Tres Chic

Aaron and Eugene's antique shop was tucked away in a corner on a cobblestone side street in the newly renovated and trendy Portsmouth Harbor Marketplace. There was no sign as the two owners had never been able to agree on a name - Aaron wanted to call it "Antiquities and Elegance" while Eugene stubbornly insisted on "Ethereal Antiques". Neither was willing to budge on the matter so it remained a nameless little shop and since neither believed in the value of advertising, it depended on word of mouth and random chance for its business, which Aaron referred to as "clients" and Eugene would only call "carriage trade".

The two little old men had been partnered - in life and in business - for over 40 years and they were as different as night and day. They had met in an English boarding school, both products of wealth and distinguished families, one from California and one from Connecticut and they were as unlikely soulmates as you would ever find. They shared a common background and both were ill at ease and confused about their sexual identities but apart from that, they quarreled incessantly about everything from the very beginning. Aaron wanted curtains in their tiny dorm room, Eugene refused with a vengeance. Eugene studied business and Aaron, committed to his studies of art, called him a vile capitalist. Aaron favored the grace and privilege of water polo while Eugene ridiculed the sport and devoted himself to the success of the rugby team. Aaron was revolted by red meat and Eugene scorned what he referred to as rabbit food. And so it went all through school and the years that followed. Both graduated with high honors and returned to the States, drawn together and pushed apart. They met again, quite by chance, in New York City - Aaron attending an art auction and Eugene in town for an investment seminar - had drinks at the Oak Room and dinner at "21" and managed to agree on the fact that they ought to be together despite their differences. Both were summarily disowned by their respective families but they united and stood together against the odds, disagreeing only about whether they should stay at the Sherry Netherland or the Waldorf Astoria.

In due time, they discovered a mutual love of travel (Aaron dreamed of returning to the Continent while Eugene wanted to explore all the states), of cats ( they fought fiercely over whether long haired or short haired was preferable ), of music ( Eugene was pro-jazz while Aaron proclaimed that no music worth listening to had been written since the 18th
century), of wine ( Eugene preferred domestic from California and Aaron dismissed anything not made in Europe as flatly plebian) and of children ( in the words of W.C. Fields, "As long as they were properly cooked."). They shared a dislike of politicians, organized religion, the collected works of Shakespeare, recreational drug use, sales taxes, the French Revolution, the practice of slavery, bar codes, sailing ships of any kind, promiscuity at any age, poetry and those who wrote it, and the invention of shrink wrap plastic.

And so they spent their lives together until they decided to retire. After much hot debate, they sold the nameless little antique shop to a couple from Vermont who added wind chimes and Danish modern and proudly christened the shop "Tres Chic". It was, both Aaron and Eugene agreed at once and in unison, an unforgivably trite and clownish name for the shop, an insult to their years of hard work, and they were so astonished by their mutual attitude that they were both speechless for a time. Then they walked off, arm in arm, bickering about where to have lunch and whose turn it was to treat.

We love who we love despite our differences.