Nina was outside gardening when she saw Carl's car drive up. Immediately she stood up, dusted herself off, and walked to her driveway to meet him. What does he want now? she wondered.
He stepped out of the car and passed her a rather sad grin. "Hi, Nina."
"What is it?" Let's just get this over with.
He frowned at her unfriendliness. "I wanted to pick up some things--"
"All of your things are in that box by the door." She started to walk off.
"Nina . . . I . . . I got the divorce papers today."
"Well, I hope you signed them. Can you just go, Carl?" she snapped.
"Wait." He jogged up to her side. "What do you want from me now? I . . . I just want to make you happy. I want to make Sam happy. What do you want me to do?"
"What do I want you to do?" she repeated. "I want you to leave me alone, Carl! Because I don't know what I want, and it's killing me! I stayed up all night last night wondering if it would have been better if we'd never met or if I had known sooner or if I'd never found out at all! I have no idea what I want!"
He was starting to become angry. "Nina, you think you don't know what you want? I've been torn for years about what I want. For me there was always two choices: be normal, hide it, and live up to my expectations, or break your heart and be who I really am. But I don't know if being with him is even gonna make me happy. I don't know, I just . . . don't know." He threw his hands down in defeat and confusion.
She pondered this, finally seeing how hard life for Carl had always been. She'd never thought to put herself in his shoes; she had been too angry and hurt. As a little girl she had always believed she would never divorce, that she would find one person and stay with them forever. When things went wrong, it was natural for her to lash out without thinking. "I'm sorry, Carl. I . . . I have a lot to be grateful for. You . . . you gave me Sam and . . . you did make me happy." She thought of years before, when the basketball star had whisked her off of her feet and wooed her. She also thought of their wedding day, and the day her son was born--the happiest days of her life.
He looked at her and nodded. "I love you Nina, but not like. . . ."
"I know." She pointed to the doorstep. "All your stuff is in that box."
"Thanks."
Carl put the cardboard box in his trunk and drove off.
--Fin--
[A/N: I just wanted to try this out. Sorry if it's bad, but they left us hanging about Nina and Carl, so I thought I'd fill in the empty spaces. Read my other fics, please, and review. --Elle]