Zack was supposed
to have picked up his daughter Mia ten minutes ago and he knew she would be
unhappy with him. At eight years old she
was a pistol and definitely took after his ex-wife. She was a No Mercy kind of girl.
He and his wife had
been divorced for five years. He had
known the marriage was a mistake from the beginning. They got married because Marti was
pregnant. The pregnancy wasn’t planned
and they discussed the available options but before he realized it Marti was
planning their wedding and they were off to Lake Tahoe.
By the time Mia
was two they were separated and divorced when she was three. Since then he saw Mia whenever he was in
town. As a Sports Agent he traveled
extensively and he had just arrived back into town that afternoon. The plane hadn’t taken off on time. He wasn’t sure which he was looking forward
to the least; facing his ex-wife’s wrath because of his lateness or his
daughter’s pouting face. At least he didn’t have to deal with Marti for very
long. He hoped that once Mia heard his
plans the pout would disappear.
Tonight they were
going to see the new Ice Age movie, then out for pizza. When they got to the
movie he saw there was a line to purchase tickets. He cursed himself for not
thinking of doing it on line. Just then
Mia let out a squeal and ran ahead of him.
He caught up to her in line while she was chattering away to a little
girl.
“Daddy, this is
Toni. We go to school together.”
“Hello, Toni. Happy to meet you.”
A hand reached out
to him as Toni’s mother introduced herself.
“I see you didn’t
order tickets in advance either”
“Yeah”, he
replied, “I just got back into town and it never crossed my mind”
Mia asked if she
could go over and play in the amusement area.
He told her it would be okay and he would come get her when the line
started moving.
When the line moved they called the kids; the kids wanted to know if they could sit
together. They agreed. When it was over, Zack asked Lorna if she and
Toni would like to join him and Mia for pizza.
The kids were jumping up and down so there was no way Lorna could turn
down his offer.
They had a great
time and when the evening was over Zack and Lorna exchanged phone numbers so set up a play
date for the kids for Sunday. Zack actually wanted to ask Lorna to dinner some
night without the kids. He figured he
would wait to see how Sunday went before sticking his toe in that particular
pond.
Sunday turned out
to be a disaster for the kids. As kids,
and especially girls wont to do, they had a dispute over some ridiculous thing
and wouldn’t talk to each other. The day
couldn’t end soon enough for Zack.
He was surprised
when he got a call on Wednesday from Lorna asking him if he would like to
attend a Gallery Opening with her on Sunday afternoon. He said he would love to but he had Mia until
then. Lorna understood and said perhaps
another time.
He could have
kicked himself for not suggesting dinner after he dropped off Mia. He liked Lorna and would enjoy seeing her
again. He called her back and said he
would be dropping off Mia about 5:30 and asked if she wanted to meet him
downtown at Mercurio’s.
Zack was twenty
minutes late getting to Mercurio’s.
Lorna was waiting and although she was pleasant she let him know she
didn’t like to be kept waiting. As she chastised him she told him that good
manners dictated you call if you are going to be late.
“Wow, I haven’t
been scolded like that since I was a little boy. Are you going to spank me too? Zack asked.
She blushed. He apologized for being late but didn’t
offer any excuses. During the course of the evening he noticed a couple of
characteristics that reminded him of his ex-wife. He certainly didn’t want to make that mistake
again. She definitely seemed to be a
take charge person and when he mentioned it to her she said she was probably
just still in mommy mode. He told her he
appreciated independence in a woman but after all the testosterone he dealt
with in his work he really appreciated the softer sides of the opposite sex.
When he walked her
to the car he told her he was going out of town for a couple of weeks and would
be in touch when he returned. He didn’t
set an exact date but he did intend to call her. He would give her the benefit
of the doubt and if she still seemed a little caustic he wouldn’t make any
future plans.
She called him mid
week and left a message. They played
telephone tag for a couple of days but never made contact. When he got back in town it was his weekend
for Mia so he didn’t make any plans with Lorna.
While he and Mia were out on Saturday they ran into Lorna. She was annoyed that he hadn’t contacted
her. It really bothered him that she
would act out in front of Mia. He
determined he would not call her again.
She constantly
called him over the next several weeks.
He never once returned her messages.
One day he came home from a trip and she was sitting on his
doorstep.
“What are you
doing here”? he asked.
“You haven’t
answered any of my phone calls” she said.
He told her he
hadn’t because he didn’t think they would be a good fit. She wanted to know why and he explained that
she came on a little too strong for him.
He told her he didn’t like how she had confronted him in front of his
daughter among other things. Lorna
wanted to know what other things. He
told her to just leave it and he thought it would be better if they just moved
on. She kept pushing the issue and Zack
was losing his patience.
“This is an
example of why I don’t want to continue dating you”.
“I would like some
answers because I’ve run into this problem in other relationships. I am trying to learn what I am doing wrong.”
“You’re not
necessarily doing anything wrong. I just
think you and I are not a good fit. It
doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be a good fit for someone else”.
He explained to
her that in his marriage, Marti and he both had dominant personalities and it
didn’t work out too well. He determined
any future relationships would have to be different. He wanted a woman who was softer.
“What do you mean
by softer” she asked.
“Someone who isn’t
as aggressive as you seem to be. You
attack, scold, badger – these are not the qualities I associate with soft. I want to take the reins in a relationship.”
She started to
tear up and Zack wasn’t sure if these were crocodile tears or the real
thing. She got herself under control and
asked him if he would give her another chance.
He told her he
would think about it and give her a call in a day or two. He got up and led her to the door. He had no
intention of changing his mind but he would call her and let her know his
decision.
The next day she
sent him a cookie bouquet with a card thanking him for being honest and
thinking about giving them a chance. His
resolve weakened. He called to thank her for the cookies and set up a dinner
date for the next weekend.
They actually had
a great time. Lorna was like a different
person. He wasn’t sure if this was an
act but he was willing to give them a chance. When they got to her door he told
her he liked this version of Lorna much better.
She told him she had spent a lot of time thinking about what he had said
and decided he was right. When her
marriage ended she was bitter and her husband hasn’t helped since then. He rarely kept his promises to Toni and had
not sent any child support payments in over a year. Being a single mom meant she had to be in
charge and she realized she didn’t always shed the coat when she wasn’t being a
mommy. Lorna told him it would be nice
to have someone else in charge for a change if she could only remember to let
go.
Zack was surprised
when he got home from his trip to find he had a package waiting for him. It was from Lorna. He opened it and laughed
at what he found inside. It was an old
wooden ruler along with a note which read
Dear
Zack,
I
found this in an old box of my dad’s things.
It has been well used
and
I can attest to its ability in curbing unwanted behavior.
. You might want to keep it handy.
Lorna
