No More Tears

No More Tears; Home and Away-Jack and Martha
Topic Started: Aug 1 2008, 01:49 AM (54 Views)
Ashleigh	Aug 1 2008, 01:49 AM Post #1
Graphics Professional Posts: 75 Group: Admins Member #1 Joined: Jul 6, 2008	Chapter One This is it, Martha thought to herself as she handed her ticket over to the guy who had his hand out waiting. She had been looking forward to this cruise for a while now. Two days until the new year and she would be celebrating it in the middle of the ocean with people she didn’t know. It was perfect, because not a single one of them knew how she was suffering, or what she had been through. It meant that they wouldn’t be asking her if she was ok every five seconds. When her cousin, Ric had offered to come with her, she had been quick to decline. She was doing this to be alone; to have a good time with people she didn’t know and forget about everything that had happened in the past few months. “Martha Mackenzie?” the guy questioned. Martha looked at him, realising she had been day dreaming. That happened quite a lot these days. If one thing triggered her memory, then she was reliving every moment and she wasn’t in the same time as her body anymore. “Yes?” she asked. “You can board the boat” he told her, looking at her strangely. “Oh, um, thankyou” she felt embarrassed now, so she grabbed her ticket and hurried up the ramp and onto the boat. In her rush, she almost tripped up the step and dropped her phone. She looked around. No one seemed to notice. Trying to be as subtle as possible, she picked it up and made a quick dash for her cabin. She continued along the deck, looking at how many people were there. Not one of them knew the pain that she was suffering; how much she was hurting inside. They were probably all here to celebrate the new year for a completely different reason to her. Her cabin was number 18 in the economy section. There was no need for her to pay thousands of dollars extra to enjoy slightly better comfort. As long as she had a bed to sleep on each night, she was happy. “You seemed lost” a voice from behind said to her. “Can I help?” Martha turned around to see who had spoken to her. It was another crew member, but a woman this time. She saw that her name was Jill. “Um…” Martha looked at the ticket in her hand. “I need to get to here” she pointed to the number written down. “That is just down there” Jill pointed down a long corridor. There were people wandering back and forth all over the place. “Thank you” Martha said as she walked down the hall. She found her cabin quite easily after that. It wasn’t too bad inside. There was a decent sized bed, a bathroom and a table to seat two people. Perfect for what she needed. She set her bag down and looked around. There was no going back now. She was here and she couldn’t change her mind. This was where she tried to forget about the death of her brother.



Ashleigh	Aug 4 2008, 08:08 AM Post #2
Graphics Professional Posts: 75 Group: Admins Member #1 Joined: Jul 6, 2008	Chapter Two Martha wandered along the deck of the big boat, taking in everything around her. She examined every millimetre of it and ended up being quite impressed. She went to one side and looked out, over the ocean. There were no waves, except for the ones made by the boat. The sky was bright blue, no clouds covered it and the sun was nice and warm on her body. Her brother would have loved it… That was it. The minute that thought entered her mind, so did everything else. She was there again, watching everything all over again. She was there, just like she had been when it had really happened. A tear escaped her, with her realising. It rolled down her cheek and she quickly brushed it away before anyone noticed. Not that they would care anyway. It was the reason she was here in the first place, she had to remind herself. No one would care that her brother had died, because none of them knew. “Stop it” she mumbled to herself. She looked out, across the ocean again, naming every fish that she thought lived there. She would do anything to avoid going down memory lane again. “You do realise that it’s not good to talk to yourself?” Martha looked at the person who was now standing next to her. She hadn’t even noticed them there. It was a man. After taking one look at him, she