The Bench// a Joe and Dianne Story

1

"Oh my god, sorry," Joe heard, just after a small, fast moving body collided with him on a busy street causing the coffee in his hand to wobble dangerously. He blinked and looked down, seeing a woman with short brown hair picking up something she had dropped- her phone- Joe realised. She picked it up and wiped it against her leg with a groan.

"Don't worry," he held his hand out for her, "here."

The petite woman took his hand and Joe's stomach flip-flopped churning the bagel he had inhaled on his way out of the door this morning; the woman's hand felt all too familiar. As she reached his eye level, Joe had to stop a gasp that was trying to escape his lips, "Dianne?"

"Yes? How do you know my n-" she had just looked up at him from the phone in her hand and all words flew from her head at the sight of those piercing eyes.

"I don't believe it."

"Joe," she dropped his hand, "oh my, bloody hell."

There was a moment or two of what could only be described as an awkwardly unpleasant silence, as they both took the person in front of them in, in all of their glory.

"Is your phone okay?" He asked awkwardly trying to break the tension and the silence, as she fixed her bag strap onto her shoulder from the crook of her elbow where it had fallen to and righted the Hamley's bag, collecting it into the same hand.

"No," she flashed him the cracked screen, then shrugged "still works though. My only issue is when Luke sees this it's going to confirm something he's probably known for years; I'm clumsy. I just got it fixed last week, bloody Nora."

Joe gave an easy chuckle, she seemed to be just the same. His heart gave a little quiver and all of the memories he had tried to push away since that day began trickling back; unwanted. He tried to ignore them, just as he had done for years. But they pushed through and began to play on loops in his head as he looked down at the familiar woman who looked the same yet inexplicably different.

"Anyway, you look like you need to be somewhere," Dianne nodded to the two coffee cups in the cardboard tray he was holding, whilst rubbing her shoulder, "thanks for slowing me down before I hit the deck."

Joe nodded and began turning the way he was walking when a thought that couldn't be ignored popped into his head. "No," he called out quickly, turning to see she had started walking away, her other hand on her shoulder, "younger us would be so mad if we didn't find out about the other. Are you based around here?"

"I have a flat in Kensington," Dianne explained.

"Bloody hell," Joe couldn't help exclaiming, Kensington was known for some of the richest people.

"Well, Luke and I have a flat in Kensington. You?"

"Battersea. Anyway, give us your number and we can set something up. I'd love to hear how it all went after-"

Dianne nodded and the next time she was walking away she had Joe's number back in her phone for the first time in 10 years. All the way back to the Kensington flat, she had a bubble in her stomach that felt familiar.

"Hello?"

"Shh," her husband said, meeting her at the front door, gently kissing her, "Oliver's just gone down. Hi baby."

"Oh," she pouted, staying in the cuddle, "but I wanted to give him a smush, Lukey."

"Well, he's sleeping," Luke slipped the bags out of her hand and the one off her shoulder. He slid his hands around her waist and then her shoulders taking her jacket off gently, hanging it up next to his, as she slipped her shoes off and became an inch or two shorter so her eyes were level with his chest. She tried to slip back into the hug but Luke had other ideas, "how's my baby," he put his hand on her stomach and rubbed it gently.