Go Between

Where We've Ended Up

Farah Silva leaned in so her face was mere inches from that of her barely teenaged daughter. Her voice was a hushed whisper, yet her tone was cold and harsh. "He's meeting you way over halfway, the least you could do was try and be polite."

"The least you could do was get back together with dad. Can't even bring yourself to divorce him, so obviously you still love him." Farah's daughter, Charlotte, shot back, crossing her arms.

Farah's face turned to a cold, stern look. Yet before she could respond to her daughter's insulting comment, Christopher returned, halting his slow jog when he reached the two women.

"They didn't have any popcorn, so I hope pretzels work." Chris stated as the group began to slowly stroll through the park.

Farah glanced at Charlotte expectantly, but after being met with silence she responded instead. "Pretzels are perfect" She smiled sweetly over at Chris.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, speeding her step up so she could separate herself from the group. "When can I go back to Dad's?"

Farah gave an apologetic look to Chris who returned it with one of understanding. Suddenly Farah's phone started to ring. She dug through her bag and finally pulled it out, glancing at the caller ID before looking back up at Chris. "I have to take this, I'll catch up with you two." She finished, nodding towards Charlotte, who had finally stopped, waiting up ahead for the two.

Farah answered the call, putting the phone to her ear. The voice of her estranged husband came through loud and clear: "I'll pick Char up at about 2 tomorrow if that works with you?"

"Yep" She replied, courtly.

"Sounds good."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence between the two before Farah finally broke it, not being able to bear another second of it; "Everything alright...?"

"Yeah, everything's fine." He replied.

"Well you could have texted me, there was no need for a phone call."

"Just... wanted to hear your voice." The man on the other end of the line finally admitted.

Farah sighed. "Saul-"

"I know. You need time. See you two tomorrow." And with that the call disconnected.

The woman pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes and zoning out for a split second before coming back to reality. She closed her phone, returning it to her bag and picked up a bit of a faster pace to catch up with the two that had disappeared from her sight, hoping to return and find her daughter not holding her new interest at gunpoint.

Meanwhile, Christopher and Charlotte were also having a bit of difficult conversation.

Chris had caught up to Charlotte and they had continued walking in silence for quite a while. Charlotte had stopped at a bin to toss her ice tea bottle away before again joining Chris, still not even muttering a word. After a long while Christopher finally spoke up needing to make something clear so that perhaps she'd start to trust him and they could maybe end up having a pleasant conversation. After all, he couldn't have a future with Farah if he couldn't even make it work with her daughter. "I'm not trying to replace your dad." Is what he finally decided on saying after debating how to approach the subject in his head.

"Good." She started, and he could tell this was going to take a sharp turn in a direction he did not intend for it to go. "Cause I'm not in the market for a step-father at the moment."

He had to admit for a 14 year-old, she was pretty quick witted. Either that or she had been saving that as an insult for some time now. But after knowing her for almost a month now he thought probably both were true. "Look, Charlotte. I just want us to be able to get along, think of me as a friend if that's what it takes."