Chapter 4

Doc Martin and all of its characters, themes, and plotlines are the property of Buffalo Pictures. This work of fiction is written for purely entertainment purposes, the work of my imagination. No infringement of any legal rights intended or implied.

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The Story of Danny

Joan called me one morning at school, asking to meet for lunch at the Tea Room, emphasizes our need to talk. As I walk in, I see Joan is waiting at a corner table on the far side well away from the other patrons with cups of tea and sandwiches. I sat down, notice Joan is a bit upset and she immediately explains why she needed to talk with me.

"I know Danny is back in town and rumor has it with you. You do remember Martin put himself out of his comfort zone when you came back six months pregnant and provided you room and board. I know at first he thought it was his duty to take care of you and the baby. He never explained how you ended up pregnant and if you left knowing you were."

"That's none of your business, but I did not know I was pregnant when I called the wedding off and departed for London. And per the gossip – I did not see Danny in London. I hadn't seen him since Moo's illness and her move to Hightrees, almost a year before our non-wedding and my pregnancy."

"Your actions since Danny's return have played well into the village gossip. How Marty hasn't heard is a miracle."

"You know Martin does not listen to the gossip in the surgery reception area. However it is not a miracle, Morweena won't allow any gossip of Danny to take place in the surgery. She has threatened any villager, including Bert with expulsion from further appointments, forcing them to go to Wadebridge for the rest of their life as long as she works in the surgery. She is very protective of Martin for giving her a job when nobody else would.

"You need to talk to Martin, tell him your side before he hears the gossip or if he already has heard and ensured him none of it is true. You know his background and his first response will be to shut down. He has put his trust in you; don't you trust him?"

I am quiet and unable to look at Joan, my eyes gaze out the window for a minute so I can gather my thoughts. "I want to tell him but they… there is a problem there. I noticed it when Danny returned last time even though Martin and I were not dating."

"Don't you think Martin had a reason to dislike Danny? You and Danny were together, Martin was jealous. Oh, Louisa, from day one Martin loved you, but couldn't express it. I remember the first week, he was embarrassed with the Colonel incident and wanted to quit, his friend Chris and Bert talked him out of leaving – to give it a bit more time. I saw him one morning and he was staring into the school window at you. Embarrassed I saw him trying to catch a glimpse of you."

Joan pauses to sip her tea, looking at me to see if I understand before she continues.

I recall the night of the dance, Portwenn Players Dance, you were on the dance floor dancing with Mark, and Martin saw you dancing closely and your face close to Mark's. Martin turned away to leave instead of seeing you with Mark. I could see he was jealous. I heard later that Mark fancied you and had told Martin. Mark's exact words were 'You haven't got a date with a woman of your dreams' and Martin replied 'Who's that, the woman of my dreams' before realizing Mark was talking about himself.* Mark went on to say 'He always tried to catch a glimpse of you by the school'. My source could hear Martin stumbling over his words before saying he had other patients to see and getting up, opening the door. Luckily my source was able to move to the kitchen before Mark came out. The next time she saw Martin, he was preoccupied at his desk, glumly sitting there, and willingly went on the house call after he sternly voiced 'if the patient is able-bodied to make an appointment with him in the surgery'. My source could see Martin was upset with Mark expressing his fondness for you."

"And why was Elaine listening at the door?"

Chuckling Joan continued her tale; "Mark mentioned he had a date as he stood in the doorway of the consulting room. Everyone in the village knows about Mark's problem with women. She was fascinated with who was the latest poor girl. You remember we spoke at the dance regarding your conversation with Mark and you said, 'I think I may have a very serious misunderstanding on my hands'. If Martin knew Mark's wishes with you, wouldn't he be jealous and misunderstand your closeness and not want to be involved around you two? With Danny, he knows there is a past since he grew up in the village with you. I have heard rumors for the past month and felt the time had come for you to explain everything to Martin or I will. As far as the rumors go Mark stepped out of the picture and Danny walked in."

The Tea Room shop door opens and in walks Danny, my next encounter with him. Of course, he came in, joined us without invitation, pulling his chair close to mine and laying his arm across the back of it, rubbing my back. It brought back memories of when he was last here and we were visiting Caroline in hospital after Martin saved her life. Thank goodness, for Joan, she saw how his presence upset me and she knew how to handle Danny. She made an excuse for me by looking at her watch and pronouncing I would be late for the Governor's meeting if I didn't leave immediately. Another caring person helping me, but before my escape, I reminded Joan to call me later.

A few days later, at her kitchen table at the farm, our Danny discussion continued, together with Morweena and Al. Again I explained my problem and asked for their help. The simple answer, 'Tell him to leave you alone.'

"Sounds simple, right, but not so easy, because I have told him, several times that I am happily married to Martin and want nothing to do with him. He smiles, says he doesn't believe me."

