Free The Reunion by R J Gould

returned from work one evening the previous week,
she had stated her target was a divorce by March so they could get married in
early summer. The following day he’d received a letter from her solicitor
suggesting that the first step, the financial settlement, could be tackled
immediately. David decided it was reasonable to put this as a short term
objective since the process was to begin in the near future, even if not
completed within the first month.
    Next he turned his attention to Bridget. He really had to
concentrate on her – she should be right at the top of the list. He’d call her
over the next day or so to ask if she’d like to meet up. Who could predict what
would happen, she might well say no? On the other hand it might mark the start
of a wonderful relationship. A no was more likely, David reckoned. Or even
worse, the dreaded ‘I do like you but I just want us to be friends’.
    The Maccabees had ended and it was approaching ten
o’clock. He considered this a good time to stop, with the first part of his
action plan complete and the evening news programme about to start.
    Short term
    1. Inform
mother about separation
    2. Take
Jabulani to Harrods for tea
    3. Start
process to obtain an amicable divorce from Jane
    4. Call
Bridget to arrange a meet up
    Self-mockery surfaced as David read over what he had
written. It had taken an hour to put down merely twenty-six words. In terms of
priority, number four should have come first, but he’d listed it last. Why? Cowardice
probably, fear of rejection. It was too late to call Bridget that evening and
anyway, he wanted time to plan what to say. But it wasn’t too late to make a
call to a long established night owl. He dialled.
    “Hello mother.”
    “Who is it?”
    That was her standard infuriating reply. She would have
recognised his voice and it could only be her single son who was addressing her
as mother. “It’s me, David.” He knew what would follow.
    “Oh, David,” she said in a tone implying surprise. “I was
wondering when I’d hear from you. I suppose you’re too busy to call an old
lady. Mind you, I’m not complaining. How are you?”
    He ignored her implicit accusation of neglect. “Everything’s
fine, thanks. And you?”
    “I suppose I shouldn’t make a fuss. My bones are creaking
a bit, par for the course as soon as it gets cold.”
    “I’d like to visit on Saturday if it’s convenient.”
    “Of course it’s convenient. It’s not as if I have a busy
social life. Who’s coming with you?”
    “Just me. Rachel’s got a rehearsal for Fiddler on the
Roof and Sam’s playing football.” He hoped she wouldn’t pick up on the lack of
explanation for Jane’s non-attendance. “But that’s good because I need to talk
to you about a couple of things.”
    “I hardly ever get to see your children now they’re grown
up. No time for their old grandmother, too many more important things to do.”
    “Mother, you saw them about five weeks’ ago and they
phoned you last week.”
    “I suppose I should be grateful for small mercies. Well,
I’ll see you when I see you,” she muttered in the dour Brummie accent David had
tried hard to lose.

The Reunion – R J Gould
Chapter 9
He set off early on Saturday, a pleasant morning with a
golden autumn sun struggling to make the M1 a little less unattractive than
usual. Almost the whole trip from home to his mother’s house in the Birmingham
suburb of Edgbaston was along two motorways, the M1 and the M6. Always a
stressful drive what with the high volume of traffic whatever time of day or
night he travelled. But today he didn’t care how slow the journey was because
he was happy, more than happy, ecstatic, following last night’s conversation
with Bridget. Being stuck in traffic would give him time to daydream about what
might be. And less time to spend with his mother, too.
    He’d been nervous dialling, but right from her greeting
Bridget made the conversation easy. She had joked about events