that I’d think that you still liked me! I must admit it crossed my mind, but I then understood fairly quickly why you’d put it in, and then why you panicked, because you thought I’d found it. So when I did find it, I pretended to be shocked!” She laughed. “And it worked! Loser!” She said, creating an L shape on her forehead. Jack smiled.

“Not, Funny!” He shouted, picking up one of her teddies and throwing it at her. “I didn’t know what I was going to do! I knew how it looked!” He explained, still relieved that Martha hadn’t thought too much into this.

“I think I would have been the same if you’d have found my photo album.” She said, Jack stopped laughing.

“What photo album?” Jack enquired. Martha reached into the draw behind her and pulled out a multi coloured book. She slid it to him across the carpet. Jack picked it up, looking through the pages.

“It’s all of Summer Bay!” He said, “And some people too!” He looked at one in particular, with his dad and Lucas and sighed. He missed them a lot, he’d never really been away from them for more than a day. “I’ll have to ring them later” he thought. He flicked over to the next page, there were pictures of him and Martha. He kept flicking, and for about 10 pages there were more and more pictures of them. He noticed that there wasn’t that much similarity in the photos of her with him in this book, and the photos of her and Dave in the house. Sure she was smiling on both, but she was laughing on these. Looking through the album was just as hard as looking at those cliffs, he was being remembering everything he had promised that he’d forget, even though they were good times, it brought back bad memories. Memories of rejection, hurt and heartbreak. Martha realised what photos he was looking at, and tried to think of an excuse to how many she had. She knew they were in there at the time, but when she’d look through them, she thought that it was a fine thing to do, but now she was starting to wonder why it was necessary to have them by her bedside.

“Erm, it’s just nice to have them, when I’m feeling a bit down and lonely, and after Dave comes in drunk..” She explained. “I’d forgotten that they were in the back actually.” She lied. Jack looked up at her, nodding and pretending that he believed her. He carried on flicking through the photos. Even though it hurt and went against everything he’d said over the past year, he carried on admiring them. He couldn’t believe that he was jeopardising months of getting over Martha.

“Well if I’m really over her then I must be able to look through these.” He reasoned with himself. He flicked onto the last page, there was one single photo of him and Martha in the centre of the page. It was the same one he had at home, of where they were on the beach, laughing and joking with her new camera. It had been his favourite of her, which is why she had made a copy and framed it for him. Martha decided it was getting a bit too embarrassing for her, and she was also still having the same thought roll around her head. “Why do I have this?” She leant over and snatched it from him.

“I think we should get a plan sorted about Dave.” She said, changing the subject and returning it to the bottom draw. Jack slowly nodded.

“Okay, I’ll just go in the shower and you try and think of something.” Martha said, again Jack replied with a nod. She walked into the bathroom, still thinking about the album. Jack sat there for a second, was he starting to get his feelings back for Martha? He sure hoped not, as it wasn’t very professional or convenient. He was distracted from his thoughts by a shout. Jack jumped up and ran to the bathroom.

“Martha are you okay!?” He shouted, trying to compete with the shower.

“Yea I’m fine, why?” She shouted back.

“Never mind” Jack replied. He was just about to return to his room when he heard it again, it was coming from outside. He ran down the stairs, very nearly tripping up on the hover that he’d carelessly abandoned there, and ran out the door, shoeless and in his pjs.

[Nicom]

Chapter 18

As Jack ran out onto the front lawn he could see a huddle of people not so far away, and coming from it was the same voice that he’d heard from inside shouting for help.

“Oi!” Jack yelled, running over. The gang scattered, running in every direction possible, Jack looked at the injured body lying on the pavement of the quiet road. Jack knelt down beside the man.

“You okay mate?” He asked, the man rolled over, groaning with pain. Jack was shocked to see it was Dave. He looked at him for a moment. He was bleeding and in pain, clutching his stomach he tried to sit up. Jack wanted to leave him there, but the policeman inside of him unfortunately helped him up and escorted him back to the house. Dave let out a sigh of pain when leaning back on the sofa.

“Maybe we should get you to hospital.” Jack said, looking at how much pain Dave was in.

“No, I’m fine.” He said. “They’ll only get the police involved and I don’t want them snooping around. Get us a beer will you?” Dave asked. Jack looked at his watch.