Joan speaks up and informs us what she has learned from Moo; "Danny's sudden departure from London stems from problems at work. His clients started complaining of his arrogant attitude regarding their requests; his ideas were better or he ignored theirs outright. The partners asked him to leave and with his tail between his legs, he has returned to Portwenn. According to Moo, he is setting up shop in Portween, 'to put his mark on Cornwall' with renovating some of the older buildings. She said something about him joining a friend from college that is doing well around here. But I have heard his friend isn't interested in Danny joining his business and suggested he start new somewhere else, like Wales or Scotland or northern England anywhere but here. All those old castles need renovation, so I understand that he is considering it. Now Moo said before he leaves he wants to get his personal life in order and Louisa I think that is where you come into the picture."

Morweena and Al explain what they heard, which sounded like my problem wasn't going away. My new strategy going forward started with Danny's friend, whom I knew. Joan reiterated my telling Martin; I tried to explain to Joan again the issue between Danny and Martin and that he wouldn't believe her. "Joan, do you remember when Danny was last here and the talk of the village was my engagement to Danny, even though Martin and I weren't together Martin displayed typical male jealously."

Al added the scene he witnessed when he and Pauline were working on his best man speech for Mark, "The Doc thought we were discussing Louisa's wedding to Danny. He got very quiet and Pauline said he looked like a puppy that lost his best friend. I remember when you did break off your engagement with Danny, and you invited the Doc for drinks. According to Pauline, 'by the look of all the empty wine bottles on the kitchen table that you two got snockered the previous night ' because she found the Doc sleeping on the floor cuddled up against Gremlin; I think I still have the picture she sent to half the village. Most of the patients that morning came just to see the Doc with a hangover; to see the Doc as an actual human. Dad offered him a bit of whiskey and Doc didn't take kindly to the joke and when Dad came out saying the Doc wasn't in the mode; the Doc exploded and cleared everyone out of the surgery."

I had no idea Pauline passed a picture of Martin on the floor, how embarrassing for him, well that would explain his attitude with me that afternoon and the accusation.

I met up with Gordon a few days later to discuss Danny. Gordon is defensive about the intrusion of Danny into his business. He knew of the problem in London and doesn't want Danny ruining his business. This sounds great so I talk Gordon into going with me to meet Danny and settle both our problems at once.

Instantly Danny answers his mobile when he sees my name come on his mobile, and gladly invites me to the house. We arrive within the hour, with Danny greeting me at the door. I could not miss the dispirited look on his face when he saw Gordon standing alongside me. I mentioned Gordon and I needed to clear the air and it starts now. Danny was not happy with Gordon's lack of enthusiasm for sharing his business opportunities in Cornwall as far as Gordon is concerned, the door is closed, no more to discuss. Danny's pouty face and quiet resolve gave me hope. It was my turn next; this time I was more forceful with my last furious statement, 'UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE WOULD I DIVORCE MARTIN TO MARRY YOU!' His shocked face gave me the strength to turn to Gordon announcing I was ready to leave.

Nevertheless, I don't know how to talk to Martin, when my mobile buzzes and I see Danny's number come up; of course, I answer it.

"Louisa, I don't understand what you see in him, but if that is what you want then I'll leave Portween. I want to say goodbye; please meet me on the Platt Friday morning on your way to school."

"Danny, only if it is quick; I have a meeting before school on Friday," I say with the hope I say goodbye quickly and not draw out this problem.

Against my better judgment on Friday morning I am standing on the Platt waiting for Danny to show up. I can't believe he did what he did for all of Portwenn to see. After the estrange meeting I hurry up to the school to hide out for the day as I know the gossip will spread quickly. If only Mrs. Tishell hadn't stepped out of her shop the moment I turned around in the arms of Danny. I spent most of the day trying to perform my duties as Headmistress and failing miserably. At the end of the school day, I walk up the hill to our home, noticing the looks and whispering behind my back. I enter our sanctuary and relax a bit until Poppy explains what she has heard today in the village. My insecurities overwhelm me, I now know Martin has heard and more than likely will leave me. 'Damn you Danny; why couldn't you have left me alone. Better yet why didn't I tell Martin all those months ago?' I find myself an emotional wreck by the time Martin comes home later than usual. What do I say; how do I tell him?

XxXxXx

Monday morning couldn't come fast enough; Martin sounded angry when I went to bed early Friday trying to figure a way to tell him, but couldn't. I needed more time to think about how I messed up my marriage. I didn't have a good example to fall back on so I hid away emotionally the entire weekend; Phillip, my emotional crutch as I worked out what I needed to do. My first call on Monday was to Joan, asking for her help. My plan needed the two of us to be Phillip free to talk, yell, cry whatever that was needed to save our marriage. I explained that Martin hid away in his study and spoke very little. When I felt strong enough to knock on his door to talk, his mobile went off and he would quickly leave the house for hours on emergency calls. "Joan, I need you to keep Phillip for the night," I say, actually plead.

