16 comments/ 53904 views/ 14 favorites The Amazing Roommate By: c1992w Authors Forward: Again, thanks to you who gave encouragement and/or constructive criticism on my last submission. This submission below is yet another one about two people who DO NOT live next door. Hope you will enjoy. * My name is John Banks, I gained ownership of our condo at 30 but lost my wife and a whole lot of money three years ago when my divorce was final. It was the proverbial painful and messy affair for which I filed for a divorce after my wife split with her previously secret lover. Looking back at her treachery now, it's laughable though it was certainly painful at the time. Two things are interesting about our no-contest divorce settlement: 1) She netted a windfall of assets which she converted immediately to cash. Then she and her lover spent almost all of it in the south of France in a very few months. Then when April 15th approached I got a call from her because she had no way to pay her taxes. She asked me for help. I replied by hanging up the phone and then turning off the ringer. The second interesting thing about our divorce settlement 2) was that the condo with furniture which I got has two bedrooms and a finished basement plus the usual appointments one expects to find in a 50 year old residential building that had been made into a four-plex sometime in its history. Its location was on a quiet side street and was located between both Harvard and MIT campuses, and was walking distance from a subway stop. For the past three years I have leased the spare bedroom to certain graduate students from one of the two schools, having advertised my vacancies in select student association bulletins. To say the least, subway proximity type apartment shares between two major campuses insure that I get the best tenants and a lucrative monthly income year round now, while my ex-wife and her lover - who left her when the money ran low - struggle for survival. Today its July 8th, 2008 at 10 A.M. and there is a voice mail waiting. It said, "Hello. I am Melissa Chang and I am a PhD graduate student and read your advertisement in our association bulletin. I would like to pay up front the total amount for a two year lease, if you and I can successfully negotiate it. I would like to come by about 3:00 this afternoon and ask that you call me back if that is not agreeable to you. Thank you in advance." She repeated her number and hung up. When the doorbell rang, Melissa extended a tiny hand that was smooth and unblemished. She appeared to be 13 years old and incredibly small and light - like 80 pounds standing about 4'10" maybe - and her clothes were obviously kid clothes. But her eyes were very large as if she were a real live model for the big-eye school of modern art. Moreover, unable to stop looking at her, I began to look carefully at her kid face and saw immediately that her giant eyes told of brilliance, far and away above other graduate students who had rented from me for the past three years. She smiled and said, "Hello, John. Call me Melissa, please. First, you and I have met. My older brother was your tenant two years ago and he introduced us but its understandable that you have forgotten." I said, "Sadly I remember just his name and no details about him or his guests as tenants come and go here very often." After some small talk, we began the house tour we walked into the vacant bedroom and she jumped off the floor clasping her hands together exactly like a kid would do and said, "This is it. You haven't changed it." She walked over to the wall-to-wall display board and tested and erased a mark and continued, "Just what I need, along with the work bench and office chair." After I showed her the kitchen and dining area, she immediately asked for a glass and dispensed herself water out of the refrigerator door spigot. "You still have clean water. Good!" I showed her the tenant's bathroom and said,"You must promise to clean weekly!" "Yes, of course." After we sat down at the dining room table she asked, "What is the least amount you will take for an advanced payment for 24 months of rentals with kitchen privileges?" "Before I answer that Melissa, you must satisfy me that you are 18 or more years old and that you are a PhD student - I have strange neighbors and it will be my luck that some busy body will report me to the social workers for living in sin with a child." She chuckled at the reference to 'busybody,' smiled broadly and said, "Of course." She took her backpack off and laid out her Chinese passport on the dining room table along with her U.S. student visa and her recent commencement exercise program from Stanford plus a department head letter welcoming her to Boston and to their their graduate math program. After I examined the appropriate date fields and compared her photo to her face before me, I smiled and said, "O.K., I believe you, and the social workers will just have