DAY/STORY 8

            Carrie looked at her watch impatiently.  8:45.  She was starting to think he had forgotten they were supposed to meet when all of a sudden she heard light jingling coming from the bell over the door of the café.  She turned her head to see her ex-husband Joel walk through the door brushing snow out of his sandy brown hair.  He spotted her and smiled and for a moment Carrie forgot that he was late or that they were divorced.  It was still pretty new after all.  The papers hadn’t been signed and finalized until just a few weeks ago.  They had finally come to an agreement on all of their property.  Now it was time to discuss custody of their 7-year-old daughter Alice.

            “I’m so sorry to keep you waiting, Carrie,” Joel said.

            As he approached Carrie went to stand up and give him a hug, but then thought better of it and stayed seated.  Even though they had been separated for months they still weren’t completely sure how they were supposed to greet each other anymore.

            “It’s okay.  The sitter said she can stay as long as we needed her to tonight,” Carrie reassured him as he sat down.  “Do you want some coffee?”

            “No, thanks.  I had about a gallon at work today.”

            “Oh, how is work going?  Do you still want to kill that guy from Operations?”

            “Who?  Randy?” Joel replied.  “No, he’s okay now.  He’s settled down since the new year.”  There is a long awkward pause.  “What about you?  How’s the fashion world?”

            “Oh, you know,” answered Carrie, “always changing.”  They both gave a laugh assuring anyone around them that they weren’t a pair of exes that couldn’t stand to be in the same room.

            “Well…I guess we should discuss Alice.”

            “Yes, definitely,” said Carrie before picking up her latte and taking a sip.              “I was thinking you could have her Sundays through Wednesdays and then I’ll keep her Thursdays through Saturday.”

            “And then maybe every six months or so we switch?  I’m sure you want to have some Saturday nights to yourself.”

            “Yes!  That sounds perfect,” Carrie nearly shouted and then took another sip of her latte.  “I guess that settles that.”

            “Yeah, that was fairly painless.  George and Wendy would be so proud of us,” said Joel referring to their lawyers who had watched them fight over a house and cars, washing machines, and furniture for what felt like a year now.

            “They wouldn’t even recognize us!”

            “Yeah, Wendy would be like, ‘You are being too easy.  What is it you are trying to get from my client?’”

            “Hey!  Wendy is just looking out for my well-being.”

            “Oh, boy is she,” Joel remarked sarcastically and playfully rolled his eyes.

            “Well, George isn’t any better.  George would say, ‘Um…I know I shouldn’t be putting in my two cents, but I’ve been a divorce lawyer for over 20 years and—-.”

            “But he has been a lawyer for more than 20 years!” Joel interrupted in his lawyer’s defense.

            “I know!” Carrie shouted back.  “He mentions it every time we meet with him.”

            They both start laughing uncontrollably.  When they have regained their composure Carrie takes the last sip from her mug.

            “Well, thank you, Carrie,” Joel said finally, “for making this part easy.”

            “Sure,” Carrie replied.  “I think the reason it is so easy is because it’s about Alice.  It’s not about you and me.”

            “Yeah, definitely.  We’ve always wanted what was best for her.” 

             Carrie nodded and for the first time in a long time they were silent.  Neither one  was yelling and they weren’t forcing themselves to laugh at each other’s jokes a little too hard in an attempt to lighten the mood.  They were just sitting across from each other in a café looking at the other and seeing not an enemy, but for the first time in many years seeing an ally, a friend.

            Carrie turned and pulled her purse and jacket off of the back of her chair and said, “I should get going.”

            “Of course,” Joel said, shaking his head back into the present moment.

            “I’ll tell Alice you’ll be by to pick her up on Sunday.  She’ll be thrilled.”

            Just as Carrie turned to leave Joel stood up and grabbed her shoulder.  He pulled her close to him and gave her a tight hug.  Instinctively she hugged him back.

            “It was good to see you,” he said.

            “You too, Joel,” Carrie replied.  “See you Sunday.”

            Reluctantly they let each other go from the embrace.

            “Yeah.  See you.”

            They gave a wave and then Joel watched as Carrie placed her used mug on the counter near the register and then head out into the falling snow he had come from.

The End