I don't own or profit from the characters.  It's just plain, old fashioned fictional fun.  It bugs me that Jack seems so alone all the time. I want him to have a soul mate as he gets older.

The Ides of March

Jack McCoy was busy in his office tackling the never ending flow of  paperwork that accompanied his job. "How ironic that I have an assistant, a paralegal and two secretaries, and I still can't keep ahead of the paperwork piles," he thought.  Of course, his current assistant, Serena, wasn't the sharpest.  She was nice to look at, but he found small comfort with getting the job done.    It was almost 7.  He'd been there since 8 that morning and was tired, hungry and restless about something that he couldn't quite explain.  Janine, Jack's 3pm to 11 pm secretary, had dropped by a phone message  from his ex-wife.  They had gotten divorced about 16 years ago, rather exactly 16 years ago.  It was finalized on the Ides of March.1988. Since then, he wasn't sure if it was a good omen or a bad omen.  Closing the file and capping his pen, Jack reached for the phone and dialed the number he knew from heart.    He expected her to share some news about their daughter, a recent medical school graduate who was serving her internship with the Indian Health Service in South Dakota.  Kate surprised him by asking him over to dinner.  They actually lived in the same building on the West side, but very rarely saw each other.  Jack usually left for work shortly after 7 in the morning, while Kate, an emergency room physician, worked from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.  When they were still happily married, they had bought a second apartment in their building with plans to tear down the common wall and expand into one large apartment.   Jack cut and installed a door between the two small units, but lacking the time or money to do the renovation, the apartment served as office space and storage for them.   Later, it served as a retreat for Jack after arguments, then his new home once they divorced.  The doorway remained, albeit with a lock, to allow their daughter access to either parent.  It was a little weird, but they had been neighbors before, a long time ago in Chicago, on Damon Avenue, in the working class Irish neighborhood then known as Seven Tombs.

Now as Jack tapped on the common door, he wondered how it all fell apart.  Apparently, that was what was on Kate's mind also.  They perched on counter stools and ate Caesar salad, garlic chicken and baby new potatoes.  After dumping the dishes in the dishwasher, they sank onto her sofa with glasses of wine in hand.  "Jack," Kate began, "I've been wondering how we went from such an intense, passionate beginning to a amicable co-existence in divorce. I just don't know where it went wrong.  It bugs me a lot, especially since any new man in my life gets measured against you."  Jack swirled his wine and slowly sucked in his breath before answering, "Most of my relationship have been a mess too.  When your first love has been your best love both emotionally and physically, it is hard for anyone to measure up.  I know that I work too much, but that doesn't mean I don't love my family.  I just couldn't seem to find a good balance between the two."

Kate and Jack sat quietly on the sofa for an hour, sharing their thoughts on a love gone wrong.  After they were talked out, Jack caressed Kate's chin and kissed her tenderly.  "Sadly, I have to be in court tomorrow.  Would you care to have dinner with me on Wednesday?"  "Is that a date McCoy?" Kate asked studying him intensely.  "You betcha," He answered, "and wear something green.  Sometimes its good to be Irish!"