to believe you because of these." I quoted her the monthly rate and continued, "I will take 5 percent off the 24 month total for full prepayment." She responded quickly, "Make it 8 percent and we have a deal with one caveat." I asked, "What's that?" She said, "You write me out a receipt, drive me to the bank to get your money, then give me the receipt, and then drive me by my friends apartment to get my belongings, and help me move in with you?" While she was talking she displayed an stunning smile that was NOT a kid smile. I responded, "Wait a minute for all that work I insist on a discount of only 5 percent. Or, I will do you one better, Melissa." "Better? How so, John?" "You agree in writing to also completely clean this entire apartment up spic and span bi-weekly and a touch up weekly for 10 percent reduction." She cried, "Sold to Mr. John Banks!" She obviously was mimicking a TV show she had once seen. After I had deposited the cash she had paid me into my bank and we got her moved in and her wifi was working I said, "I'm pooped and hungry. Dinner is on me. What would you like?" She said, "I often go to McDonald's." Grimacing since that is not my favorite I asked, "If I took you to a place where the hamburgers are much, much better would that be O. K.?" "Sure. Especially since you are buying." Driving back she kept exclaiming how fantastic the food was, while I just smiled. When we were obviously tired of talking, I finally said goodnight to her and I lay in bed reflecting how fortunate I was to have the ideal tenant and what a fantastic day this had been. ["God! I want to touch this young woman for the first time. Remember your business ethics, John! No fucking the tenants!"] ———————————————- Life settled down quickly into routines during the first few days. I continued to work long hours as a work at home Professional Engineer (Structural) and so did Melissa at the display board. When we took breaks I often went to her room or she came to mine to talk. After about a week I was meeting with an architect and a General (Contractor) on a job site for several hours and when I returned home, the house was completely changed. It was sparkling, orderly and clean with a residual odor of disinfectant remaining - I was reluctant to piss in my own sparkling commode for fear I would mess it up. When I walked back into my bedroom/office combo Melissa was sitting in my visitor chair wearing short shorts and obviously had no bra under her skimpy blouse. For the first time I could see the outlines of breasts that seemed large against the background of her small body, and her aureoles and nipples were slightly visible. I sat at my desk so my erection would not be visible as we chatted about our respective days. A few days later she said, "My brother and I went to a Korean restaurant in Somerville that was very, very good. We picked our raw food and then cooked it ourselves at the table on a hibachi. Have you ever had that kind of dinner?" I replied, "No. But I sure would like it if I went with you. I will treat you as well." Her response was, once again, a little kid response, "Oh Boy! Can we leave now?" The novelty of cooking my own food in a restaurant, sometimes with Melissa's expert instructions, made me feel better and better as the evening wore on. The restaurant experience turned out to be a pivotal event for both inasmuch we completely relaxed and opened up with each other when talking. After neither of us could eat another bite, I asked, "You haven't had a single visitor, especially a male visitor, and I never hear you on your phone, so may I ask a personal question?" "Sure go ahead." "Do you have a boyfriend back in California or Asia - or here even," I blurted out? "No. I lived with and slept with and, yes, had sex with a graduate student even though I was an undergraduate for two years - Hey John! You must stop thinking of me as a child as I assure you I am not. After TJ was awarded his PhD he returned to Shanghai where he was under contract to start teaching. That is when I applied to come here. I missed him for at least a week, but way too much is going on in my life to have pain because I miss a man." The last statement stunned me in that I had encountered a 19 year old who already had the wherewithal to grasp such a sense of things as that and I said, "Lucky you." Again, I was racked with a painful erection so I changed the subject. Continuing I asked, "What are your goals after you get your doctorate?" "I will start looking for a position in Asia in about 18 months and will go there, after I visit my family for several weeks. My interest is bio-science specializing in nanotechnology - hence math skills are very much in demand." "Have you thought of staying here after graduation?" "No thanks. Hey! I have nothing here. Also, Many Asian cultures are coming alive while the Americas are dying - there are few opportunities here for bright people and many, many