Free Life Over Love by Cheryl Seagraves

            The betrayal of her body’s reaction to being so close to him only added insult to injury and she tried to withdraw her hand, but Mike simply covered her hand with his own.  “Bri I never wanted this for us.”  He kissed her finger tips while still staring into her eyes.
             Brianna turned her face away, but hearing his pleading tone was hard to listen to.  Especially when everything that made her a woman was on fire with the need to be held again.
             She snatched back her hand, although she was wedged between him and the restroom door, she still managed to twist and squeeze past him out into the hallway. “Me neither Mike, but sometimes there’s things we can’t take back, things that can’t be fixed. I’ll talk to you after court.”
              She walked as calmly as she could on her weak knees and took her seat. Brianna’s heart started pounding from the moment Mike took his seat until she got the chance to utter the words “irretrievably broken” and the judge dismissed them from the court room.
            She could feel Mike following closely behind her as they walked out into the hall. Once in the corridor intending to clear the air between them, she turned around, misjudging how closely he’d been following her, and she almost stumbled into his arms.
    She steadie d herself and took a step back. “You look beautiful Brianna” He cleared his throat before going on “I guess living on your own suits you, I sure do miss the kids Bri, and how could you take ‘em from me like that? On my freaking birthday?” He laughed good naturedly as he said the word birthday, reaching over he gently touched her cheek before adding “You never do anything half way do you, mi hija?”  Hearing him call her the Spanish term of endearment from her youth made her sad, and she forced herself to remember this was the same guy that had once thrown a full tool box at her for sassing him.
              Once positive she could speak in a clear voice she said “Mike I only want what’s best for us all. You, the kids, and me. Maybe we can put all this behind us one day and be friends, and I want to thank you for agreeing so easily to the terms of the divorce.”  He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “I’d give you anything you want to be next to you again, I wanna make it easier for you to do whatever you want, Bri. Besides everything was pretty straight fair.  The only thing I hate is having to drop ‘em off and pick them up at the police station. But hey it is what it is right?  Thanks for not making the restraining order a permanent thing though. Maybe we both just needed time apart to get our crap together right?”
              Mike quietly looked in her in the eye before continuing “So it’s really over then, you and me just like that?”  She didn’t want to leave any room for doubt in his mind so she met his stare and never wavering she answered “Yes Mike, that’s what this is you’re free to be with someone else now. I’m sure there’s someone out there better for you who can make you happy.”
    She took a deep breath before continuing “Mike I’ve got to go, I need to pick up the kids from school, do you want to get the kids this weekend?”
     Mike continued walking beside her through the doors out onto the front steps of the court house.  “Of course I do Bri, I haven’t seen them in months. I’ve been going crazy without them, without you.”
              He grabbed her hand and easily pulled her close in an easy embrace, that served only to prove how intimate and familiar he once was with her body. Mike heard her breath quicken and felt her pulse racing beneath his fingertips.
              He kissed her cheek and just as quickly released her and skipped down from the court house steps. “I’ll see you Saturday