Max sighed as he stood outside the apartment complex that his wife and child were living in. He stared at the address she had texted and then stared back up at the balcony trying to count which one she would be in. He wandered up to the buttons, pressed her number.
"Hello?" She asked.
"Um it's me" Max said rubbing the back of his neck.
The door buzzed open and he grabbed his suitcase and wandered through the hallway to the elevator. He pressed level 5 and went up. This had an all too familiar feel. As he exited the elevator he counted the numbers eventually coming to her apartment. He knocked. She answered.
"Hello" she said smiling.
"Hi" he said softly staring down at her.
He wanted to grab her, embrace her in a hug, kiss her on those soft lips and tell her how much he loved her.
He held back.
"Come in" she said standing to the side.
He wandered through and placed his suitcase next to the door. He placed his keys and wallet on the hall table. She locked the door behind her before showing him down to the living area.
"This is nice" Max said smiling.
She smiled and hummed nodding looking around.
"Ced is just taking a nap but he should be up any minute" she said staring at a watch that Max didn't know.
"Nice watch" he said not being able to help himself.
"Thanks" Saffron said smiling "I bought it when I went home" she said moving the watch up her arm.
Max smiled.
"Um so I suppose I should give you the tour" she said smiling "this is the living and dining area" she said pointing around the space they were standing in. She took him through to the kitchen, her bedroom, Ceds room and the study/playroom/guest bedroom. Max was impressed.
"So you've started work?" Max asked.
"Yeah been there two weeks now" she said "it's really great. Everyone's lovely and my team is really good" she said.
"What's your position?" Max asked.
"Senior solicitor" She said nodding.
"That's amazing" Max said. He wanted to kiss her so badly "just what you always wanted at your old firm".
She nodded "yeah it's nice" she said smiling.
She was about to say something when she was interrupted by the baby monitor. Ced was crying out. Max offered to grab him but she declined. He was in a sleep regression, sleep training wasn't going as Saffron was expecting.
She brought him out and pointed to Max. Ced cuddled in tighter to saffron. She assured Max that he was always like this when he was just waking up from a sleep. He would be better after about half an hour.
She got Max a drink and they sat on the ground with Ceds toys. Max started to play with the cars and Ced eventually joined in. Max smiled.
"Saw your race yesterday night" Saffron said cleaning up around the boys.
"Oh?" Max asked "really?"
"Yeah. How'd you get so shit?" She asked smirking.
Max smiled chuckling to himself "don't know" he said "must have been having an off day". He wasn't lying with this one.
***
Max took the opportunity to bathe Ced whilst Saffron cooked dinner. Nothing too fancy just a simple pasta that would soon become Max's favourite thing to eat. She poured two glasses of wine and they sat and ate in a somewhat comfortable silence.
After finishing their meals, two more glasses of wine were poured and more silence and staring at each other and then at their surroundings was had.
Saffron cleared her throat "so Carlos called me a couple of days ago" she said fiddling with the wine glass in front of her.
Max's eyes widened and he leant forward.
"He said he heard about our argument" she said quietly "and that you had said that I knew about everything" saffron said.
Max nodded.
"We have agreed to have lunch next week. Just a one off. He said he wants to get everything on the table and apologise for what he did" Saffron explained.
Max tried to remain calm "do you think this is a good idea? You didn't want to maybe consult me first about this?" Max asked knowing he was poking at her emotions.
Saffron cleared her throat and tried to remain calm knowing Cedric was in bed asleep. "I didn't think I needed your permission to clear the air" she said not looking at Max.
"I'm your husband. He is your ex boyfriend. You really didn't think I wouldn't have a problem with this?" Max asked.
"I knew you would kick up about it" Saffron said.
"I think I'm being valid here" Max said trying not to be loud.
"Well you weren't cheated on for most of your relationship so I don't think you really get a say in my healing process" Saffron said sipping her wine.
Max stayed silent.
"Well you're not bringing Ced that's for sure" Max said pouting.
"Lainey is taking him for the morning" saffron said.
"What about me?" Max asked.
"I didn't think you would want to do it knowing I was with my ex. Plus I thought you'd be lurking in a tree watching us from afar anyway" Saffron said.
"You really think I would be that low" Max said frowning.
Saffron shrugged "maybe" she said.
The pair continued bickering before opting to sit in silence.