more there now and into the future." She shocked me and I wanted so much to raise my voice in defense of America but then it occurred to me that she was exactly right. I remained silent for a moment. Then I said, "Well, lady, I am impressed with someone who is 19 years old and knows exactly what she wants to do with her life. Sad to say, when I was your age confusion reigned in my life - In fact, since I have sworn off telling you even a small lie, I played so much until I would have never made it through engineering school and passed my Professional Engineering Exams had not my fraternity brothers and others tutored me." She smiled broadly, "Oh thanks. Oh thank you! Your telling only truth means you approve of me?" "Oh yes, I.....," then to change the subject, because I wasn't ready to openly admit that she was all I thought about recently, so I asked instead, "Have you met any interesting students or others in Boston? Of course the crowds have been sparse for the summer but will be arriving on labor day weekend in a very few days." She looked directly at me and said, "I don't ever expect to meet anyone interesting wherever I go, but I have met one in Boston: You." Pleasantly surprised, I asked, "Will you tell me what you find interesting so I can do or be more of it?" She replied without hesitation, "You use the ability you DO HAVE 100 percent 24/7. That is rare in people and I really feel good around people like you. Hence, I find you 'interesting.' Obviously struck with another thought she said, "Oh! Do you mind if we return home right away because I just had a thought and need to get to my display board to see if I can work it out?" Driving back we were silent and I thought, ["I must adjust to her world where she never fakes anything at all, and has nothing to hide. Because of being horny, I had visions of something further developing tonight between us, but on second thought there is plenty of time. Moreover, I am beginning to suspect there is a high probability that she will come to my bed in her own good time since she finds me 'interesting.'"] I looked over at Melissa and got the distinct impression I no longer existed as she was thinking about Mathematics. A week later I returned from a fuck-buddy's apartment, my pipes cleared out and tension gone. Melissa's door was cracked open and I saw her standing at the display board with her back to me writing many rows of unintelligible symbols and expressions connected with more symbols. She would erase and then write more. My attention was riveted on her ass, not the board. She was wearing her little girl panties and was topless. I stood for a moment hoping she would turn around but she never did. I gave up and went to my room to shower and sleep. One afternoon I had cooked my dinner and she had stir-fried hers in a Wok beside me. We sat down to eat together and commenced talking about our day. By now we were very comfortable around each other and it was August and very hot - I had no air conditioning. So both of us dressed in few clothes. After the kitchen was cleaned she asked, "Got time for a bicycle ride?" I replied, "Yes. Excellent idea." I brought the ex-wife's bike up from the basement and then I brought mine up and pumped up the four tires. We then joined the bicycle parade going on outside. Riding along the Charles River on a crowded bike path later we both stopped a couple of times to watch the sailboats gracefully gliding on the water. When we sat on a bench to rest the second time, she put her hand on mine and said, "John, this is marvelous. We both will remember this scene when winter comes. My brother said winters are awful here. Was he exaggerating?" I held her hand and squeezed it and she squeezed back. I then looked directly at her and said, "Some are and others are mild. The next two winters, however, will be easy for me because I have the perfect roommate and friend to share them with." "Thank you. Ready to ride more?" I replied, "Yes. Lead on." As we talked more and more when we should have been working, my unfinished orders were stacking up. One day I finally insisted that we chat less and work more. About the time we had forced ourselves to not visit so much, she started her classes, and then she was so busy until that small amount of talking never did increase. But life was good. After a particularly long work day in mid-September I took a shower and collapsed into my bed naked and fell immediately into a sound sleep. Several hours later I got up to piss and was shocked to find Melissa in my bed naked and sound asleep. She had a small amount of hair at the top of her pussy - which I took the liberty to examine carefully. Returning to the bed after refreshing myself, she had awakened and saw my boner horizontal to the floor. She said, "I want to hold you and kiss your penis. I think its too large to go into my body - TJ's was half your size." I still was shocked at her complete