“But it’s only 9 o’clock.”

“What are you, my mother? Get me one now Jack.” Jack did as he was told, remembering that he should be sucking up to Dave right now. He looked at Dave in pain, he had got what he deserved, a good beating. Jack passed Dave the beer and sat down next to him.

“Thanks mate.” He said. “That gang would have probably killed me if it wasn’t for you.” He sighed. “I’m sorry for last night too. I just walked in and she’d prepared a beautiful dinner with candles and red flowers in the centre of the table.” Dave carried on describing the setting, with detail to the foods and everything. Jack listened closely, creating the picture in his mind. It sounded very similar to a dinner he had made for Jack and Martha’s first date, he then he figured it out. “She was trying to make it up to me.” He thought.

“And anyway, I thought that she was trying to make a big effort because she decided she wanted to.. you know. But I was wrong I guess.” He said. Jack looked up from his daydream, angrily.

“Yes, you obviously were, but why did you keep going, after she said no?”

“I was drunk wasn’t I, and still had the idea in my head. I really thought she’d wanted to, so the more she said no, the more I just thought she was just playing hard to get. That was until she pushed me away and made for the door.” Dave talked about all the awful things he did after that, pushing her into the furniture, pulling her around etc. Jack remembered the state of the room that he walked into. Jack knew that it had been bad, but Martha hadn’t wanted to go through all the details, this was the first time Jack had heard exactly what happened.

“I’m sorry about my threat. All I want to do is forget about last night and move on. I want you to carry on living here and help me with the business. If you will.” Jack nodded.

“Thanks mate.” He said, trying to smile. He was very pleased that he’d be able to carry on with the investigation, but it pained him to call him ‘mate’, as Jack hated him, every moment that he had been talking about last night and what he did to Martha he was regretting stopping that gang a couple of minutes ago.

“Do you think she’ll take me back? I don’t know what I’ll do if she doesn’t. I love her Jack.” He said, feeling sorry for himself.

“What?” Martha had been listening on the stairs ever since they came in, afraid to walk down and greet him. Dave stood up, trying to ignore his pain. He slowly hobbled over to Martha, she backed away cautiously.

“Please, don’t be afraid, it won’t happen again, I promise. I don’t want to hurt you anymore Mac, I love you.” Martha looked surprised. “I know we’ve only been together for 2 months, but this is how I feel.” Martha was unsure how to react, no-one had ever said that too her before. Martha thought for a moment, and then hugged him. Jack stood behind Dave, gob smacked. “What is she doing?” He thought. Martha noticed Jack’s bemused look.

“It’s okay.” She mouthed over Dave’s shoulder, signalling him to go. Jack didn’t want to leave her with him, but went upstairs.

He went into his room and sat on his bed. “Does this mean she loves him?” He thought. He lay back onto his bed, listening carefully to their conversation downstairs. He could only hear the tones of the voices, not the words, but this was fine for him, as soon as he sensed a none-calm conversation, he would be down there like a shot. He waited for 15 minutes. All the time he was thinking about Martha, how she’d looked when he told her. “She looked quite happy” he thought. After another quarter of an hour slowly went by he decided to go check everything was okay, so he thought of an excuse and quietly crept down the stairs. Martha and Dave were sat on the sofa, kissing and laughing. Jack’s heart sunk. When he returned to his bedroom he angrily threw himself on the bed with his hands to his face. “This can’t be happening, again.”

Chapter 19

Martha smiled as she came in and bounced on the bed next to Jack. He hadn’t noticed her come in, he was too busy stressing out about his jealousy.

“Boo!” She laughed, trying to scare him. Jack got off the bed and went into the wardrobe, looking for his jacket. “He said he loves me!” She said, “No one has ever said that to me before.” She started bouncing around again with excitement.

“So all he had to say was ‘I love you’ and you go running back to that woman beater.” Jack snapped. “He’s the kinda guy that’d tell anyone that to get what he wanted.” He said. Martha started at him, angrily.

“Oh so your saying I’m incapable of being loved?” She asked.

“Now you’re just twisting it around!” Jack said, raising his voice. “You know I didn’t mean that. Don’t you think that it’s a bit weird, with you only being together for two months and all?”

