going on one of your first 'official' assignments and getting hot from being out in the sun shooting....so you walk next door to a diner to get a drink of water - you know, to stave off that womanly glow. and you go through line and decide that maybe a bite of mac and cheese would be nice since it's homemade and all that. and you sit down and wonder to yourself, 'mmmmm, i wonder if there are napkins at that counter.' and you look around this guy blocking you, smack dab into the face of your ex-husband. yeah, him. the one that ran away with a ballet dancer.
well, not so much as ran away but....i'm going to stick with that because it was like 16 years ago and it's all water under the bridge really.
and you lock eyes and probably both wonder - 'is he/she going to acknowledge me' and then you both look away. he continues to talk to the blocker and i open my cell to call a lifeline so i don't have to stare at him. and you think, 'is ten minutes long enough to show i don't care but not long enough to have a total panic attack because i don't look amazing?' nah, probably not...but that is all i could take.
and you realize...going back home to a small town....it is really a small town. and after you tell at least three to four female friends what happened and they all agree it that i handled it well and they would have done the same thing - you laugh at yourself. and you thank god that your sister reminded you that your root needed retouching last night and you did what she told you. and you laugh at his steel gray head of hair....but you curse his ability to stay so very slim.
and you think, well - that's out of the way now. totally weird, right?
Closure is a good thing. No one who behaves so horribly deserves a hello.
ReplyDeleteI felt as if I was in the room, phew, he should have moved town at least.
Wow. Very well handled. Also a moment where you can look back and see how much you have grown and how far you have come (first official assignment!?!?! Amazing!).
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness; u did handle that excellently! Well done! P.S. How was the mac and cheese?
ReplyDeleteyou know me I like the photo you included with this post and "the life line" ...glad it was OK...weird though I agree
ReplyDeleteLove this photo and I think you handled your encounter "like a lady"...
ReplyDeleteOkay, first, congrats on one of your very first assignments ... very exciting and very cool. As for the rest? Seems like you handled it very nicely, in an understated way.
ReplyDeleteWow! I am SO not ready to run into my ex husband. I guess its a good thing that he lives 1000 miles away. But more importantly, what's this official assignment you were talking about? That sounds exciting! Do tell....
ReplyDeleteoh char...
ReplyDeleteAWKWARD !
but I think you handled it like a pro...here's hoping there aren't any more chance encounters in that small town..
and whoa, what were shooting ?
Ugh, I'm so sorry you had to go through that, but it sounds like you handled it quite well. Really, what can you do in those situations?
ReplyDeleteWell said. I wouldn't have been able to resist the urge to say something. So my hats off to you. And your first assignment. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteoh, char. even though this must have been such a tough thing, your ability to write about it has got to be an amazing release. you have written so well here. i don't know him, and for that matter, i've never met you. but i do know that he made one big mistake. you are a gem.
ReplyDeletethank you for sharing this.
That's what i call an OMG moment. I think you handled it great,.. and let's hope he was thinking "hmmm.... I goofed!"
ReplyDeleteI think you shoulda kicked him in the junk and said "Grand Plie THAT, Bitch!" and then spit on him.
ReplyDeleteNot really, I'm a lover not a fighter.
Geez! How awkward! Small towns suck in that way.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I go home I cross my fingers that I don't run into someone I would rather not see... especially not an ex!
You are due for sainthood.
...Celine
P.S. I LOVE the photo of the vines! It is so perfect it looks like it was painted that way.
ReplyDelete...Celine
Oh sweetie, that's so uncomfortable. I only bumped into my ex once (on a day where I couldn't have looked worse) while he was on a date with his future wife. I'm glad that only happened once, although we did pretend to be friendly.
ReplyDeleteI have to say I like Kurt's reply, though.
Hopefully you won't have to encounter him again anytime soon.
I ran into an ex once when I was 4 or 5 months pregnant (and still looked just fat) and was about 40 pounds heavier than he'd ever seen me. And he was with his very pretty doctor fiance. Sigh...
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you handled your run in beautifully (and your sister deserves an extra hug, too).
Tell us about the assignment?
AKWARD! I avoid my ex-husbands hometown by a 20 mile range. That must have been hard to just sit there and let it all unfold. Thank God for life lines! That was truly a friend emergency.
ReplyDeleteOh Char, I do love how you describe these things. I can just picture the whole event in my mind. And of course, you handled it marvelously. I'm sure he's thought about it more than a few times over the last 24 hours.
ReplyDeleteBut how did the assignment go?
It really is a small world, isn't it? Sometimes a little too small. Glad you made it through that awkward moment and lived to tell about it.
ReplyDelete:)
I have to see my ex at family functions since we have 4 children together. It has been 10 years since my divorce. In the beginning it would almost ruin the event for me because he was going to be there. Sometime this past year I realized it doesn't bother me anymore. In fact I told him recently that I like his wife....better than I like him. He laughed.
ReplyDeleteYour words bring the scene to life. The horror. And humor. And awkward small town truth of a moment such as this... I'd say you handled it with dignity.
ReplyDeleteoh i've missed some drama while i've been away. glad this awkward encounter turned out alright.
ReplyDeleteLOVE the photo!
Love the photo accompanying this post.
ReplyDeleteTotally awkward moment handled with grace.
First assignment?!!! This is great!
Holy crap! I was sitting here with my jaw dropped to the floor when I read that first line! I think you handled it beautifully!
ReplyDeleteYou know what occured to me after reading this?! How you could have an x husband. I suppose you could but now I am over the top curious as to how old you are, lol. I mean in my head you are 20 somthing. But then I see the pic of you sister and she has much older kids and I wonder...I suppose you could be a really young aunt and an even younger divorce`, ha ha ha.
ReplyDeleteNot that it matters AT ALL it just reminded me that I don't know the ins and outs of your life, what you look like, etc and wish we could actually sit face to face and have coffee...and you could of course share with me all the horrid details of an X who runs off with ballet dancers, GAH! The nerve!!!
Sigh...wouldnt that be nice though. It's so hard to do that over the internet.
Love ya babe,and oh you totally did the right thing by ignoring his sorry ass.
a.
I'm kind of with Kurt. I'd offer that up for the ballet dancer, too.
ReplyDeleteOk. Not really. Actually, I think you handled it very well. I also think that the fact that he didn't speak and looked away is telling. Guilty, guilty conscious.
Oh, one more thing. Ok, two. Congratulations on your assignment. And, I really, really love this image.
ReplyDelete