Losing My Way

[vale4eva]

If Martha gets involved with Hugh again; i'll vomit. All over you infact.

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Chapter 21:

“How’s it going Holden?” Peter Baker poked his head through the gap in the door.

“Not too bad thanks” he smirked, “ive got my office” he signalled to the four walls, “my coffee, and not to mention a hefty promotion tucked neatly in my back pocket. I can’t really complain” he spoke smugly.

Peter laughed, “lucky for some hey”.

“Yep, some of us just get all the luck” he smirked.

Peter rolled his eyes before laughing, shutting the door to a close and allowing for Jack to get down to business.

Letting out a heavy breath he sat down, picking up his latest file and reading over it intently; he narrowed his eyes and tried to focus his mind, desperate to push aside his other thoughts. Shaking his head, he slammed the file down on the desk in frustration, putting his hands to head he closed his eyes, still unable to concentrate on his work and powerless to shake the thoughts that had been playing on his mind so persistently for the last two weeks.

He had returned to summer bay, the one place he had always been so adamant he would never go back to. But when he was offered the chance of a promotion, he realised he had to put the past aside, face his demons and take the opportunity he had always dreamed of. He had worked his way up the ladder and now he was officially a detective, the one challenge he was so determined to accomplish. And at long last, after 3 years of waiting, the chance was finally given to him.

Without a moments hesitation, he had taken it, he wasn’t about to knock it back, it meant far too much to him. And so, he had welcomed the offer with open arms; accepting the slight drawback of the location, but taking it in his stride as one of the many hurdles he would be forced to face in his life.

Pushing his chair back, he clambered to his feet. Walking towards the door he grabbed his coat off the hanger and exited his office.

“Im going out, I need a break, ill be back later” he signalled to Peter Baker who sat behind the front desk, before making his way out of the building.

………………………………

Standing on the sand he gazed dreamily out into the ocean. The water looked so inviting, if he had any sense right now he would dive in their and allow for the gentle waters surf to sooth his tensed up muscles. But he couldn’t, he had to return to work in a while, and skiving off work just to go for a surf, wouldn’t exactly create a fine impression for his first day on the job.

Walking further up the beach he took off his shades. Tilting his head he smiled, as the girls who lay in their bikinis followed his movements with their eyes, gazing over at him whilst unconsciously licking their lips. He had this effect on most of the girls nowadays; it was strange how suddenly, overnight, he had gone from a geek, to a pretty darn handsome bachelor, even if he did say himself.

Walking up towards the diner he spun on his heel, standing still and looking down at the beach, taking in the landscape, wow it was beautiful. It’s funny how when you live in one place all of your life, you end up taking so many things for granted. Like the beach for example, he had never actually bothered just looking out into the ocean and taking in the view, nor had he enjoyed the feeling of soaking in the fresh air. But now he had returned, and certainly wasn’t about to take them for granted.

Spinning back around he made his way up to the diner; he desperately needed his early morning pick-me-up; a strong black latte and a chocolate chip muffin was just what the doctor ordered.

Entering the diner he turned the corner, happily smiling away, however, failing to notice the woman that was darting around the corner at full speed.

BAM! They collided, her papers falling from out of her hand and her coffee splashing down onto the ground.

“Oh god, im so sorry miss,” he apologised, bending down and gathering up the papers.

“Its ok, don’t worry” she laughed.

Frowning, he stopped his movements, his mind went into overdrive as her words ran through his head. He knew that voice. Looking up, he was presented with the one person he would never be prepared to see…

“Oh my god … Jack!” she gasped…

[vale4eva]

Another update

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Chapter 22:

Rising to his feet, he stood in front of her. Her hand rose to her chest in utter shock, completely taken a back that he was standing before her.

Both were unable to speak, they just looked into each others eyes.

He studied her expression; her eyes were wide open and her mouth was open a-jar. She was still as beautiful as ever, in fact, if it was possible, she was even more stunning 6 years on.

Darting her eyes onto his face she stared in amazement, his striking good looks were breath taking, never in her whole life had she come across such a fine male specimen.

Seconds passed and still no words were spoken.

Gulping hard she spoke up…

“No glasses?” she said in a whisper. It was the first thing that came to mind.

“Contacts” he replied with minimal effort.

She nodded, not really knowing what to say, but all the while still keeping her vision fixed firmly on his.

Following several more silent seconds, he eventually tore his eyes away, shuffling on the spot uncomfortably, before handing her the papers back. Exhaling a heavy breath, he spun on his heel, making his way towards the exit, he didn’t have the stomach for a muffin and a coffee anymore, he just wanted to get the hell out of there.

Martha stood their flabbergasted, her mind still having trouble in processing the fact that Jack had returned, and less than 10 seconds ago, he had been standing right in front of her.

Snapping out of her dazed state she shook her head, before shuffling the papers in her hand and clinging onto them hard as she ran out of the diner.

“Jack, wait” she called after him. Running up to him she grabbed his arm.

“Why?” he turned to her, his sadness already beginning to break through, “So you can tell me how sorry you are?” he watched as her face began to drop, “it’s a bit late now don’t you think?”

Unable to respond she just stood their staring at him, the creases between her eyebrows beginning to form as she frowned. “I …” she sighed, “I don’t know what to say” she said regretfully.

“Yeah” he replied in a glum tone, “me neither” he raised his eyebrows before turning and walking away.

She felt powerless to stop him, her heart desperately wanted to race after him and beg for his forgiveness, but her head told her now wasn’t the time. She would just have to wait, and pray that next time they meet; she would get a chance to explain.

But how would she explain all of this!? She couldnt make a long list of excuses, that wouldnt work, and she certainly wasnt going to lie to him again and blame the whole thing on Hugh, because that would just cause more harm than good. Whatever she would do, she needed to do something, he had returned to summer bay after being so determined to never set foot in this town again. So maybe this was her opportunity to make amends, maybe now she could have the second chance that she had always wanted.

Walking slowly down to the beach she slumped onto the sand, her face still displaying so much bewilderment. Following 6 long years of no word at all, she honestly couldn’t believe he was back. Jamie had always said how certain he was the he would never return, there were far too many bad memories here for him, but now, here he was, it was almost as if he hadn’t left, it just didn’t make sense, it must have been something pretty darn significant for him to end up back in little old summer bay, that's for sure…

…………………………………

BANG BANG BANG

“Ok ok, im coming” Jamie spoke annoyed as she ran to the door.

“Why didn’t you tell me!?” Martha screeched as she rushed into Jamie’s apartment, dumping her papers and bag down onto the table before trying to gather her breath.

“Tell you what?” she scrunched up her face in confusion.

“Why didn’t you tell me that Jack was back”

“What?”

“You heard me” she glared at her through annoyance, “I mean, I no I don’t exactly deserve a heads up, but maybe you could have been so kind to warn me in advance so that I could at least prepare myself” she rambled.

Jamie stood on the spot, walking slowly over towards the couch and sitting down, her face filled with creases as she mulled over the words that Martha had spoken.

“I can’t believe he’s back” she hushed, with her head fixed forward and her eyes staring out into ‘space’.

“Wait” Martha walked over to the couch, “you didn’t no he was coming back?”

“No” she shook her head, “I spoke to him last Saturday, I can’t believe he didn’t tell me” she frowned.

“Well, maybe he wanted to surprise you”

She nodded slowly, her face gradually lifting as it beamed with a glowing smile, “I can’t believe he’s back. Im going to go and find him” she spoke through excitement as she rose from her seat.

Dashing around the apartment she picked up her bag; grabbing her keys and jacket on her way.

“So, how did he look?” she turned to Martha who still sat on the couch.

“Well, despite the frown lines and the dull expression, which I presume was for my benefit. He looked … beautiful” she smiled sadly.

Jamie smiled in return, “yeah, from the pictures he sent me, it didn’t exactly look like age had a bad affect him” she laughed lightly.

“Yeah” she replied, trying to smile but suddenly feeling as her insides churned through nerves and anxiety.

Sensing her sudden discomfort, she walked over to the couch, placing herself beside Martha. “How are you doing?”

“I don’t know” she sighed, “I thought id gotten over the past, id finally put it behind me, but now … now I think it’s about to come back around and bite me on the ass”.

