One of the girls from NYU unlocked the door in the lobby for him. He probably looked harmless, like the nice guy whose heart you break. He’s holding a bunch of tulips, yellow and deplorably cheerful.
Shelby is wearing sweatpants and an old T-shirt that may be Ben’s. Her hair is in braids and she looks about fifteen years old. She’s been reading a text on skin diseases in canines. Other than that, the most she’s done so far this morning is brushed her teeth and had coffee and an energy bar. James took the dogs for a long walk before he went out to his publisher’s in Queens. He has begun a sequel called Evermore, in which the Misfit must travel through an enchanted woods alone, without his brother, but with a series of loyal companions: a dog, a white horse, a woman who will never betray him.
“God, this place looks terrible,” Ben says when he comes inside. The dogs mill around him. “Who’s this?” he says when Cooper warily comes to sniff him.
“He’s Coop,” Shelby says. James will soon be home, and Shelby would very much like to get Ben out of here before then.
“Another dog?” Ben looks around. “Where’s Blinkie?”
Shelby leans against the arm of the couch. “Not here, Ben.”
“What does that mean? Does that mean he’s dead?” When Shelby nods, Ben is distraught. “Are you kidding me? Blinkie is dead and you didn’t tell me?”
Ben is wearing a suit and tie, and he looks completely out of place in the mess of the apartment. He tosses the tulips on his great-aunt Ida’s table.
“I didn’t want to bother you,” Shelby says.
“Well, thank you for not bothering me,” Ben says with biting sarcasm. “Blinkie was my dog, too, wasn’t he? I paid for his dog food and he slept in our bed, but what the hell, don’t bother me and tell me he’s dead.” Ben sits on one of Ida’s chairs. It’s the only clean space in the room. “You still have the table,” he says.
“Are you here for the table?”
Ben notices the half-packed boxes scattered across the floor. “What is all this?”
Shelby tells him she’s moving to California. “I got into Davis.”
“But don’t feel like you have to tell me that either!” Ben’s face furrows with anguish. “It was my idea, after all, but what the hell.”
“Oh, Ben. How are you?” Shelby asks, worried. She can still chart his moods.
“Miserable.”
“You look it.”
“I don’t want to be married,” Ben tells her.
“Ben.” Shelby doesn’t think they should be having this conversation.
“At least not to her.” He is looking right at Shelby with a fevered expression. “Ana and I are all wrong for each other.” That is why he’s here. He’s come back for her.
“Marriage is difficult,” Shelby says. When Ben laughs, she adds, “So I hear.”
“It wouldn’t be with you,” he tells her.
“Yes, it would be. Come on, Ben. It would be ten times worse.”
“It was always you,” Ben says. “Everything I’ve done since has been a mistake.”
“That’s not true.” Shelby feels her heart opening to him, but they’re each other’s pasts now. “I was a horrible girlfriend. You were always so nice, and I was the worst. You were smart to dump me. And you’re right. I should have called you about Blinkie.”
“Did you bury him? Did you have a funeral and everything?”
Shelby goes to the bookcase and brings out a little metal box. Blinkie’s name is printed on it. She paid extra for that. “He’s in here. I’m taking him to California.”
Shelby hears footsteps on the stairs. In her shock over Ben’s admission of unhappiness, she’d forgotten about James. He’s arrived with an order from China Sea in hand, the next best thing now that Hunan Kitchen has closed down. James stops in the doorway when he sees Ben, dropping his hand to pet Cooper when the dog races to him.
Ben looks at James, then glances at the overjoyed German shepherd. He’s beginning to see the light. “It’s his dog?”
“Ben?” James says, surprised. “Ben Mink?”
“He stopped by for his great-aunt’s table and chairs,” Shelby tells James. “He just got here.”
“I don’t want them. And that’s not why I’m here. I’m here to see you.” Ben is still staring at James. “Jimmy Howard?”
James comes in and deposits the takeout on the table. “Don’t worry,” he assures Ben. He just can’t help himself. “I don’t have any rubber bands.”
“Is he serious?” Ben says to Shelby. He turns to James. “You have the fucking nerve to mention the rubber bands? That was a trauma for me. I didn’t live it down for years.”
“To tell you the truth, I’m glad for this opportunity to make amends to you,” James says. “I get the whole Bambi thing now. I actually think it’s the most disturbing thing in film.”
“Do you?” Ben says. “Because I think the most disturbing thing in real life is that you’re fucking Shelby and living in my apartment.”
“It’s not your apartment,” Shelby says.