Sinful Seduction?

[Zetti]

Eli is too cute

More soon please x

[zzazzb]

'laters' and 'get jiggy' Eli's a cracker

for the next chapter.

Can't wait

[bay girl]

Loving.

Eli is so cute.

And Jack and Martha are just sweet.

I wish this was an actual episode, coz i would love to see the earth shattering, broken hearted look on Lisa's face when she finds out. HEHE Im so evil. But it would be fun to see it.

[dee83]

Hope Lisa doesn`t do anything to drastic when Martha tells her about her Jack and I lets hope that Jack gets through to his dad when he tells him some home truths

update soon

[Barbara]

Eli is so cute!

Aw they missed each other. I hope Jack'll move back with his family soon.

Tony and Kate'd better accept this relationship or they'll lose a daughter and a son.

Wonder how Lisa is going to react. She'll probably be angry.

More please.

[EmyKate68]

before the two came together like a puzzle

Loved that line Loved the last few chapters and can't wait to see Lisa's reaction. Update as soon as you can!

[vale4eva]

Thanks people

I wasnt sure about the layout of this chapter, I didnt want to go into too much detail with the Lisa/Martha scene, so I kind of cut it short (in a way)

Hope its ok.

Warning: Possible bad word!

Chapter 49:

“Busy at work I see” Jack stood in the entrance of the office.

“Hmmm” mumbled Tony as he kept his vision fixed on the TV screen. “No rest for the wicked”.

Slowly walking further inside, he took a seat on the couch. A loud exhale slipped from his lips, causing Tony to look up.

“Something wrong?” he ignorantly questioned his son.

Jack all-but glared in disbelief at his fathers comment. “You mean aside from the obvious?” he scoffed at him, rolling his eyes as Tony turned away. “No, don’t worry, there’s no more drama’s for you to worry about” he informed him in a sarcastic manner, “I’m just, a little pushed for cash”.

Doing his best to maintain a cool composure, Tony responded. “Oh right, well, there’s no reason why you can’t come back to work” his father told him in a matter-of-fact way. “There’s still lot’s to do here, we’re not even half way to getting this place back onto its feet”.

Jack nodded in agreement, taking a glance around the surrounding area. ‘Lots to do’ wasn’t an exaggeration; the main area of the club was still virtually empty, after Tony had removed the majority of the items; claiming they were now tainted.

“In fact I’ve got a delivery coming early tomorrow; about 8ish. You can help me if you like?”

“Er, yeah. Ok,” Jack replied, a little unnerved by Tony’s ability to talk to him like a normal human being. But he chose to go with it, hoping his fathers laid back attitude would continue when the conversation took a more serious turn…

“You know, I saw Martha earlier” Jack continued; noticing his fathers face quickly frown.

“Oh right, well isn’t that nice” the irritation in his voice was suddenly evident, as Tony rose from his chair and headed towards the cabinet.

“Yeah, she came by this morning” Jack went on; choosing to ignore the fact that Tony was clearly quite irritated. “She’s a little upset that you seem to be avoiding her”.

Closing the cabinet door, Tony turned on his heel to answer, “I’m not avoiding her” he simply confirmed as he looked directly into his sons eyes.

“Well that wasn’t the impression she gave me”.

“Yeah well, you must be mistaken” Tony smiled at his son sarcastically, before he re-took his earlier position at the desk; once again turning his attention back onto the computer screen.

“Look, don’t you think it’d be better if we talked this through like grown ups?” he questioned his father. “Rather than you going on trying to act like everything’s normal, and just ignoring us in the process?” his forehead scrunched up as his father remained silent. “Don’t you want us to be a family again?”

His final comment encouraged Tony to look up. “Of course I do … but it’s not like things can just get back to normal now.”

“And, why not exactly?” he looked at him oddly.

“I don’t think I have to spell it out to you Jack” he flashed him a lazy look as he proceeded to click various buttons as a distraction.

“Oh, you mean because we’re sleeping together?” he smartly answered back. “Well big deal, that’s what couples do!”

“Oh please, you make it sound so blasé” he scoffed.

“Well, it is! It’s only you that’s making it more complicated”.