……………………………………

(45 minutes later)

Walking down the beach she saw him in the distance, her heart beat fluttered and her face beamed through joy and happiness, “Jack!” she called out as she ran over to him.

Turning around he saw a familiar brown-haired girl running towards him.

She lunged at him, flinging her arms around his neck and pulling him close. Holding onto his toned and well-built frame, she squeezed him tightly, relieved to finally have him back.

“CAN'T … BREATHE” he panted as she clung to him so desperately.

Eventually releasing him she giggled, “Oh sorry, im just so happy to see you” she grinned.

“Aw, it’s great to see you to, ive really missed you” he smiled.

“Me too” she smiled back, “but how come you didn’t tell me you were coming?” she pouted as she poked him in the stomach.

“Sorry” he laughed as her poke tickled him slightly, “it was kind of last minute, and, I guess I wanted to surprise you” he smiled.

“Well, it was certainly a big surprise. The best one ive had all year” she beamed.

“Im glad”

“So come on, you have to tell me everything about your move here, we’ve got a lot of catching up to do” she grinned as she took his hand, leading him back to her apartment.

Preview: Will Martha finally get a chance to talk to Jack?

[vale4eva]

Thanks peeps

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Chapter 23:

“Ive really missed you Jack. I no we talk on the phone every week, but, it’s not the same is it”.

“No, its not”

Jack and Jamie had been sat in Jamie’s apartment for the last hour, both chatting about life in general and how things had changed since the day he had made his exit.

“I still can’t believe you’re a detective” she beamed, “that is beyond cool” she nodded raising her eyebrows.

“Yeah, I cant deny it; its totally awesome” he turned to her with a glint in his eye, “it’s great when a pretty girl comes along and asks me what I do for a living. Saying im a detective certainly beats saying im a former geek from summer bay high” he smirked.

“Yeah” she giggled, “but hey, who says there’s anything wrong with being a geek” she smiled sweetly.

“Oh I don’t know, about 90% of the summer bay high population”.

“Oh yeah, how could I forget” she rolled her eyes before grinning.

Standing up she made her way over to the kitchen, “you want a coffee?”

“Yeah, that’d be great thanks” he smiled. “So tell me, what have you been getting up to?”

“Oh, nothing much, I work in real-estate now” she called out from the kitchen, “a place just outside town; im really enjoying actually. Ive made some really great friends there” she smiled as she walked back through. “And, I have a boy friend now” she said as she sat down beside him, suddenly turning all shy and girly as she looked at him.

“Aw, look at you” he gently rubbed her flushed cheek with the back of one of his fingers, “you must really like him to give off that response” he smiled.

“I do, he’s great. He’s about the only guy around here that actually accepts me for who I am” she smiled; “apart from you, that is” she added with a smirk, “he’s perfect”.

“That’s great, im really happy for you, there’s no one more deserving of some happiness around here, other than you Jamie” he smiled.

“Oh, I think I can think of someone” she raised her eyebrows, letting out a sympathetic smile as he turned away. He knew exactly who she was referring to.

“Come on Jack” she placed a comforting hand on his arm, “your not even going to talk about it?”

He sighed, shrugging his shoulders, before leaning backwards into the couch, “I no that ill have to eventually”, he looked back at her, “and no doubt, she’ll want to talk to me about it, but, I just can’t handle it yet. Im still settling in and having to deal with the idea of seeing her again, I just need to chill out for a bit, if things start getting too heavy too soon, I just no ill crack” he told her honestly.

She nodded in understanding, “yeah, your right, there’s no point pushing the issue, it’ll only end up driving you crazy. Besides, it’s in the past, we’ve all moved on, so maybe it’s best that it’s kept in the past”.

“Yeah, I agree” he smiled.

“So,” she changed the subject, “im guessing there were some pretty hot girls in Melbourne then?” she smirked giving him a nudge.

He laughed, “Isn’t that guy's talk?” he raised an eyebrow.

“I felt like being a guy for a change,” she shrugged before grinning, “come on, do tell”.

“Well, actually, there was this one girl…” he started, but was brought to a halt when a shadow appeared at the doorway…

“Oh sorry, I hope I didn’t interrupt” said Martha as she let out a shy smile.

“No, its fine” he glanced at her, his face turning straight.

Jamie could already see the change in him, as soon as Martha had entered the room, his once warm and friendly self, had suddenly turned cold and still.

The atmosphere dropped deadly silent, as the awkwardness and un-ease consumed the room. Martha shuffled uncomfortably on the spot, feeling as if she had burst in at just the wrong time. Glancing back at Jack she caught his eye-line, before he quickly turned away, looking straight ahead. Not knowing where to look, she let her head drop down, her eyes focussing on her hands and waiting for someone to respond.

Clearing his throat Jack was the first to speak up, “Umm, I have to go” he turned back to Jamie, “I have some paper work I need to get finished at the station, and its not exactly going to get done by itself” he spoke un-amused.

“Station?” Martha called out as her head shot up; her face now frowning through confusion.

“Yeah” Jamie beamed, “Jacks a detective now”

Her eyes opened wide at Jamie words, “wow” she exclaimed, her mind going into overdrive at the fact that the former sweet and geeky Jack Holden, was now a detective. “Congratulations” she smiled.

“Thanks” he nodded in appreciation.

But the smiles quickly disapeared and again the atmosphere dropped silent. The only sound that was heard came from the clock on the wall.

Shuffling in her seat Jamie attempted to speak up, she had to do something, this was like torture, she could feel the agitation and discomfort that they were feeling just burning through her skin; it was almost too painful to watch. Opening her mouth to speak she attempted to diffuse the situation, but yet again Jack interrupted.

“Well, like I said, I better go” he stood up, “Ill see you later” he turned back to Jamie and smiled, before making his way out of the door. He walked ahead in an almost distant state; his eyes fixed forward as he stared into nothing; not once looking back at Martha as he made for the exit.

Now, standing outside he let out a heavy breath; thankful that he had managed to escape that awkward nightmare. Just being around her was hard enough, looking into her eyes brought back so many painful memories and heartache that he would prefer to forget.

It also didn’t help that she was a total stunner now, if he wasn’t mentally cursing her for what she had done; he was mooning over her good looks and angel-like beauty. He would do anything to kiss her one last time; but just the thought of being with her triggered a feeling that was almost unbearable. The thoughts and images in his mind were scarring, as he couldn’t help but picture her with Hugh. Closing his eyes he scrunched up his forehead, desperate to shake the thoughts from his mind, but failing miserably. His once shattered heart yet again, began to break...

………………………………………

(8pm)

Jack strolled into Noah’s bar, he was meeting his dad here in 30 minutes; they were planning on toasting Jacks first official day as summer bay’s new detective.

Little did Jack no however, Martha worked full shifts in Noah’s bar, and it just so happened that tonight she was on till late.

Walking around the bar he watched her from a distance. His eyes studying her movements and her facial expressions as she happily greeted her customers.

Perfect! He thought as he rolled his eyes. Of all the places in summer bay, she had to work here!

Glancing to the side she caught his eye-line. “Oh” she paused slightly, suprised to see him standing there, “hey,” she let out a small smile as she walked towards him.

“Hey, can I have a beer please” he asked, getting straight to the point; happy to avoid any small talk.

“Erm, yeah, sure” she stuttered, shuffling on her feet before pouring him his beer, all the while she could feel his eyes on her, almost piercing her skin, turning around she handed him the beer, “that’s 3.95”.

Handing her the money he took the glass, before walking over towards the corner chairs and taking a seat.

She watched as he sat down, all the while keeping his eyes on his beer, it was obvious he was trying to avoid her.

Walking around the bar she picked up her cloth, moving from table to table she wiped down the surfaces. Glancing over to him, she frowned at his obvious state of misery; he sat their looking glum and depressed, his eyes permanently fixed onto his beer, watching as the foam gradually disappeared.

She would do anything just to make him feel better, to take away all of the hurt and pain and to erase the past from memory. Taking a deep breath, she plucked up the courage to approach him, moving towards the corner of the room she stood several feet away. Opening her mouth to speak, she attempted to make the first move, but the words failed to come out as she was promptly called away by her rather persistent customers.

