She no longer needed his failure to prove her worth.
Her life was already full.
One evening, several years after that first rainy night, Daniel came over for dinner.
Karen was in the kitchen, and I was trying to assemble a bookshelf she had ordered for our home.
Daniel watched me struggle with the instructions.
“You know, you could just call someone who knows what they’re doing.”
“I do know what I’m doing.”
“You’ve installed the top shelf upside down.”
I examined it.
Then I turned the instruction sheet around.
“Oh.”
Daniel laughed.
Karen appeared in the doorway.
“What happened?”
“Your boyfriend is attempting home improvement.”
“Is it going well?”
“Define well.”
She laughed and came over to inspect the bookshelf.
“You’ve put the back panel on the wrong side.”
I stared at her.
“Whose side are you on?”
“Competence.”
Daniel nearly fell off the couch laughing.
I pointed at both of them.
