She's Always A Woman to Me

And she'll promise you more
Than the Garden of Eden
Then she'll carelessly cut you
And laugh while you're bleedin'
But she'll bring out the best
And the worst you can be
Blame it all on yourself
Cause she's always a woman to me

He thought he had enough of women for an entire lifetime. There was no way he could understand them, neither did he know any of his friends who did. Even the women he knew patted him affectionately after one more of his failed attempts at a relationship and say patronisingly, “You see you never should try to understand women. Just let her be herself and accept her as she is.” They were worried for him; all his friends were. He knew they really wanted to see him settle down and as they would often say, “be sensible” and yet there he was leading his life as he pleased without a care for the world around him.

As the elevator jolted to a stop he irritatedly moved aside to let the person behind him walk out. As he stood adjusting his suit, someone said, “14th floor please.” He turned around and like a movie running in a slow motion, his breath refused to come out of his lungs. Mechanically his thumb pressed the number 14 on the panel. He could feel his knees giving away. He knew the symptoms of the excruciating agony of love. It had been 10 years. His floor passed by and so did the 14th floor. The knees were strong again as he pushed the buttons to his floor. Yet, a pain (stronger than the weakness in his knees) stabbed at his heart.

She had not recognized him. 10 years - it had been enough for her.