“Ok ok” she rolled her eyes, “im coming”

Walking over to the bar she took their orders, but all the while her eyes glanced over to Jack, watching as he made only slight movements, either to drink his beer or to scratch his head. Mostly he just sat there, looking dull and depressed.

…………………………………

(20 minutes later)

Within the last few minutes the bar had cleared considerably, with now only a few men and women darted around the room, chatting away and continuing to drink their evening beers.

Tapping her fingers down on the bars surface she looked over to him. She had a craving inside to just want to talk to him, she had really missed him these past 6 years, and having him so close to her now, was just too much for her to not talk to him. Although hesitant, she made her way over towards him...

“Hi” she smiled as she stood before him.

“Hi” he replied in a dull and miserable tone.

“So, how are you?” she tried to make conversation.

“Peachy” he raised his eyebrows and nodded as he looked up at her.

“Well, im really happy for you Jack. You know, the whole detective thing. You’ve done really well for yourself, which is exactly what you deserve” she let out a small smile.

“Thanks”

His responses were to a minimum, which Martha wasn’t really surprised about, considering the situation.

“Listen Jack” she started.

“Martha” he interrupted, turning to her and looking into her eyes, “can we not” he added.

“What?”

“Can we not talk; I don’t really feel in the mood for conversation right now, and especially not one that consists of bringing up the past”

She appreciated that it would be hard for him to talk about the past, so she decided not to press the issue. Nodding very gently, she turned on her heel, walking away from him and back over towards the bar.

He sighed as he watched her walk away; already he was feeling guilty for ignoring her and pushing her away, but why should he talk to her! She was the one that betrayed him! He shouldn’t be feeling guilty at all. Leaning forward he took another gulp from his beer, whilst trying to shake off any guilt he once felt. Placing the beer back down onto the table he looked over to the door, watching as his dad appeared from around the corner.

“Bout time too” Jack smirked as his father approached him.

“Sorry mate, lost track of time…”

Jack smiled as he listened to his father talk away, thankful of the welcome distraction…

[vale4eva]

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Chapter 24:

“Well Jacky, I think im going to head home” Tony said as he stood up stretching out his arms.

“Yeah, me too actually”

The two men made their way across the room, with Tony walking off ahead and Jack trailing behind. As he made his way passed the bar he felt as someone gently tugged at his arm. Turning to the side he came face to face with Martha.

Releasing his arm she looked into his eyes. Her body suddenly turned rigid as she looked across at him. She had planned on making an entire speech about how sorry she was for everything she had done, but now she faced him, she didn’t quite no how to say it.

“Erm…” she started, but couldn’t bring herself to form a sentence.

He stared back at her, eventually releasing a heavy breath as he raised his eyebrows, “did you want something?” he asked impatiently.

“Yeah, I … erm … I just wanted to tell you” she paused as she took a breath, “that, it’s good to see you” she spoke softly.

He failed to react, his facial expression staying straight and his eyes continuing to stare into hers, almost as if he hadn’t heard her.

“I really missed you Jack” she hushed back to him.

He stayed silent, allowing for her to continue. Her eyes pleaded with him to open up.

“Jack” she tilted her head slightly as she frowned, waiting for a response.

“Are you done?”

“What?”

“Are you finished? Because ive had a really long day and I just want to go home now” he told her with a straight face.

“Erm, yeah, I guess”

“Right” he finished before turning around and walking towards the exit. Leaving Martha standing alone and completely dejected in the now empty room.

A single tear crept silently down her one cheek as she looked on at the doorway. Her heart was calling out to him in desperation. She so badly wanted to comfort him.

But she understood his behaviour and general coldness towards her, in fact she was pleasantly surprised how civil he had been, most people would want to throw things or yell in the persons face for hurting them so much, but Jack wasn’t like that, he just stayed calm and still. Not wanting to cause a scene, but unconsciously showing his hurt and pain in other ways. She only had to look into his eyes and see that the spark that was once there had now gone. And all that was left was sadness. And it was all because of her…

…………………………………

(The following day)

“I tried to speak to him, but I couldn’t exactly get anything out of him” she sighed as she chopped another carrot; before throwing the segments into the salad bowl.

“Well, can you blame him after everything that happened? I mean, you didn’t just hurt him, you humiliated him. You betrayed him on so many levels Martha” she turned to her friend with an expression that read, ‘are you stupid or something!’

.

“I no that” she huffed as she roughly chopped the pepper; taking out her aggression on the chopping board.

“Well then, how exactly can you expect him to be all friendly with you after that?” she questioned her.

“I don’t expect him to be friendly with me, I just want a reaction, any reaction will do, I hate that he’s so calm and collected, id prefer it if he threw something at me if im honest”.

“Yeah well, we both no Jacks not like that” she replied as she went over to the table, placing down the three plates, ready for when Josh (her boyfriend) would arrive home for lunch. She originally wanted to invite Jack around to introduce them both, but as per usual, Martha had turned up uninvited, and now that she was here, she couldn’t exactly shunt her away, so she decided to leave Jack out of this one, she would just have to introduce him to Josh another time.

“Martha, can you grab the bread” Jamie called out as she walked through into the living room.

“Yeah sure”

‘Knock Knock’

“Ill get it” Jamie grinned as she went over to the door. Swinging it open she expected to see Josh standing before her, but was presented with someone quite different.

“Jack, hey” a surprised Jamie smiled across at the innocent and sweet looking man that stood in the door way.

“Hey, I finished work early so I wondered if maybe you wanted to talk, or, something” he asked as he glanced over Jamie’s shoulder, studying the table that was set out for lunch, “but it looks like I came at a bad time” he said as he shuffled on his feet.

“No, its fine, were just having lunch, Josh will be home soon, you could stay, if you want? I really want you to meet him” she smiled.

“Erm, I don’t no” he mumbled as he looked into the room; his face frowning as his eyes scanned the area.

“She’s here Jack” she sighed, as she quite clearly noticed that Jack was looking for Martha.

“Oh” he sighed, “I don’t think ill stay then”

Jamie’s head slowly dropped as he spoke the words, before she nodded and smiled back, she understood that it may have been too soon for them to all enjoy a friendly lunch together, but she couldn’t help but feel saddened knowing it was probably very unlikely that she would ever get to spend time together with her two best friends.

Feeling bad, he released a sigh, “Actually, you no what, its fine, its not like I can’t stand to be in the same room as her. Ill be fine”

“Are you sure?” her face lit up.

“Yeah, totally”

“Great! Cause we’ve got plenty of food, and Josh really wants to meet you” she smiled.

Although reluctant he stepped inside, “ok, great”.

“Oh, hi” Martha said as she entered the room, “Are you staying?” she asked hopeful.

He nodded in response, not up for much conversation.

She smiled, “You want a drink?” Martha offered as she stood beside the table; her hands held neatly in front of her like a happy little hostess.

“Yeah thanks, ill have a juice”

Showing him to his seat she placed down another plate, before scooting off into the kitchen in search of the juice. Martha couldn’t help but feel nervous; a part of her was absolutely thrilled that he was staying, she felt as if her insides were dancing around she was so excited, finally she would get a chance to spend some quality time with him.

But there was a bigger part of her that dreaded this upcoming lunch. How would he respond to her if she asked him a question? Would he even be able to last that long being in the same room as her!? It was doubtful.

Martha sighed as she poured the juice, why did things have to turn out so bad! If only she had known how lucky she was to have Jack, and how much of a waste of space Hugh was back then, she would never have made that huge and life-changing mistake; and consequently, her and Jack would still be together.

Life just wasn’t fair!

…………………………

Inside the dining room Jack sat alone, leaning his elbow on the table he placed his head in his hand. This was about to be the longest lunch of his life…

Preview: Is someone about to say the wrong thing

[vale4eva]

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Chapter 25:

30 minutes had passed and Josh had already arrived, the introductions had been made, first and foremost, and now they were sat eating lunch. To the naked eye, everything appeared to be fine; with the four individuals eating their food whilst happily chatting away. But inside, they were all as nervous as hell.

