Missing Martha

55

As Martin drove on, looking out at the blue sky. The band sat in silence, gazing out the window at the future.
"So, are there any possible gigs in Nice?" Asked Zoë, her slightly bronzed legs crossed up on the dashboard as she turned on the radio.
"A couple maybes.. I hear there are two particular pubs that do really great gigs, but the managers are quite stolid." Said Martin.
"Is the manager a man or a woman?"
"Well there's one that's a man and ones that's a woman." Said Martin, giving an uneasy smile, "Why?"
"I'm sure we can to some bribing." Said Zoe, giggling.
"W-what? You're asking me to seduce some lady?" Laughed Martin,
"You're good at it."
"Zoe I don't think this was part of the plan-"
"Sure it was! Just dress yourself up and you'll woo any woman." She smiled, winking at Martin, Martin bit his lip, trying to keep himself back from the temptation,
"You've gotta do it too." He said, raising an eyebrow,
"Sure. You've gotta help me, though." She replied.
"How?" Laughed Martin, looking over at her.
"How should I dress?" She asked,
"I.. I dunno?" He replied,
"Well..  what do you think suits me?"
"Evening?" He asked, "black dress, red lipstick."
Zoe smiled at him, "you got a type?"
"Just suits you." He justified, "you wanted my opinion."
Zoe gave another sad smile at him, not wanting to leave him,
"I'm gonna miss you so much." She whispered, putting her hand on top of his on the gear stick.
"Same." He replied, stroking her thumb slightly.
"Are we invited to the wedding?" Asked Ryan from the back,
"Yeah you'll be playing at it." Laughed Zoe, making Martin smile. "Martin, what was your first dance song?"
"Fields of Gold." He recalled,
"Awe cute."
Martin was biting the inside of his mouth to try and keep himself together.
This girl is pregnant with my child, I love her so much, we could get married, I could fly away with her and have a new life in America.. but instead I'm letting her go. I'm letting her fly away and raise my child thousands of miles away and find another husband while I will linger at home in the same job, watching the years go by.
"Is being a teacher not really depressing?" Asked Ryan, out of the blue.
Martin looked in the rear view mirror, taking a deep breath through his nose, "why do you ask?"
"Every year, you just have to keep starting over and over again."
"Yeah it really is quite relentless." Sighed Martin.
"How many classes have you seen from beginning to end?" Asked Zoë,
"Well you guys will be my third. It is really bloody depressing. They come in, eleven years old, tiny little things with a spark of potential and then they gradually grow older and better and then they're just as clever as me at music and they leave and you never see them ever again."
"Never again?!" Asked Zoë, shocked,
"I've gotten the odd text message from some of them telling me that they passed their exams and stuff, but not much else."
"That's pretty sad, are you guys gonna do that?" Asked Zoë, turning round and looking at them.
"Yeah, we don't like you two really." Joked Cloda,
"Oh thanks guys." Chuckled Martin.
"But, seriously, are you sure you wanna go back to Rustrike next year? It'll be like nothing ever happened." Asked Zoë to Martin,
"At least I'll get my early mornings back." Laughed Martin,
"He's secretly really sad to lose you." Said Zoe,
"We know." Said Ollie, patting Martin's shoulder from behind which made a tear fall from Martin's right eye, he quickly wiped it away. Time was hurting him.
"Do you wanna pull over somewhere?" Offered Zoë,
"Yeah I'm starving." Said Martin, indicating over to a supermarket at the side of the road.

Martin felt all kinds of emotions. His legs walked him around, it was as if he had no say in where he was going.
He bought himself a sandwich and a bottle of water. He watched as Zoë spoke to the cashier with guilt as she smiled, knowing that he wasn't the one who could make her smile.
Zoe walked over to Martin as he walked back towards the van. He felt her hand press against his back as she nudged her head into Martin's neck.
Martin didn't move, his face remained stolid as he opened the door to the van and sat up in the driver's seat.
"What are you gonna do after this trip?" Asked Ryan, looking over to Martin.
"Go home, and go back to work."  He replied, "what about you five?"
"More busking I guess?" Offered Ryan,
"I'm sorry we've been away a week and we've only done one gig." Laughed Martin, "we'll get one tonight, I promise."
They were interrupted by a shriek from Cloda.
Everyone turned around to see her at the back with her phone in one hand and the other covering her mouth.
"You alright?" Asked Martin, staring at her in confusion.
"We just got a retweet from Natasha Devangie!" She screamed: Natasha was a well known pop star, Cloda and Jemma's favourite.
"What?!" Yelled Ollie, running back to see her phone.
"I posted a couple videos of us playing up on twitter and she retweeted us! We've got two thousand followers!"
Martin looked over to Zoe with his mouth wide open, "w-what is this real?!"
"She direct messaged us too! Oh my god!" Squeaked Cloda, going bright red with excitement,
"What did she say?!" Asked Jemma and Lucy, crowding round her,
"Hi guys, I've listened to a couple of your songs and I absolutely love them- I- I'm going on tour around Europe and America.. I was- oh my god- I was wondering if you'd like to join me as a supporting act.." Cloda's eyes were watering, "if you've got a manager I'd love to get in contact with you guys.. she's left a number."
The seven of them sat looking at each other in faces of complete shock and excitement before everyone just started screaming.
Zoe reached over and hugged Martin, Cloda wrapped her arms around Ollie, Jemma, Ryan and Lucy joined in as well as the teachers, "oh my god, I can't believe this I actually can't!" Screamed Jemma,
Martin sat back down and watched the band scream and cry with happiness. He couldn't stop smiling, knowing that this was the beginning of something amazing for them. He hadn't felt this proud before, knowing that these five kids were going to have a future so much brighter than their pasts. So much brighter.