“No.” She said. “It’s romantic. And anyway, I’ve been in love after a short time, well I thought I was, so it is possible!” She shouted.

“I can’t believe how he controls you, and your letting him! How upset were you last night? And your just going to let him do it again. You probably led him on!” He yelled. Jack stopped and took a breath. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean-” But Martha was hearing none of it.

“Yes you did!” She replied. She was just about to launch into a vicious verbal attack when the doorbell rang. “You can get the door.” She said, adding “Jerk!” before leaving the room. She slammed the door of her room.

“How could he be so mean?” She asked herself, sitting down on the floor. “I hate him.” She told herself, but the worst thing was, she knew she didn’t.

Jack walked through the kitchen/living room, kicking the furniture. A few toe injuries later, he opened the door.

“Jay-Jay!” The voice screamed, jumping at him with her arms around his neck. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, she was completely off the floor.

“Erm, G’day” A shocked Jack said. He shut the door, and stood there with the girl clinging to him. Unsure what to do, he patted her on the back and she let go.

“I’ve missed you so much Jay-Jay!” She said. Jack heard a giggle coming from the stairs. It was Martha, popping her head around the corner. As soon as she realised Jack was looking she stopped and carried on walking down the stairs, trying not to look at him.

“Hi my name is Mac.” She smiled. “Who are you?”

“I’m Jenny.” She said, turning around and giving Martha a look. Jack and Martha both noticed this and equally thought it was strange.

“Erm, do I know you?” Mac asked in response to the look.

“No.” She answered sharply. She looked at Martha, up and down. “Definitely her” she thought, thinking back to the photo. “I won’t let that come between me and my Jay-Jay.” And with that thought, she grabbed Jack at the back of the neck and started to passionately kiss him. Martha couldn’t believe what was happening. She’d never seen Jack kiss another girl, and she didn’t like it. Jack was in a moment of shock, he snapped out of it and started to pull away. Martha was pleased, she wouldn’t be able to stand anymore.

“Jenny, I-” Jack began, but was interrupted by Jenny, putting her finger to his lips.

“I know, I know.” She turned around to Martha. “You don’t think you could give us a privacy could you? I think we find it a bit uncomfortable you staring at us.” She smiled. “Anyway I think we need to catch up.” She said, batting her eyelids. Martha and Jack were both as shocked as each other. Martha snapped out of her stare.

“Yea. Sure. Sorry.” She said, picking up her jacket and bag from the sofa. Jack had only realised that she was going when she’d shut the door. He started to pull away from Jenny, to go catch up with Martha, but she maintained her grip. Jack looked down at Jenny, confused.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He asked, this time successfully wriggling away.

“I got your message, and it sounded like you missed me as much as I do you.” She smiled sweetly. “So I figured that I’d surprise you.” Jack laughed.

“Well, you did!”

“Well, I’ve got a few days off work so we can hang around here for the next couple of days.” She said, reaching out and putting her arms around him. Jack knew she couldn’t stay, she’d put the operation in jeopardy. He started to push her away.

“Look.. babe..” It annoyed him to even say it to her, but he could tell that she liked being called it, as she now had a massive grin on her face. “..you can’t stay here.” He said. Jenny’s smile turned to a frown.

“You.. don’t…like…me!” She said, crying. Jack couldn’t believe what was happening. “No, it’s not that, I do.. babe.” Jack rolled his eyes at having to say it yet again. He now remembered why he’d avoided her after their date. She was clingy and he thought pretty darn crazy too!

“Perlease!?” She begged. Jack didn’t know how to handle this, he needed to ask for help.

“Hang on.” He said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and moving closer towards the kitchen, dialling Peter’s number.

“Peter, I need your help. Can you come over?” he said, turning around and looking at Jenny, who was now blowing him kisses. “Quick.” He added.

[Nicom]

Chapter 20

Seeing that he’d finished on the phone, Jenny walked over to him, twirling her skirt and fiddling with her hair. Jack kept checking the window, to see if Peter had arrived, he desperately wanted him to knock on the door at any moment and save him from this situation. He didn’t want to upset Jenny by asking her to leave, because he didn’t know how she’d react, but he really didn’t want to act like they were couple, as that would just make matters worse. The doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it!” He screamed, hopping around Jenny and practically running to the door. Peter entered, looking worried.