openness when she spoke from time to time, but I didn't complain. I started kissing her and even the hint of garlic on her breath did not dissuade me. I introduced her to each of us playing around in the others mouth with our tongues. She pulled back all of a sudden and said, "Hey John! I like that." She immediately continued. She didn't kiss my chest and I suspect it was because of my prickly body hair. She held my penis and squeezed as she turned 180 degrees and put the tip of it in her mouth. I reached her pussy and found her tiny clitoris with my tongue and started kissing her pussy lightly. I was surprised that she knew exactly when to slow down her sucking my cock so I would finish only after she had had enough. Her hand motion was the routine one sees in porno films. I concluded that 'TJ' had taught her that - because it was beyond the pale to even imagine that this young woman had ever experienced porno media or stories. We both orgasmed at the same time. She spat my cum into a Kleenex and I swallowed hers. Afterwards we just held each other and she said, "Hey! I no longer dread winter!" We both went sound to sleep. ————————————— A few nights later we were spooned together naked, as usual by now, and she said, "I would like to sleep in your bed every night. That way I can save a load of clothes that must be washed on clean up days. That O.K. with you?" "Is saving a load of washing the only reason? Hey! There is no need for you to answer that. But, I wouldn't want it any other way whatever your reason....." She said, "No. Saving a load of wash was a minor reason that prompted me to ask. You are the primary reason. I have been thinking about you entering me and today I bought some lubricant at the drugstore and one of my classmates sold me 4 morning after pills in case I get pregnant - because I fear birth control pills. Want to try it, but you must promise to go in very slowly?" My boner sprang up like a grasshopper when she ask that and I said, "Wow. Yes." I turned her around to face me and we started kissing. When I reached down to massage her pussy she was already wet, very wet. But I duly applied KY lubricant to her and my cock, and then lay on my back. She rolled on top of me put the tip of my cock at her entrance and started slightly moving her body to get me in. After the head finally got in she said, "Lets pause for a moment. But so far this is very, very, good." She continued while I, with great restraint, was just passive. But about two of my 8 inches were finally in her and she started moving up and down rhythmically at a slow tempo. She started to speed up and I started to feel I was going deeper and deeper into her. I finally bumped into a rubbery barrier and she stopped trying to get me in deeper. After a pause, we started stroking each other slowly. She soon orgasmed once and I held her firmly in place while she thrashed about and breathed out her low level screams. When that subsided I started stroking again and though passive at first she then joined me. When I knew my explosion was going to start, she started whimpering again and I pulled out of her as I turned us on to our sides, and I finished myself using my hand until she took over with her hand. The cum went all over her body and dripped onto the towel beneath us. We both laughed and laughed at the enormous pleasure we had given each other. —————————————- I, John Banks, am violating the first rule that the the president of the local Apartment Owners Association held as number 1 - no cohabitation with tenants; and no sex with tenants. Period. But, I feel better now than I have felt since I first married years ago. Melissa keeps her things in her room. And, she studies in there but all the down time and sleep time is with me. She even locked her toilet door except when company was due and uses my toilet. Life is good! I said, "Melissa, I would like to introduce you to a college friend, since I am so proud of you. Would you like that?" "Yes, John, that will be fun. It also means you really, really like me. Wonderful!" I called a former frat brother, Mike Stone, and his wife to meet us at a restaurant for dinner. I said, "I want you to meet someone new in my life now." Mike said, "Fantastic! I sure hope you were not thinking with your penis again when you and she committed to a long term relationship." "Mike, there is no chance that will ever happen again!" He said, "I am intrigued and we will meet you." After the details were agreed on they hung up. The evening was indeed memorable for all four of us I think. I was surprised that Melissa could hold her on on general conversations and we drove home later with my thinking, ["What an extraordinary woman!"] The first winter storm hit with a vengeance. Melissa had only read about Boston's notorious winters. The temperature dropped during the day and Melissa had walked home from the subway stop and was nearly frozen when she arrived. I