everything is really OK

There was so much to do with such little time. Thankfully, Irwin helped her unload her car and took down all the stuffy bulletin board items of Mrs. Harrison's.

Julie carefully put the old teacher's belongings away and put her kid friendly posters up, to make the room a bit more cozy. She'd always wanted her own classroom. Now she finally could be all on her own.

And she was on her own now. She'd left Teddy and his parents. She'd wanted too, for a very long time. But she needed a real job first.

If she'd only known how much she had to go through before becoming a teacher, she would have invested her life in something else. But she'd wanted to teach since she was a little girl. Her father had his way of helping people as a police officer, and maybe she was doing this for him. Although, he'd died so long ago on duty as a police officer, she needed reminders of who he was. His framed photo was the first to go on her desk.

She teared up, immediately.

She was so happy. She wanted to stay happy. Seriously, she hadn't been happy in a long while.

"Its looking great." Irwin gave the thumbs up. Julie smiled happily.

"Well, you were a great help." She told him.

"I think we should celebrate." He smiled. "At least, lets eat somewhere? My treat."

She looked around the room. She guessed it was enough. It wasn't along until she locked up, and they went in separate cars to the diner that she remembered when she was a kid.

"So, everything is going OK?" Irwin wanted to know while they waited for the roast beef specials.

"Yeah, I think so." She told him she had her own place. "My car is paid for. Even if its quite old."

She stirred her iced tea with a straw. "I have been officially single for two whole months now."

Irwin looked at her, as if that was suppose to be a joke.

"I let it go on, far too long." She confessed. "I dunno why I didn't do it sooner." She looked a the ice cubes in her glass as she thought of her ex-husband Teddy who already had a child with someone else.  "It wasn't actually a big deal, the divorce. I mean, we stayed apart, more than we ever really stayed together."

But she did miss his parents. She would always feel more of a daughter than a daughter-in-law to them.

It was good to talk to Irwin. She wished they'd stayed in touch. Maybe they could, now.