Meet the Ex 

No matter how amicable a split is, there is always some awkwardness when it comes to meeting your current love interest's ex. I had seen Drama Geek's ex-wife once, when she unexpectedly showed up to the cafe where we had our second date. She hid her presence until he was on his way to the restroom and never came to our table or spoke to me. So it wasn't like we met. And the purpose of our meeting wasn't obvious to any observer. We had not yet reached the point of physical affection or even of intimate body language.

This week was a different story. I was making dinner at Drama Geek's house. Its convenient location about a half-mile from my office makes it a natural stopping point on my way home each day. Just as I'm setting the table, I hear a brief knock, the sound of the screen door opening and a woman's voice call out, "Hello! I tried calling but..."

Her voice trailed off as she walked into the kitchen to find me in the midst of a very domestic role. With impeccable timing, Drama Geek turned the corner and greeted her with surprise. She muttered again that she tried calling and handed him a box she'd been carrying. As he took it into another room, she turned to me and introduced herself. I returned the gesture and shook her hand, making small talk until Drama Geek came back into the room. I tried very hard not to eavesdrop as I went about setting the table and covering the food so it didn't get cold. My natural instinct was to invite her to join us, but this wasn't my house and that wasn't my place.

I noticed her voice drop as she tried to broach the sensitive topic of her pregnancy. Unable to keep a straight face at this point, I made myself scarce and bolted to the office.

Backstory: She told him she wanted a divorce because she didn't want kids and he did. Now she's pregnant by the man she shacked up with right after he left, a man who was her subordinate at work. Everyone at the office thinks they were having an affair the whole time. Drama Geeks says that doesn't matter either way. I'm inclined to agree with him, but it's still funny.

As she mentions the pregnancy and he congratulates her, she seems on the verge of tears as she apologizes to him. She's shocked he knows; he tells her he's known all along. The town isn't big enough to keep news that big a secret -- especially when it involves people as prominent as the two of them. He asks her about her wedding plans. She's shocked again -- she didn't know he knew about her summer wedding.

She leaves after apologizing to him for running me off. He tells her she didn't, that I'm astute enough to know when to dole out space. And he's right. Even if I didn't think the whole situation was hilarious, I would have excused myself. My relationship with him doesn't not give me the right to be privy to her personal life.

As she leaves, he asks her if she still has the martini shaker. She looks at him oddly and asks if he wants it. Of course he does; he wants it for me. But I'm proud of the guy for not saying that. Though she's the one who left and is pregnant and is now planning a summer wedding, he has too much class to rub her nose in our relationship. You can tell by the look on her face that she never expected him to get over her; she never thought she'd see him with someone else. He senses that and just tells her that he'd like the shaker if she's not using it, adding that it goes with the martini glasses she gave him to take. It just makes sense to keep the set together, he says.

And with that, she leaves. Her visit was brief, 20 minutes max. But it was the longest 20 minutes of my life.

After she left, he came to the office, where we both giggled like little kids. And then we sat down to a cold, but satisfying dinner.

Awkward but fun...well, it was funny...that's for sure.