The Suitor

The Suitor

When I was a young man, as they say, I arranged to meet a friend of
ours, a woman to whom we had both been attracted because of her
terrifically argumentative nature, at what was then a new restaurant on
LaSalle, not far from the Skyway Theater. I arrived early and waited at
the bar, an antique structure, wooden with a marvelous and gigantic
mirror arching over the rows of glittering bottles. The restaurant had
received wonderful reviews, so I was surprised to find myself alone,
looking at myself in the mirror and talking to the bartender. This fact
caused me some embarrassment when she arrived but we were soon seated
and talking pleasantly. She was on her way back to graduate school, she
said, to the Harvard School of Education. She talked at length about
her motivation and then more emotionally about her lover who, she said,
was enrolled at the Kennedy School. The world is full of possibilities,
she asserted, smiling widely and pulling herself close to the table's
edge. Perky, I thought. People can really accomplish great things! she
said. I sat peacefully and leaned back in my chair as I listened to
her. She was really very beautiful at that moment. In fact, she was
consistently very beautiful. She was a beautiful woman. I responded by
saying that in general I found people to be very small and incapable of
great feats. I said that great social tides were defining factors, not
great personalities. She grimaced. We spoke little for the rest of the
meal. Later, as we walked along the sidewalk and between snow banks,
she said she had had a nice time and, lying then, hoped we would see
each other again in the future. I lied back saying it had been great to
see her after all these years. We then went our separate ways.