Standing by an open front door in mid-October when the wind is starting to pick up and the rain is coming down nicely, I look at my watch and sigh when I realise that not only have I been stood here for ten minutes, waiting, but we're also going to be very late for the reservation I had made and the film that we were supposed to be seeing later on.
"Will you hurry up, for crying out loud?" I shout into the building. From the deepest depths, I hear a shout of 'Hold on a second!' but that's what she had told me ten minutes ago. Seriously, it does not take that long for someone to get ready. "We're going to be late. I am not taking the blame for this. If you get hangry, that's your own fault. Hurry up!"
I am inpatient man. I hate having to wait around, especially for a woman to get ready. To put it into perspective, I took a total of thirteen minutes to shower and get dressed and I look great. If I can look this good in that little time, anyone can.
"Alright, old man, I'm ready," I hear Martha say as she rampages down the hallway, coat slung over her shoulders and an unimpressed smirk on her face. Immediately, she pushes past me and heads to my waiting car, jumping in and closing the door. Irritated, I make sure to turn off all the lights and lock her door so she doesn't get robbed and then head to the car. When I'm comfortably sitting in the driver's seat, Martha looks at me. "I still don't get why you're insisting that we go out. Why can't you take Charlotte out instead? I could look after Sera. I'm sure Sam would-"
"No," I immediately cut her off at the mention of Samuel Courtenay coming over. Starting the car, I drive us onto the main roads of London and start to follow the sat nav directions to Sebon, a restaurant I knew Martha liked. "Why is it so bad that I want to spend time with you, huh? When was the last time you and I hung out, just the two of us? Shoot me for taking an interest in my daughter."
Since my conversation with Mick last week, I realised that I was very much out of the loop when it came to Martha. I mean, my best mate knew more about her than I did and for me, that didn't seem right. The whole point of Martha living in London and living at the other end of the garden was so that I could be part of her life, to make up for the years that I had missed out on. Since her eighteenth birthday, though, I feel as if we've drifted apart. I know that I have a four-week-old baby, too, but Martha is also my baby, even if she's grown up. As a parent, we will always see our kids as those tiny bundles of joy that we brought home from the hospital; nothing will ever change the fact that Martha is my bindi.
There were things in her life that I knew very little about. I hadn't known she and Will had broken up because Martha didn't tell me. Even when I asked her on Monday how he was, she simply shrugged her shoulders and finished eating the cake Lottie had made earlier that day. I wanted to ask her about her job and how that was going, but more than that, I wanted to suss out the growing relationship between her and Sam.
Things there made me uncomfortable. Martha was falling for him, I could see that, but I didn't know if it was just lust or if it's more than that. Did she love him? Does he love her? Do they love each other? Is she only his employee? Is he only her employer? Are they only colleagues? Is she just a friend? Does he see her as more than that? Are they in a relationship?
So many questions. Finally, tonight was an opportunity to ask Martha outright what the situation is.
Lottie had been the one to suggest that I take Martha out, stating that she wanted a night in alone with Sera. Lottie often liked to kick me out of the house for a few hours for some girl time; last week, she booted me out to go to Boy's Night at Elias' while she, Martha and Sera had a movie and pampering night. Well, Sera was there but I don't think they painted her nails and braided her hair. She was a casual observer, especially as she now seemed fixated on stuff like people's faces.
Tonight, though, Martha was mine. It had taken a lot of persuasion because she didn't want to go out with me. It wasn't until I told her that I was thinking of taking her to Sebon that she started to change her tune. Suddenly, going out for food with her father wasn't so much of a chore anymore. I should feel honoured, I think. Still, I booked the table and then I did some research about what films were showing, picking one that I thought she would like.
"Why couldn't you wait until the weekend to do this?" Martha asked, her voice sounding thoroughly put out. It was grating on me and I found my blood starting to boil at how ungrateful she was being.
I suck in a deep breath and try to calm myself before I answer. "Because, on weekends, you like to go out with Keira and Logan and whoever else it is you hang out with these days. Talking of which, who do you hang out with these days? Still mates with that Aussie girl?"
"No, Jade and I don't hang out anymore," Martha answered. She doesn't explain. "Look, no offence, Dad but we could have stayed home to have that chat."
Her words slipped from her lips as I pulled up outside the restaurant. Turning the ignition off, I turned to her and told her not to move. Jumping out of the car, I entered Sebon and was met by a petite blonde as soon as I walked through the door. I apologised, firstly, for being late and then went on to explain that I would no longer need the reservation. I paid a hefty amount of money to cover the cost of an empty table and then wished the woman a good evening.