“Well what do you expect Jack? She’s my daughter … and you’re my son … Do you have any idea how twisted that sounds” he looked at Jack with wide and certain eyes.

“Yeah ok, fair enough, it sounds twisted when you say it like that, but it’s not that black and white is it? There’s no blood involved, which makes a big difference” he informed him.

“Not to me it doesn’t, you’re both still my children”.

“Look, whatever” an aggravated Jack silenced him. Too fed up of fighting, he decided to leave it. “Just do me a favour, yeah. Don’t push Martha away by avoiding her. She’s going to need you more than ever right now”.

“I’m not trying to push her away Jack, I just … I needed some time out, that’s all”.

“Yeah, fine. We all have our needs. But Martha needs her father. She can’t get through any of this without you. She’s had a hell of a year, struggling with her feelings one second, and then…” he halted, almost blurting out the fact that she’d failed her exams the next, “... and now she’s probably going to lose her best friend as well”.

“Yeah well, Martha’s a strong girl. She’s a lot stronger than you make out”.

“Yeah, she can be strong when she wants to be, but certain things get to her. And at the end of the day, she’s still just a very fragile and vulnerable young woman”.

“Fragile and vulnerable!? Oh please!” Tony scoffed at him. “I know Martha better than anyone!”

“No actually, you don’t know Martha! You haven’t got the slightest clue what goes on in her mind!”

Tony’s eyes flared at his son’s outburst.

“Do you know that she’s been lying and avoiding you for well over a month now!? Too scared to even be honest with you out of fear of how you’ll react!… And do you know that she failed practically all of her exams this year!?” he shot out one after the other without a seconds thought. “… And do you know that she couldn’t stand to tell you because she was too damn scared that she'd let you down!”

Tony listened in astonishment; he had no idea of the extent of Martha’s year.

Calming down and his voice softening, Jack took a breath. “The bottom line is; she lives in fear every day that she’s going to be left all alone … abandoned … That you’ll think she’s a failure and end up rejecting her. Because as far as she’s concerned, she doesn’t have any real family; there’s no blood involved so there’s no genetic ties. You could just up and leave her at any time for all you care!”

“I would never do that!” he exclaimed through horror.

“No I know that! But for some reason she doesn’t.”

Tony shook his head in disbelief, as he slumped down onto the chair. “I can’t understand any of this. Its like you’re talking about a completely different girl” he spoke helplessly.

“Yeah well I’m not … so what are you going to do about it?”

……………………………………

Meanwhile…

Martha felt sick to her stomach as she ran out of the house; Lisa’s screams and cries still ringing in her ears, as she clung onto the side wall of the next door neighbour’s house. Keeping her hands on the brick surface to aid her standing.

Her legs were like jelly, and her skin felt unnervingly chilly.

A cool sweat of panic flushed her body as she took a moment to breathe.

It started out so great; Lisa had offered her a drink and a bite to eat. She’d taken the drink, but declined the food. Just the sound of it made her feel physically nauseous. Clearly her nerves were getting the better of her.

And then following their usual chit-chat, they had found themselves falling onto the subject of Jack.

Unable to conceal it for any longer, the combination of Lisa’s rambling about Jack, and the lies swimming viciously around in her brain, she forced herself to tell all…

***

“There’s something I need to tell you” she began cautiously, “and there’s no easy way to say it…”

“Ok” Lisa frowned slightly, “Well whatever it is, I’m sure I’ll be able too…” she paused, her face falling even more, “Oh god, you’re not about to tell me he’s got another girlfriend are you?” she looked at her through a glare.

“Erm … well” she stuttered, struggling for the next word to come to her as she looked at her hands.

“Oh god, he has hasn’t he!” Martha’s lack of speech was all that Lisa needed to explode. “Ugh! Well that’s just great isn’t it!” exclaimed Lisa, as she flung her arms into the air. Springing from her seat in a fluster, Lisa paced the living room floor, “You know, I knew this would happen, I knew that he’d end up moving on faster than a…”

“Lisa! Will you just sit down for a second!” Martha practically screamed at her. “I’m trying to tell you something”.