"What time do I need to pick him up," she asks.

"Can Al pick up Poppy and Phillip after lunch since your truck won't accommodate Phillip's car seat? I am taking the rest of the day off to be home when Martin returns."

"I am sure Al wouldn't mind, I will send him just after lunch. Louisa, I heard a disturbing rumor on Friday but kept my mouth shut but you need to take care of this today. I will not stay silent any longer."

"That's my plan. Talk to you tomorrow when we pick up Phillip," I say with more enthusiasm than I felt. Finally settled with what to do with her son, I call Poppy to give her notice on the plans for Phillip for the afternoon. Ordinarily, I would see Phillip during my break and knew I couldn't get through the day without seeing him before he left for the farm, making my decision quickly I gathered up my computer bag and walked out the door to my secretary's desk, "Please let Pippa know I have left early today; family emergency. She is in charge," I say stopping long enough to give my notice. I run across the schoolyard, anxious to get home and away from the interfering village. I notice the older women sitting on the bench near the Platt and I can see their looks, their hurtful words coming from their mouths, I pull out my earphones and attach them to my mobile and quickly pull up my music and loudly play the next song that comes up; 'Hold Me Close'. ** I play the song over and over as the words hit me hard and I realize all I want is Martin to hold me close and forgive me. I walk faster with my need to be home.

XxXxXx

I walk into the kitchen upon my return from seeing Doctor Hayes; I take Louisa into my arms and hug her, mumbling into her ear "I love you." With Louisa's hand in mine, we settled on the sofa in the lounge, I turn toward her; I ask the question that is most on my mind, "What are your plans with Danny?"

"Oh Martin, I don't have any plans with Danny. Do you believe I can change my feelings away from you to him that quickly? The village gossip, as usual, is wrong at least on my part." As she is saying this she is turning towards me and moving closer for us to talk.

"But I saw you with my own eyes on Friday morning… down at the Platt. You and he were hugging and kissing for the whole village to see."

"Martin, what you saw, what the whole village think they saw… was Danny hugging me, kissing me – not the other way around. You and the village did not hear what I said or did. You mentioned only a small part of what happened and the beginning is the only part the village gossip was interested in spreading.

"No, I didn't. The site of my wife in the arms of another man was…" I couldn't continue as Louisa takes my hands into hers,

"Let me tell you, then. Danny showed up in the pub in mid-December to my night out with the girls. He was excited to be in the village again and once again talking about returning to Cornwall. He is tired of London, but sources tell me he is not doing well in the architecture world and I'm not talking of the village grapevine. Danny and I have a mutual friend, he is an architect and went to school with us; Danny is trying to team up with him in business. The new thing in Cornwall with London architects is in refurbishing old cottages, farmhouses wherever they can make money. My friend works with local companies and does a fair amount of business and Danny believes he can cash in. Gordon, my friend, told Danny he would need to go out on his own, there isn't that much business around here. Gordon was out at a site, and Danny met up with him and started talking rubbish to the owner of the property. Gordon was so angry he had to ask Danny to leave. Danny launched in that he knew exactly what the owner needed better than Gordon, without any actual knowledge of the discussions with the owner and wanted to use only the most expensive material and most of it wouldn't stand up to a Cornish winter for long; as usual Danny knew best, he is as flighty as he was the last time he was here and just as religious…"

She pauses and looks down at our hands; I notice I am caressing her palm.

She continues, "The incident you witnessed last week is a continuation of Danny knowing everything. He heard through the village grapevine about our non-wedding last year, the village stories of our arrangement during my pregnancy and sudden marriage, the village figured I only married you for financial gain and stability since I am a Glasson. He would show up each time I met up with friends and acted as if he was my boyfriend or whatever. He would sling his arm over my chair or shoulder as he leaned in my direction; I took this as if he was trying to tell everyone in the pub that he owned me. It made me angry, that is why I stopped going out every Thursday evening. Since I stopped going out in the evening he hung around the school more and more, he came by during my lunch break one day, when he saw Poppy bringing Phillip to see me."

She stops and can see I am distressed. "Don't worry Poppy hasn't brought Phillip since early February, I pump instead; Martin I didn't want Danny anywhere near Phillip. He acted as if he was Phillip's father. I asked him to stop and when he didn't is when I spoke to Poppy."

I interrupt Louisa when the thought hit me..." Why didn't you say anything? Didn't you trust me?"

