Escape

He bounced out of the drugstore on West 74th Street, the sounds of Journey blaring through his earphones. What an awesome day in the city! Sunny with a breeze, and enough optimism surging down the street to win over even the most cynical of souls. But Derek wasn't cynical; he was all sunny-side-up and glass-half-full these days. Because he'd already survived the worst of life and couldn't help but be hopeful about his collective tomorrow.

He paused on the corner opposite a blinking orange hand... on another day he might have rushed through the intersection, pissing off cab drivers as he reached the curb amidst the sounds of their horns blasting angrily. But today he had all the time in the world, and there wasn't any storm inside of him to try and escape. Fishing his cell phone from his hip pocket, he scrolled through his contacts list, looking for someone to share with him in his upbeat mood.

"Derek?" The voice was unmistakable.

He hesitated before raising his eyes to meet hers. "Julie, hi." Of all the people to run into!

"I, uh, saw you and just thought I'd --"

"Oh no, I'm glad you did," he hastily recovered, without thinking.

"Okay. So... how've you been?" She looked regretful already, probably wishing she'd pretended not to see him.

"Great, great, I've been great." Idiot.

"Good, that's really good," she tilted her head to the right, and the familiar mannerism caused the old feelings to rush over him.

"How --" he began, but something on her face stopped him.

"Listen, Derek, this is awkward, I know, it's just that..." she trailed off, and averted her eyes for the first time since she'd said his name. He felt claustrophobic from the sheer rawness of the moment; so he did what he'd become an expert at doing since their marriage ended in an attorney's office on West 93rd last March. He escaped.

"I ran into Peter the other day."

"Oh?" Did she sound relieved?

"Yeah, he asked about you and, you know... he and Emma are doing real well." They hadn't talked about Emma, actually, only about the Yankees and work. Always about work.

"Good, that's good to hear." He knew he was almost out of the woods now.

"Well it was great running into you, but I should get going..."

"Yeah, me too - have somewhere to be."

"Right, sure."

She made eye contact with him once more, and he didn't have time to deflect the thought that their children might have had her piercing blue eyes.

"So... take care, Julie. I mean, you know, really... take care of yourself."

"You too, Derek." And she turned to walk uptown on Amsterdam.

"See ya!" He called after her, a little too heartily.

He turned back, facing south again, and rushed through the intersection with the orange hand blinking rapidly above his head.