Missing Martha

151

They arrived at school just after 8am. Martin walked in first and greeted Lottie at reception before Zoë joined him.
"Morning love birds!" Hooted the middle-aged receptionist.
"Oh bugger off!" Chuckled Martin, signing himself in and laughing while Zoe joined them.
"Lovely dress, Lottie!" Admired Zoe, signing herself in at the desk and trying to brush off Lottie's previous remark.
"That you very much, Zoe; it's M&S!"
Zoe hadn't the slightest interest in purchasing the flowery frilly dress Lottie had worn but exchanged a polite smile all the same.
"See you two later!" Zoë called as Martin made his way to his office and Zoe walked in the opposite direction towards the music department.

Something about this day just seemed wrong, and Zoe couldn't put her finger on what.
Was it the slightly gloomy sky? The likeliness of rain which had avoided her for the last few weeks? Perhaps it was the emptiness of the music department which a few weeks ago would have been pounding and glittered with the music of Ollie, Cloda, Jemma, Lucy and Ryan. Now all that remained was silence.

Zoe began to settle down and did some marking before the first years entered the classroom.
"Good morning!" She greeted, standing up and smiling at them as they all stood up and responded,
"Good morning Miss Flynn!"
She gave a faint giggle before Martin entered the room and leant against the back wall.
"Do you need to speak to me or are you just gonna stand there for the whole lesson?" Asked Zoë, looking over at her husband who smirked at her.
"I'm happy just to stay here." Said Martin, alerting the class of first years.
"Bit intimidating- have you nothing else you have to do?" She asked, sitting on her desk and folding her legs.
"Nope!" He Replied,
"Well then, I've got loads of marking to do, why don't you get started?" She Asked him, indicating the pile of books on her desk.
"Are you serious?" He laughed, walking over to her.
"Yes, come on! I don't care if you're the Principle, you're still a music teacher." She Ordered, watching her class giggle as Martin slowly slumped towards her, making eye contact which made her laugh while he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm your boss, remember." He joked.
Zoe raised her eyebrows, "you're never going to be my boss."
"Well I kinda am." He replied, sitting down at her desk.
"Technically, I am Head of Music. And you're still a music teacher... so... I am kinda your boss." She repelled, winking at him.
"Shut up." He chuckled, opening up one of the books and beginning to mark it.
Zoe stood up from her desk in front of the class, "right, what were we doing last time? Ternary and Binary form?"
"Jeez, They're only first year." Interjected Martin,
"You can shut up." She Added, again adding to the chuckle from the children. "Now, guys, show Mr McCafferson that you're clever enough to know this stuff- what's the pattern of Ternary form?"
"ABA." Muffled the class,
"And give me an example of a song in ternary form."
"Twinkle twinkle little star."
"Yep."
"Mozart's Rondo in C Major."
Both Martin and Zoe turned immediately, "what the he-"

The door knocked and Lottie entered,
"Good morning, Lottie!" Greeted Zoe, echoed by the first years.
"Good morning Miss Flynn, is your boyfriend here?" Asked Lottie making the class hoot at Zoe while she blushed.
"Lottie, I will have to deny that as I do not have a boyfriend. However if you wish to speak to my husband, yes, he's here."
This caused a massive uproar throughout the whole class and Lottie.
Zoe turned to Martin whose mouth had dropped and he raised his hands in shock.
"Sorry I can't keep this secret anymore!" She laughed, covering her face.
Martin stood up and laughed with her, putting a hand on her shoulder while her face flushed,
"Oh my god I can't believe I said that." She gasped.
Lottie stood absolutely still and pointed at Martin,
"You two are married?!" She gasped,
"Yes, hence the rings and the fact that I'm her 'husband'." He responded, "so- what was that you wanted to speak to me about?"

Once Martin and Lottie had left and the class had calmed down, Zoe sat back down on her desk and took a gulp of water before sighing, "right... and what about Binary form?"

Martin was brought around to reception,
"I knew it." Insisted Lottie,
"Everyone knew it." He replied,
"How long?"
"We've known each other from college." He justified, slightly ignoring the question.
"Right there's a phone call for you in your office." Said Lottie, "it seemed important, they called three times."
"Oh, right thanks." He replied, walking up the stairs into his office.
He sat down on his desk, looking at his wedding ring and sighing before calling back the number.
"Hello, this is Martin McCafferson- sorry I missed your calls earlier, how can I help?"
"Hi sir, it's Lucy." Was the response, her voice was shallow and subtle,
"H-hey Luce..." Martin began, his stomach twisting with dread.
"I- I- though you deserved to know that.. about ten minutes ago Ryan passed away."
Martin pressed his lips together while his eyes began to glitter,
"He wasn't in any p-pain, and he was sleeping.."
Martin took a deep breath, "thanks for letting me know." He told her, "a-are you okay?"
"Yeah.. yeah.. it's over now.. he's at peace."
A tear streamed down Martin's cheek as he pressed his fist against his mouth,
"A-are you at the hospital?" He asked,
"Yeah, up in the ward." She Replied,
"Okay, I'll be over in half an hour." He told her.
"Th-thanks so much, sir. For everything." Lucy said.
Martin shook his head while tears meandered down his face, "thank you, Lucy. You made him so happy."

When the call ended Martin ran his hands down his face and took out his mobile. Texting Zoë.
Please come to my office immediately, I need to speak to you.
Martin opened up his balcony door and walked up onto the roof, opening a packet of cigarettes and placing one between his lips.
His mind spiralled out of control with memories of Ryan as a young first year, then of him on the trip. He recalled the scars located all over his torso from his abusive birth parents in Poland, the incredibly heart breaking story of how Ryan had been raped and attacked before he stole money and escaped to Britain.
He remembered that sincere affection that Ryan gave to Lucy when her mother died, and the genuine friendship that he and Ollie had obtained.
Ryan had been the one to pull up the handbrake when George had attacked Zoë in the taxi after Natasha's concert...
"Mind if I have a drag?" Asked Zoë, protruding from the steps up to the rooftop, her countenance was one of dread.
Martin took the cigarette from his lips, "you sure?" He asked, feeling the tears slide over his mouth.
"Whatever you're about to tell me, I deduce, is going to require some form of distraction."
he gave her the rest of the cigarette, biting his lips together.
"Ryan died." He told her, looking to the ground, covering his mouth with his shaking hands while he burst into tears again.
Zoe dropped the cigarette on the ground and within seconds had him tangled in her arms, vowing to never let him go.