[It was fair to say that Darryn had avoided coming back. There was no sense in chancing seeing Gabe again, no sense in putting that strained risk on his marriage and life. Avoidance wasn't generally something he liked to do in his life, but sometimes it was what was needed.
[The problem was that coffee shop was one of the ones his children really loved. Where they liked to meet. Where they liked to make Darryn talk English and giggle at him. Where Cole's girlfriend worked. He could only avoid it so many times and although those times might span weeks or months in Earth time - they weren't about to span a lifetime.
[So eventually Darryn had to tell himself that it wasn't worth avoiding. That it wouldn't happen again. That it was a chance meeting and one arranged meeting, and the chances of him ever seeing Gabe again were slim to nil. It had been a fluke, an extremely minor lapse in his otherwise good judgement. It wouldn't happen again.
[To prove it to himself, he returned to the coffee shop. Drank a mocha, smiled at the girls behind the counter and said no to his usual cake order. There was no Gabe.
[But to further prove it, to further let himself know that is was so small a chance that had passed by, he left the cafe and walked down the route he had taken with Gabe that first time. Not seeing him the entire way, proving his point. It had been a once in a lifetime meeting. He was in no danger of seeing Gabe again.
[He got to the street where he had said goodbye to Gabe that first time, made that second meeting arrangement. People moved around anyway. Who was to even say Gabe still lived on this street? No. Darryn was sure it was over and done with. A closed chapter. Badly closed, but still finished.]
Third Meeting
[The problem was that coffee shop was one of the ones his children really loved. Where they liked to meet. Where they liked to make Darryn talk English and giggle at him. Where Cole's girlfriend worked. He could only avoid it so many times and although those times might span weeks or months in Earth time - they weren't about to span a lifetime.
[So eventually Darryn had to tell himself that it wasn't worth avoiding. That it wouldn't happen again. That it was a chance meeting and one arranged meeting, and the chances of him ever seeing Gabe again were slim to nil. It had been a fluke, an extremely minor lapse in his otherwise good judgement. It wouldn't happen again.
[To prove it to himself, he returned to the coffee shop. Drank a mocha, smiled at the girls behind the counter and said no to his usual cake order. There was no Gabe.
[But to further prove it, to further let himself know that is was so small a chance that had passed by, he left the cafe and walked down the route he had taken with Gabe that first time. Not seeing him the entire way, proving his point. It had been a once in a lifetime meeting. He was in no danger of seeing Gabe again.
[He got to the street where he had said goodbye to Gabe that first time, made that second meeting arrangement. People moved around anyway. Who was to even say Gabe still lived on this street? No. Darryn was sure it was over and done with. A closed chapter. Badly closed, but still finished.]