Sacrifice

December 2002

The start of the January sales, found me along with thousands of others, going nowhere, at the back of a lengthy queue, waiting to pay for a large selection of new clothing. Since, my suitcase had been stolen, some two weeks earlier, I'd more or less been living in the one pair of jeans.

The girl in front of me, kept looking behind, we made eye contact several times and eventually she smiled at me. 'We have a long wait' I said.

She was Asian, Indian rather than Chinese, very pretty, slim, with beautiful shaped breasts. She was well spoken and obviously very intelligent.

She was a corporate lawyer, working for a large partnership nearby. We talked for the next 90 minutes about our careers, lifestyle, health and fitness and travel. Most of the time we avoided the subject that single people usually discuss; dating and relationships.

It wasn't until we were near the front of the queue that she told me that she was single, having recently ended a relationship with a guy who lived in New York. 'Long distance relationships are impossible' she said 'We only managed to see each other twice a year'

'Couldn't you move to the US?' I asked.
'I don't think it would have worked'
'Oh, why is that? I was quite curious
'Well, for a start we never spent more than two weeks in each others company before.' She paused for a few moments. 'And if I'd given up my career here, and then not been able to
re-establish myself over there, I think I would ultimately have resented him for it. One of us needed to make a sacrifice.'