Jamie prayed to god that they would all make it through the lunch in one piece; whilst Martha sat feeling as if she was totally invisible to Jack, as he failed to look across at her once, and then there was Jack, who just sat there trying to be pleasant as he listened to the conversations that took place across the table, but inside feeling as if he was about to explode. Josh on the other hand, happily went about his normal business, oblivious to the complicated history that the three of them shared.

“So, Jamie’s told me a lot about you Jack. In fact, maybe a little too much” he smirked as he looked at Jamie, “some might say she talks about you non stop” he rolled his eyes in a joking fashion before chuckling to himself.

Jamie stifled a nervous laugh. How embarrassing, she thought as she glanced over to Jack who sat their smiling at her, whilst raising his eyebrows in amusement; he let out a soft and gentle laugh at her obvious embarrassment, studying her flushed cheeks as he kept his eyes on her.

Martha watched intently at the exchange of looks between the two individuals. If an onlooker were to pass by, they would probably think that something was going on between Jack and Jamie, the way they looked at each other showed a clear connection; which Martha didn’t exactly appreciate. Just the thought alone, was far from settling for her.

“So how come you left summer bay?” Josh asked as he took a bite of his bread.

Jamie’s eyes shot open at Josh’s clueless question. The atmosphere suddenly dropped silent as all three individuals lowered their heads.

Looking over at Josh, Jamie tried her best to signal to him that he was on dangerous territory. Unfortunately he failed to notice her signs, and kept on talking…

“I don’t think I could ever leave my hometown, I mean, even though sometimes I just wish I could escape this place,” he rolled his eyes before continuing, “but, when I really think about it, I don’t think I could ever leave” he rambled on as he shovelled more of the salad onto his plate.

“Yeah, well, I just wanted a change of scenery” Jack replied smiling to Josh, before looking into Martha’s direction, “too many bad memories for me here” he spoke softly, as he watched her purposely keep her head down.

Martha felt as Jacks eyes stayed fixed on her. Feeling a stab of guilt and sadness hit her gut as she replayed his final sentence in her mind.

Looking up she met his eyes with hers, allowing for them to linger for a few seconds, before turning away, unable to look into them for too long, as all that could be seen was sadness…

………………………………

(30 minutes later)

The lunch was finally over, much to the relief of both Jack and Martha. Any longer and there was bound to be a few fireworks thrown in along the way.

Thankfully though, the atmosphere and tension had died down considerably.

Josh had left 5 minutes ago as he had been called back into work, so now it was just the three of them.

Jamie washed the plates, passing them to Martha who dried them off, and Martha handed them over to Jack, who wandered around the kitchen, placing the cutlery into the various cupboards.

“Today was fun huh” Jamie said as she passed another plate over to Martha.

“Yeah” Martha beamed, turning to look at Jack and hoping to receive the same excitement, but he just turned away from her, failing to even acknowledge her presence.

Turning back to her dish cloth she frowned. Was it really so much to ask, for him to just engage in the conversation!

‘Riiiiiiiiiiing’

“Oh, sorry guys, ill get that” Jamie said before scurrying away into the living room, leaving Jack and Martha alone.

The room stayed deadly silent, their calm breaths were all that could be heard. Glancing to the side she saw Jack fidgeting nervously on the spot.

Eventually plucking up the courage, she spoke up…

“Im really glad you decided to stay Jack” she spoke with genuine delight.

“Yeah well, I did it for Jamie, no one else”

She forced a small smile before turning back to the dishes, feeling totally deflated, it was like everything she said was worthless to him; she couldn’t seem to say anything right anymore.

“Well, were all done here” Martha said happily, trying to brush aside the obvious tension and coldness, as she handed Jack the final plate…

Leaning over, he grabbed the plate. There hands touched, ‘electricity’ was sent between the two; sending a delightful shiver up Martha’s spine, but Jack quickly pulled away.

Standing still she watched his apparent unease as he awkwardly moved away from her. Shuffling on his feet he searched for the cupboard, before placing the cutlery inside.

“I think im going to head off now” he said in a glum tone as he turned back to her.

She nodded slowly, her face clearly showing him that she didn’t want him to leave.

Although hesitant, he walked away from her.

“Wait Jack” she shot out as she swivelled around him, standing in front of him, and purposely blocking his exit.

He sighed as they stood face to face, “What?” he asked softly.

Standing so close to him, she couldn’t help but glance down at his moist pink lips. What she wouldn’t do for just a taste of those soft and delicate lips.

“I hate this” she told him sincerely, “I hate the way things are between us … and I no I don’t exactly deserve your friendship, but I meant what I said before, I really did miss you Jack. I still miss you” she spoke to him in sadness, her eyes begging for him to let her in.

“What do you want me to say Martha? That ive forgotten about the past and everything you did to me? Do you want me to say that I forgive you, is that it?”

“What? No, it’s not that”

“Then what?”

“Nothing, I …” she paused, trying to compose herself and taking a breath, “I just want you to talk to me, I want you to let me in.”

“Oh, you mean like last time” he shot back, “I let you in and I opened my heart to you, and look what happened. Do you really think im going to make that same mistake again?” he said before shifting to the side and trying to get passed.

Moving to the side she blocked him in, “I understand that you’re scared that you’re going to get hurt again, but …”

“But what?” he butted in, “Is this the part where you tell me you’ve changed, that you’re a better person 6 years later”.

“But I have changed, for the better, I promise. Jack, hurting you was the worst and most idiotic thing ive ever done, and…”

“And what about the drugs?” he looked on at her, “does that also come under ‘the worst and most idiotic thing’ you’ve ever done?”

“Of course it does” she sighed, she was hoping he wouldn’t bring that up.

“You no what Martha, I really can’t believe you sometimes” he raised his voice, “I mean, do you have any idea of how harmful they could have been?”

“I no, but I wasn’t thinking back then, I was just …” the words drifted away as she thought back.

“What?”

“Hurting”

“And taking drugs is the best way to solve that problem is it?”

She shook her head in shame and sadness, “of course not”.

Releasing a heavy breath she continued on. At least now he was finally talking to her, “Look Jack…” she started.

“Sorry about that guy’s” said Jamie as she burst into the kitchen.

“Its fine” Jack replied in a low tone, all the while keeping his eyes on Martha, “I have to go anyway, thanks for lunch”. He finished before brushing passed Martha and exiting the room.

“What happened?” an oblivious Jamie turned to Martha.

Martha just shook her head in response, exhaling a heavy breath and walking away feeling miserable. All the while her thoughts stayed fixed on one person and one person only; Jack Holden…

[vale4eva]

Cheers peeps

Enjoy

Chapter 26:

“How long are we going to have to keep this up Jack?” Martha yelled as she stomped down the beach after him.

After contemplating whether or not to leave him alone, she had decided it was time they sorted it all out. She couldn’t stand the tense atmosphere whenever they were in the same room together, so she figured that talking it all through would help to clear the air a little, and if she was lucky, savour some kind of friendship with him; although that was highly doubtful.

Hearing her voice approach him from behind, he picked up his pace, traipsing up the beach in a huff as he desperately tried to escape her.

“Jack! Will you stop” she shouted as she ran up behind him. “Just stop!” she pulled at his arm when she finally reached him; causing him to stop.

“Why? What’s the point?” his voice stayed calm, “Were only going to end up fighting.”

Martha’s face fell at his sadness, watching as he turned and walked away from her. He was right though, she knew it; they would only end up having yet another argument. But maybe that was what was needed, maybe they needed to fight in order to move on and actually get anywhere. It was a worth a try at least.

Catching up to him she followed him into Noah’s bar.

“We have to talk this through Jack” spoke a determined Martha, as she entered the empty room.

He sighed; “Why do you keep following me, can’t you get the hint; I don’t want to talk to you” he raised his voice slightly as he stared at her.

“Well its tough, because im not going anywhere, and ill keep bugging you until we talk about this” she held her ground, she wasn’t giving up on this one.

“Why? Because it’ll make you feel better by talking about it? What about me Martha, did you ever think that maybe I don’t want to talk about it!”

“I understand that” she spoke softly as she walked over to him, “but it might help to talk about it.” she paused, “I can only imagine how hard this is for you Jack, you’ve probably got so much bottled up and its just eating away at you, but maybe if you open up and let it out, you’ll feel better” she said hopeful, as she stood beside him.