had to force herself to not keep looking at him. But she snuck in a few glances here and there and she liked what she saw. “I’m not” she said a little too quickly. “I was naming fish…out loud. Sea life is very interesting, you know” she knew that she was making a fool of herself, but now that she had started, she couldn’t stop. It would make her look worse. “Really?” it was so obvious that he didn’t believe her. He had a look on his face that said he found her funny. “You know all the names?” Martha contemplated lying and telling him she did, but changed her mind in the end. “No” she said. “I was attempting to name them”. “You were doing well, then” he said to her. Martha ignored him and continued to look at the water. Sometimes she wished she was a fish. She would be able to go anywhere she wanted to, free to do whatever. She wouldn’t be suffering like she was. “I’m Jack, by the way” he eventually said to her. “That’s nice” Martha replied, not really listening. Jack shook his head, confused by her. One minute she was all chatty and the next, she barely spoke a word. “And you are?” he asked. Martha looked at him and smiled. “I’m Martha” she said. “It’s nice to meet you, Martha” Jack replied, returning the smile. Martha liked this idea of talking to Jack. It had been her plan all along. To get to know new people and not let them in on her secrets. Jack was perfect. He was a good distractions for her. She couldn’t keep her eyes off him, but she tried to be subtle about it. “What are your plans for the New Year?” it was obvious that Jack was trying to keep up the conversation and Martha didn’t mind one bit. “I haven’t really though about that” she told him truthfully. “I came here to have a good time. When I get back, I will decide what to do with myself”. “Where are you from?” Jack asked her. “A small town called Summer Bay” Martha said. “Everyone knows everyone, which means they know everything about you and they try to help with every situation. It is the reason why I am here and they are not. I wanted to be left alone”. “Oh” was all Jack managed to say. He looked at her and then began speaking again. “If you want to be left alone, then I will go” he began to walk away, but Martha didn’t want him to. He was keeping her occupied. Without thinking, she grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards her. “I didn’t mean you” she said. “Please stay” she was almost begging him, which she hated doing. “Lets keep talking”. Jack was now watching her, confused by her actions. Realising that she still had hold of his arm, she let go and looked away, embarrassed. “I’m sorry” she apologised. “I’m not really myself at the moment. I don’t normally do that kind of thing, especially with people I don’t know” she could have kicked herself, or thrown herself over board. Maybe when she wasn’t in sight of Jack, she would try the first option. Jack laughed. “I didn’t realise I had such an impression on you” he teased. “You don’t” Martha replied, again a little too quickly. In fact, he did have a huge impression on her. She wasn’t sure what it was about him that she liked. Maybe his smile, or his sense of humour. Whatever it was, he was already making her smile. “I really do have to go” Jack then said. “I have things to do. But…” he paused. “If you want to keep talking, the restaurant here is apparently pretty good. Maybe we can continue this conversation, say, seven thirty tonight?” Martha almost laughed. He hadn’t done a good job at hiding his real intentions. He had just asked her out. On the boat? She would never see him again after she got off. “Um…I…I” she didn’t know what to say to him. Her heart was jumping up and down and screaming the word yes at her, but her head was telling her no. She had no idea which one to listen to. She would probably regret it. Maybe it was a good thing that she would never see him again after the cruise ended. “Alright” the words were out of her mouth before she had even realised it. “Seven thirty tonight” she knew that she was going to regret this. When she had said that she was here to have fun, she hadn’t meant this. “Great” Jack couldn’t hide the smile that appeared on his face. “See you there” he walked away, leaving Martha to think about something other than Macca. She was thankful for that.



