“…isn’t it possible that the right person is sitting in front of you, it’s just that you haven’t seen him”, he says. She nods her head, polite at first, telling herself that today she will hear him out. There will be no abandonment today, no running away, no. No more walking around the lake when she knows that she has to swim across. Today she will listen and explain.
“…you actually have a very long checklist, you know. It’s going to be hard for anyone to fit those shoes”, he says, halting to bite into his slice of pizza. I actually don’t have a checklist at all, she wants to say, for it would be ridiculous to keep a checklist for a person. She feels an overpowering urge to look away but manages to keep her eyes determinedly fixed on his, congratulating herself on this feat.
There is a light breeze blowing out from the lake, upsetting the paper cup in front of her. A big, watery pearl rolls out of it and on to the table, suddenly dismembered into tiny little drops. She can see it from the corner of her eye, and raises her hand slowly.
“Oh no, it’s going to rain”. This detour surprises her. She dips her finger in the water, making patterns. I wish it rains, she thinks.
“Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that no two people are the same, see? What you need to do is to find some common ground and work on that.” He wipes his fingers on the paper, damp with being rolled up in his fist for so long. She opens her mouth to say something, then changes her mind. She stuffs the last bit of pizza in her mouth, wipes her hands, gets up and starts to walk, this time, keeping her eyes determinedly off him.
What does it take, she wants to ask him. What does it take to love, to desire, to be happy? You’re right about the common ground, though, she wants to say. Yes, common ground is fine with me, as long as it’s big enough for me to run all over, without the fear of falling down.
Between the both of us, though, there’s just about enough to build a fence.
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