A Shoulder to Cry On
Taking the tissues heâd offered, Claire did her best to mop up her face, at least so the makeup wasnât running anymore, and blew her nose once. Tonight was going to be a sad music and ice cream night, once she left the concert. The trick was that she had to survive first, and that seemed like it was becoming unlikely. Especially since she andâŠand her ex-husband had agreed to remain friends so the kids would always have that. If she so much as sat two seats away from him, the kids might notice and that would ruin everything. The perfect ex-relationship sheâd spent years building, the easy way they did handoffs and agreed on who took the kids which weekend, all of it would be ruined.
So she had to bring it together. For Sara and Zachary. That was enough to get her to wipe her eyes again, taking another tissue to wipe her eyes one more time. âSorry,â she told Nat, actually turning her attention back to him again. Heâd waited so patiently, the man deserved a medal of some kind. âItâsâyou know, itâs dumb, and itâs not important, and I donât even know why Iâm crying.â The words were another lie and, as if her body was punishing her for it, tears welled up for a third time in only a few minutes.
âIâm sorry,â she repeated, this time the words muffled by a sob. âI donât w-want you to think Iâm dumb.â Squeezing the tissue in her hands, Claire did her best to smile at Nat. âI mean, Iâm doing such a good job seeming normal, right?â Joking, even while crying, wasnât abnormal for her. She did it all the time, maybe too often. âBut I saw T-Tommy flirting with that trampy Tiffany and I justâno.â She stopped herself, shaking her head. âI shouldnât blame her. But he was flirting with her andâŠand I knew he was dating again but he never di-did it in front of me andâŠâ She choked again, covering her eyes in case the stupid tears did come again.
Why people said anything that had upset them was dumb was beyond Nat. If something was problem enough to make you cry, it could hardly be unimportant. Some things might be more upsetting than others, more serious, but that didnât mean whatever was bothering you at this time was âdumbâ. If his children were upset he would always ask why, heâd want to help, and heâd tell them it was ok - so why would he act like an adultâs emotions were less important? He didnât explain this to her right now though, but waited. In Natâs experience, sometimes keeping quiet was the best way - if he kept asking her what the problem was, sheâd keep apologising. If he was quiet it was bound to spill out.Â
Breakups were not really his forte. He had dated before Marina, but heâd never loved anyone before her - there had never been anyone seriously, anyone he really cared about. So heâd never had to deal with facing seeing somebody you had once loved with somebody new - or still did love? He wasnât sure where Claire was in her feelings for Tommy. He barely knew her after all, he was only able to figure out Tommy was an ex from the context.Â
He wasnât sure what advice to give. But he rubbed her back gently and listened. He had no doubt it was hard to see - but then, you could hardly set rules, could you? He presumed you couldnât set rules that stopped an ex-partner flirting with someone else. Certainly, if you could heâd have set up a no-flirting zone in his vicinity. So unfrotunately, he didnât think it was a problem that could be fixed exactly.Â
âWell...it is quite insensitive for him to do that in front of youâ he agreed. âI mean...how long ago did you guys break up?â He was presuming, although she hadnât said, that Tommy would be the twins father - he was here after all. Although Nat supposed Tommy could be a father of other children she had been involved with. More important right now was the fact she was feeling upset, then exactly how the two had been involved.Â















