Never Let You Go

[jack+martha=trooluvv]

^^

Wait and see! In the meantime feel free to guess as much as you like

[jack+martha=trooluvv]

Okay this chapter and the next is mostly filler chapters but soon real action will begin...

Chapter 13

Rachel looked with disgust at Kristee. She was hanging off Tony like a possession, and not paying any attention to Rachel at all. Tony sat on the side of her bed, talking to her. Rachel tried to be natural and chatty but it was hard with Kristee, flashing her white teeth and her black lacy bra strap showing, rubbing her legs against Tony’s, and the stabbing pains in her stomach that had started again.

Eventually Rachel realised that she wasn’t listening to anything Tony was saying. She was too busy trying not to feel jealous about the way Kristee was showing off her ownership of Tony, and too busy trying to fight the pains in her stomach. Finally she interrupted something Tony was saying and said, “My stomach’s really hurting, I’d rather just rest now.”

“You look pale,” Tony said, looking worried. “Are you okay?

“Don’t worry about me,” she said with a brave – hopefully – smile. “You go and show Kristee the Bay.” Rachel smiled fakely at Kristee, and when both she and Tony turned around to see a nurse coming in, she stuck out her tongue like a child. Tony & Kristee turned back and she quickly pulled her tongue back in. It was obvious that Tony & Kristee had seen it.

“Errrr…” she said, her brain ticking at a million miles an hour. “I was just…er…giving my tongue some air.” She giggled and then sighed. Tony and Kristee gave her weird looks and she sunk back into the pillows, even more depressed.

The nurse that had just entered made her way to Rachel’s bedside. “Hello, Dr. Armstrong, how are you feeling?”

“My stomach hurts,” she said weakly. And I feel like vomiting because this chick’s hanging off Tony!!! she felt like adding, but didn’t.

The nurse looked closely at her. “Visitors, I think you’ll have to leave, okay? Rachel needs some rest.”

“Okay,” nodded Tony.

Kristee waved. “It was sooo nice to meet you, Rachel, I hope we’ll see each other again.” She flashed her teeth and Rachel smiled sarcastically back.

“Bye Tony!” Rachel said, waving at him.

“Bye Rach,” he said with a smile. “Listen, I’m glad we sorted things out.”

“So am I,” she replied. The two headed out the door and Rachel slumped into the pillows, pulling the sheets up over her shoulders. Her stomach was really hurting now, so she just lay there and thought. The nurse quietly left the room. How could that witch Kristee have gotten with Tony so quickly, it was unimaginable! And she was so pretty and skinny and young looking…

Rachel suddenly sat up. If her stomach could have spoken it would have given a few good swearwords for the pains that ran through her as she moved so quickly. But she didn’t care.

“Rachel!” she told herself. “You’re in love with Roman. You can’t be…jealous…of Tony!”

Rachel stared at the floor. “I’m…jealous…of Tony…” she said softly.

She stared at the roof, trying to clear her whirling mind. I’m not…in love with him, am I? she asked herself inside her head. It was definitely there. That jealousy. She could feel it. Great, she thought grumpily. Another complication in my life. Yippee. It isn’t enough that I’m in hospital and a lonely brunette is trying to convince me that my boyfriend is a cheater and a scum. Nooo sir. Along comes the man who I rejected and I want him back. AND he’s got a girlfriend with an American twang that looks like an effing lingerie model! No wait, she probably IS an effing lingerie model.

Rachel growled out loud and rolled over, trying to stop her thoughts from drifting to Tony & Kristee. “Anyway,” she said quietly. “I can’t leave Roman. He needs me, what with being accused by Martha and everything.”

***

TWO DAYS LATER:

Rachel lay in her bed. Bored. Again. Her stomach wasn’t hurting so much anymore, but the nurse said she couldn’t leave for at least another week. She needed to “rest.” Well I’ve rested enough, haven’t I??? she thought angrily to herself. Hospital was soo boring when she wasn’t helping people.

Suddenly the door opened and in bustled Colleen. “Yoo-hoo, it’s only me!” her voice echoed. Rachel smiled. Colleen annoyed the heck out of her sometimes, but she was good to cheer you up.

“Hey, Colleen!” she smiled.

“Dr. Armstrong!” Colleen blahed (spontaneous word there ). “I just thought I’d pop round and see how you were doing!”

“Well thanks Colleen, I really appreciate it.”

