The Project

"So you like teak furniture then?"

"Yes, I think it looks much better than the boring old pine you find in New Zealand stores."

Julia couldn't agree more. She almost forgot she was supposed to be teaching him about active listening. She could have sat there talking about travel or decorating for hours. "Did you notice what I was doing, Steven?"

He frowned in concentration. "Yes, I think I understand."

"How did it make you feel?" she asked.

"Feel? Um…I guess I felt like you were really interested in what I was saying." He looked at her curiously. "You were interested, right?"

"Yes, I was," she reassured him, "but even if you were talking about something completely boring, it would still seem like I was interested if I used this technique."

"Ok, I think I could do that," he said confidently.

"It does take a bit of effort sometimes," she warned him. "Why don't you try it now. Ask me what I did last weekend."

"Ok, what did you do last weekend?"

She leaned back in the chair and feigned a bored expression. "I washed my hair," she said simply.

"You…washed your hair?" he repeated. His brow crinkled.

"Yep," she nodded.

Steven look at her expectantly but she didn't offer anything else. "Um…what did you wash it with?" he asked finally.

Julia leaned forward as if she were confiding a secret in him. "I used Garnier Organic Coconut Cream shampoo and conditioner."

"Organic coconut cream?"

"Yes, it's a brand new product range and it makes my hair so soft and shiny," she exclaimed girlishly.

Steven grinned as he caught on to her little game. "I can see how shiny it is. Where did you find these new products?"

"Oh, my personal stylist recommended them for me. I only use the very best, don't you know."

He thought for a while about that statement. "What other products do you use?" he asked finally.

"Well let's see. I use a super-antioxidant exfoliating scrub from the Body Shop. It has, like, a hundred different essential vitamins."

"A hundred different vitamins, wow. And here I was thinking there were only thirteen."

"They created new vitamins for this product," she insisted seriously.

Steven couldn't take any more. He started laughing at her. Julia tried to keep a straight face but couldn't help grinning too. "See, you're pretty good already at active listening," she said.