"Evan!"

The familiar voice easily pierced the students' hubbub as I crossed the foyer of the university.

Helen.

I turned my head to face my formidable ex whose blonde hair was, as always, immaculately styled. She was wearing a pearly white blouse tucked into a smooth, violet-colored skirt.

Her scrutinising gaze flicked over my crumpled, coke-stained winter coat and my old sweater.

Yet she smiled.

I raised my eyebrows, warily. I was well aware that she wielded that smile like a saber—a weapon as elegant as it was deadly.

She crossed the distance between us, her high heels clicking on the dusty stone floor and shooing away a group of slouched students. They knew better than to stand in the way of the Head of University Administrations.

Helen came to a standstill a mere step away from me. Her smile faltered as she studied my wardrobe, but it quickly reasserted itself.

"What are your plans for the weekend?" she asked, without much preamble.

Taken off guard by her question, I felt myself blushing. Was it an invitation to do something together? She wouldn't want to spend time with me, would she?

She chuckled at my confusion. "Is this a yes?"

"I.. I...." I swallowed, fleeing her mesmerizing blue-eyed stare by concentrating on the tip of her upturned nose. "I actually have plans."

It was nothing but the truth. I did have plans. I was going to go skiing with some colleagues from the institute. Well, they'd be skiing while I would learn the basic moves of the sport. Carl had promised to teach me.

"Aww, that's a pity." Her lovely smile was gone and her lower lip pushed itself forward.

As usual, she wore no lipstick or makeup whatsoever. All natural colors and no braces; she formed the perfect contrast to the marshmallow-dyed woman I had just seen on the other train.

What had her hair color been again? Turquoise? Aquamarine blue?

Helen snapped her fingers before my nose. "Hey, anyone at home in there?"

"Oh, sorry, what did you say?" I ran my palms through my hair, fumbling with words.

She frowned. "I was just asking you if you could spare some time for your beloved ex this weekend."

"I'm actually going to Pats Peak with the guys from the institute, skiing." I moved my hands and hips as if slaloming through a maze of gates on a downhill course.

She laughed. "Skiing? You? Don't make me laugh. Now that would be an accident waiting to happen."

"Carl will show me how it's done." I pressed my lips together. 

She motioned me towards the stairs ascending to the math department, briefly squeezing my arm while doing so. "Oh, that's too bad. Because, you know, I was going to ask you a favor."

A favor? That clued me on what might be coming next.

"Couldn't you go skiing another weekend?" Helen asked. "Because I know Janice would love to spend this one with you. She was so hoping to go horseback riding with her daddy." She was literally purring now. "I'd love to go with her, but as you know I'm allergic to animal hair."

According to my calculations, this was a mommy weekend, not a daddy weekend. And for some reason, I had strong doubts Janice had come up with those horseback riding plans without some prodding from Helen herself.

"So, you've got other plans for the weekend?" Teasing her felt good.

"Well, if Janice could stay with you... and as I had said, she's really looking forward to it... I'd love to go to that new spa resort in Nantasket Beach, with a friend."

I wouldn't ask her who that friend was. It was no business of mine, and I didn't care.

"What friend?" I asked.

Would it be Gregory, her high school sweetheart, who failed to realize high school times were long gone by? 

Or even the Chancellor? That man was twice her age, twice her weight, and he was rumored to make more money with his student-slave-work-startup Bean Counters than anyone else at the university.

"Oh, you don't know her." She squeezed my arm amicably again. "So, what do you say? Can I tell Janice that she'll go to ride the ponies with her daddy?"

We had reached the first floor, where the Institute of Mathematics had its rooms. Her office was two more flights up.

"Pretty please?" she added, batting her eyelashes. "I'm sure Janice would prefer to spend quality time with her dad instead of hanging out with me."

I could probably go skiing some other time. Carl and the gang went to Pats Peak almost every other weekend. On the other hand, I also could say no to Helen. It was her turn to look after Janice, and I knew she was manipulating me.

Damn it, we were divorced. It was her turn to look after Janice. But I didn't want our daughter to have to put up with her mother's pouting.

"Okay, I'll take her," I said with a sigh. Janice didn't deserve this.

Helen clapped her hands with glee. "Thanks, Evan. I'll drop Janice off at..." She scratched her head. "Oh, actually, wait a second. Why don't you come over and pick her up herself? Saturday morning, at 9? You could treat her to a great breakfast before heading off! I've gotta run now, thanks!"

Before I even had a chance to reply, she turned around and hurried up the stairs. Her perfect, stockinged legs underneath that smooth, violet coloured skirt kept my gaze until she reached the next floor and disappeared from view.

I grit my teeth. She truly was a master of manipulation.

Sighing, I pushed the stockinged legs out of my mind, concentrating instead on the worn, yellow linoleum that covered the steps. It held much less appeal.

Turning my back to it, I started down the narrow hallway, where the sharp tang of cleaning fluid mingled with the odors of sweat, food, and leaky plumbing. The building was scheduled for renovation, and it had been so for the last ten years.

Carl's office door was the next one on the right. It bore a large poster saying Come to the Math Side, we have π. I entered without knocking.

My chubby friend sat at his tiny desk, which dominated his equally tiny cubicle. His back was turned towards me, his gaze glued to something on his screen.

"You can leave the cake on the table," he said without even bothering to turn around.

"I'm not here to bring you cake. The calories aren't good for you, you know?"

He spun in his chair, making it squeak in distress, and faced me. "Hello, hello Evan! Sorry. I thought you were one of my Ph.D. students delivering breakfast."

"Oh, so they're feeding you now?"

He spread his hands. "What can I say? I'm their boss. I give out the orders, and they love me for it. It's called hierarchy."

A movement on his screen caught my attention. It showed a video with a cat trying to squeeze into a cardboard box. I smiled, pointing at it. "You're studying cats now?"

"Cats in boxes are an essential tool of science. Even Schrödinger knew this." He closed the window. "So. What can I do you for?"

"I just wanted to tell you I won't be coming to Pats Peak this weekend," I said. "I'm looking after Janice."

He tilted his head. "Hmm? Isn't it mommy's weekend? I thought it was Helen's turn."

"Change of plans." I cleared my throat. 

"Helen's machinations, then." He wiggled a finger at me. "Stop being her servant. I think I already told you that."

"I'm not her servant." Not anymore. "I did it for Janice. Otherwise, Helen would have spent the weekend blaming my daughter for restraining her freedom. Or she'd dump her somewhere."

Such as with my mother-in-law. Ex-mother-in-law.

The thought made me wipe my brow. It was still sticky with coke. "Do you have a tissue?"

"Naw."

That train girl had a whole pack of them, and she had even offered them to me with her braced smile.

Carl shook his head, a mocking grin on his lip. "You're really bonkers, man. Missing a weekend in the snow for that bitchy ex of yours. And now standing here, grinning like an idiot."