“Mate, am I pleased to see you!” Jack said, letting out a sigh of relief, putting his hand on his shoulder and escorting him in. Jenny looked pleased when she saw the two of them.

“Jay-Jay!” She screamed with excitement as she skipped over to Jack and kissed him on the cheek. “Who’s your friend?” She asked. Peter, looking shocked snapped out of his daze.

“I’m Peter.” He said. Jenny put out her hand, but not for him to shake, for him to kiss. Peter and Jack looked at one another, trying not to laugh. Peter took her hand and kissed it, she blushed as she giggled uncontrollably. Peter and Jack stared in amazement, what was wrong with her?

“And who are you?” Peter asked, curious to know where this fruitcake had come from. Jack put his hands in his pockets.

“This is Jenny,” she gave him the sharpest look she could, “My girlfriend.” She smiled. Peter angrily stared at Jack.

“How did she know you were here Jack?” Peter asked, thinking that he knew the answer.

“I don’t know!” Jack said, trying to give away in his facial expressions that he too knew there was a problem, but still keeping his tone as normal as he could.

“Oh.” Peter sighed. “Can I just speak to Jay-Jay a moment in private?” He asked Jenny. She smiled at Peter using the pet name for Jack that she’d given him. “Of course.” She curtsied and skipped over and turned the TV on, occasionally looking back at Jack and smiling. Jack and Peter both stared at her, and then at each other, trying not to laugh.

“How the hell did she find out I was here?” Jack asked, “My dad and Lucas wouldn’t have told. So I can’t see how else she’d find out!”

“I don’t know Jack, but it’s not good. The whole operation could go down now.” He sighed. “Unless..” Jack picked up on the last word enthusiastically.

“Unless what?”

“Well, if you persuade her to go home, and then you make dates or something, I don’t know, just stress for her not to come around here, I’ll back you up.” He explained. Jack nodded along. “Just say anything to make her happy! I don’t want to know what fuss she’ll kick up if you don’t…” He trailed of as they looked at her in disbelief as she put on an amazingly high-pitched giggle at the TV. Peter turned around to Jack.

“Blind Date.” Jack explained. Peter nodded.

“Stalker Blind Date don’t you mean?” he laughed. “Well, if there was an award for getting the worst Blind Date, I think you’ve won it.” He laughed. Jack was too busy thinking about what his next move was going to be on this whole situation to laugh, he took a deep breath and started to walk over to her.

“Babe..” He went on, explaining that if he were seen with her, he’d be in major trouble. He asked if she could go back to Summer Bay, and then next Saturday Peter would pick her up, and drop her off here where Jack would take her out to dinner, only if she didn’t come anywhere Sydney until then. Jenny nodded, excited about their date. It was like talking to a child, she kept throwing a tantrum whenever anything went her way, and all giddy when it did. But they’d finally sorted it out, Peter was going to drive her back and Jack was meeting her the next Saturday. They were all saying bye when Martha walked in to see Jenny with her arms around Jack and lovingly staring into his eyes.

“Still at it then?” She said, shutting the door behind her and putting dropping her bag on the floor.

“I’m just taking her back home.” Peter said, signalling her to not start any conversations with her that might delay her departure. Martha nodded.

“Well, nice meeting you Jenny.” She smiled.

“Yea, I’m sure it was.” Jenny replied. Jack and Peter were both shocked at her reply. They’d been with her for an hour now and she’d acted sweet all the way through it. Jenny got Jack’s attention back by kissing him. At first Jack wanted to pull away, but he could see Peter’s eyes burning into him, ensuring he would do the thing he was instructed to do, so Jack just went with the flow, feeling extremely uncomfortable that Martha was watching. Martha too felt the same, and tried to look away, but her attention was pulled straight back in when Jenny spoke.

“I love you Jay-Jay!” She said, smiling sweetly and staring into Jack’s eyes. Jack didn’t know what to do, he looked at Peter, but knew what he was thinking. Jack had to do it, to save the investigation, but he really didn’t want to, especially with Martha right beside them. It felt almost wrong, like he was betraying her by saying it, but in fact he was doing the opposite, he was doing it so he could lock up the man that had been hurting her for so long, he had to do it for her.

