"Drifting and floating and fading away"
She was Attempt Number 9. First one with a child.
He knew the "in": the daughter. So he befriended the woman, listen to her stories, became the shoulder. He was her psychologist, her security blanket, and he loved it. At the same time, he treated the child as the one he never had. He took the child to parks, told her jokes, became the father figure to the fatherless daughter. He felt whole, loved, and thoroughly treasured every moment spent with mother and daughter.
She considered him a close, if not best, friend.
He struggled to work up the courage, the strength, the conviction. Finally, he hatched a plan, a beautiful plan, to show and tell her how much he secretly loved and adored her, how strongly he desired to be hers. He gathered all the pieces, worked out time tables, and began devising it all together.
In a moment of doubt, he spoke of his doubts to a friend.
Foolish.
This friend convinced him that the woman was not worth the time nor the energy that was being put forth. He caved in, listening to the friend, who convinced him to cut off all ties and shun the woman.
He strongly came to regret this, and all attempts to repair the relationship were ignored.
Attempt Number 9 ended in failure.
He knew the "in": the daughter. So he befriended the woman, listen to her stories, became the shoulder. He was her psychologist, her security blanket, and he loved it. At the same time, he treated the child as the one he never had. He took the child to parks, told her jokes, became the father figure to the fatherless daughter. He felt whole, loved, and thoroughly treasured every moment spent with mother and daughter.
She considered him a close, if not best, friend.
He struggled to work up the courage, the strength, the conviction. Finally, he hatched a plan, a beautiful plan, to show and tell her how much he secretly loved and adored her, how strongly he desired to be hers. He gathered all the pieces, worked out time tables, and began devising it all together.
In a moment of doubt, he spoke of his doubts to a friend.
Foolish.
This friend convinced him that the woman was not worth the time nor the energy that was being put forth. He caved in, listening to the friend, who convinced him to cut off all ties and shun the woman.
He strongly came to regret this, and all attempts to repair the relationship were ignored.
Attempt Number 9 ended in failure.