Anne Ha - Husband Next Door

“I was in the area,” he said by way of greeting. “How did the open house go?”

Shelly climbed in gratefully and fastened her seat belt. “It was great—no shortage of lawyers this time. How’s the Discovery Center?”

“Can’t complain.” He pulled into the flow of traffic. “I need to pick up some hardware on the way home, if you don’t mind.”

Aaron parked the car in the industrial district. Shelly entered the huge outlet store with him, but stayed at the front near the gardening supplies while Aaron cruised through the aisles, grabbing items off the shelves. Almost every week she accompanied him on some shopping trip or other—he was always buying supplies for different projects with his students.

A former investment banker, Aaron had left the rat race in order to work with children. He now ran an after-school activity group in San Francisco’s Mission District, drawing students from low income families in the neighborhood. Often, the parents had to work two jobs in order to get by, and Aaron’s Discovery Center helped keep their children off the streets. It nurtured the youths’ creativity and self-confidence and gave them a place to belong.

In the course of her own work at the legal aid office, Shelly had been able to refer several families to Aaron’s group. She liked being part of a larger network of people helping others. It was one of the things that kept her going whenever she felt overwhelmed by her clients’ problems, as she had at times during the open house that day.

Shelly was lost in thought when Aaron reappeared by her side with a cart full of tools and supplies. He paid for them and they walked back to the car.

“Were you thinking of Eric?” he asked as they drove off.

“About work, actually.”

“Oh,” he said. “Does that mean you’ve already made your decision?”

“Of course not. This is too important to be hasty.”

He shook his head with feigned regret “And you dismissed my proposal so easily…. It’s a good thing I don’t have feelings.”

“Only in the short run,” she returned, her voice tolerant. “In the long run it sharply decreases your odds of finding someone permanent. But we’ll save that for one of our advanced lessons.”

“Speaking of which, when can we get started?”

She shrugged. “How about tonight? I could come over and spend a few minutes pointing out the trouble spots in your apartment—photos of previous girlfriends, stacks of old love letters, and so on—and start to address the deeper issues of your treatment of women. At the very least, you need to learn how to dump your girlfriends properly. No more of this cabbage quiche stuff.”

He gave her a rueful look. “Great, as long as it doesn’t take too long. Keep in mind that Amelia is coming for dinner tonight.”

“Amanda.”

Aaron looked confused.

“Her name’s Amanda,” Shelly repeated.

When they reached their building, an old, converted Victorian, she followed Aaron inside his apartment. She dropped her purse onto the sideboard by his front door and hung her suit jacket in his hall closet. “How much time do we have?”

Aaron looked at his watch. “An hour and a half—”

“Good. Plenty of time.”

“—during which I have to shower and cook dinner. But we can steal a few minutes.” He led her to the kitchen and produced a sheet of paper from his drop-front desk. “Here. Make a list or something while I take a shower.”

“But—”

He laid a hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently. “Shelly, I know you’d like to help, but I can clean myself pretty well. Save your instructions for things I’m not already good at.”

“That wasn’t what I was going to say,” she muttered, but he was already gone.

She sat down at his kitchen table and drew up a plan for teaching Aaron how to be a better man.

Shelly had filled half the page when she heard him calling her name. She got up and walked cautiously into his bedroom. The inner door leading to the bathroom was open, and Aaron stood in front of the sink wearing nothing but a towel.

She’d never seen him wearing only a towel before. He’d wrapped it low around his hips, leaving more of his torso bare than was, Shelly thought, quite necessary. She tried to ignore the strength in his shoulders and the beautiful lines of muscle that rippled as he moved.

With a hand towel, Aaron cleared the steam from the mirror right in front of him. He met her eyes in the glass. “I decided we should be efficient. You can talk to me while I shave.”

Shelly didn’t think this was a very good idea, but she didn’t see how she could back out of the situation without him guessing why. “Okay. Where do you want to start?”

He splashed water on his face and dampened his shaving brush. “You said I should learn how to dump a woman properly. Why don’t we start there?”

“Okay,” she said, distracted by the supple movements of his body as he drew the brush through his shaving soap and lathered his face. The clean citrus scent of the soap drifted out to fill the room, and she inhaled deeply.

“I’m waiting.”

She closed her eyes and forced herself to focus. “You’ve been getting rid of your girlfriends in a mean and manipulative way. I’m going to teach you to be more honest about your feelings.”

Aaron rinsed out his razor and began to shave.

“When you break off a relationship,” she said, “you need to be straightforward about it. Don’t drag it out or pretend you’re not doing what you’re doing. Insincerity is really hard to deal with when someone is giving you the ax. Do you understand?”

Aaron shrugged. “I guess.”

“Okay, then.” She cleared her throat. “You can practice on me.”

He didn’t say anything.

“Go ahead,” she said. “Dump me.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

He held her eyes in the mirror. “Because I can’t. We’re not going out.”

Shelly sighed in exasperation. “Use your imagination, you big oaf!”

He rinsed his razor and took a few more strokes. “Okay, but if we were going out, I probably wouldn’t want to dump you.”

Shelly tried to stay calm, though she felt her temper rising. “Your delaying tactics are getting on my nerves.”

He turned his head and smiled at her. “I’m only trying to be honest and straightforward.”

“You know, I think you’re just sensitive about having a woman teach you how to be a man.”

“Certainly not.”

“Then prove it. Dump me.”

Again he paused. “What should I say?”

“Try, ‘I’m not in love with you anymore.’”

His brows drew together. “But what if I never was in love with her?”

“Just say it.”

He swallowed. “I’m not in love with you anymore.”

“Say it like you mean it.”

“But I don’t mean it.”

Shelly thought for a minute. “How about, ‘I don’t think our relationship is moving in the right direction.’”

He said it. It even sounded as if he meant it.

“Good,” she said. “Really good. You’ve opened up the dialogue. Now, what if I started to throw a fit? What if I got all distraught and weepy?”

He smiled into the mirror at her. “I’d take you in my arms and—”

She felt her pulse accelerate. “No, no, no! That’s not right at all. You’re trying to break up, not get back together.” She paused. “Try saying, ‘I’ve lost interest.’”

“I’ve lost interest In this ridiculous exercise.”

Shelly expelled her breath impatiently. “You are so aggravating!” She retreated farther and sat down on his bed. “If you’re not going to cooperate, I might as well not help you.”

Aaron turned around to look at her. Flecks of lather dotted his smooth-shaven cheeks. “Are you giving up so soon, Shel?” He sounded genuinely curious.