“I doubt it” he turned to her with sad and droopy eyes. “Please, just leave me alone” he said as he tried to walk away.

“Jack please” she begged softly as she pulled at his arm,

“Don’t” he turned to her, his face in a saddened frown.

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words slipped out.

They stood in front of each other, barely inches apart, just looking into each others eyes; both feeling each others gentle breath’s against their skin. They could so easily just lean forward, grab each other and kiss each other like there was no tomorrow, and allow for all of their built up passion to finally be released. But for Jack, just taking the plunge to kiss her would prove to be too much of a difficult and painful task; he would always have that mental image of her being with Hugh, she was tainted now, so it was just too heartbreaking to even attempt to get close to her.

Her skin became hot and sweaty at how close they had become, her mind turned a blur as all of her common sense went out of the window and all she craved was him.

Without thinking she moved forward very slightly, slowly leaning in to him, and all the while keeping her vision transfixed onto his chocolaty brown eyes.

They were now only centimetres apart, and their breaths had become noticeably quicker. She watched as his eye lids dropped heavy and he closed his eyes, his lips were almost begging to be kissed, but as she leant further over to him, he turned away from her, opening his eyes and releasing a heavy breath.

Regretfully, she pulled back, her head falling in sadness, before watching from the corner of her eye as he walked away from her and out of the door.

Her breath caught in her throat as she tried to compose herself following their intense encounter. Scrunching up her face she slumped down onto one of the chair, mentally cursing herself for being so stupid. Why did she try and kiss him, of all things! She had probably just made everything ten times worse now!

…………………………

A miserable Martha walked into Jamie’s apartment, chucking her bag at the couch before slumping down on one of the chairs.

“So how’d it go?” Jamie asked as she walked into the living room.

“It didn’t” she scoffed, “well, it did, but I was too much of an idiot to use my brain and made everything ten times worse” she moaned, “Urgh, I hate this” she placed her elbow on the arm rest and put her head in her hand, “everything’s such a mess Jamie”.

“Im sorry honey” she leant over and rubbed her leg comfortingly.

“Thanks” she let out a small but depressed smile.

Looking across at her friend, she narrowed her eyes inquisitively as something popped into her head, something that had been playing on her mind ever since lunch. Biting the bullet she decided to ask. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Erm,” she approached the subject cautiously, “You and Jack … nothing ever, happened between you two, did it?” she asked hesitantly.

“Why’d you ask?” she frowned at her question.

“Oh its nothing really, I was just watching you both before, and, you seemed … close”.

“Well, we are” she smiled.

She nodded, “so that’s it then. Nothings ever … happened”.

Releasing a heavy breath she turned to her friend, “look, if you really want to know, before he left summer bay, we kind of had … a moment I guess”.

“What happened?” she asked intrigued as she sat upright, slightly in fear of the answer.

“Well, we kissed” she replied, trying not to make a big deal out of it, she knew that Martha wouldn’t exactly appreciate knowing her two best friends had shared a kiss, even if it was 6 years ago.

“You kissed?”

She nodded in confirmation, studying the sudden unease and unhappiness that was now presented on her friends face.

“Like … how?” Martha scrunched up her face.

“What do you mean, how?” she laughed.

“Well, was it, like a friendly kiss” she asked hopeful as her eyebrows raised.

“No, not really. We were sitting on the stairs at my parent’s house, and, he was really upset and, I guess a little confused, and he just leant over and kissed me, it didn’t last for long, but…”

“But what?”

“Oh, nothing” she shrugged it off.

“Jamie” she sighed, “its ok you no. Ive always known that you’ve liked him. Even though you never actually admitted it, but I could see it”

“Yeah well, it doesn’t matter now does it,” she said as she stood up, “im happy he’s back and don’t get me wrong, if he hadn’t have left in the first place, I probably would have wanted more with him, but, im with Josh now, and I love Josh. I just see Jack as my friend now, my best friend, like you” she smiled.

She smiled in return, relieved that Jamie wouldn’t be another factor that could get in the way of their potential relationship. “Thanks Jamie” she looked up at her friend. Even though she knew it was highly unlikely that they would ever get back to the way they were, there was always hope, and to Martha, that meant the world…

Preview: Another fight! But will this one actually get them anywhere? Or will it just prove to do more harm than good?

[vale4eva]

Thanks for the comments

Warning: content unsuitable for younger readers

Thanks for the word Puja

Enjoy

Chapter 27:

(8pm)

Knocking on the front door she waited patiently for a response.

Swinging the door open, his smile turned to a frown, “What do you want?” he sighed.

“I came to apologise”

He rolled his eyes, “isn’t that all you ever do these days” he said as he left the door open for her and walked over to the couch, sitting down and looking ahead at the football which was playing on the TV.

She chose to ignore his comment and closed the door behind her, “look Jack, im really sorry about before” she started, “I don’t know why I did that. It probably just made things ten times worse” she stifled a nervous laugh, before her face fell in regret.

“Forget about it, it’s totally fine”

“No its not, none of this is fine” she continued as she walked over to the couch, taking a seat beside him.

“Seriously, just leave it yeah,” he stood up; walking away from her.

“Jack, I know I can’t keep saying sorry, but the truth is, I don’t know what else to say, nothing I can say is going to change the past. You just have to believe me when I say that I never meant to hurt you, and I honestly regret everything that I did with Hugh, it was a total mistake…”

“Don’t” he silenced her.

“Don’t what?” she frowned.

“Don’t say his name” his voice lowered, almost sinisterly, “I don’t even want to talk about him”.

“But maybe if you do talk about him, you can get it out your system. Just tell me what your thinking, what your feeling, yell at me if you have to, just say something” she pleaded as she raised her voice; he could be so frustrating at times.

“No, I wont … I can’t do this” he shuffled on his feet as he placed his hands to the back of his head, trying to block out her constant rambling.

“Why not!” she yelled back, “just talk to me Jack; tell me why you won’t talk”.

“Because! …” he yelled back, feeling as if his head was about to explode if he didn’t let loose, “because it kills me to even think about it”.

She stayed silent allowing for him to continue…

“Because he took from you the one thing I wanted the most ... He experienced the one thing I would have been so honoured to share with you. I wanted that night to be ours more than anything; it was something special that we could share for the first time together. But you just couldn’t wait could you” his voice gradually softened. “I wanted that night with you so badly … I wanted to be your first, and only ... but you just…” the words drifted away as he shook his head, sitting down and putting his head in his hands in sadness.

She walked over to him tentatively. It was now that she wished she hadn’t been so pushy with him, she had been dreading this conversation for quite sometime, just thinking about it brought back flashes of that night, she felt dirty and sick just thinking about it.

“Jack” she spoke softly as she sat down beside him, “I wish I could go back and change that, more than anything. It’s the one thing I regret the most in my life, because it’s the one thing that I can only give away once, and I so wish I would have waited.” She paused, swallowing down the tears as she became choked up, “I no that we can’t go back, so I just need you to no that im sorry, and that in my heart, you were the only person I ever wanted to be with, you still are the only person ever want to be with”.

He looked across at her watery eyes; she appeared so sincere when she spoke, which consequently only made him feel worse about the whole situation.

“Why does everything good, always go wrong Jack” she asked him.

He exhaled a heavy sigh, “Because that’s life, and sometimes, life sucks”

She nodded in agreement, not really knowing what to say; but inside feeling somewhat relieved that they had cleared the air a little.

“So, you got anything to drink around here?” she asked, changing the conversation and trying to lighten the mood.

“I don’t know” he replied in a glum tone, pushing himself up off the chair he walked over towards the kitchen.

“Ive got some wine” he said as he pulled out the bottle from the fridge, “not that there’s actually anything to celebrate though” he said as he rolled his eyes. “You want?” he asked as he glanced over to her.

“Yeah thanks” she let out a small smile.

Grabbing two glasses from off the drainer he poured the white wine inside. Picking up the one glass he handed it over to her, glancing at her briefly, before turning his attention back onto his own drink and walking back through into the living room.

She shook her head in shame as his avoidance of her became ever clearer, “You can’t even look at me can you” she said sadly as she followed him out.

