Like many good intentions overcome by bad habits, though, his resolve didn't last, and Laura began to feel that he mustn't have the same deep feelings for her that she had for him, if he couldn't do that one thing which was so important to her. In all other ways, their relationship was perfect, but neatness was so much a part of who she was that Laura began to fell resentment toward him whenever she was confronted with yet another mess.

The end came one Saturday. Laura had to go in to work for a few hours, and left very early in the morning. Bryan was going golfing later with some buddies so didn't get up when she did. The night before, she had told him that an out-of-town aunt was coming over with her mother at 11 Saturday morning. Laura would try to get back earlier than that, but she asked him to please ensure that he tidied up the apartment before he left, in case she didn't get there before her guests did.

As always when working with computers, there was one more bug or one more program enhancement to work on, and Laura's plan to get home early did not work out. Since there was lots of parking available downtown on Saturdays she had driven, and she left the office at 5 to 11 and sped home to greet her mother and aunt at the door. When she unlocked the door and ushered them in, she saw immediately that Bryan had left without cleaning up.

Perhaps people just had different definitions of what was messy. To Laura, having breakfast dishes sitting in the sink, a coffee mug on the counter, was a mess in the kitchen. A large bath towel draped over the edge of the tub, with a foot of its length snaking out over the floor, was a mess. An unmade bed in the bedroom was a mess. And in the living room, the morning paper spread open on the coffee table and sofa constituted a mess. Although her guests didn't seem to notice, Laura was mortified, and quickly served them coffee out on the balcony so that she could race around and straighten up the place. She hid it well, but the incident was so upsetting to her that she had trouble enjoying the visit. When they left, Laura had made up her mind that she could not live with that kind of behavior, and realized that that facet of Bryan's personality was not something she would ever be able to adjust to. Her emotions fluctuated between seething anger at the state he had left the house for her mother to see, and deep regret at the loss of a wonderful lover. A few tears fell while she was packing up his clothes and toiletries, but she finished the job and set everything just inside the door with a note on top, then went off to a double feature. She didn't trust herself to remain civil if she confronted him, so she felt it best to be absent when he returned from golf.




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