“Terrible, terrible, how young Martha hit you like that. I hope she apologized, there’s really no excuse for behaviour like that…”

“Well we were having an argument Colleen, it wasn’t just her, I hit her first.”

Colleen looked shocked. “Ohh! Dr. Armstrong, I’d never had believed it of you.”

Rachel laughed. “It’s a long story, Colleen.”

“Oh.” Colleen digested the information. “But anyway,” she said, smiling and sitting on the edge of Rachel’s bed, “what do you think of Tony and that Kristee girl?”

Rachel felt every muscle in her body stiffen. “Umm…” she said brilliantly.

“I think they’re so great together, everyone knows how DEVASTATED Tony was when you rejected him for Roman, I think it’s brilliant how he’s bounced back like this.” Colleen nodded importantly. A gossiper in the know.

“Great. So now the whole town knows about this.” Rachel rolled her eyes. Colleen was oblivious to Rachel’s hurt.

“They’re sooo in love together, you should see them!! Kissing and hugging all over the place, I haven’t sen Tony this happy since Beth, and there’s a lot more heat and passion in this relationship, let me tell you.”

“Tony had a great relationship with Beth,” Rachel said, looking down. “There was love, not just heat and passion.”

“Oh, there’s love here too,” Colleen babbled. “Such a pretty girl, too, I hear she used to be a model for Victoria’s Secret.”

Rachel swore mentally. This was getting worse and worse.

***

Matilda sat on the beach in a bikini. The sun caressed her flat stomach, her blonde waves pulled up into a ponytail. She saw a figure down the bottom of the beach, and recognized it as Ric as he came closer. He squinted into the sun, his stomach muscles well defined. She felt a little shiver run through her as she looked him in the eye.

“Hey,” she said shortly.

“Hey,” he said, smiling. She didn’t return it.

“Ric, about what happened on the beach…”

“Yeah?” He sat down next to her.

“Well, it shouldn’t have happened.”

Ric let out a sigh of disappointment. “I know, you were drunk.”

“Yeah. And I want you to know that I have settled down with Geoff. I hope our relationship will last for a long time.”

“I’m sure it will,” Ric said with gritted teeth.

Mattie sighed and turned to face him. “Ric, I know you still want me. But life goes on. I’m with Geoff. You stuffed it up with Viv, its not my fault.”

Ric grabbed her hand. “You have no idea how sorry I am for that, Matilda! Viv isn’t a part of my life anymore.”

Matilda shook her head. “I can’t…can’t be with you, knowing that that might happen again. Geoff would never cheat.” Matilda drew her knees up to her chin.

“But you don’t love him, Mattie!” Ric pulled her closer to him. “We are meant to be.”

Matilda pulled away gently, still holding his hands. “That’s not for you to say, Ric.”

And she walked off the beach.

Chapter 14: Roman begs Martha not to reveal his secret...will she give in?? Matilda can't stop thinking about Ric and Geoff's starting to realize it...

[maccaz]

As far as filler chapters go, that was pretty good! :)

Update ASAP.

[defying_gravity]

yayyyyy an update!! that was a really good chapter!

[jack+martha=trooluvv]

Chapter 14

A cold wind whistled past on the beach as Belle sat there, feeling empty. Very, very empty. Drew had just dumped her. You’re too wrapped up in that idiot Dom, he had yelled at her. And instead of saying she was sorry, Belle had retorted by saying that Dom needed someone, he was recovering from major surgery, which Drew had actually caused. It had all blown up and Drew had stormed out. Gone. And he wasn’t coming back. And Dom was gone too. He’d been let out of hospital and headed off to Melbourne, where he had some family. So, as usual, Belle was alone.

A figure came walking along the beach. She recognized it as Miles. He smiled and waved, and Belle didn’t wave back. Miles jogged up to her and sat down.

“Hey Belle,” he said with a smile.

“Hi,” she replied, not looking at him.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

“Not really,” Belle replied, turning to look at him. She saw understanding and concern in his eyes.

“We can talk, if you want,” Miles said.

Belle paused. She wasn’t really in the mood for confiding in anyone, but, well, maybe it could help. She didn’t know how it happened but suddenly she was telling Miles everything that happened. Dom locking her up. Her having feelings for him. Telling him that she loved him. And when it got to the break-up bit she burst into tears. Quietly Miles pulled her into a hug and she cried into his shirt. Miles looked down at her. He reckoned he was almost ready to tell them. But he needed the right time, with Sally there as well.