“Can you blame me?” he replied as he sat down, looking directly over towards the blank TV. “Martha, whenever I look at you, all I can see is him, and I feel sick” he spoke in bitterness as he turned to her, watching as her head fell in disgrace and sadness. “Is that what you wanted to hear? Does that make you feel better knowing that? Because I certainly don’t feel better saying it” he shot back.

“Of course I don’t want to hear that” she scoffed, “don’t you think that I feel like dirt just thinking about him, don’t you think that I wish I could just erase that all from my memory. You have no idea how relieved I was when he was finally put in jail Jack. It was like a huge weight off my shoulders, I could finally get back to normal and live life like a normal 18 year old. And maybe if you had actually been here, you could have seen that, and maybe things wouldn’t have turned out so bad now” she spoke in frustration.

His vision darted over into her direction at her snide comment. “You’re blaming our current situation on me now” he asked, astonished.

“Well maybe if you hadn’t run away, we’d all be better off” she yelled back at him, she didn’t no why she was saying all of this, he didn’t deserve to be spoken to like this.

He shook his head in disbelief, taking in deep breaths and keeping his mouth shut, it was best he didn’t retaliate; he would only end up saying something he’d regret.

She watched as he shook his head, her face suddenly dropping as she replayed her own words in her head. Why had she snapped like that, he had every right to leave, it was her fault he even left in the first place!

She sighed putting her hand to her head as she walked over to him slowly, taking a seat, she sat down beside him, “im sorry, I don’t know why I said that” she said sadly. “Jack” she called out, placing her hand on his thigh to gain his attention.

Unable to have her sitting so close to him, he stood up; forcing her hand off his leg and making his way back into the kitchen.

She huffed, every time she thought they were making progress, it would always backfire, “What’s going on Jack?” she called out in aggravation.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore; I just want you to leave now. I can’t have you around here, so please, just go” he spoke to her calmly, but inside feeling as his frustration began to build.

“Why” she kept prodding.

“Just go Martha, how many more times” he raised his voice, he could feel his temperature rising as she failed to give it up.

“No, I want to no what’s really going on here. I want to no why you can barely look at me, and you can blame it on Hugh all you want, but I no there’s something else” she kept on. “This isn’t right Jack! I sit down, you stand up, I stand up, and what do you no, you sit down again. I mean, what is that?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” he tried to brush it off as he stared down at the carpet.

“You no exactly what im talking about Jack, you just don’t want to admit it. Just tell me what’s wrong,” she pleaded, “What is it Jack? What’s so bad that you can’t even look at me?” she continued on as she raised her voice, stomping over towards him as she urgently tried to break him, “Why won’t you look at me!”

“Why do you think!” he yelled back as he swung around to face her, unable to take anymore of her constant pressure, “because I want you so badly!” He shot back, his face frowning through so much angst, “And I no that I shouldn’t let you back in, because it’ll probably just cause more heartache for me, but a part of me doesn’t even care anymore” he cried through weakness.

Taking a breath he tried to compose himself, “So please” he pleaded, “just go”

She paused slightly, processing his final sentence and the words in which he had admitted how much he wanted her, “You want me Jack, well you can have me, im right here. Im not the one that keeps walking away”, her eyes filled with tears.

He scoffed, shaking his head, “its not that simple though is it”

“You can make it that simple” she yelled back.

He sighed, “No” he shook his head, “I can’t … Just go Martha”

“No, im not going anywhere” she spoke firmly as she came up behind him.

“Just go” he shouted as he turned around quickly, grabbing her by the arms and shoving her hard against the wall, his hands keeping a firm grip of her body.

Her breath caught in her throat through shock, as her body jolted in the sudden impact.

“Why are you doing this to me” he cried as he stared into her eyes.

She looked into his sad and teary eyes; the creases in his forehead had never been so evident. Her heart broke at his obvious misery. He looked so innocent, like a lost puppy that desperately needed to be saved. She only wished that she could be the one to save him, but that would mean him letting down his walls and taking a chance with her, and at this moment in time, it was looking highly doubtful.

She felt as his hands let go of her arm and he loosened his grip on her, her body being able to relax slightly from its previous tensed state.

“Im sorry” she whispered, her face looking so guilty, “I didn’t mean to push you … I just …” Her words faded away as she looked into his eyes.

Leaning over tentatively, she caressed his one cheek, watching as he closed his eyes at her touch, rubbing the side of his face against the palm of her hand very gently, before opening his eyes once again and looking across at her intently; his vision fixated on her and her alone.

Darting her eyes into his, she gradually moved forward, any space between them was removed as their bodies became one. She felt the warmth of his quick breaths glide across her skin, her own breaths becoming more rapid and forceful as they came ever closer.

Although hesitant, she brought her lips up to his, hovering over them and keeping them millimetres apart, before feeling as he unexpectedly leant forward, capturing her lips in a soft and lingering kiss.

Her legs turned to jelly and her mind spun out of control, as she felt his sweet lips on hers. At that one moment in time, the world rushed away and left only them, and despite it only lasting for several seconds, they had both never experienced such a powerful feeling of complete bliss and ecstasy.

Pulling away slowly they looked into each others watery eyes, their heartbeats pounded out of control and their breath’s caught in their throats; both were feeling a sudden craving for more.

Unable to hold back for any longer, he finally gave into temptation.

Within an instant, he had pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her petite frame and kissing her with an intense amount of passion.

She moaned as his tongue entered her mouth, gliding over her teeth before caressing the roof of her mouth. Pushing her backwards he placed his hands on the wall either side of her; her body was now pressed up firmly and cosily against his, as they both clung onto each other so desperately.

Pulling backwards he released her lips, gasping for air but all the while staring deeply into her eyes. A voice inside was yelling out to him that he was making a big mistake, but he couldn’t give this up, he wanted her, he needed her. He had never craved anyone as much as he craved Martha. His body was just aching to be touched by her.

Choosing to ignore his fears, he gradually leant back in; capturing her lips in a slow but intensely passionate kiss. He felt as she wound her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her, but also using him to prop herself up, she was becoming increasingly weak as the seconds went on, his kisses and touches were making her head spin out and her body loose all self control. How could just a few kisses have such a powerful effect on her!

Running his hands down her sides, he tapped at the backs of her thighs, signalling for her to jump onto him, which she happily did. Wrapping her legs around his waist and holding onto him she allowed for him to take her back to his bedroom…

.................

As her back met the comfy bed, she gazed up at him dreamily, noticing an adorable small smile creep onto his face, before watching as he leant down to her, placing soft kisses on her neck. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the pure bliss of having him nuzzle her neck so tenderly. Nothing and no one had ever made her feel so good before.

Relaxing their bodies further, they finally felt a release, all of their tension had eventually gone and their passion began to take over. Both were on cloud nine as they went to the end of the world and back; together, experiencing a heavenly feeling that they would no doubt cherish forever…

Preview: Will Jack regret their night together? Or will he finally be able to let go of the past and move on?

[vale4eva]

Warning: content unsuitable for younger readers

Chapter 28:

The world rushed back as they panted for oxygen; both falling into a slump as there bodies became weak with loss of strength.

Rolling off her, he lay down on the cold bed. The cool sheets refreshing his hot and sweaty body.

Moving onto her side she gazed over at him, her face was flushed and glowing in the light as she smiled across at him.

Reaching over she ran her hand down his front, the backs of her fingers caressing his soft and tender skin as she trickled downwards from his face to his chest.

He shivered at her touch, his eyes flickering open, before he swallowed hard; pushing her hand away he sat up on the side of the bed.

She looked over at him with care and concern as he sat with his back to her; she had never seen him looking so adorably innocent before.

“Jack” she called over to him softly, “What are you thinking?”

He released a heavy breath, “Im thinking … I want you to leave”

“What” she asked as her face fell in sadness, “No, please don’t make me leave; I want to stay here with you. We can talk, whatever you want, just don’t make me leave” she begged; her eyes filling with tears.

“Please Martha, I don’t want to have to ask you more than once, I just want you to go” he said as he dangled his legs over the side of the bed.

“No” she replied firmly, “im not leaving, I want to stay here with you. Look we don’t have to talk; we can just lie down, together, silently” she suggested.

“What? Like a married couple” he scoffed.

She sighed, “No,” she elongated her words; “I just want to be with you”.

