Slowness cannot win the prize

"Fabius is my name. My friends call me "Fabulous Fabius" but I'm not as fabulous with ladies. When I was at Campus, I fell in love with a woman. She was a distinctive girl; skinny and comfortable that way, full of charm, with a sparkle in her eyes that will never be erased from my mind.

Gotta move fast if you're gonna win this beauty

One day she found me reading a novel and sat down next to me. "What book is so engrossing that you ignore beautiful ladies, huh?" she teased in a voice that filled me with thrills. It was the day we became friends. But I still could not bring myself to revealing I was in love. I read many books on dating and picked several tips from magazines on how to profess, but always chickened out.

Then it happened. I spontaneously invited her to my place for coffee. She delightedly told me it was her birthday and asked how I knew. But it was sheer coincidence. She enjoyed her coffee and her joy relaxed me enough to pour out my heart to her: "I love you and want you to be my wife!"

Even on bended knee, my proposal didn't light up her big beautiful eyes. She dropped them instead and said it was too late. She was pregnant, she said, and was going to abandon her course to fly abroad and probably not return. She hugged me goodbye and stepped out. 

The sky outside was gloomy and a raindrop fell on my arm. I walked her in silence to the stage and stood like an idiot till the taxi filled. Then I returned in the now pouring rain with a heart of pain, cursing the man who had impregnated Anna. It was a lesson hard learned. Friend, being slow will never win you a prize. Being slow cost me the only woman I have ever truly loved."

As told to The Optimist