Louisa wouldn't look at me, "Martin, you always had a problem with Danny. I thought if you didn't see him I could work out this problem on my own. That is why I met him at the Platt, middle ground. I didn't expect him to show up and try to romance me in front of the village. He was trying to persuade me to join him. He couldn't envision our love for each other; he heard we didn't even sleep in the same bed, that I needed him like in the old days. I set him straight right there for the last time, of course not a single villager blabbed that scene. I knew you would hear about it and I didn't know what to do, I ignored you to give me time to take care of my problem on my own and I was wrong. Martin I was, am, afraid you will leave me, just like every other person in my life and I can't live in this village, anywhere for that matter knowing I hurt you enough to make you leave me… Deep down I wanted to run, I couldn't leave without Phillip and I know I couldn't take him away from you; that was my dilemma."

Her words crushed me like a ton of bricks; she wasn't interested in Danny and told him to leave, but so devastated that she imagined I would be angry enough to leave her. Thankfully, Phillip saved both of us; she knows how much I love him that she couldn't bear to separate us. My only thought to our solution instantaneously came to mind and I acted upon it. I stood up, taking Louisa's hand, and pulling her to her feet, wrapping her into my arms, nuzzling my lips in her neck, starting slowly with kisses behind her ear, moving up to her cheeks, forehead and I gave her the earnest kiss on her lips, lasting until we needed to separate to breathe. I knew from previous episodes of conflict, it was better not to speak but show her emotionally how I felt at that moment. I am afraid to let her go and kiss her again, slowly sliding my mouth to her ear and whisper my love to her before finally letting go enough for her to look up at me.

"Martin, I know I was wrong, I should have come to you when Danny first showed up in the pub, I doubted you, and I doubted us," she says as the tears roll down her cheeks. "When was the first time you heard Danny was back?"

"I didn't hear, I saw him last month coming out of Mrs. Tishell's and assumed he was visiting his mum. I saw the two of you last Friday morning. It seems the show Danny put on display for the village set off the fireworks of gossip. All I heard that afternoon from the mourning patients were 'how happy to see the longtime sweethearts finally together', let see, 'Louisa finally came to her senses and dumped you' and my favorite, 'Danny came back for his child and mum'." I never saw Morweena look so angry, she even yelled at Bert."

The hurt in Martin's eyes was obvious, my entire fault, a result of my mistrust of my husband. "Martin, I don't have to tell you the gossip you heard is a delusion of this village. They can't understand the man you are with your family but especially with me. Martin, deep down you are a sensual man, you know exactly where to touch and how to touch so that synapse is ignited between us. No one would ever know to look at you, this tall rude man dressed to repel, with your suit of amour, with your netural face shutting out the world, the intense passion that you conceal, but I do and I love you. You are an extraordinary man and most of the women in this village are jealous; that is the women that have secret crushes on you. Yes, most of the villagers find you rigid and can't believe you like women in general, but I find some of your qualities, precious starting with your kind eyes, your soft touch, and your embarrassing blushing ears to be very sensorial."

I hold Louisa a bit tighter and let my eyes smile as she continues defending me against the village.

"On day one, Ross called you 'Tosser'; he was and still is the 'Tosser'. Just because you and the Colonel walked and talked right into the Lifeboat shack and find him making out on the desk with the Colonel's wife doesn't mean you did it on purpose. I wasn't much better; I condemned you for your actions that day. But, I liked you and thought by running into you around the village and talking nonsense you would see I was an interested friend; most times your presence consumed my thoughts and I rambled on about stupid things. Martin, you continue to inundate me with your knowledge, sometimes at the wrong time, but your quiet presence speaks volumes, you speak more with your eyes than an entire debating team. I know where I stand if I just take the time to look into your eyes; those beautiful expressive eyes."

The deluge of kind words floods my senses, emotions overrun my armour, cracks widen further until the tears roll down my cheeks. Louisa always finds a way behind my wall when she speaks of the virtues I didn't know existed in me. Overcome with my love for her, I need to touch her, show her I love her. I tighten my hug, pulling her off her feet, Louisa swings her legs around my waist, together entwined like lovers. I walk towards our sofa, kneeling as I slowly laid her onto the cushions, nibbling on her ear lobe; I stop long enough to see her emerald green eyes sparkle before I take her bottom lip between mine. Our hands doing their own dance, as she starts dismantling my tie, I undo the buttons on her blouse as we desperately shed our clothing. Per our usual experience during our romantic encounters, the sound of my mobile buzzing on the kitchen table stops us. I am furious and the thought does birr through me until my medical mind calls out 'DUTY', I take a deep breath, kiss Louisa and go to answer my mobile, "Ellingham". I feel Louisa come up behind me and start buttoning my shirt; she knows our time together at this moment is over.

End of chapter

*The conversion between Mark and Martin is in part from Series 1 Episode 4 "The Portwenn Effect".

**The song Louisa listens to is 'Hold Me Close' by U2.