***

It was ten o’ clock at night. Martha stood in front of the mirror. She was wearing a small black cocktail dress. Blowing a layer of dust off her hooker boots she pulled them on and let her hair down, tousling it attractively. Jack wasn’t talking to her. Again. But she was cool with that, for now. She needed to talk to Roman. And she needed to fit in at the club scene. Somehow, she’d get Roman on his own, and talk to him about it. Confront him. He needed to tell Rachel, since he was the only one Rachel would believe.

Heading out the front door she walked quickly to the club. Music was pumping from inside. She walked in and the bright neon lights hit her like a ton of bricks. Martha hadn’t been in this scene for a while. A pretty girl – not Sam – was dancing seductively and the crowds were cheering loudly. Martha pushed her way through the dancers and found a girl who looked like she worked there.

“Hey!” she yelled over the music.

The girl waved and turned away. Martha grabbed her shoulder.

“What??” the girl said.

“Could you tell me where Roman Harris is?” Martha said loudly.

“He’s over there,” said the girl, pointing. “He’s our manager.”

”I figured,” Martha said drily, and walked over to where Roman was standing, looking pleased.

“

“Can we talk?” Martha said to Roman. He looked shocked.

“Um…yeah,” he said. “Come outside.”

Soon they were outside in the cold air, Martha shivering in her small dress. “I know, Roman,” she said simply.

He looked up at the sky. “How much?”

“That you are the manager of this club and that you’re having an affair with Sam.”

The stars twinkled overhead, each one of them a tiny pin-prick of light. Just like they were millions of miles away, Martha felt like she was millions of miles away from everything. From Jack. From love. From a peaceful life.

Roman took Martha’s hand and led her over to a small wooden bench. They sat down, and Roman sighed. “That’s it.”

“Why?” Martha asked gently. “You seem like such a nice guy.”

Roman laughed a little. “I try to be.”

“Then why?” Martha asked again, searching his blue eyes.

“I got caught up in it Martha and now I can’t get out,” Roman said, trying to control his emotion.

“There is always a way out,” Martha said, taking one of his hands to comfort him. “Believe me, I know.”

“I…I just can’t ditch it all, Martha. This job is providing heaps of girls with money for them and sometimes their kids, there are men who’d come after me if I closed it…I can’t do it.”

Martha sighed. “I know this whole club thing, it’s a hard thing to get out of. But Sam! What’s that about?”

Martha knew she should be mad at Roman for having an affair with someone, hurting Rachel like that, but she was kind of glad it was Sam. Mainly becauase of Jack. She pushed that thought out of her mind and waited for an answer.

“To be honest, Martha, she made the first move. I think it was just after I got to the Bay, I was drawing up plans for the club. I’d been hanging out at places in the city, working there and stuff, then someone suggested I make my own, so I did.”

“People are going to find out about this eventually Roman,” Martha said.

“You’d be surprised,” Roman said with a smile. “I’m good at secrecy. But anyway…back to Sam. She asked for a job at the new club when it’s built, and I said yeah, then she made a move on me. This was before I was with Rachel, I promise.”

“Ohhh,” Martha nodded. “So actually you’re cheating on Sam with Rachel.”

“No,” Roman said. “When I realised how much I liked Rachel I ended it with Sam. She was devastated. She said Jack and Rory were too ‘boring’ for her and she wanted me to spice her life up or something. After a bit with Rachel I went back to Sam. It’s stupid, I know, and, well, this secret relationship is making us both happy.”

Martha smiled. “Roman, if you love Rachel you should leave Sam and the club and just have a normal life as a chef at the Diner.”

“I do love Rachel, but I don’t want to give up Sam and the club. I like having a double life.” Martha looked quizzically at Roman. He was so nice, yet strangely creepy somehow. Still, she felt that he was caught up in it and it wasn’t really what he wanted to do.”

“You don’t really, do you?” she asked.

“Well…no,” Roman said. “But Sam has sort of forced me to stay in the relationship and the club.”

Pause.

“You’ve got to tell Rachel!” Martha said, pressing his hand.

“No,” Roman said simply.

“Then I’ll tell her!!” Martha snapped. “I mean I’ve already tried but I’ll tell Jack, I’ll tell Alf, even if Sam has threatened me.”

“No!” Roman cried. “Please, please don’t. I’m begging you!”

He took Martha’s hands and looked into her eyes, pleading.