Ashleigh	Aug 10 2008, 09:08 AM Post #3
Graphics Professional Posts: 75 Group: Admins Member #1 Joined: Jul 6, 2008	Chapter Three There was only one mirror Martha could use and it wasn’t the clearest one she had come across. It sat above the basin of the tiny bathroom and she could barely see herself in it. She couldn’t tell how she looked for this so called ‘date’. She probably looked terrible. Everything she was feeling right now probably showed in her face and the way she was dressed. She was messed up if she was going to describe it in a few words. Under that she was full of confusion, hurt and guilt. She felt guilty for letting Jack make her smile. She knew Macca would have wanted her to be happy, but it felt too soon to be smiling and laughing again. Why the hell was she doing this? She barely knew Jack. She had had one quick conversation with him and now she was here; standing in front of this horrible mirror, looking at someone she didn’t recognise in the mirror. For all she knew, Jack may have been planning to kidnap her. Well, if that was the case, then he was a very attractive criminal. And he was nice too. She took one last look in the cloudy mirror and opened the door of her cabin. She had taken about three steps away from the door, when she noticed that Jack was standing there, smiling at her. There was something inside her-she had no idea what- that caused her to lose her nerve when she saw him. She turned around and began to walk ck into the cabin. “Martha, where are you going?” before she had even reached the door, Jack was there beside her. “You promised”. “That was before I realised you knew where I was staying” Martha said as she tried to force her way inside. Jack blocked her way. “This was your idea” Jack reminded her. “Since when?” Martha asked him, looking at him as if he were crazy. She had convinced herself that he was. He was there to kidnap her. Jack looked at her, but didn’t reply. “What if you don’t want to talk?” she then asked. “What if you kidnap me? Or what if you are planning to blow up the boat and take me as your hostage?” she felt like an idiot with those words coming out of her mouth, but she couldn’t stop. Jack laughed at her. “I think I understand your problem now” he said. “You’re paranoid. Martha, I’m not going to kidnap you. I just want to take you to dinner like I asked earlier. Besides, I’m a cop. My job is to protect you, not hurt you” he smiled at her, finding her assumptions funny. “You could be just saying that” Martha argued. “You know, to get me to go with you. Anyway, not all cops are good”. “Definitely paranoid” Jack teased. “You would be too if you had been through what I have” Martha defended herself. “Well we will talk about it at dinner, then” Jack encouraged. Like she had done earlier to him, he pulled on her arm. After putting up a little bit of a fight, Martha eventually gave in and followed him. If she was going to die, at least it would be in the middle of nowhere. There would be no funeral for everyone to make a big fuss over. And Jack could at least have the decency to throw her overboard so her body could float to the bottom of the ocean. At the moment, she really liked that idea. It was more than what she deserved. “You look really nice, by the way” Jack said to her as he led her to the restaurant.



Ashleigh	Aug 10 2008, 09:09 AM Post #4
Graphics Professional Posts: 75 Group: Admins Member #1 Joined: Jul 6, 2008	Chapter Four “I told you it was nice” Jack said to Martha. He smiled at her. Martha had to look away from him. She felt a smile appear across her own face and she didn’t want him to see it. But it was no use, because he noticed anyway. “Why are you so…unsure?” Jack asked her, trying to pick the right words for her behaviour. “About everything, I mean. Not just me and being here”. Martha shook her head. She wasn’t about to go into it. She didn’t want any unwanted memories coming back to her again. Jack had done such a good job of distracting her without even realising it. She didn’t wan t him to make her cry without meaning to either. It would make her feel useless, plus it would be extremely embarrassing. “A lot has happened to me in the past few months” was all she was willing to say. “Like what?” Jack was really trying to get it out of her. She didn’t blame him, really. He was curious, but she was still holding her ground. “You said that I would be paranoid too if I had been through what you had. What did you mean by that?” “Can we drop the subject?” Martha almost snapped at him. She hadn’t meant for her voice to sound so harsh, but his curiosity was getting on her nerves. “Ok, sorry” Jack backed off immediately after her near tantrum. It seemed to click that she really didn’t want to talk about it. “Anyway” Martha then began, calming herself down. “If you are a cop, then you should be able to figure it out yourself” she looked out the window. The water was sparkling silver in the moonlight. It looked so beautiful. Some