Distant Shores

"Of course. "

"Maybe we could meet for dinner afterward? If you have plans, I completely understand. I know its short notice. "

"Id love to. "

Kim actually smiled again. "Great. Ill see you there. "

Elizabeth hung around for a while longer, watching tourists mill through the store. Finally, she couldnt take it anymore.

The last thing she saw as she left the gallery was the wall filled with her work.

Jack stood at his office window, staring out at the beautiful spring day.

This ought to be the best day of his life. Twenty-four hours ago, theyd offered him the best job in broadcasting: NFL Sunday.

Hed been dreaming of a moment like this for years, maybe his whole life, and yet, now that it was here, he felt curiously numb.

The door to his office cracked open. "There you are," Warren said. "I just heard the news about your photo shoot. People magazine, huh? Pretty hot stuff. "

"Ill probably be the oldest guy in the issue. "

Warren frowned. "Thats it. Theres something wrong with you. Lets go. "

Jack grabbed his coat and followed Warren out of the building. By tacit consent, they went straight to the pub on the corner and headed for the back booth.

"Double bourbon on the rocks," Warren said when the barmaid appeared.

She looked at Jack.

"Club soda with lime. "

"Now I know somethings wrong," Warren said. "A club soda?"

"Ive been drinking pretty hard lately. It blurs the lines. "

"Isnt that the point?"

"I used to think so. Now Im not so sure. " He paused, then said, "Fox just offered me NFL Sunday. "

Warren sat back. "Jesus, Jack. Most guys would give their left nut for that job, and here you are, slurping club soda and practically crying. What gives?"

Jack glanced to the left. It wasnt his way to talk about shit like this, but these silences--and the new loneliness--were killing him. And if there was anyone who ought to understand marital problems, it was the thrice-married Warren. "We told the kids about the separation. "

"Ouch. Thats the reason Ive never had kids. Howd they take it?"

"Badly. They cried and screamed and stomped around. Then they went back to school. Ive been getting the silent treatment ever since. "

"Itll pass. Theyll come to accept their new family after a while. Trust me. "

There it was, the source of his sleepless nights. New family. "What if I cant accept it, either?"

"What do you mean?"

"I miss Birdie. " There, hed said it.

"You made a bad trade, Jacko, but youre not the first guy to do it. You thought the heat of all this was real, but at the end of the day, all that matters is finding a woman who loves the real you. " He looked at Jack. "One wholl be there for you in the bad times. And that, my friend, was Birdie. You never should have let her go. "

"She left me. "