Tried and Tested.
"Joel, I'm on a double yellow," Stephanie yelled, before even reaching her husband's office.
He was instantly panicked by this, given the enormity of what he was discussing with Ronnie. "Ron, I want you, but I don't want to never see my kids again over this," Joel told her, divided. He hoped she'd understand his desperation not to be caught out; she was a mother herself and a hostile separation from his wife wasn't exactly an ideal recipe for regular access to his children.
The memory of one of their more devious plots as teenagers came into Ronnie's mind. "You got a match or a lighter on you?" a hopeful Ronnie asked Joel. "Hold her up; say anything," she continued, addressing the more serious threat of the moment.
Realising that there was not time to be asking questions without being caught out, Joel obliged promptly. "Give me a second Steph, I'm just finishing off with a client. Why don't you go and move the car?" he suggested, pulling a box of matches out from the drawer in his desk and handing them to Ronnie.
Ronnie smiled at the progress that was being made with regard to her plan. She struck several matches in turn and was about to deposit them on her father's pile of cash when she was delayed by Joel bringing over a saucer from his table and placing the small mountain on there. "I don't think we want to be burning holes in my desk," he reasoned; knowing that neither would have had any problem with this had the desk in question not belonged to Joel. It was a small matter of them having created their own entertainment in a Science lesson once.
"You know Joel you really do my head right in sometimes!" yelled a raging Stephanie, miraculously still waiting outside as she had been told. "If there was a space that didn't have double yellows on it, don't you think I would've parked there to start with?"
Joel turned to assess the pile of cash and was in a way comforted to witness smoke fast rising from it. "I don't think you really want me to answer that one Steph, given that I'm not the one that lost my licence for illegal parking!" he fought back.
Stephanie proceeded to kick the door in frustration upon hearing this. "Don't start on that; I wouldn't have if I hadn't been under that probationary period."
A second later the fire alarm sounded. Joel couldn't have been happier that it had occurred at that moment, as Stephanie wouldn't be running away with the thought that she had had the last say yet again. "Steph, you better go and move the car; you might be blocking the access for emergency vehicles," he informed her, trying his best not to laugh.
**
As the pair looked on at the pile of cash which had now turned to nothing more than ash, Ronnie remembered something. "Your wife lost her licence under the probationary period? I thought that only started in about 1995."
"It did; Jeremy Clarkson she certainly isn't; she only passed her test the first time four years ago. Supervising her as a learner wasn't fun, let me tell you. That crash helmet you got would've come in handy," Joel laughed, remembering.
Ronnie was pleased that Joel did remember the helmet after all. "Do you remember the first time we set off a fire alarm?" she suddenly enquired.
Grinning, Joel responded quietly. "How could I forget?"
"I'm still not exactly sure how Miss Stevens got out of that one without getting done for it; considering the alarm was set off from inside her cupboard."
"That was the only lesson we ever did turn up early for; if you count waiting in the cupboard for half of break to set off the fire alarm during lesson as turning up to the lesson," Joel recalled.
Ronnie laughed genuinely for perhaps the first time since their daughter had been tragically taken from them. "I seem to recall that was about the only Sex Education lesson we showed up for full stop; we always did prefer our own devices where that was concerned."
"It sure was the most memorable lesson once we had the building to ourselves," grinned Joel in agreement.
Ronnie momentarily glanced down at the table. "You can say that again; the floor in that cupboard wasn't exactly comfortable," she added, making her way to door she'd used earlier.
"So I'll actually see you tonight this time?" Ronnie clarified as she prepared to leave the office.
Joel kissed Ronnie at length. "Too right; that man can go hang if he thinks he's stopping us again," he assured her, referencing her father's previous behaviour.