It was Friday night and Ben headed over to his local bar. He walked over to the corner stool and took a seat. The room was dimly lit. A flickering light hung over a pool table to the right and above the bar a neon light buzzed.
"Whatcha drinking tonight, hon?" said the friendly bartender. Ben just pointed and the bartender happily poured him a glass.
"Now I know you're not just going to sit here in silence all night. If you need someone to talk to I'm here to listen. My name is Kathy by the way," said the bartender.
"Ben," he said as he managed a smirk.
After the small introduction Ben managed to begin to tell the story of his sorrow. How he had met a girl but in the end realized he could never win her heart. They had met online using one of those dating apps; her name was Kelly. Her profile caught his eye with a photo of Kelly and her dog walking on the beach. After they hit it off on their first coffee date Ben asked her to go out to dinner with him and she agreed.
"I really felt a connection with her and wanted to impress her. So even though I couldn't afford it I made a reservation at the most expensive restaurant in town," said Ben.
After that night Ben couldn't manage to tell her the truth. That he was a paralegal. Instead he told her he owned his own firm and spoke in details of his success. They continued to date for a couple months. All the while he felt like he was deceiving her. He felt like maybe she loved him enough that he could tell her the truth. He got the courage to tell her one night. Right when he started to tell Kelly she interrupted him and suggested they take a trip. He smiled nervously and agreed they should go knowing that it would make her happy. He decided he would just enjoy the trip and tell her when they were home. Ben emptied his saving account to book a trip to the Bahamas.
They were having a great time on their vacation until one night they bumped into another couple who were visiting from their town. They began to chat and the man was delighted to learn that Ben was a lawyer just like him. He began to ask questions and Ben fumbled at answering them in detail. He could see that Kelly was suspicious of him and that night back in their hotel Kelly found out the truth.
She confronted him about his firm and where he went to law school. He finally told her the truth, and that he had wanted to tell her all along. He said he was not wealthy but that he loved her. Kelly became furious when she found out the truth and packed her bag. Ben thought after their time together it wouldn't matter, but he had never truly won her heart.
"We got back last week and today she took her last box of things from my apartment. I gained a tan but lost the girl I thought I would be with forever," said Ben solemnly.
"You know it will take time to get over her but do you really want to be with somebody that only loved you for your money? Give it time and maybe a few more drinks," Kathy winked and walked away as she greeted another customer.
After talking with the bartender Ben walked out of the bar that night feeling a little better. He decided he couldn't be with a girl like her. She used her heart to lure a man she thought was rich. Ben gave up on winning Kelly's heart that night.
Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt
Image source: shamrockbar
Author's Note: This is an adaptation of " The Monkey and the Crocodile." The original story is about a crocodile that wants to eat the heart of a monkey. He uses the lure of fresh ripe fruit across the river because he knows the monkey is greedy. He offers to take the monkey and the monkey agrees. The monkey does not get eaten because he tricks the crocodile. The monkey then figures out how to get the fruit on his own by hopping across rocks to get to the island with the fruit. The crocodile tries to deceive the monkey again but is outsmarted by the monkey. In my story Ben does not have malicious intentions but pure ones. He desires love and uses deceit out of his desperation for acceptance. In my story Ben is the crocodile trying to win the heart of Kelly by deceiving her. She is the greedy monkey who only is after one thing. In the story the crocodile is the villain where I decided to switch the roles and have the reader root for Ben. She is able to find out the truth and leaves Ben. She may have outsmarted him but Ben realized maybe he didn't want her heart after all.