torn

"I thought I saw a man come to life."

In some ways it ended before it began. Or maybe it ended just as it began. Beth wasn't really mad, more like disappointed. Simon held so much promise.

She met him six months ago. Standing in a grocery line with a half-gallon of milk, a jar of peanut butter, and two microwaveable burritos. He just looked like some typical single guy. But as Beth was collecting her bagged groceries, she glimpsed something more. Simon had a conversation with the young checkout girl in Spanish. Not to show off, but to put the girl at ease because she had struggled recklessly and the customers were growing impatient.

Beth, in her usual brazen manner, walked up to Simon and gave him her number. Thus, the six months began. From the outside, the relationship probably looked perfect. Full of trendy restaurants, thoughtful movies, and the "must-attend" events in town.

But really Beth had made the fatal error. She liked the potential in Simon, not the guy he was right now. She saw his ambition, intelligence, kindness, and knew what he could become. And she was probably right. One day Simon would be the CEO of some Fortune 500 company. Or a member of the U.S. Senate. Or a famous novelist. Anything he wanted to be.

But he wasn't that man right now. Simon was twenty years old. He enjoyed watching Will Ferrell movies, hanging out in the evenings with his dog and a beer, and living off peanut butter and whatever could be microwaved in less than five minutes. Even better than Beth, he could see the man he would someday be. But he wasn't ready to be that man yet.