Taken aback by Martha’s sudden outburst, Lisa silently retook her seat; doing as she was told.

10 long seconds passed by before Martha finally gathered the courage to continue.

“It’s me, Lisa…” she began with care.

“Whats you?” Lisa scrunched up her face at her friend’s odd remark.

“It’s me…” she gently repeated, “I’m, the reason you and Jack split up”.

Pulling back, Lisa eyed her friend suspiciously. “I’m sorry?” she almost laughed, her face smiling. Before gradually her face drew downwards; her eyes piercing Martha’s body, as she silently pleaded with her to go on.

“It’s because I … we …” she struggled, unable to muster the words to explain.

Taking another look at Lisa’s silent face, she found herself bubbling up. With an irritated huff bursting from her lips, Martha stood up and looked down at her, “Do I really have to spell it out to you!? We both know full well what I’m going to say!” she inadvertently bellowed out; immediately regretting her actions as she observed Lisa’s glassy eyes.

“No…” Lisa shook her head adamantly. “You wouldn’t”.

“I’m sorry” she whispered back, the water in her own eyes threatening to brim over.

5 minutes later and it went from bad to worse…

“Does our friendship mean nothing to you!?” Lisa accused her cheating friend.

“Of course it does! You know how much I cherish what we have. You’ve been my best friend my entire life.”

“And that’s the thanks I get, is it? I stay loyal to you, I look out for you, I help you with your studies, and this is what I get in return!? Wow, it sure is a hoot being best friends with you!” she spoke back in sarcasm, her teeth grinding in her frustration.

“I know, I’m sorry”

“Stop. Saying. Sorry. You’re not sorry; otherwise you wouldn’t have done it!”

“But I am! I didn’t want to hurt you. I just …” she cried, not knowing what to say. No words she could gather could mend this heartbreak now.

“You knew how much I wanted to be with him Martha. I even told you I was in love with him ... Did you not listen to a word I said? Did you not care about my feelings at all? … Or are you just too spineless to even give a damn?” she cried at her, narrowing her blurry, tear-filled eyes at her so-called-friend.

“I don’t know what to say” she hushed back, looking down at the ground in shame.

“Ugh! Well good! Because I don’t want to hear anymore of your lies, your apologies, or anything you have to say for that matter! So why don’t you get your scrawny, cheating little ass, out of my house!”

And with that, Martha rushed in grabbing her bag. Practically running down the hallway, she left the property completely. As Lisa stormed up closely behind her.

“And as for that brother of yours! Tell him he’s a dick!” she screamed out the doorway, not caring for her language or her neighbour’s around her. “And if he’d sooner have the leftover’s than the real deal, then that’s fine with me!” she yelled down the street, "You're both disgusting!" ... before she slammed the door behind her…

***

Martha sobbed at the thought of losing Lisa as a friend. The one person she had grown up with through school and college, and now it was all over.

Gathering her strength, she managed to stumble her way home. As she burst through the front door of the Holden household, she came to a stop. Her body now shaking like a leaf, as the adrenaline which poured through her veins quickly retracted.

“Martha?” a worried voice called out, as a figure approached the hallway. With scared and shocked eyes, they rushed towards her, scooping her up. “Baby what’s wrong?”

But the only response he got was the sound of hysterical crying, as her white-as-a-ghost-form crumbled into his arms.

Cradling his daughter’s vulnerable and trembling body close to him, he comforted her through her distress … no longer was she a headstrong woman, but a lost and fearful little girl.

A girl very much in need of her daddy…

[zzazzb]

yay update!

but that was so sad

Poor Martha, but i'm glad she finally told Lisa, now we can forget about her and she can leave? maybe?

Loved the end, with martha and Tony, perfect way to end the chapter.

well done

Update soon!

[stephyrose4]

Aww, Poor Martha!

Don't worry Jacky's there for you! Aw and your Dad.

Hopefully there will be some J&M in the next chap.

But it was a good chap, aw I loved how Jack went & saw Tony.

More please.

ASAP!

[dee83]

Glad Tony gave Martha that that hug she really needed it after her arguement with Lisa,I think them home truths that Jack told Tony might just have done some good and might get things back on track

update soon