When I got back into the car, Martha watched as I turned the key and pulled back into the London traffic. "Uh, Dad, are we not going there, then?" Martha asked. I didn't bother answering her. Instead, I navigated the roads and started to look out the window for a takeaway place that we could go to instead. When I found one, I parked as close as possible and then got out of the car, waiting for Martha to do the same. "Where even are we?"
"We're going there," I point at a random Japanese restaurant just down the road. It was a chain restaurant that did take out, not that I cared. My strides were long and while I knew I should slow my pace for Martha to keep up, I didn't. "Keep up, Martha."
In the time it took for us to order, for the chefs to make up our food, and for us to pay and leave, thirty minutes had passed in which neither Martha nor I made an effort to speak to each other. The drive back to the house was similar. The silence in the car was deafening but I didn't care; Martha had said that we could have stayed home to have our chat, so that's what I was going to do.
She tried to run away, of course. When I parked in front of the main house, Martha got out of the car and walked through the house towards the patio door that would lead her back to her mews house. I shouted at her to stop, turn around and go to the kitchen. Martha stared at me like she was about to defy my orders but from the glare I gave her, she knew better than to go against my wishes right now. Doing as she had been told, Martha went down to the kitchen.
"Why are you back?" I heard Lottie's voice come from behind me. I jumped a little from fright which made her giggle but she attempted to conceal it. I didn't buy her mild coughing fit. "I thought you were eating and then going to the cinema. I know it's been a while since I had a dinner and movie date but I'm sure it's supposed to last longer than-"
Her words were cut off by Sera's cries. Lottie sighed wearily and trudged back up the stairs, monitor in hand, to check on the baby.
Taking a deep breath, I head for the kitchen, wondering if Martha was going to be there. To my amazement, she was. Sat at the table, she had unpacked the food and had plates out for us. She watched me cautiously as I neared her and narrowed her eyes quizzically when I started to pour my food onto the plate in front of me.
"Why didn't we go to Sebon?" She asked, her lips morphing into a pout.
"Because you were being a brat and said that we could have had this chat at home," I informed her. I chewed on a mouthful of food and watched Martha for a reaction. It came in the form of wide eyes and a slack jaw, her mouth agape. "Like I said earlier, Martha, I just wanted to hang out with you tonight when clearly you had better things to do. Tell me, what would you have been doing tonight if I hadn't dragged you out?"
Martha shrugged. "I don't know. Watched a movie and eat food?"
"Well, you could have done that with me," I grumbled.
The silence lingered between us. Martha ate slowly, never once looking across at me. Meanwhile, I tried to stare her down so that she would finally open up to me. I knew it was a long shot but it was worth a shot.
"I don't hang out with Jade now because she was only my friend through Will," Martha starts to say. She sets her fork down on the plate and pushes it away before looking up at me. "Will and I broke up because... well, I mean... I told him that I thought our relationship was going too fast and I wanted to take a step back and for us to try dating without having sex. He didn't like what I said and started to act like a prick. So I broke up with him. Happy now?"
"Happy? Bindi, why would I be happy that you were treated like that?" I frown. It took all my strength to not freak out about what she was saying because, really, I wanted to hunt that little shit down and break his fucking neck. Seeing Martha look upset, tears forming in her eyes, I would gladly have killed Will Gregory and served time for it, too. "Martha, you deserve the best, alright, not some twatting man-child who clearly doesn't appreciate a good thing when it comes along. He was lucky to have had you but you're luckier for ditching him."
"Thanks, Dad," my daughter smiles at me. "I don't think dating is for me right now. Or having sex isn't for me right now. Do you think I could become a Nun?"
I shake my head. "Don't think so, kid. So, uh, what's going on between you and Sam?"
Once the question was out there, Martha clamped her mouth shut and twisted her lips so that she couldn't speak. She stared at me, ensuring her face was neutral. You could see the cogs of her mind turning as she tried to contrive an answer, deliberately choosing words that would get her out of this situation. Eventually, her posture relaxed.
"Sam is my boss and we're friends, that's all," Martha says. Unconsciously, she lifted her left hand to her nose, a telltale sign that she was lying to me. "We hang out sometimes but there is nothing going on. We're platonic."
I nod but secretly think that there's an odd smell in the air. Bullshit, maybe.
Hello, fabulous readers. So, I think someone suggested that we have a Martha-Isaac chapter because it had been a while... here it is!
1. Was Martha being a brat?
2. How mean was Isaac to Martha? Was it called for?
3. Does anyone else smell bullshit in the air?
Any requests for a future update? Is there anything or anyone you want to see?
As for the Danphie thing from Sunday, I had an EPIC idea in the car yesterday when I was driving to work and it's now changed EVERYTHING for Pitter Patter, the Danphie short that I'll publish on November 5th! I am SO BEYOND excited!
Sarah xx