Christine
Is this Noah Anderson, Tracy’s father?
Christine
My name is Christine McMahon.
Christine
My son Max is in Tracy’s class.
Noah
Ohh! Ok yes, I know Max.
Noah
Tracy talks about him all the time.
Noah
They seem to be good friends.
Christine
I’m not so sure about that.
Christine
Apparently something happened during recess today.
Noah
Really? What happened?
Christine
Well. During what I’m sure was supposed to be a friendly game of Tag…
Christine
Your daughter took things to the next level.
Noah
What does that even mean?
Christine
She tackled Max at full speed into the dirt.
Christine
She ran up behind him and knocked him off his feet.
Christine
Well, physically, yes.
Christine
But he’s emotionally distraught.
Noah can’t help but to smile.
Christine
I mean, I’ve been out of elementary school for over 20 years now…
Christine
But I seem to remember a light tap on the arm being the standard for Tag.
Noah
Let me go talk to Tracy.
Noah
Give me a second, Mrs. McMahon.
Christine
It’s Miss McMahon.
Noah notices the “Miss,” but tries not to focus on it too much.
Instead, he talks to his daughter about what happened.
Noah
So Tracy told me that Max tripped.
Noah
And that she barely touched him.
Christine
Well, that’s not true.
Christine
I know because my son wouldn’t lie to me.
Noah
And my daughter wouldn’t lie to me.
Christine
To be completely honest, Mr. Anderson…
Christine
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard about Tracy being rough.
Noah
What’s that supposed to mean??
Christine
She’s on the little league team too, right?
Christine
I’ve heard she’s a bit of a dirty player.
Christine
And that she’s made a few of the other kids cry.
Christine
And probably a bit too competitive.
Noah
Tracy is highly skilled for her age.
Noah
It’s not her fault the other kids can’t keep up.
Noah
Maybe it’s your son who needs to toughen up a bit.
Noah
Especially if he’s becoming emotionally distraught over a game of Tag.
Christine
Max is plenty tough!
Christine
And he’s actually the fastest kid in the grade.
Christine
Or did you not attend field day??
Noah
Then why was Tracy able to catch him??
Christine
You know what, you’re ridiculous.
Christine
And I can’t believe I’m having this conversation with you.
Noah
You’re the one who texted me!
Noah
And how did you even get my number??
Christine
The directory, of course.
Noah
The directory that’s on the teacher’s desk?
Noah
Does Mrs. Lakefield know you looked at it?
Christine
But I was hoping we could be reasonable.
Christine
You know, handle this situation between ourselves.
Christine
If Tracy will just apologize to Max, then we can put this whole thing behind us.
Noah
Tracy won’t be apologizing to Max.
Noah
In fact, you’re the one that should be apologizing to me.
Christine
What do I have to apologize for?
Noah
This entire conversation.
Noah
If you have such a problem with Tracy…
Noah
Why don’t you take it up with Mrs. Lakefield tomorrow?
Christine
You know what??
Christine
That’s exactly what I’ll do.
Christine
Tomorrow morning, first thing.
Noah pulls into the school parking lot faster than he should.
Gritting his teeth, he hustles his daughter across the parking lot.
He needs to make sure he’s early…
In case MISS McMahon is talking to Mrs. Lakefield.
But being a single father…
He knows all too well that the best laid plans often go awry.
Her bowl of cereal spilled everywhere during breakfast.
And then she couldn’t find one of her pink ballet flats.
After 15 minutes of searching, he found it buried under the couch…
But when he gets to Mrs. Lakefield’s classroom…
Max’s mother is nowhere in sight.
Noah breathes a sigh of relief and hugs his daughter.
Noah
Have a good day, sweetie.
Tracy
I love you too, daddy!
With a quick kiss on his cheek, she’s off.
Noah’s eyes scan the classroom.
Max is nowhere to be seen either.
Looks like he and Tracy aren’t the only ones running late this morning.
He feels a smug sense of satisfaction at the thought.
Until suddenly, Max and his mother come barreling around the corner.
Christine is a beautiful woman…
Even with her messy hair and rumpled clothing.
She must be feeling as harried as he felt this morning.
Noah watches her say goodbye to Max….
And then waits for her eyes to meet his.
When they do, his narrow.
Noah is just about to give her a cutting remark…
When he hears his daughter’s voice.
Max’s smile is wide as he runs into the classroom.
And to Noah’s surprise, Tracy pulls Max into a hug.
Max returns the hug whole-heartedly…
Which elicits a small gasp from Christine.
The two parents stand silently and watch their children.
Tracy
Want to play with the jungle puzzle?
Tracy
I just took it out of the box.
Max grabs Tracy’s hand and off they go.
Noah feels silly. Clearly there’s no bad blood between the children.
Perhaps he and Christine could let the whole thing go?
He turns to her, planning to do just that…
Christine
I’m sorry about yesterday.
Christine
Texting you was out of line.
He gives her a warm smile.
Noah
I’m sorry for losing my temper.
Noah
Maybe we take a page from our children’s books…
Noah
And let bygones be bygones?
And Noah’s heart speeds up a little.
She is a very, very beautiful woman.
Noah notices she’s blushing.
He feels a similar heat rise up to his cheeks.
Christine
Let’s start over.
Christine
I’m Christine McMahon.
He slides his hand into hers.
Something in the air crackles.
He tentatively responds, trying to gauge her interest.
Noah
It’s nice to meet you Mrs…
Christine
It’s Miss McMahon.
He smiles. His theory was right.
She wants to make sure he knows she isn’t married.
He feels a rush of adrenaline.
Noah
You mentioned that yesterday.
Noah
And it’s nice to meet you too.
They shake hands, and another crackle of electricity shoots up Noah arm.
And the blush spreads from Christine’s cheeks to her neck.
They begin walking away from the classroom together…
Their shoulders brushing.
Noah is no longer thinking of the last 24 hours…
Of spilled cereal, missing ballet flats, or games of Tag.
He’s thinking about the best way to ask Miss McMahon to dinner.
