Jackson had just ordered a beer at Joe's when he looked across the room and saw Maggie sitting alone in the corner with a distant look. He paid for his drink and moved over to her.
"Hey Maggie, you okay?"...
"Maggie!"
"Oh hi, Jackson. I'm sorry I was a little distracted," she says, laughing self-consciously.
"Mind if I join you?"
She takes some time to respond, as if she still getting her bearings.
"Sure," she moves her purse and untouched glass of what looked like tequila to create some space for him. "Although I must warn you, I'm not the best company. By the way, I didn't get to thank you for the other night. For bringing over my mother's medical records. It did help me sort through some things. And about what I said to you after that surgery, I'm really…"
Jackson, "Maggie it's fine. You were in a bad place, I can't hold that against you."
"That's kind of you, Jackson. Still, I'm very sorry and I need to you to know that I don't blame you for any of it. Really! You did the very best you could. So thank you."
"You're welcome. So how are you handling being back?"
She puffs out a gust of air, "I'm taking it one day at a time but it still hits me at the oddest times you know. It's really good that I'm back at work. It helps to keep busy."
You know, I was going through her things and I found her bucket list. I was so angry at her for my parents' divorce but now I'm just glad she at least had that time to do something for herself before…" Maggie inhales deeply, "Anyway, I'm glad she got that time to tick some things off the list."
"Is that it?" Jackson asks, pointing to the folded piece of paper she was playing with. "May I have a look?"
He unfolds the list once she's passed it over. "Interesting list. I could take some hints from here myself."
Maggie laughs, "Yeah, I'm thinking of picking it up myself. She did tell me to be more spontaneous."
Jackson just nods his head, looks up and calls the waiter over, "What's your most expensive bottle of…Maggie what are you drinking?"
Maggie, "What are you doing?"
Jackson, "Helping you get started on this list & right now the most doable item on the list is 'splurge on an expensive bottle of wine'. But since you're not drinking wine, we're going to improvise. So what say you?"
Maggie laughing, "I'm on call tomorrow."
Jackson, "That's why we have banana-bags. Besides you don't have to drink the whole thing. And whatever happened to living a little?"
Maggie seems undecided for a second then she remembers her mother's words, "You never look back and wish you could have been more uptight."
"Okay, let's do this!"