when you met me

contract

Contract

 Jim ran to stay in pace with Dud. “So you heard about the transfers, I see?” Dud hadn’t talked to Jim much after the Mara incident, the more time he spent with Mara, the less he spent with Jim and Jack. Jim had bombarded him with questions the day after the arrest, and Dud still felt awkward.

“Yeah,” Dud admitted, “Putting up a new team or something. Actual investigating.” Jim nodded along to Dud’s words. “Jack got into the one on the East side.” He grinned. Dud came to a halt. He smiled. If Jack could do it, he could too, right?

Dax jumped on Mara from behind, and she screamed. He laughed and put an arm around her. “Dax! You frightened the life out of me.” She breathed out a laugh. “Sorry, sorry,” Dax smiled, “But you won’t believe what Cole just said.” Mara raised an eyebrow, and Dax swivelled himself to put his hands on her shoulders and stand in front of her. “We’ve got a contract.” He said seriously, without a smile, waiting for a reaction.

And boy, did Mara give a reaction. It sunk in, and she screamed for the second time, so loud that people stopped to look. She started to jump u and down with such enthusiasm that it hurt the soles of her feet. She laughed and jumped into Dax’s arms. When she let go, both of them grinning ear to ear, Dax explained. “Yeah, someone picked us up. Says we should cover in certain places, then debut our single in a couple weeks. He likes the song, says it’ll do great in the indie market.”

Dud hung around the bridge the next day. “Maybe next time, eh? You’re good, kid. But you’re still a kid.” The Officer had told him. Jack was still a kid, but he got the job. Dud simply wasn’t good enough, and it hurt. He hung his head low as he waited for Mara, staring at the depths of the grey rushing river.

Two hands gripped his slumped shoulders, and he jolted back to reality. “Hey!” Mara said excitedly, she was giddy. Dud smiled at her smile, no matter how sad he was. “So, we got a contract.” Her overwhelming emotion glowed through her smile, and Dud took a moment to process the information. “That’s great!” He exclaimed, deciding to keep his bad news to himself.

Mara looked into Dud’s eyes, thinking she knew what he was thinking, and Dud stared back, as he always did. As he always had, been transfixed by her. Mara had never before taken notice of how green Dud’s eyes were before. She stepped forward, and before Dud had time to react, she placed her hands on his shoulders and kissed him.

It was soft and light and short, and yet the kiss sent electricity through his body. No one could replace what it felt like to kiss Mara. “I was just… Excited, sorry.” Mara shook her head and laughed as she stepped back from Dud. “No, yeah. It’s all good.” Dud said nervously, his mouth feeling numb.

“Sorry you didn’t get in man, I didn’t either.” Jim said as they walked to the bar that night. Dud nodded and remained quiet, which was the usual, really. But he wasn’t just being quiet for the sake of it, he couldn’t seem to shake the taste of Mara. “Of course, I didn’t actually try out.” Jim snorted.

They met up with Jack at the bar, who was trying to conceal his pride and giddiness. “Congrats, Jack.” Jim high-fived his friend, and Dud did the same. “Hey, sorry you didn’t make it, Ash. You were robbed if you ask me.” He acknowledged, handing him a beer. Dud nodded, “Thanks, mate.”

“Where’ve you been? We should have been practicing all day!” Cole was standing in Mara’s and Beth’s flat when Mara walked through the door. “Sorry, I was out.” Mara said, distracted.

“Obviously.” Cole rolled his eyes.

“I’ll be right back.” Mara said, waving to Dax and walking into her bedroom. Beth was there, plaiting her hair. “Honestly, if Cole wasn’t so fit I wouldn’t tolerate those boys.” She said without even looking at Mara. She let go of her plait. “I’m heading out, later babes.” She smiled and clicked out of the flat in her heels, waving flirtatiously to Cole. Mara was thinking about getting her advice, but realized it would probably not be fitting. Mara doubted the type of boys Beth hung around with were anything like Dud.

Mara picked up her base guitar gingerly, and took a breath. “Let’s get started, then.” She smiled.