“Please don’t tell anyone. You’ll get hurt, I’ll get hurt. Sam’s contacts will come after us. I’ll…I’ll finish this whole thing when I’m ready. I’ll ditch Sam. It’ll happen.”

Martha sighed and drew her hands away. “Fine. I won’t tell anyone as long as you, at some point, shut down the club and dump Sam, and have a normal life.”

“Shake?” Roman said, and they shook.

Martha couldn’t believe what she’d just done. But a deal was a deal and she knew she had to keep it.

***

Mattie & Geoff sat on the beach, their arms around each other.

“So how have you been?” Geoff asked, stoking her hair.

“I’ve been good,” Mattie said. That wasn’t really true, but oh well.

“That’s good,” Geoff said. He and Matilda were taking things very slow but he felt thrills run through him every time he cuddled her.

They were silent for a few moments, then they saw a figure running along the beach.

“Hey Ric!” Geoff yelled.

Ric waved back and Matilda waved back enthusiastically. A bit too enthusiastically. Geoff looked at her strangely and she giggled nervously.

Once Ric was off the beach Matilda decided to make up for that. She sat in Geoff’s lap, wrapping her legs around his lower back. He looked a bit nervous and Matilda smiled seductively. “You look hot, Ric.”

As soon as it was out of her mouth she felt like falling into a BIG hole.

“Ric??” Geoff said, quickly wriggling out of her legs.

“I…I’m sorry,” Matilda said, dropping her head.

Chapter 15: Finally...Miles tells his secret and boy is it explosive!! Will Jack and Martha sort things out?

[maccaz]

I bet Belle's his illegitimate daughter or something!

Just my crazy theory...

Update soon!

[defying_gravity]

thanx 4 updating!

[jack+martha=trooluvv]

Thanks for all the comments guys Sorry this chapter is so short.

Chapter 15

Belle sat on the top of the sofa, staring at Miles. He had “something important” to tell her and Sally. To tell the truth, she wasn’t really interested. What could be interesting? Her life was over. Drew was gone, Dom was gone. Miles was stirring a foamy latte and waiting for Sally to get dressed and come down.

“So what’s this all about, Miles?” she asked.

“Wait,” he said, inclining his head at the stairs.

Sally’s feet appeared and she clattered down the stairs, sitting on the sofa next to Miles. “So,” she said with a grin. “Fire away, Miles.”

“Well,” Miles began, then stopped for a few seconds. “This will probably shock you both. Extremely.”

“Another shocking truth, hey?” Belle asked cynically. “How many have you got tucked away?”

“Ha ha,” Miles said, smiling sarcastically. “All right. You know the story…I lived outside the system with my dad for years, until he passed away and I made a life of my own. There was a point in time when we were quite stable. We were staying at a bed and breakfast in the city, and Dad was managing to stay off the drink. I was sixteen. I went for a walk in the park one day and I met a girl, quite a few years older than me, called Amanda. Amanda Vale.”

Belle raised her eyebrows, but didn’t say anything. She wanted to hear the rest.

“Well, we got pretty close, and one night she invited me over to hers. She got me drunk and you can imagine the rest. I woke up in the morning with a splitting hangover and me and Amanda had a fight. She wanted to continue the relationship, I didn’t. She was too old, I was too young. Strangely enough, none of us thought about what might happen if she was pregnant. So I took off and we never saw each other again. Eventually Dad hit the drink again, got broke and we moved on.”

Sally searched Miles’s face. “And then?”

“And then, almost a year later, I got a call from her, telling me that she’d had a baby girl, and had passed it on to adoption. She didn’t tell me where she had put her, she didn’t want me to have anything to do with it. All she told me was her name.”

Belle felt the world swim around her. “M-me? You’re my father?”

Miles shook his head and smiled. “No. It turned out Amanda was already a mother when we slept together. The little girl’s name is Julie-Ann Vale.”

“I…I’ve got a sister?” Belle said faintly.

“Yep,” Miles nodded. “And I’m her dad.”

“Oh my god!” Sally cried. “This…this is amazing, Miles!”

“So how old would she be now?” Belle asked, leaning forward.

“About thirteen, I reckon,” Miles said. “And…now that I’m here, and I’m part of the family, I want to find her.”

“She’s probably got a happy life somewhere else,” Sally said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I know,” Miles said. “I just want to find her, see her. I would have done it a long time ago but I didn’t feel like I had anything to offer her. Now I do.”

“We should let Mum know,” Belle said. Her heart was beating wildly and she had forgotten about Drew. “If Julie-Ann wants to live with her birth parents she might decide to live with Amanda and Peter in the city.”