took my overcoat off the rack and placed it around her shivering body and held her tightly against me. Finally, she thawed out and warmly kissed me even though she had a pungent garlic odor radiating from her whole body. I bundled her into my arms and carried her to her room and opened her closet door. After looking, I said "You have no warm clothes and you will freeze like ice cream - winter has just started. I can not allow that!" The Amazing Roommate She said, "Yes. But I have no money for a winter wardrobe. Will you buy me some clothes, please? I will pay you back after I am working." I replied, "We will eat dinner at a restaurant at the mall and then I will purchase you some clothes. You don't have to pay me back as long as I am the only man in your life. Is it a deal?" Her eyes glistened, and said, "John, I can not even imagine another man in my life at this stage of my life. But, your buying my clothes is risky for you. You could lose your investment." Then I said, "Enough of that. Life itself is a risk and I will take my chances." My credit card purchases for her clothes and food totaled $1300.45 for the evening. The next storm came and went and I had cleaned off my car and was shoveling the sidewalk when Melissa came out and playfully threw a snowball at me, but I couldn't throw one back because she was wearing her new winter coat. So I dropped my shovel, grabbed her and ran into the hallway of the house with her in my arms. She said, "I want you in my body and throwing a snowball was the only way I knew to summon you." She was still in my arms laughing as we began kissing. I finally deposited her on the towels covering the entrance hall. "Dear, please get in my bed and turn on the blanket to high as soon as you get undressed. I will be in with you as soon as I put up the tools and shed my foul weather gear." She nodded 'yes' as I placed her on the floor. I had taken off my gear and left it in the basement when I put up the tools . I reached Melissa, who was now relaxed in bed obviously naked, while I was now wearing my street clothes. I hurriedly unbuttoned and step out of them and was naked in front of her. I emptied my bladder and ran back into our bedroom and dove into my bed, where her arms were open to me - except I landed beside her. An hour later we got up to fix dinner and start our evening. ———————— It was the holiday season and we attended three parties - one of which was a wine only 'Yankee Swap' game party where all the contestants playfully screamed at each other before the game ended because of the forced trivial gift swapping that is part of the game. She told me later that that professional association party was the most fun. Another was because of an invitation from an architect friend, who invited us to his home. It was the first stand around, drink, and talk party Melissa had ever attended, but she was entertaining and never embarrassed me or herself in a conversation. We left after spending the minimum amount of time business decorum required. The last one was a local club of my distant college's alumni association. I am always hesitant to attend those because I find them a 'one-ups man' boasting contest while people watching - i.e., looking for a possible sex partner - is the real game behind the apparent 'game' going on. But I did have a couple of friends who usually attended yearly and I was excited to introduce Melissa to them. My trepidation was that my ex-wife attended this annual party sometimes (we met while in college), and it was a 50-50 chance that she would attend. I really didn't want Melissa to get involved with her - though I had told my tenant about my hostile ex-wife before hand and she treated it as a matter of complete indifference. Melissa and I were dressed in our best party clothes - how incredibly beautiful she was, people told her two or three times after we had checked our coats! I reminded my Honey, "If my ex-wife does attend I hope she will be nice. One thing I like about you is that you haven't the ability to be any other way." She smiled big at me, obviously pleased. Afterwards, I looked carefully at this woman I had grown to love. Incredibly, her breasts again looked large against her small body and the large aureoles with the big protruding nipples in the center pointing about 10 degrees up from the horizontal were very inviting. When I would introduce her to an old acquaintance, both the husband and the wife looked down at her perky and scarcely hidden breasts. Often a couple was reluctant to allow us to move on to meet more people, and insisted on engaging us in conversation. We had circled the meeting hall when the buffet dinner was announced - still no sign of my ex-wife. I was almost in a relaxed state. After we had food on our plates we sat with the Engineering School frat brother and his wife who had met us for dinner in the fall. Their close friends sat on the other side of them. The picnic