CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Martha was standing in the store room at Noah's; wanting some time alone, but more importantly, trying to hide from everyone. When she had arrived at Noah's for Tasha and Rob's party, everyone had practically flocked towards her. They all wanted to congratulate her, and ask about the baby. As much as she loved her friends and family; she needed to get away from them. All the attention had gotten a little over-whelming. And geez, she had only been at Noah's for twenty minutes.

See hadn't even seen Jack. She didn't think he had even arrived yet. She was still in a foul mood with him; especially after what had happened when she had first gotten home. She didn't even know what she would say to him if they did speak. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to talk to him. Just thinking about it made her feel nervous and uncomfortable.

She got up from the stool she had been sitting on and took a deep breath; walking towards the door of the store room. Can't hide in here forever, Martha thought to herself as she opened the door and walked out. She smiled lightly as she walked past Alf, who was chatting happily with Barry and Irene.

She spotted Tasha standing at the bar ordering a drink, and moved towards her.

"Hey, I was wondering where you got to," Tasha smiled at her.

"Yeah, I just needed a breather. I felt like a monkey in a cage," Martha sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I love all these guys, but, all the poking and proding was driving me insane," she explained.

"I can only imagine," Tasha exclaimed. "So, Jack just got here a few minutes ago," she then told Martha.

"Whoop di do," Martha tried to sound uninterested.

"Martha," Tasha scolded.

"What? Would you like me to just run up and give him a big wet one," Martha said sarcastically. "Well, guess what? It ain't gonna happen," she took a sip of her orange juice.

"I just thought that maybe you two could talk," Tasha suggested. "Perhaps you could apologise for keeping the baby a secret, and he can say sorry for yelling at you," she continued.

Martha laughed. "Firstly, I already apologised for lying to him. He didn't want to hear it, and kicked me out of his house. So I ain't doing it again," she started to rant. "And secondly, I'm here to party, not to suck up Jack's ass," she finished.

Martha took another sip of her drink, and looked up. Standing on the other side of the bar looking at her was Jack, and Kim. She groaned to herself. Great, she thought.

She locked eyes with Jack for a moment, and found it hard to move her gaze away from him. His chocolate brown eyes seemed to draw her in even further. With a quick shake of the head; she broke the gaze.

"Did you hear what I just said," she asked Jack, sounding confident. She meant what she said. There was no way that she was going to suck up and beg for forgiveness.

"Loud and clear," he replied.

"Good," Martha stated simply.

"Ouch," Kim muttered under his breath.

"Tasha, let's dance," Martha then grabbed Tasha's hand and pulled her off towards the dance floor.

Jack watched from afar as Martha danced with Tasha. She looked beautiful. She had on an emerald silk dress, that fell to mid-thigh. Her hair hung in ringlets around her face; and cascaded down her back. Just the way he liked it. He looked down her tanned legs, which were covered by a pair of black boots; her trademark he liked to call them.

His eyes roved back up her body again, and he watched as her hips swayed seductively to the music. He had also noticed how the green silk of the dress clung tightly across her now swollen stomach; and he couldn't help but find it unbelievably sexy.

"Ah mate," a voice interrupted his thoughts. "You got a little drool there," Kim teased, as he indicated to Jack's mouth.

Jack laughed. "Shut up," he said.

"Hey, I'm just saying," Kim smirked. "No, seriously. You can't even keep your eyes off Mac for five seconds. You want her bad, huh?" he teased a bit more.

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" Jack laughed.

"Yeah yeah," Kim laughed along with him.

"You should have seen everyone when she first got here," Kim started to talk again, as he turned the conversation serious. "Everyone just practically swamped her. Wanting to know about the baby and all that. She ended hiding in the store room. Certainly don't blame her though. It was enough to scare anyone away," he finished.

Jack stole another glance at Martha and noticed that she had now stopped dancing and was moving back in towards the bar. He watched as she stopped to talk with Alf. After a few moments she started moving again.

"Should I try to talk to her? Do you think she's angry with me?" Jack asked Kim, as Martha seemed to move closer towards where he was standing.

As she got nearer she didn't even bother to look up at him. She walked straight past and completely ignored him.

"There's your answer," Kim laughed. "She's pissed," he continued.

After all that dancing, Martha needed a break. She was already feeling a little tired. She'd had a long day; especially after the long drive back from the city. She walked over towards the couch on the back wall, and was about to sit down when she felt a hand grasp gently around her arm. She didn't even have to turn around to know that it was Jack. She always knew when it was him touching her.

"We need to talk," he whispered in her ear. Before she could protest, he was dragging her off towards the direction of the gym. He pulled her through the door and closed it behind them; making sure that they could talk in private.

"What is it that you want?" Martha looked up at him.

"I want to talk to you," Jack said to her.

"You want to talk," Martha said sarcastically. "You didn't want to listen to me, when I wanted to talk. You kicked me out of your house remember. So give me one good reason why I should listen to you," she raised her voice at him. She didn't worry about anyone hearing her. She knew nobody would be able to hear over the sound of the loud music anyway.

"Look, I'm sorry that I yelled at you that day. I didn't mean to hurt you," Jack told her.

"Could have fooled me," Martha scoffed. She couldn't do this. She didn't want to do this. She wanted out, right now. She tried to walk away, but Jack grabbed her. "I haven't finished yet," he told her.

"And I certainly didn't intend on making you leave town," Jack started again. "Speaking of, why exactly didn't you tell me you were going away?" he asked.

"Last time I checked, I didn't need your permission to go on a holiday," Martha shot out.

"Why didn't you answer or return any of my calls or messages?" Jack then asked.

"I was busy," Martha exclaimed. She knew she was being stubborn. But it was what she done best.

"Right," Jack laughed with added sarcasm. "Doing what exactly?"

"What's you point?" Martha tried to sound bored.

"My point is that you went away for three weeks and you didn't tell me. I didn't know if you were okay. Or if the baby was okay," Jack yelled at her. "You just left me here alone to worry about you. I was worried," he yelled a bit more.

"I didn't think you'd care," Martha snapped back at him.

"Of course I cared," Jack's voice got softer. "I care about you, and I care about the baby. Our baby," he reassured her, as he tucked a curl behind her ear.

Martha looked into Jack's eyes. She could feel herself softening towards him. The stubborn side of her was telling her not to though.

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about this now. I think we should leave it till after the wedding," Martha suggested.

"If that's what you want," Jack agreed.

"It is," Martha nodded. "Can we go back in now?" she then asked.

"Yeah," he smiled and moved back towards the door to open it.

He was just about to pull it open, when two bodies crashed through it; attached at the lips.

"Woah," Jack exclaimed. "I knew it," he then laughed, closing the door again quickly.

"What's going on guys?" Martha teased.

Kim and Kit looked back at them; surprised. It was like they'd just been caught with their hand in a cookie jar.

"So, how do you guys feel about secrets?" Kit smiled innocently.

Martha groaned. Secrets...here we go again.

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