She watched as he shook his head silently. Feeling totally deflated she pushed herself upwards, shuffling along to the side of the bed.

“Jack” she called out softly, sitting beside him on the bed, “talk to me” she said as she ran her hand up and down his back comfortingly.

Failing to receive a response she lifted her hand up, lightly pressing against his chin with her fingertips and turning his face towards her. She looked into his eyes, silently pleading with him to open up. But he didn’t, he just stared back at her distantly.

She fixed her vision onto his, almost searching in his eyes for an answer. But all she saw was emptiness, it was like he wasn’t even there anymore, his body just sat lifelessly on the bed, and his spirit and energy had been lost.

Hesitantly, she leaned forward, pecking him lightly on the lips and trying to get a reaction from him, before pulling away and looking into his eyes.

Again she failed to receive a response, but his breathing grew noticeably heavier.

She sensed the affect she had on him just by sitting so close to him. She sensed it in him, because the feeling was mirrored inside of her; it was like a burning desire to just grab the person and kiss them passionately on the lips like there was no tomorrow.

Darting her eyes into his, she gradually leant forward, kissing him softly on the lips and allowing for them to linger.

As she pulled away however, she felt as he leaned forward, responding to the kiss. Slowly and gently he kissed her back.

She let out a soft moan as he kissed her softly and with a great amount of emotion. Feeling a hunger for more she pushed herself forward, kissing him with added passion, and feeling an anxiety deep down inside of her to just crave more and more.

She placed her hand around the back of his head, pulling him closer to her as their tongues massaged each other so soothingly. However, within a split second, the moment was over.

“No” he moaned as he pushed her away. “Oh god … what am I doing” he cried as he stood up helplessly.

She looked up in slight shock and fear at their sudden separation, before realising just how hard this all must be for him. “Jack, its ok” she touched his arm gently; pulling him back down to her, “its ok” she hushed.

He shook his head from side to side as he closed his eyes. She watched him as he sat there in clear distress, just wishing she could ease his pain.

Placing her hand on his bare back she stroked it soothingly; running it down from his shoulder blades to his lower back.

Leaning over she placed a light kiss on the end of his shoulder, allowing for her lips to linger on his soft and cool skin, before pulling away from him and looking back at his face.

Turning his head to the side he looked at Martha, his eyes slowly wandering down to her tanned naked chest.

Slowly, he lifted his hand across, touching her cheek very gently, before gliding it over her skin and all of the way down to her chest, stroking her front very carefully.

“Your beautiful” he spoke softly as his hands lingered over her body.

She let out a peaceful sigh at the feeling of his hands tingling all over her, “so are you” she smiled.

He let out a small weak smile, feeling as she placed her hand on his thigh, before watching as she leant forward, kissing him softly on the lips. He kissed her back very gently, not having the energy to fight and push her away, so just settling for enjoying the sweet and tender moment.

Shuffling herself over, she pushed herself onto his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist and continuing to kiss him.

She moved slowly on top of him, pushing up and down very gently, and feeling as her touch began to arouse him.

Continuing to ignore his common sense, he shuffled backwards and gradually lay down. Martha moved on top of him to get comfy, before settling her movements and relaxing her body into his.

She released a peaceful sigh as she felt his hands run down her body, before giggling to herself as he rested both palms on her butt cheeks.

Lifting her head up, she grinned across to him, his own face now displaying a cheeky smile.

Placing her hands on the bed either side of him, she pushed herself upwards, meeting his lips with her own.

She ran her leg up and down his as they continued to kiss, both getting lost in the moment.

Releasing his lips, she pushed herself upwards into a straddle position, before rocking in a slow motion as she accepted his welcomed invite.

Together the two moved as one, the intensity increasing with every movement and touch, as they yet again gave into passion.

………………………………

Rolling over she moaned, the light from the crack in the curtain beamed directly onto her face, the shimmer was almost piercing; it was enough to give her a migraine.

Opening her eyes she looked to her side, expecting to see Jack lying peacefully beside her, but instead seeing nothing but an empty space.

She groaned as her head slumped back down onto the pillow miserably. She must have been so naïve to think that she could just wake up in the arms of the man she loved and live happily ever after, but life wasn’t that simple was it.

Lifting herself upwards she sat on the bed, pulling the covers around her naked body before grabbing a hold of Jacks fluffy pillow, cuddling it close to her and smelling its sweet fragrance. That lovely and irreplaceable Jack Holden scent.

Closing her eyes she thought back to the previous night; the feelings, the movements, the passion and the intensity were all so vivid in her mind.

She wouldn’t have changed a thing last night, despite the arguments, everything was perfect; she had never experienced anything quite like it. It was pure bliss.

Opening her eyes once more, she glanced over to his digital clock; reading the time: 10.30am.

“Oh no,” she grumbled, “im late for work again; just brilliant” she said sarcastically.

Shuffling over to the side of the bed she searched for her clothing, she frowned when she studied the area of carpet where she had originally thrown them. Before turning her attention onto the chair and seeing them neatly folded, one item on top of the other.

He must have folded them for her before he had left for work, she thought with a smile.

Bless his heart, he was just too perfect!

Note: I hope you were able to read that with a straight face Puja

Please comment

[vale4eva]

Thanks peeps

Enjoy

Chapter 29:

“You can head off now love” Alf smiled to Martha as he entered Noah’s bar.

“Great thanks, I want to go and see Jack” she beamed.

“Oh right, So how are things going between you two these days?” he asked inquisitively as he made note of her glowing smile; it was only on a rare occasion that she looked this jolly, so something must have gone right.

“Great I think” she exclaimed happily, “I mean, I don’t want to get my hopes up too much, but something tells me we might be making progress” she grinned back at him, before giggling to herself as she thought back to the previous night.

“What’s so funny love?”

“Oh, nothing” she smiled, “ill see ya” she finished, before grabbing her bag and skipping out of the building.

……………………………

Returning to her flat she unlocked the door, stopping abruptly to avoid stepping on the letters, before picking them up and shutting the door behind her. Dumping her bag down onto the side she rummaged through the letters, there was nothing of interest. Well, almost nothing…

Studying the one envelope intently, she noticed that it failed to hold a stamp or an address. That was weird she thought, it must have been directly posted to her flat. Shrugging her shoulders she opened the envelope, flipping the letter open and reading the contents.

It read:

We’ll be together forever…

She scrunched up her face; reading the sentence over and over again in her head, and each time she did, it failed to make sense to her.

Shaking her head she chucked the letter in the bin, it was probably meant for someone else, she thought as she walked off into the bedroom. There were more important things going on, than some weird and conspicuous note. Right now, Jack was her main priority, and she was certain that after last night’s occurrences, things between them would start to improve, maybe now they could finally move on and focus on their future together as a happy couple...

………………………………

A fed-up Jack wandered into Noah’s bar, his arms dangling down lifelessly at his sides and his head and back bowed downwards.

“Oh, hey Jack” Alf smiled as he entered the bar, “Martha was looking for you earlier”.

“Oh, really” he said as he shuffled on his feet.

“Yeah, she left about an hour ago, she’s probably back home now, if you wanted to catch her”.

“Erm” he paused, “no, it’s fine, ill talk to her another time”

“Ok, no worries”

“Can I have a beer please” Jack asked, changing the subject whilst trying to put on a smile but failing miserably.

“Yeah sure,” replied Alf, his eyes narrowing with curiosity, “are you alright mate?” he asked as he studied Jacks miserable appearance.

“Yeah, I just had a long day as all”

“Well, I bet you wish you could have had what Martha took, ive never seen her so happy, she was practically bouncing around as she left building” he chuckled.

Jack laughed nervously at Alf’s comment, before taking the beer and handing over the money.

Walking over to the corner he sat down. Images from last night flooded his mind, why had he given into her! Why had he let his walls down! Now she would presume that everything would be fine again and that they had finally made amends, but everything was far from fine. Despite it being the most thrilling and passionate night of his life, he was still hurting from the painful memories of the past; which unfortunately, was something he would probably never escape.

………………………………

Walking down onto the beach she saw Jack in the distance. Running her fingers through her hair quickly, she smartened her appearance, before making her way over to him.

