A Dreamy Suitor
Jack was in a tastefully lit bar, sitting next to a woman he found suitably attractive. His suit was tailored, and his movements were measured. He sliced the silence with words extracted from nonexistent bestsellers, his drink laying undisturbed by anything but the vibrations of his voice and motions of the establishment and its neighbors.
The woman he spoke to swirled and took sips of whiskey, her responses were curt, and she showed slight amusement. A woman with hair of golden springs and fur on her neck touched his shoulder and tried to steal his attention, but his efficient mating dance would not be interrupted. He, however, soon watched the woman he had courted leave, giving a tip and payment for the bar.
The rejected suitor returned to his place of residence, an empty suburban house. He sets out to dream. At the beginning of it, the black hair and red lipstick of the woman came alive, the words “No thanks” materialized and dissipated repeatedly. He dreamt vividly, and after he saw the woman come into his imagined villa on the beach, surrounded by safes full of money and diamonds, and she said clearly: “Not for sale by money or words.”
When he woke, he read his mail, tapped fingers lightly on his table, and reasoned himself to a previously unrealized truth. His lack of love was self-caused, as he sought to conquer with wit what he should have harbored in his heart. He must capture love, a feeling foreign to him, and he starts by trying to love himself.