Chapter 7

Jack arrived at work, in the best mood that he'd been in since 'the cliff.' Whenever thinking about it, or talking about it, Jack always referred to it as 'the cliff', rather than having to talk about Martha's death. He hung his jacket up onto the coat stand that greeted the cops as they walked in, and then went to report to his Sarg's office. He knocked on the door.

"Come in, come in." Sergeant McGrath welcomed Jack. "Sit down Constable. How are you?" He asked in a sympathetic tone, the same tone that everyone had when talking to Jack recently.

"I'm fine! Glad to be back at work Sarg!" He smiled. Sergeant McGrath returned the smile.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it. I'm going to put you on paperwork today, and there's also a nice school talk that I'd like you to do tomorrow." McGrath said, shuffling his papers on the desk and handing them to Jack. He let out a big sigh.

"So you're making me do all of the time-wasters to stop me doing my job?" He blurted out. McGrath looked shocked and angry at Jack's outburst.

"Jack, all of these jobs need to be done, and I think it's best for you to stay from the action for a while-"

"Why? Because of Martha? I'm fine! Why is everyone going around acting as if I'm supposed to be suicidal!" Jack sighed. "I'm over it." Sergeant McGrath looked at him for a moment.

"Okay, if you've finished Constable, then go and complete the paperwork." He said, now angrily dropping the paper on the desk and leaving his office, leaving a frustrated Jack.

"Damn." He thought, picking up the paper and going to his desk. He'd found it hard to concentrate that shift, the thoughts of what he'd said in the office kept running through his mind. 'I'm over it.' He knew that he wasn't, the more he denied it the worse it got, he felt guilty for acting as if Martha meant nothing to him, and that he wanted to forget about her. He was confused. Half of him wanted to forget about Martha and to get on with his life, but the other half didn't want to let go.

About a week later, Jack was still doing paperwork for his full shift. He'd think about Martha constantly throughout his shift and also on the drive home. He'd pull up on the drive, collect his thoughts, and put on a big smile. This happened everyday, and today wasn't going to be any different.

"Hey, anyone home?" Jack shouted out, to a silent house. "Obviously not." He said taking his coat off and resting it on the back of the sofa. He walked through the corridor, in the direction of his room when he heard a noise come from Lucas' room.

"Luc?" He said, pushing the door open.

"Hi!" Luc practically shouted. Jack looked at Matilda and Lucas.

"What are you two doing?" He enquired curiously. Matilda and Lucas looked at one another.

"Nothing." They said in unison, smiling sweetly. Jack laughed.

"Okay then.." He shut the door behind him.

"Hmm, I see what you mean." Matilda said, getting up from where she was sat cross-legged on the floor. "He didn't look like that when he was sat in the car, did he?"

"No. I hope he's okay, I just wish he'd talk to me, or dad." Lucas sighed, getting up and walking Matilda to the door, kissing her on the cheek goodbye.

"Do I get a kiss?" Tony and Matilda laughed as Tony walked behind her, Lucas went red with embarrassment.

"Good luck Lucas!" Matilda shouted. Lucas nodded and shut the door after watching her enter her house. Tony spun around from his spot in the kitchen.

"Good luck with what?" He casually asked, placing his bag on the worktop.

"With Jack. I told her about him acting strange recently, and then we found some more 'evidence' that just backed up our theory even more." Lucas explained.

"What's this new 'evidence' then?" Tony mocked, copying Lucas' speech marks.

"Well, Mattie mentioned that she saw him yesterday and the day before, driving home from work in a bit of a trance." Lucas said. "She said she thought he looked upset."

"Yea, well he could just be tired, that doesn't automatically mean that he was thinking of Martha. And she THINKS that he looked upset, doesn't necessarily mean that he is." Tony explained, but Lucas hadn't finished speaking.

"Well, we saw him pull up, and he really did look upset, but when he got out the car.. he was all happy." Lucas said. Tony now really started to think.

"Oh. Where is he now?" Tony asked.

"In his room." Lucas answered, Tony started to walk down the corridor towards Jack's room, Lucas followed.

"Shh" Tony said putting his finger to his lips, signalling Lucas to be quiet. Tony gently widened the gap of the ajar door slightly, so himself and Lucas could look through. Jack was laid back on his bed, one hand underneath his head, and a picture of Martha and himself in the other. His thumb gently stroked the picture as he gazed at the photo. He then heard someone near his door and slid the photo under the bed and shot up, towards his door. Tony had accidentally stood on Lucas' foot, which caused him to bang his head on the wall. They both saw Jack's reaction and ran into the room next door.

"Hello?" Jack said, walking out of his room.

"Hey mate, what you doing?" Tony said, as he and Lucas casually strolled out of Tony's room.

"Erm, just getting ready for a shower." Jack smiled. "Well, I'm gonna go carry on." He said, going back into his room and closing the door. Lucas and Tony looked at one another, they knew he was lying, but why?