“I love you too” Martha felt like her legs would give in on her, she couldn’t believe what he’d just said, the colour in her face fell leaving an extremely pale complexion, but she thought that Jack hadn’t noticed, as he was two busy kissing Jenny. Martha walked upstairs, waving goodbye to Peter before she left for her room. When she got there she felt her eyes fill up. “Martha!!” She whispered angrily at herself, trying to swallow back her tears. “Why am I doing this!?” She asked herself.

[Nicom]

Chapter 21.

Jack walked up the stairs, he carefully listened to Martha talking to herself.

“You okay Mac?” He asked, reaching the door. “You didn’t look well downstairs, can I come in?” He reached for the handle and pressed it down slightly.

“Erm, one minute, just getting changed!” She lied, brushing away her tears and checking in the mirror for any signs that she was upset. She opened the door.

“Hi.” She smiled. “Sorry I’d spilt orange juice on my top when I left!” She lied again, laughing casually at the same time. Jack looked her up and down.

“You haven’t changed.” He wondered why she’d lie. She looked uncomfortable.

“Yes, I have, I changed my top.” Martha answered, confidently.

“No you haven’t, you’ve got the same top on as before, and jeans.” He answered.

“And when did you notice so much on what I wore.” She said, frustrated that he’d figured out she’d lied. “Ever since I first saw you.” He answered in his head.

“So what’s really up then?” He asked, picking up random objects from the room, fiddling with them, and putting them back down.

“Erm.” Martha knew she couldn’t tell him the real reason, as she wasn’t even sure herself. “Nothing much.” Jack looked at her, not buying it. “Fine, I don’t want to fall out with you, so can we please forget about what you said before?”

“I really didn’t mean it, it just came out! I’m sure he loves you, he’d be crazy not to!” Realising what he said, Jack shut up. Martha smiled, had he really meant that how it sounded?

“I can see he looks at you the same way I look at Jenny.” He covered, Martha tried not to look disappointed.

“Oh, thanks.” She said, “Anyway, I’m going out, so I’ll see ya!” She said, leaving the room. Jack wasn’t sure if he’d just done the right thing or not. It was bad enough that he had started to get his feelings towards Martha back, but confessing would just enlarge the problem, anyway, he’d just get rejected again. Martha meant three things for him: Love, Friendship and Heartbreak. It was better off that he kept his feelings to himself until he got over them.

A week went by quite slowly for Jack and Martha, they’d both stopped hanging around each other as much, this was because they were both trying to prevent their feelings turning back into what they had been a year ago. Of course, when they did occasionally hang out, they had a blast! They could last hours thinking about their last joke together, it got them through the week in fact. Martha had kept her relationship with Dave quiet when around Jack, she didn’t like being all cuddly when he was near, and it almost felt as if she was cheating on him when she was. Jack had got some information for the police on the drug scam, but not as much as he’d hoped for this far into the investigation. He wasn’t complaining though, he got to hang around with Martha this way.

It was Saturday and around half 6 in the evening. Jack really wasn’t looking forward to seeing Jenny. He got changed and waited in the kitchen, taking a beer out of the fridge to prepare him for the long hours that were awaiting him. Martha came down the stairs.

“Give us one.” She asked Jack.

“Yea sure- Wow.” He said. Martha blushed.

“You think it’s nice then? I wasn’t sure on the colour.” She said. “Yo! Drink?” She waved her hand in front of Jack’s face.

“Sorry.” He said, snapping out of his stare. “Where are you going?” He asked. “You look very nice.” He tried to keep it casual, but he knew it would be hard to act casual now he’d just reacted like that. But he couldn’t have helped it, she did look very nice. She had a deep red wrap around dress with a beautiful necklace that sparkled in the light. Jack passed her a drink as he walked over to the sofa, she followed him, not taking her eyes off him. They sat there for a moment, in silence. Jack couldn’t get out of his head how great she looked, and Martha thought the same about Jack, even though he had his pale pink shirt and black jeans on she still thought he looked extra special.

Chapter 22

“You look okay.” Martha said, smiling. Jack swallowed his drink and looked at her.