table for eight had been decorated with the holiday theme. The men sat on one side and the ladies on the other by convention. Introductions were made. The conversation amongst we three men was light and saturated with wit and humor, starting with the Patriots and Bruins and talking mostly amongst ourselves. The ladies were talking mostly amongst themselves as well. I didn't pay much attention to what they were saying but I did hear a lot of laughter and I overheard Melissa talking about her 'introducing a pregnant Anglo student to San Francisco Chinatown' shortly after arriving at Stanford. She then mentioned 'chickens hanging outside of shops and rushing to leave Chinatown'. Then all three ladies laughed loudly, and then another lady told a story with the same reaction from the three. It was obvious to me that all three were enjoying themselves as I continued to participate in our 'manly' conversation. About half way through my dinner, a stranger sat by me and my ex-wife sat down by Melissa opposite me, taking the remaining spot at our table. She spoke up loudly so the whole table could hear, "Fancy meeting you, John Banks, with a date this year! How nice to see you!" Pissed off that she had sat at my table, I asked out loud, "Tell me what's your name nowadays and I will introduce you, Sweetie?" Taken aback at my rude question she replied, "I am Helen Forrester, which is my maiden name you will remember, John, and this is Fred, my date." I did note that this guy was someone new on her string compared to the one last time I saw her. The other two couples introduced themselves and Helen looked at the very tiny woman sitting beside her who had said nothing and asked, "Honey, what's your name and are you an immigrant?" Continuing in the fun party mode she had been enjoying before Helen arrived, Melissa started mimicking broken English like she just 'got off the boat from China,' and said, "I am Melissa Coolie and, yes mam, I am a kitchen worker at the Chow Soon Restaurant in Chinatown." At that point the three ladies lost it laughing loudly for it was just another funny joke to them. Watching my ex-wife's face turn red, I spoke up to calm her and said, "Melissa Chang, meet Helen. Helen and I lived in wedded bliss once upon a time - during one of the many brief episodes of fun and frolic in her life so far." The two ladies shook hands and Melissa said to my ex-wife, "John told me that you picked out the condo where I rent a room while I am in graduate school, so let me applaud you for having good taste." Helen said somewhat shocked, "Well, thank you for the compliment. But pardon me for starring but you look so young?" She replied loudly again so all of us could plainly hear and said, "Yes Mam, Clean liquor and fast men will do that to you every time." Helen even laughed a little at that crack. While six of us were robustly laughing she continued while looking straight at Helen in a serious mode she said, "Actually I started college very young and finished my undergraduate at Stanford in three years and then started graduate school here right away. Then I read Mr. Banks' advertisement and rented a room from him." The wife of my frat brother said, "Its very nice to see you again so soon Melissa, and you do look very lovely tonight." Melissa said, "Thank you. Hey, lets plan on having dinner again or maybe do a foursome on a bike trail together as soon as winter turns loose. Want to?" "We surely will," said the Frat brother's wife. I tried to get Helen's date, Fred, into a conversation but he said nothing except answer specific questions I asked - so I gave up. About that time the band started playing for the dancing that would follow. It was a slow waltz led off by the President of the association and his wife, and soon many other couples joined. I said to Melissa, "Let me introduce you to dancing. You told me you didn't know how but just move like I will lead you and we can dance." "O.K. This glass of wine makes me feel like I am already a professional dancer as well as a comedian." Incredibly she did not try to lead and simply followed as I moved her through three elementary patterns. I could see the look of excitement in her eyes that she could actually do that. After we returned to our table, she said to me, "Dance lessons are in my future!" The next number was a Sinatra number - foxtrot - and Helen said to me, "Since Fred is not a dancer like Melissa, why not you and I try this old standard, John?" I dug at her with my reply, "Not a chance! But you could have picked up a white ribbon to indicate that you would like to be asked by the single men in attendance. There are some real studs here and you might get lucky!" Helen's face turned red and her anger was mounting when she said, "Fred, lets get out of here and leave these boring people to themselves." She grabbed his hand and pulled him along towards the coat closet. The rest of our table conversation was