Chapter 1

I woke to the alarm, stretched, and plodded to the bathroom.

After performing the basic ablutions, I donned a pair of trunks, a bathrobe and slippers, threw a towel over my shoulder and popped the room key in my robe's pocket, and left my room for the hotel's pool for my morning swim.

After working hard enough on my laps to wake myself up properly, I showered off and returned to my room to dress for the day ahead.

The day that would end our marriage.

A bittersweet ending to a fun and happy time that, sadly, had run its course.

I shook myself as I realized I'd been standing in front of my open closet lost in thought.

I picked a suit that was sombre yet not too sombre, dressed, and called my friend and lawyer Keith to confirm our appointment with the judge in chambers to submit our settlement and finalize the divorce.

I glanced at my ringing phone as I sat on the hallway bench, waiting for everything to happen.

"Ah! It's my mother. Err, have we got time?"

My attorney stopped reviewing his notes and looked at his watch.

"Oh, yeah – we're early, so go ahead and chat."

"Thanks."

I answered the call and greeted her. "Hey, mom; how are you doing?"

"Oh good, yeah."

"Yeah, I'll be out there soon, anyways – I can help with that."

"What? Well, you know what today is, so you probably know how I'm feeling."

"Well, there's the rub; I don't know yet – I'm sitting here with Keith waiting for the meeting to start. It was for eleven o'clock – you probably thought ten?"

"Yeah, no problem, she's not here yet, so I can chat with you for a bit."

"No, you know very well that we're still on good terms; I've told you and Carla's told you that we came to the decision together and calmly and rationally."

"No, mother, she's NOT 'a parasitic harpy that's stolen a decade of your son's life' and you KNOW that; you still talk with her all the time, even after I moved out two weeks ago. You're probably on better terms with her than I am, and YES that's saying a lot!"

I sighed and rested my forehead in my free hand.

"Yes, I still love her, and she loves me ... but ... it's ... well, it's just we worked so hard at making the restaurant a success that we kind of let our romance fade away; now that it's well-established and gotten to the point that I don't even need to be in the kitchen every night, or her in the office every day, we just ... well, one day we were sitting on the couch, and looked at each other, almost at a loss for what to do."

"Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't go into all this detail ... and that Carla didn't either."

"Yeah, we can talk about this more when I get out there."

"Yes, I'm coming out to stay with you for a while; it's been too long since we saw you – what was it, two Christmases ago? So yeah ... and part of it is, well, everything here reminds me of her – the museums we visited, the parks, the theatres – even the subway. And if we need be apart, I need to get out of the city to get clear of her."

"No, not because ... no, it's not that the memories make me angry or anything. Maybe a little sad, because I miss her already, but it's that they make me want to get back together with her, and that'd break this agreement with her, and put us right back in the tense situation we were in when we decided to end it."

"Yes, I know – it's sad, but look at it like this; we still love each other, and care for each other, and we can still work together fine, and we've been able to ... to ... oh, what's the word?"

"Amicably," my attorney supplied as he sat next to me.

"Yeah, we're ending the marriage amicably and without anger and spitefulness and ill-will. How rare is that nowadays?"

"Why? Well, the big thing is-"

A shadow passed in front of me, and my soon to be ex-wife and her attorney arrived.

"Oh! Carla's here, mom. I'll call you back after we're done."

I cupped my hand over the phone and looked apologetically at everyone. "Do you wanna say hi?"

Carla grinned and shook her head.

Something occurred to me. "Did you tell here the reason behind all this? The root of it all?"

She shook her head and winced a little. "No, I ... well, I felt you-"

"Oh, okay. No problem." I got back on the phone. "Mom? Still there? Yeah ... it's time to get this done, I hate to cut things off like this but the sooner we start, the sooner we finish. Mom? Mom – I promise I'll call you back as soon as we're done! I swear. Okay, love you mom – this won't take long. I'll call you right back. Okay, bye."

I put my phone away, shifted in my seat, and looked at everyone. "So, shall we get things rolling, so's I can end her suspense all the sooner?" I asked with a chuckle, which everyone matched, and we made our way to the judge's chambers.

"Okay, and then there's the car – a 2008 Cadillac STS? I understand Mr. Baker will take sole custody of that?"

Carla fielded the judge's question. "Yes. I'm staying in the city and we've hardly touched it in all these years; since Nate's moving out west, he'd get more use out of it than I would."

I and both lawyers nodded in agreement.

"So then there's ownership of the corporation – Bistro Holdings #92438; the submitters are to keep equal shares?"

"Yes," I responded.

Judge Tomkins looked at me sardonically. "So you're going to maintain a business relationship, despite ending your personal relationship?"

Carla spoke up at this. "Yes. Your honor, the business was basically the foundation of our relationship, and even if the romance that grew out of it is ... well ... gone, it's no cause to disturb a stable and profitable business."

He regarded the woman before him. "And you're sure staying in contact through these means won't cause distress for either party? Mr. Baker IS leaving the city to get away from you – how do I know you won't use business matters to... 'get at him'?"

If Carla took any offense to Judge Tomkins' implications, she didn't show it. "On the contrary, the company's main holding – the bistro we jointly created – is successful to the point of self-sufficiency. We won't really need to interact much at all. We just feel since we equally put our effort into making the business, it's only fair that we reap the benefits just as equally."

I looked at Carla as she spoke. Her 'cold as ice' persona she usually donned as her tailored suits was melting, she was leaning toward the judge, baring herself with what she said.

Oh, how I still loved her. From her bob cut of jet black hair, to her soft and warm eyes, to that pert little nose that would wriggle like a rabbit's when I tickled her to her soft cheeks that always felt so perfect to peck affectionate kisses on, to-

Everyone was looking at me, seeming to expect a reply. I cleared my throat and blinked a few times.

"I asked if you agree, sir," the judge repeated politely.

"Well. I ... yes, she has a point. If I were to cut myself off completely in every respect, it would be 'cutting the nose off to spite the face.' We've already enjoyed the ... um, fiscal benefits of our labors on the restaurant, and it is a success. I can live elsewhere and still do what little I need to keep the business ticking over smoothly.

"It's ... it's like if we had a child that was full grown at this time," I posed, suddenly feeling uneasy with my analogy. I noticed Carla glanced away. "Um, if we did divorce, there's no immediate reason that either of us would have to end our relationship with our adult offspring, right?"

It made us both uncomfortable, but Carla point's stood; just because I owned part of it didn't mean I had to keep myself directly involved with it. My cooking staff were ticking over like a well-oiled machine, and worked just fine without needing my help. And giving up my fair share of the restaurant's dividends would be more of an unfairness than our joint ownership meaning we would need to keep some level of contact going.

And it wasn't like our marriage had completely soured; we still liked one another. A lot. Indeed the whole reason for our separation was more for how each of us was uncomfortable at the thought of forcing the other person to do something they didn't want. It was just this one thing was ... how did Keith phrase it? "an irreconcilable difference".