times she did wish that she could just jump in there and swim away. She must have been staring out there for a while, completely lost in thought, because Jack had to touch her hand to snap her out of her day dream. She didn’t bother to pull away. She just let him hold her hand. It felt good to be with him; a complete stranger. “You’re hot and cold with me, Martha” he said to her. “One minute, you let me do…this” he looked down at their hands. “And the next, you’re pushing me away. I don’t get it”. “I just met you” Martha defended herself. “I’m not going to throw myself at you and tell you everything about me”. “I’m not asking you to do that” Jack replied, keeping calm in all of this. “I would never expect you to. But our first conversation was exactly the same and then again when you saw me near your cabin. It’s like you’re not in the same world anymore”. Martha stared at Jack. She had worked it out. She had worked out what she liked about him so much. He seemed to have this way to make her see exactly who she was and tell her how she was feeling. He was pinpointing everything with exact detail. They had known each other for less than twenty-four hours, but she felt close to him. It was like she would be able to tell him everything eventually and he would understand. But she wasn’t going to. Not here and not now. “Some times I’m not” she told him truthfully, realising it for herself as well. “Some times I feel distant from everything around me. I don’t want to be, but I can’t control it”. Jack nodded, clearly understanding what she meant. “I think we all feel like that some times” he told her. He then paused, before he started to say something different. “ Obviously you have a past that you are not willing to share and that is completely understandable. It clearly affects the way you behave and everything you do. But whatever did happen, I know that it will get easier to deal with as time goes by. These things do” he eventually let go of her hands. Martha had completely forgotten he was still holding them. She looked at her hands, realising they felt weird without him holding them. Before she got too distracted, she looked back at Jack. “I’m not sure about that” she told him, mumbling more than speaking. “Just give it a few months” Jack assured her. “I have” Martha argued. She then looked out the window again. When she turned back, Jack was still watching her. “You need to tell me about yourself now” she said to him. “I know-well I think- that you are a cop and your name is Jack. What else is there for me to know?” she looked at him hopefully, trying to get his mind off her. “My life isn’t as exciting as yours” Jack said, as if it was almost a warning. “Mine’s a mess, not exciting” Martha interrupted. Jack shrugged and then continued. “Well, I live in the city with my dad and my brother. I work at one of the police stations there and…yeah, there is nothing much more to me. Oh, wait, when I’m not working I like to follow people and then kidnap them on boats” he added teasingly, remembering Martha’s assumption earlier. Martha ignored him. “What, no girlfriend?” she asked. “Do you think I would be here if there was?” Jack smiled at her. Martha looked away. So this was more of a ‘date ‘ to Jack? She had seen it as a distraction, or dinner, if she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. “Oh” was all she managed to get out. He had caught her off guard with that comment. Jack seemed to work out her confusion, and decided quickly to set things straight. “I’m sorry” he apologised. “I didn’t mean it in that way. I just meant, that if I did have a girlfriend, then I wouldn’t be sitting here with you. I wouldn’t do that, even if it does mean nothing”. “Oh, ok” Martha replied. “That’s good, because I’m just here to make friends…in a way. The main reason for me coming on this cruise is to get away from my family and friends at home. I want to do what we’re doing now. Talk. That’s all” she said that more to make it clear to herself than Jack. She didn’t know why, but there was this small part, somewhere inside of her, that had these feelings for Jack already. She didn’t know what these feelings were, or what they meant. To her, they were just there. “I’m not here for anything more, either” Jack replied. “You just caught my eye when I walked past you earlier”. “Yeah, some weird girl talking to herself” Martha laughed. “I’d be curious too”. “Well I did see you talking to yourself and I was curious, but I didn’t think you were weird” Jack said to her with a smile. “I found you different and interesting. You didn’t seem to care what people thought of you”. “I don’t” Martha was quick to answer. “Does my opinion matter?” Jack asked. Martha looked at him for a few seconds and then shook her head. “Nope” she said honestly. “You can think what ever you want”. “I think and see nothing more than a beautiful woman” Jack said to her. Martha smiled shyly and then looked away. She wasn’t expecting that.