“Okay? I look great!” He joked.

“Nah, I wouldn’t go that far. Perhaps, decent is the best word to describe you.” She laughed.

“You’re just saying that because you’re jealous of my groovy looks.” He smiled.

“Ha! Why would I be jealous of that when I look like this.” She smiled, standing up and doing a twirl. “I bet you wish it was beautiful me you were going out with and not Jenny!” She said, laughing and falling back onto the sofa. Jack looked at her. She was right; he would so prefer it to be Martha. Martha didn’t like the idea of Jack going out with Jenny, but she couldn’t object, as he didn’t even know she liked him. She then realised that they were both staring at each other. They both sensed the moment that they’d been waiting for for so long, and leant in for a kiss, taking their chances on rejection and happiness, when they were interrupted by Peter bursting in. Martha and Jack both dived back onto opposite ends of the sofa, closing their eyes with embarrassment. Fortunately, Peter and Jenny had noticed nothing, and Jenny was now walking around the sofa in Jack’s direction.

“Comon!” She squeaked, grabbing his hands and pulling him up. “Where are we going Jay-Jay?” Jack, still confused from what had just happened didn’t respond.

“Jay-Jay?” She shook him around to try and wake him up from his daydream.

“Sorry, erm, it’s a surprise.” He smiled. That was the easiest option he could think of to get her to shut up. Jack had too much on his mind right now to deal with Jenny. Like the question 'was it just him who leant in for the kiss?' He didn’t know, he really hoped he hadn’t made a fool of himself. Martha was having the exact same thought, she had no idea if she’d just made a total mess of their friendship. She looked up at Jenny, who had now grabbed his hand and was pulling him out the door. Jack saw Martha looking, but Martha away to the floor, embarrassed at what had just happened. She only rose her head when she heard the door shut. She let out a sigh as she rested her head against the back of the sofa. She was so confused.

Later on that night, Martha and Dave were sat in a posh restaurant in the busy Sydney centre. Even though they had the finest musical entertainment around, and she was eating the food made by the best restaurant in Sydney, she wasn’t enjoying herself. She was too busy thinking about Jack. She wondered what he’d be doing right now, if he was enjoying himself, or if he too was thinking about her.

Jack was walking hand in hand with Jenny. She’d been talking about the same thing since they left the restaurant. Jack didn’t even know what it was, he was too busy thinking about Martha and himself back at the house. Jack realised that they were in front of a hotel, and seizing the opportunity of getting rid of her he stopped outside the doors.

“Here is your room for the night.” He said, pointing at the big posh hotel. Jenny looked at him and started to jump around on the spot.

“Really!?” She asked.

“Yep.” Jack said, wondering how much this was going to take out of his pocket. But he couldn’t think for long as Jenny had started to kiss him again. She then led him into the hotel, where Jack paid for a room.

“Okay then, G’night” He said, kissing her on the cheek and putting his hands in his pockets. She grabbed his arm before he had chance to go.

“You’re not coming with me?” She said, pouting. 'Oh no.' Jack thought.

“Erm, I’m a bit tired.” Jack said. Jenny started to cry. Jack went red when the many staff and guests in the reception turned around to face them as Jenny let out a high-pitched cry. “You.. don’t.. LOVE ME!” She sobbed. 'This can’t be happening' Jack thought.

“I do babe, I told you I did. Now please stop crying and I’ll tell you why I can’t.” Jack said, pointing at an empty seat nearby. 'What will I say?' He thought, racking his brains.

Across the road, Martha and Dave were looking out the window, at where Jack and Jenny had been stood.

“Wow!” Dave said. “Go Jack! I guess he won’t be in tonight then!” He laughed. “Bill please.” He said to a near by waiter, raising his hand. He made several other jokes about lucky Jack, each causing Martha more pain than the first. She stared at the door for what seemed like hours, hoping that he would come out, but he didn’t.

“Just going to the ladies.” She said, after Dave’s final joke. She ran into the toilets, trying to hold back the tears. “It must have been a mistake.” She thought.

Next chapter-Well, let's just say Martha get's the total wrong end of the stick, and makes a decision that stops Jack and Martha's relationship from going any further! Stupid woman! lol