“Hey” she beamed gleefully as she tapped him on the shoulder.

“Oh, hi”, he stuttered in surprise; she was the last person he wanted to see right now.

“Are you alright? I woke up this morning and you were gone” her voice softened.

“Yeah, sorry, I had work.”

She smiled back, not really knowing what to say, but feeling the weird and awkward atmosphere that had suddenly graced them with its presence.

“Look Jack …” she started.

“Actually” he interrupted, “I have to go, im sorry”.

“But, wait” she spoke upset, “Ive missed you all day,” she told him with honesty as she let out a nervous smile; unaware of how he would take it.

He sighed heavily, “I … I don’t know what to say to you” he looked at her deflated.

“Well, you could tell me how you feel” she raised her eyebrows slightly; interested to find out his response. “I mean, things are different now, last night changed things.”

He huffed at her comment, “Look, last night was last night; and today, it’s a new day. Whatever happened, it doesn’t matter anymore. Id prefer to forget about it to be completely honest” he responded, suddenly coming across a little harsher than planned, but he went with it.

“What?” she hushed back, her heart breaking into tiny pieces at his hurtful words.

“What did you expect me to say Martha!? That after one night together, everything would be suddenly hunky dory! Maybe that’s what it’s like in your world, but it’s not in mine”.

“No, I didn’t think that” she spoke softly, “I just thought that … well, maybe we could talk more, hopefully sort something out” she asked hopeful, before her face dropped in sadness. “I thought last night actually meant something…”

“Well it didn’t” he looked at her directly, his eyes not blinking once, “not to me … not really anyway.” He rolled his eyes, “It was just sex. Im sorry if you thought it meant more, but…”

“No, its fine” she spoke up as she swallowed away her tears, “Look, I have to go, sorry” she said before turning and running away, the tears eventually streaming down her face as she hurried back to her apartment.

…………………………………

“Tut tut Jacky boy, tut tut.” a voice spoke softly from beneath the bushes.

Two intensely powerful brown eyes watched them from a distance. His vision fixated on one individual in particular, as he watched her run back to her apartment.

He couldn’t help but lick his lips at the sight of her. Even in her sadness, she looked absolutely beautiful!

He couldn’t wait to have her in his arms once again…

Preview: Eeeeek!

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Chapter 30:

“Damit! Why’d I have to sleep with her! Why didn’t I just use my brain for like 5 seconds!” he spoke in frustration as he paced back and forth in Jamie’s apartment.

“Jack, don’t be so hard on yourself” Jamie called out to him as her eyes followed his movements.

He shook his head, “im a total idiot, I couldn’t even keep my hormones in check for longer than a week!” he scoffed.

“Jack, come on” she tried to calm him.

“No, im just a pathetic and weak excuse for a human being” he ranted.

“HEY!” she shot back, grabbing his attention, “you are not pathetic, you’re just upset and confused. Your going through something huge at the moment, and ok, maybe sleeping with Martha wasn’t the wisest thing to do, given the circumstances and all, but there’s no need to beat yourself up about it” she said as she stood up and walked over towards him.

“Yeah, I guess” he replied in a glum tone. “Oh god,” he sighed as the realisation of their previous conversation hit him hard, “the way I spoke to Martha earlier. I was horrid” he said sadly.

“What did you say to her?”

“I told her that last night meant nothing to me and that I wanted to forget it ever happened ... You should have seen her face Jamie, it was like all of the life and happiness was just sucked right out of her … and its all because of me” he looked down shamefully.

“Look Jack, im sure Martha understands that you were just upset. She can’t expect you to forget the past, just like that”.

“Yeah, but the way she was talking, it was like she just presumed we’d get back together, like everything was suddenly sorted now that we’d slept together” he spoke in bafflement, before his face slowly dropped. “I still didn’t have any right to say those things though, especially considering I didn’t actually mean any of it” he rolled his eyes.

“So, it did mean a lot then?”

He took a breath before speaking; “Yeah” he sighed; “it was … the best night of my life” he looked at her through sad and teary eyes.

“Oh Jack” she sighed sadly. Reaching over she pulled him into a warm hug, just wishing she could take away his pain. Jack of all people didn’t deserve to suffer like this…

…………………………………

Martha wiped away her tears with the pad of her thumb, before looking at her reflection in the mirror. God, she looked a state, her eyes were all dark puffy and her nose was running like a tap. She felt so drained after all of that crying. Jacks words had hit her harder than she first thought.

How could he say that their night together had meant nothing to him! I mean, she was there, she saw it all; she saw his face and heard his pleasured moans; and at the time it sounded like he never wanted it to end … unless of course he was faking it.

Martha shook her head at the thought, he wouldn’t fake it, he couldn’t, not unless he just did it to hurt her and show her what she was missing out on, but Jack wasn’t that cruel … was he!?

Turning on the tap she cupped the cold water in her hands. Leaning over she threw it against her face, feeling as it trickled down her cheeks refreshingly.

Grabbing the towel off the rail she lightly dabbed her cheeks, before throwing it to the side and walking out of the bathroom.

Slouching down onto the couch she pulled out her photo album, placing it onto her lap and flicking through the pages.

She smiled down sadly at the one photo; it was taken on her 15th birthday. She was sat in the family living room surrounded by her friends and lots of presents. A wide grin was plastered across her face as she looked directly at the camera.

Her circle of friends also looked over towards the camera, all clearly enjoying the limelight of having their pictures taken. God; they were such posers, thought Martha as she stifled a laugh.

There was one boy however, that chose to look away, instead he was turned towards Martha, just gazing over to her, his eyes fixed firmly on her face as he smiled ever so sweetly.

During that time, herself and Jack were only good friends, but even back then they had a special connection. It was just a pity her snobbish and stuck-up friends had never actually taken him seriously, he had always taken so much slack for being the geeky loser who wore glasses; but he just grinned and bared it, most defiantly for her…

Flicking over to the next page, it was then that the tears started to re-fall.

The photo showed Jack and Martha sitting on the swings in Martha’s back garden; both with their feet dangling off the ground as they leaned in to each other.

The pair were too wrapped up in the moment to even notice that their photo had been taken. They just sat their, kissing each other, ever so gently.

Martha loved this photo; it was so natural and showed them at a time when they were at their happiest. She would defiantly treasure this photo the most.

As she reached over to grab the tissue box, a ruffling sound in the direction of the back door caught her attention…

“Huh” she muttered as she frowned slightly. Swinging her legs off the couch she stood up, placing the photo album onto the table, before walking over towards the back door to investigate…

…………………………………

(Police station)

Jack tapped his fingertips repeatedly against the surface of the wooden table, staring down expressionlessly at his latest file.

“Aargh” he burst out loud in aggravation, slamming his hand against the file on the desk. “This is too much” he muttered under his breath, “Damit, why’d she have to get inside my head”.

Pushing himself backwards he climbed out of his chair. There was no point even trying to work, he couldn’t concentrate whatsoever, his mind was still on Martha, so it was certain that he wouldn’t be making any major breakthroughs today.

Walking over towards the water-dispenser, he poured himself a glass of ice-cold water. Taking a gulp, he felt as the cool liquid swam down his throat refreshingly. “Ah” he let out a breath, “that’s better”.

“Detective Holden” Peter Baker sprung through the doorway suddenly; “we have a situation” he spoke in a nervous and hurried tone of voice.

“What is it?” he frowned as he walked towards the worried constable.

“One of the inmates has escaped some how; we think it might have been an inside job”

“What? Like one of the guards helped him out?”

“Yeah, it appears that way, were searching through the CCTV tapes right now for any clues”.

He nodded in understanding before grabbing a hold of the piece of paper. Glancing down he scanned the information, his eyes casually wandering down the paper before they unexpectedly shot open, his vision now fixed solely on the image of the prison inmate. The photo clearly showed him that Hugh Sullivan aka, Jacks nemesis, had escaped from jail and was now on the loose.

“Oh my god” he paused as he put his hand to his mouth in utter shock. His mind failed to kick into gear as he stood rooted on the spot, not knowing what to do. Before something finally clicked and only one thought entered his mind …

“MARTHA!” he exclaimed suddenly, before running out of the station to find her.

Preview: Is Martha in touble