Ashleigh	Aug 24 2008, 12:59 AM Post #5
Graphics Professional Posts: 75 Group: Admins Member #1 Joined: Jul 6, 2008	Chapter Five Martha woke up the next morning, after spending her first night on the boat. Although it didn’t look like it, the bed was actually really comfortable. She didn’t want to get out of it. It was only eight o’clock according to her watch. While she was lying in bed, she remembered the night before. Her date with Jack, as she had ended up calling it. At first, she had been a bit weary; cautious of him. But as the night went on, she had found herself enjoying the time. It didn’t feel right to be smiling, but she couldn’t help it around Jack. He made her feel happy; like she didn’t have to worry about anything else. By the end of her ‘date’ she had forgotten the reason for being there in the first place. She had come here to forget about her brother’s death, but now, just after one night, she felt as if she was here for Jack. For half an hour, she reminisced her night. How much they had in common, what they liked. And she remembered how he had called her beautiful. No one said that to her. She hated it when they did. But when he had said it, instead of cringing like she usually did, she smiled. His words had made her feel better. She soon snapped out of her day dream and decided that she should get up. Maybe if she was lucky, she would see Jack. And maybe if she was even luckier, he’d want to see her too. She was finally beginning to understand her reason for coming here. ***************************************************************************** “You’re still alive, I see” Jack said to Martha as he came over to her. She was just coming out of the restaurant after finishing breakfast. Instead of greeting Jack with a huge, uncontrollable smiled, like she had been terrified of doing, she looked at him, confused by what he meant. “I didn’t kidnap you, or take you hostage, or blow up the boat, did I?” Jack reminded her. “Oh” Martha felt embarrassed as she remembered telling Jack how she thought he was some serial killer or criminal of some sort. Those fears had been put down to her not trusting many people. She had soon discovered that he was one of the good guys. It was his job to stop those sorts of people. “I thought we were past that” she finally said. “I was just making sure” Jack replied, smiling at her. Martha couldn’t help but smile back. She just felt so comfortable around him. “So, what are we going to do today?” Jack changed the subject. “We?” Martha tried to hide her happiness about the word, behind pretend confusion. “You, then?” Jack corrected, realising it was the wrong thing to say. “I haven’t really thought about it” Martha told him honestly. “But I know that it would be pretty lonely and boring if it was just me” she looked at him hopefully. “So, I guess we can do something together” she smiled. Jack smiled back. “Great” he said. “While you were in there” he looked towards the restaurant. “I was having a look around. There is quite a lot to do”. Martha shrugged. “I’m leaving the decision to you” she told him. She really wasn’t in the mood for thinking about what to do for the day. Her plan was to not think about anything on this trip. It was to just go with what felt right. It wasn’t working, though. Macca kept coming back to her and now she couldn’t get Jack out of her head. It felt like her head would explode if she kept thinking about the both of them. Jack smiled at her. “Fine by me” he said. “I’ll surprise you. Follow me” he began to walk away slowly and Martha followed him, wondering what he had in mind.



