How Do I Love Thee? Read Online Free PDF Page A

yet …’
    ‘How did you get your cast off?’
    ‘It got wet.’ I blurted before I realised what I’d said. ‘In the
shower
,’ I added with a little too much emphasis. I feltsure he could tell it was a lie, but I couldn’t help myself. I’d already tried and failed to forget the terrible sound of his zipper sliding … and worse still, I couldn’t stand the thought of him remembering me hunched at his feet every time he had to go to the loo from now on.
    I realised then that I’d clammed up too long and was fidgeting, so I faked a cough as a weak excuse for my loss of concentration. ‘Well, anyway, I noticed how easily the outer cast melted in one spot, so I repaired it with a bit of tape until I was sure it could take my whole weight, and then last week I just washed it off in my bathtub. Made quite a mess, of course, but nothing I couldn’t handle with a drain and rubbish bin.’
    He still looked dubious, so I pushed my heel against the edge of a higher step and twisted the joint to show how strong and flexible it was again. I winced, but twisted my face masterfully into a smile to hide the pain.
    Opening his mouth as if he wanted to say something, he swiftly changed his mind and backed up a step, burying both fists in his trouser pockets with a dark expression still lingering. God, he looked handsome, more now than ever with his back against the wall, trying so hard not to say anything cruel to me—and I felt so sorry for him. I could hide away in my room for as long as I liked, but he was still the president of the management committee, so he had togo on facing everyone in the building and surely rumours were running rife about us by now.
    He jingled keys or something in his pocket and I took that as a hint that he was keen to end this—almost as keen as I was now to escape the whole building—but I couldn’t let him go without apologising for that horrible weekend. It was all my fault anyway.
    ‘Sorry,’ I said, just as he took a step as if to come past me. ‘I only came this way because, at this time of day, I thought you might need the elevator.’
    ‘That’s not funny,’ he replied, stopping only one step above me. ‘I mean it is, but …’ He reached for my arm, hesitating just close enough to set my skin alight with anticipation, but finally grabbed the handrail and maintained the pitiful remains of the distance between us. ‘Listen, Emily, the stairs are the absolute
last
place I expected to find you. I’ve been coming this way every day so
you
wouldn’t need to bump into
me
. I thought if I just disappeared … so I’ve put my apartment up for sale.’
    ‘No, you can’t! Oh, Marty … I’ve just come back from signing a contract to sell
my
place! It’s a done deal already, sold to investors over the internet!’
    All colour flushed instantly out of his face, and his mouth opened this time in disbelief, so I peeled open mydocument folder wide enough for him to see the top half of the sale contract.
    ‘My late husband paid off the place just before the Titles Office went electronic, so I had to take the original deed to the buyer’s bank myself. Otherwise they won’t be able to complete the title searches or transfer the deed to the new owners on settlement day.’
    ‘But you’ve lived here so much longer than me, and you have so many valuable memories invested here!’
    ‘Memories I can live with anywhere—so long as I have a hundred acres around me, or maybe own the whole floor next time to keep neighbours at bay. No offence,’ I added swiftly. ‘Please understand, my husband died in a freak bus accident a decade ago, and I haven’t been able to mix with real people successfully ever since.’
    ‘
Real
people? Emily,
you’re
more real than anyone else I’ve ever met! Compared to you, the rest of us are asleep—just dozing along in our morbid lives until one of your brilliant cartoons shakes us awake. And trust me, I know morbid. I’ve got three bloodsucking ex-wives,