She thought back just a few months ago. It was tax season in the US and she was doing taxes for the couple down the street. She was trying to start her own business and this was one of a handful of clients. The work was so easy it was difficult, and when the husband of the couple started to explain US tax law to her she just smiled and nodded. And resigned to quit. This was just absurd. She had an advanced degree in finance, was toward the top of her class at a major university, yet could not find a decent job. All the action was in Beijing these days anyway, why not return home and get in the middle of it. She knew she would be successful there. Just look at her younger brother, not as smart or charming yet he was living the life of a king. After five years of marriage to this American, things had slowed down. The say one has three loves in life. Your first love. Your great love. And your last love. She was pretty sure this was none of the three. Certainly not the great love. And god help her not the last. At first, he was interesting and charming and the beer amplified this. But then she stopped drinking the beer and his charm diminished and he just became someone in the bed next to her that from time to time smelled like a pint. Truth be told, it was his DUI that made her stop drinking and made her realize he had a problem. He wouldn't acknowledge that going to the bar after work, slamming three drafts down, then driving home was anyone's issue but out of control cops. So she let him continue and she stayed home and watched TV. The husband didn't mind much when she left for Beijing to be the CFO for a well funded trading company. He didn't understand all that stuff really, he just knew computers. After a week in Beijing she was starting to feel alive again, a weight lifted from her shoulders. Then her husband called and said he'd just been laid off and would be arriving in town the next day. Shit. He did arrive the next day, his suitcase hastily packed, she worrying that all the plants would die and the laundry half done. He was meticulous in what he did but lazy in doing it. Not a good combination. They slept together that night, in the side bedroom of her parent's flat, and she woke up feeling that weight again. It was her job to cheer him up and show him around Beijing. She put on a good face for about a week but with his drinking and the late nights her work was beginning to suffer. She had to choose and she picked her job. He understood and didn't even mind much. He was free to wander around Beijing and do as he pleased. A few days later he was enjoying the typical Beijing hutong 8 kuai lunch when he overhead a white guy talking what sounded like perfect Chinese to a young woman. He didn't understand a word but knew they were flirting. And it was working. The white guy left with the girl. He sat there, along, thinking he must learn Chinese. Of course he didn't learn Chinese, at 42 there is really no hope for that, but he did run into the guy the very next day. Turns out he was a 20 year old brit who was studying at the nearby university. Studying, yea, he thought. He would like to go back to school himself. He got to talking with the brit and they hit it off. If he was wiser and aware of such things he may have realized the brit was flirting on him too. They started going out at night, hitting the bars, while his wife worked late. The young brit was always good at warming up the young Chinese women. He like this. But what he really like was the beer. And he drank a lot. Almost every night up until 3am. He felt like he was in college again but this time he didn't have to wake up and go to class. And no tests. Damn those tests. After about a month of this he realized he needed to get a job or at least seriously consider getting one. His wife was working like he had never seen her before. He considered opening an American restaurant. Now that would be a stereotype switch, wouldn't it? But he didn't realize this obvious switch in life's stations; he was just trying to find a way in his new unemployed life. When he had about given up hope, he received an email from a former co-worker. Seems there was a job back in the States if he wanted it. All this time he was telling himself he was happy here, letting go for the first time in a long time. But when he got that offer he felt like a man again. Even performed like one for a few minutes. And got on a plane back to LA. His wife was glad to see him, well, erect again and was even more happy to see him go. Maybe this would be the end to their marriage, with him in the US and her here, but at least they weren't pretending. No "I will always be with you" or "I love you today as much as ever". Those sure sounds of impending doom. It was a simple peck on the forehead and a closing of the taxi door. The wife continued to stay with her parents, both retired university professors, and commuted daily to her downtown office building. One day, she stopped at home for lunch as she had a meeting in the area. She was surprised to find the 20 year old brit there, drinking tea and talking with her mother. Your mother is fascinating, the brit said, and he seemed to really mean it. How weird she thought, but she was happy her mother had found someone to talk to. In the states, at 38 she felt life 48, here she felt like 28 and it started to show. She started to dress hipper, she found an energy in her walk, she found she was starting to like herself again. One day the brit called and asked about her Mother, he was worried that she might be ill. She was ok, she said, just taking a few days in the countryside to enjoy some fresh air. The brit asked about her husband and it turned out the brit knew as much as she for he was emailing him almost everyday. She asked the brit what he did during summer break and he said odd jobs here and there, teach a little English like every other foreign student. She didn't know why but she offered him a job right then, to teach English at her company even though she had never thought about it before. He started to come teach two days a week for small group lessons and 1:1s. When she saw him teaching, and laughing, with a younger female employee of hers she felt a strange surge through her. Ger a grip she said. After the first couple of weeks the interest in the training had died down a bit and one day no one showed up. The brit was told to go home, that they didn't need him that day, so no pay. The brit was outraged and cursed his way out of the building. When she found out she called him on the phone, apologized, and said of course he would be paid. It's just some of the local people don't understand the principle of time the same way. She asked him to please continue teaching. He said he would. And she felt something let go inside of her. Relief? Joy? Whatever it was, the brit seemed to sense it and asked her to buy him a pizza at a favorite expat place, joking that she owned him at least that. She said sure. She went straight from work to the pizza place. She washed her face, pulled back her hair, left the sport jacket, and unbutton the top button on her blouse. Well, the top two buttons. She felt a bit flush. Get a grip, she said. She arrived at the pizza place and sat next to the brit, on the same side of the table as him. She did this without even thinking. They talked easy, bumped shoulders a bit, and laughed a lot. She noticed his small wrists, the V of his back, and they way his glasses tipped when he smiled. She was too old for this, but she had a crush. They headed for the nightclub next and danced. She undid one more button and got a sweat going. The brit took her close after one song and kissed her. Nice lips. They had a good time that night, and for many nights after that. The brit continued to visit her mother and exchange email with her husband.