about food and recipes and Melissa danced two more numbers doing elementary steps that I led her through. Then the louder more popular music started playing for newly graduated so the remaining 6 of us got up and left. Driving home, Melissa said, "Your ex-wife is a nothing and nobody, but I certainly understand that you still have emotional responses around her. I don't think she is worth your feeling anything. For example, did you see the look of pain and terror in poor Helen's eyes when you declined her dance invitation? As a practical matter your declining was not the source of her pain but it made her display pain on her face. She showed all of us that she has squandered her existence to this point. What is your thought of why people do that to themselves?" I scratched my head at such a very tough question and finally said, "First I am not perceptive enough to read faces like that - in fact she was just being herself, to me - while I know you miss absolutely nothing. And now that you mention it I completely agree. But, my take is that people like that are 'Dazed and Confused,' to quote a line from a pop song?" "But why is that so?" I paused for a minute and said, "Well, parents, teachers, the TV, and pop songs and peers teach values to each youngster while growing up - and most of them conflict with each other. The poor child then finds himself an adult one day unable to 'plan his work and work his plan,' as a result. That is paraphrased from something I read on my Engineering School bulletin board once. Those conflicts, for example, caused me to not plan sufficiently when I asked Helen to marry me. Looking back, that could only have happen because I was confused. A very few - including you, for example - have fewer conflicts because your value teachers infected and conflicted you less and your skills appear superhuman to the casual observer as a result simply because your nature is to always be mentally alert. " She said, "Obviously, one should always act on ones best well-reasoned judgement - even in matters of love. For example, had you and your ex-wife suddenly fell madly in love again tonight and you suddenly separated your world from mine as a result, I know you would have considered all the factors and made your decision about what to do rather than respond to a feeling you had. If she were going to move back in with you it would hurt me for a few days but I would still want you to remarry her in that scenario." As the calendar creeped forward, the stormy winter and chili spring were over and finally it was the beginning of the warm season in May. My sense was that Melissa loved me more and more, though by the time warm weather came my secret of being madly and completely in love with her was becoming more and more difficult to keep my secret - if in fact it was ever a secret from her. Her studies had been going well and my work was starting to increase now that more buildings were being built than the bust year of 2008. I took her to a resort on Cape Cod just before the premium prices went into effect. Watching her actually be a kid building sand castles and splashing in the sea seemed to make me younger as well. Then there were the bicycle rides where we put the bikes on the car and then traveled to distant scenic bike routes via road and/or ferry. We spent a week in Manhattan where she saw the Metropolitan Opera perform in the park and she was in heaven and pleaded that we come back during the regular opera season. I am quite sure that that summer was the high point of her life probably for many years to come - understandably, mine too. In the fall well after school had started she came to me and said, "John, I know you are spending more and more money on me for which I thank you, but I need to earn money. Right now, for example, I don't have enough money left for air fare to go home next year." For the first time, her reminding me that this magic world will come to an end in less than a year hit me between the eyes and I was fighting depression for the first time since long before I met her. So I asked, "So what do you have in mind, my dear?" She said, "Tutoring. My dissertation adviser said, ' I know some very advanced students who hopelessly struggle with advanced concepts which are easy for you, but far over the head of the usual tutors advertising their services. Interested?'" I asked, "Where would you do this and what would be your procedure?" She said,"If you would allow me to move my bed to the basement temporarily and bring up the table and two chairs that are down there, I could tutor in my room. I plan to spend one hour with each student and I would do that one day per week." "Darling, my first thought is that I will just give you the money that you would earn but I know you wouldn't take it and it would decrease your learning capacity - the teacher always learns when teaching, is an old saying. " "So. I will go along with that." She