“I know,” Miles said. “I’m going to call Amanda and plead and beg for some information.” He grinned. “If we do find her and she does want to leave wherever she’s living, we can work out a custody arrangement, so that she can see both of us.”

“I wonder what she looks like,” Sally mused.

“I’m so excited!” Belle squealed. “I really, really want to see her. Julie-Ann…”

Miles got up and walked to the phone. “I guess we should contact Amanda now.”

“Okay,” Sally said.

“Do you have her number?” Miles asked.

Sally showed him the number and Miles called. Belle and Sally waited in anticipation. “Hello, is that Amanda? Hey Amanda, it’s me, Miles…has anyone told you that I’m in Summer Bay? Yeah, I thought Belle would have…Listen, I’ve just told Belle and Sally about Julie-Ann and we want to find her, see if she wants to come to Summer Bay or to the city with you…Of course we can work out a custody arrangement…But the problem is finding her…Okay, thanks, I’ll call there now.” Miles scribbled something on a piece of paper, then hung up. “Well, I have the number of the adoption agency she went to, hopefully it’s still running and we can find out where she went.”

Miles looked at Belle and Sally, then opened his arms for a hug. “Thanks for listening – and understanding,” he said as Belle and Sally hugged him.

“Thanks for telling us,” Belle said, muffled into his shirt. “I really can’t wait to meet her.”

“If she wants to live here then the house is always open,” Sally said, “we’d be a real little family.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Miles said carefully. “She might not want to come.”

“Oh come on,” Belle said, leaning back. “Of course she’ll want to come, we’ve got to be better than any foster parents.”

Miles laughed. “Let’s hope so. Julie-Ann Vale. We’re going to find you.”

***

Martha sat on the beach, the wind blowing her hair away from her face. Jack hadn’t been speaking to her. Probably something that Sam had said. “Our relationship is doomed,” she said out loud. And she couldn’t even tell Jack about Sam and Roman, for two reasons. One, she had promised Roman and Martha tried not to break promises. Two, Sam’s men would knock out her teeth, which didn’t sound all THAT pleasant to her. Really, she was stuck. She just had to wait and see how things panned out.

“Whose relationship is doomed?” said a male voice from behind her. Martha whipped around and saw Jack standing behind her, smiling. Martha laughed a little.

“Ours,” she said. “I don’t think we’ve had one peaceful moment since you arrived in the Bay.”

“Some moments were worth that,” Jack said seriously.

Martha smiled. “Think that if you will. Anyway, I thought you hated me.”

Jack sat down beside her. “Why would I hate you?”

Martha kept quiet. She didn’t want to talk about Sam.

“Sam told me you were lying, but I’m not really fussed. I didn’t hear what you were going to say, so it’s not like I can make a judgement. What were you going to say, anyway?”

Martha shook her head and looked up at Jack. “I can’t tell you.”

“Um…all right,” Jack said. “But listen, I just want to say I’m sorry for all this drama.”

“Oh that’s okay,” said Martha. “I think we both caused it, really.”

“Martha, you’re my best friend,” Jack said. “We’ve got so much history behind us, and I just want us to be happy friends. I don’t want you to get hurt by all the stuff that’s happening.”

“Thanks,” Martha said. It wasn’t like he’d come right out and said, I love you so much Martha, let’s run away to Barbados, but he cared. Impulsively she reached over and gave him a bear hug.

“Woah!” Jack said, almost knocked over by the suddenness of it. He hugged her back, though, and patted her back. “Martha, me and Sam are always here for you.”

“Just you,” Martha said into Jack’s shirt.

“What?”

“Just you. I don’t think Sam likes me very much,” Martha said with a giggle.

Jack pulled away from the hug. “Well, don’t worry about her, okay. I’m not going to force you to be friends with her. Some pairings just aren’t meant to be.”

“Believe me, I know about pairings that aren’t mean to be,” Martha sighed.

“I’d better get going,” Jack said, smiling at her.

“Okay,” Martha said. “Thanks for everything, Jack.” She leant over and kissed him on the cheek. He turned bright red and grinned.

“Bye Martha.”

“Bye Jack. "

The search for Julie-Ann is on!! Is Sam a criminal as well as a cheat??

[maccaz]

Looks like Miles got around a bit when he was on the road!

Update soon!

[defying_gravity]

awesome chapter!! thanks for updating so soon!