Spiral Bound Journal

End of an Era

Morgan never thought this day would arrive. At first he couldn't even imagine this day happening at all. Now he had spent the last several months if Rachel would stop stonewalling the divorce. It had been nerve wracking and expensive driving back and forth between Dallas and Houston over the last couple weeks. As he walked out of the courtroom, he realized that today would be the last time he'd have to make the drive back to Dallas.

Before going back to his new home base, Morgan decided to drive around Houston and revisit some of his favorite haunts. He drove by a couple artist collective warehouses, replete with fluorescent hued murals showcasing cyberpunk cityscapes. There was also a variety of sculptures he could see from the road as he rolled by the Cullen Sculpture Garden. Driving along, Morgan wondered if he'd ever see these pieces again. Doing so would mean coming back to Houston, something he had no desire to know given that he knew Rachel would be staying in the house they once shared with the dogs he once walked. As he passed Rice University, Morgan realized that Houston would never truly be home again.

Morgan's oscillation between relief and mourning the life he had when he was married caught him off guard. He decided to swing by the original Carrabba's and grab a bite to eat. It was close to dinnertime, but he figured he'd be able to grab a seat at the bar since he was by himself. This hunch was proven correct, and he opted to have a beer even though he did have quite a bit of a drive in front of him.

He was about halfway through his meal when the bartender stopped over. While there were a couple other people seated at the bar, Morgan noticed that there were not a lot of drink tickets being printed.

"Another Blue Moon?" the bartender asked.

Morgan shook his head and speared a piece of sausage. "Just some water."

"You got it."

Morgan took a couple more bites of his dish as his water was poured and served.

"There you are," the bartender announced. "Feel free to tell me to shut my trap, but I'm curious how your investigations are going."

"They've been a bit slow going," Morgan replied. "I've had to take some time off from them in order to finish things up down here."

"What kinds of things?"

"Mostly LLC moves and legal stuff. I have to finish getting that transferred so it's all closer to where I live. I'd rather not say more than that."

"Fair enough. It seems like you have a lot on your plate to begin with."

"Thank you. But yeah, I do plan to take up the investigations again shortly."

"Hey, take your time on that front. If you're finishing moving stuff, you deserve a bit of a break before going back to work."

"I know," Morgan sighed. "I still feel like I need to keep moving forward, even if I'm going for more depth in my investigations rather than putting out more videos."

The bartender nodded. "Yeah I know you've said before that you really enjoy your work. We all want to make sure that you're staying healthy so we can continue to enjoy your work as well."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"If you were to allow yourself to take some time off after all this, what would you do?"

Morgan sipped some water as he mulled over this question. In the midst of sorting out the details of property transfers and adding clauses to the divorce documents stating Rachel would not contact him for any sort of family planning assistance (especially his sperm), Morgan had not taken much time in recent weeks to think about what his newly single life would look like. In fact, he had only realized in the last few days that finalizing the divorce would mean he would be single for the first time in his adult life.

"I think I'd go to Minnesota," Morgan blurted out before dropping his fork on the counter.

"Minnesota, huh," the bartender prodded. "I have a buddy who lives up there, goes to the U of M. He says it's nice up there but rather cold. I don't know how he puts up with that."

"Sturdy, well sealed boots."

"Sounds like you know a bit about the place. I take it you've been there before."

Morgan nodded. "A couple times. I have a friend who lives up there. And her husband."

The bartender bit back a chuckle. "Friend, huh. If you're not careful, you and your friend will have the rumor mill working overtime."

"Oh, that's already happening, at least a little bit. I'm just glad it was kept to a dull roar for a while. I suppose now it's only a matter of time before things get really out of hand."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you want them to get out of hand."

"Yes, no, maybe so? It's up to her, really, and she has a fair amount to lose. For her, being a public figure is kind of dangerous, and she is definitely well known up there. She can barely have a drink or go grocery shopping without someone approaching her. She's had to drive almost to the Canadian border to get some peace. Poor thing."

"Oh, wow. Think you might try to go see her?"

Morgan scratched his chin. "You know, maybe I will. Maybe I can ask her to take me to see some sculptures."

"Hey, whatever floats your boat."

After finishing his meal and leaving the bartender a 30% tip, Morgan headed back to his car. He figured he probably wouldn't get home until ten, but at least a bit of quiet on I-45 could shave off some of that time. Once he sat down, though, he found he didn't want to get back to driving right away. Instead, he fished his phone out of his pocket. After a bit of scrolling in his contacts, he found a specific number and decided to dial instead of texting. It rang a couple times before anyone answered.

"Hey, Morgan, what's up?"

"Well, it's over, Dana. My divorce is finally over and done."

"I bet that's a relief."

"It is, in some ways. There's a lot going through my head about it."

"I can't even imagine."

At that, Morgan smiled a little for the first time in days. "Me neither. I was originally going to get back to my investigations once the proceedings were finished, but I've changed my mind on that front. Do you have any major plans next week?"

"Amazingly, no. I don't have any committee work, and there's nothing at work that will require me to work overtime. Why do you ask?"

"I know it's last minute, but I'm thinking of coming up for a visit so I can actually disconnect from all this."

"Well, I'll still have to work during the day, but if you want, we can hang out afterwards."

"That works for me. Once I get back to Dallas and book everything I'll let you know."

"Sounds good. I guess you're still in Houston, then?"

"Yeah. Just finished dinner and am about to head back."

"I'll let you go, then. That's still a pretty long drive, and you're not getting any younger."

Morgan chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Alrighty. Later!"

"Later."

Morgan stared at the call ended screen for a moment, a longing smile crossing his face. He set the phone in one of the cup holders and started his car. At least now the drive home felt a little bit lighter.