ran to me and kissed all over my face. "Thank you. Thank you." We settled into Friday as her tutoring day, where starting with three students, she cut it off when the word of mouth advertising brought the number to 5 students from both of the nearby campuses. She earned the going rate for graduate tutors and her attitude was markedly improved since she now was earning her own money. She always kept her study room door open and from time to time I would come in near the end of the session with two cups of hot tea and listen to their meaningless math-speak with each other until they took a break to enjoy the tea. The winter and the holidays passed very quickly and I continued falling deeper in love each passing day, as I developed a preoccupation with watching the calendar at the same time - even though I admonished myself to live one day at a time. The annual holiday season alumni party was not attended by ex-wife this year and both of us had much more fun than last year. In late May she was defending her dissertation and shortly after that she showed me a certificate that said she was now a credentialed 'Doctor of Philosophy' Mathematics, i.e., Doctor Chang. She had been submitting her resume to a number of companies in Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong. I was aware that she had been getting foreign mail since March. One day she said, "I will fly to Singapore to live with my uncle and his wife in June. My parents will be arriving there June 8th on an extended visit. I have accepted two job offers. One is employment with a pharmaceutical research center in Singapore on August 1st. I also have accepted employment with a bio-science company on the outskirts of Boston as well. It too, has an August 1st start date - and its very exciting to me since I have already talked to some of my, perhaps, co-workers there and know exactly what they are doing. Ultimately, I don't know what goes on in a pharmaceutical research firm. But, when I get to Singapore I will visit my employer and ask some questions and visit with co-workers and then I will decide which offer I will take and cancel on the other. And of course, you will be the first to know my decision." Pretending unsuccessfully that my world had not gone to hell in an afternoon as I sat heavily in my chair, I said, "My recommendation is to make the choice that is a better fit for your lifetime goals. If you leave my life permanently and I have this gaping hole in me, I will focus on the good times we will have had and not those we no longer will have, while I recuperate." She replied, "Hey! That is the perfect attitude. In the mean time, lets live and love," she said while jumping up to hold me close. She started unbuttoning my shirt. After we were in the bed naked, I asked, "May I just kiss your body now?" "All kisses are welcomed! And they are welcome until at least I fly to Singapore on June 6th." The End. Epilogue: I did not advertise the vacant rental I had after she left. I was hoping against hope, that she would return to Boston, and I opted to lose the two months of income. For one thing her winter clothes and boots were still in the closet and her computer, kitchen tools and other items were still here. June was the cruelest month for me as it slowly dragged by. I did not have a single skype or oovoo video call from her. I kept thinking I would ask a fuck-buddy out but I didn't want to even touch another woman as of yet. So I went to a neighborhood bar and played darts and foosball with nameless men there. It was a hot July 10th and I had put 15 miles on my bicycle. I sat in a food court at one end of the Charles River bike trail, tired and restless. My primary purpose was to lust after the scantily clothed ladies chattering there on this very warm day. A miracle of meeting someone who could put Melissa out of my mind, didn't happen so I went outside and unchained my bike and rode home. Once there I checked my voice-mail and it was from Melissa - "The workplace environment in both companies are about equal in desirability. So I have chosen you and Boston. Will you pick me up at Logan on July 16 ..." and then she gave the flight and time particulars and a number to call her back if I had changed my mind about us. I played the message again to be certain I had all the details. I then sat down and cried like a baby with happiness. After the slowest moving week of my life the morning of the 16th arrived. I parked my car in Central Parking and killed an hour at the airport baggage claim anxiously waiting - I even brought a book to read but couldn't concentrate on it. Her flight number was flashing as 'arriving' and I bolted out of my seat and waited just outside the restricted area standing near a TSA employee. I finally saw her coming down the terminal corridor inside a secure area. She saw me at the same time. We both started crying as she had begun to almost run. Life was very good indeed!