Ashleigh	Aug 24 2008, 12:59 AM Post #6
Graphics Professional Posts: 75 Group: Admins Member #1 Joined: Jul 6, 2008	Chapter Six Martha was excited. This whole cruise had been about the New Year. She couldn’t wait until the party which had probably started already. A new year meant a new beginning. She could start her life over again; forget about everything that had happened. Well up until she came on to the boat. For the past three days, she had spent all of her time with Jack. Every morning, he would come and find her and he would take her around to places and things they could do. She had no idea why he was so interested in her, but she wasn’t going to complain about it. She enjoyed his company as much as what he appeared to enjoy hers. He distracted her from all of her problems and kept her occupied throughout the day. She liked it that way. She began to walk up the deck. Only six hours to go now. The deck was covered with lights and there were people everywhere. This was the main event of the whole two weeks. It clearly wasn’t only her who was looking forward to this party. For five minutes, she stood there, looking around. Jack found her soon after that. He always seemed to see her before she saw him. She smiled at him. “Ready to celebrate?” he asked her. “Like you wouldn’t believe” Martha replied. “I can’t wait until midnight”. “Neither can I” Jack told her. “Like you, there are things that I would love to forget”. “Lets get this part started then” Martha said. “Want to get a drink to start with?” “Whatever you want” Jack replied. Both of them walked towards the bar, ready to start the countdown to the New Year. Martha was just about ready to start from the six hours. ************************************************************ Five minutes, Martha thought to herself. Five minutes and then I will be at the start of a brand new year. I can forget about everything that has happened. It was 11:55pm on the 31st of December. Only five more minutes left of her horrible year. Because she was so eager for the time to come, it felt more like five hours. But she knew that it wasn’t. She looked at Jack. All he did was smile at her. She had made it clear to him how much she had been looking forward to this moment. He clearly understood what she was feeling right now. Four minutes now. She looked out through the darkness. The ocean was so pretty when the moonlight was on it. She could feel Jack’s eyes still on her and it was the reason why she wasn’t turning back. The more time they spent together, caused her to like him more. Those feelings that she was trying so hard to put away and throw to the bottom of the ocean, were getting stronger and reaching the surface. More than anything, she wanted them to disappear and she knew they probably would if she stayed away. But she liked his company too much to not talk to him for the rest of the time. She didn’t want to avoid him. Three minutes to go. Finally, Jack spoke to her. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you how nice you looked before” he said. Martha felt herself blush. She wasn’t sure how to reply to that. So she continued to look at the water. What was she supposed to say to him? Thankyou? She felt as if he deserved more than that. “You really aren’t good with compliments, are you?” Jack asked, realising that she hadn’t taken his comment too well. “No, not really” Martha said to him honestly. “I don’t get many of them and when I do, it’s…well, I’m not really sure what to say”. “I’m sure you get heaps of compliments all the time” Jack said. Martha shook her head. “Nope. Very rare in my case and most of the time it’s from my family”. “I’ve been thinking” Jack changed the subject. “About what you’re running away from”. Martha attempted to interrupt, but he just continued before she could. “I’m not asking you to tell me whether I’m right or not. You don’t have to say anything, but I think that someone in your life; someone important to you died or left you, or something like that. Maybe a boyfriend or a family member”. Martha didn’t answer. Jack had worked it out, but she couldn’t tell him. Not there. So she kept her mouth shut. Jack didn’t push it any further when she didn’t answer. Two minutes left. She could feel herself getting excited now. She was just minutes away from starting her new life. She would soon be free of this terrible year that she had had. Jack left her without realising he had. She had been too lost in thought. There was only one minute to go when he returned with another drink for her. It was probably a bad idea. She did want to have a good time, but she didn’t want to make a fool of herself. If she got too drunk, that was what would happen. And she didn’t want Jack to change his mind about her. But she accepted the drink anyway. “Thank you” she mumbled quietly. He was being so nice to her and she felt embarrassed for having this ‘crush’ on him. It felt so childish. She had been waiting for this moment to come. When she was finally able to start the New Year. Except, after all the waiting, she missed it. At first she had had been lost in her own thoughts and then when it was on the dot of midnight, her mind had begun racing. Jack had just kissed her. So unexpectedly; without warning, he had kissed her. She was too shocked to say anything. She couldn’t even manage ‘Happy New Year’. All she could do was look at him with an expression that he probably would have laughed at if he hadn’t just kissed her. It was clear that Jack was waiting for a response, but he never got it, so he had to speak first. “Happy New Year, Martha” he said to her. Martha still couldn’t find her voice. So she let her actions speak for her. If Jack had kissed her, then he obviously liked her, which meant that she was allowed to kiss him back. She did. “Happy New Year” she eventually replied, all of a sudden finding her voice again.



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