The Foolish Man

The old man listened quietly...he didn’t want to, but he couldn’t help himself…after all their words were loud...their words were angry...it was a lover’s tiff, no...No it was more than that, there was something wrong...he couldn’t help but overhear them, after all what else was he to do? He stared blankly into his drink....trying to shut himself off, to pay them no heed, but he knew that he had to...he had no choice in the matter...no choice at all... “So...you think it’s alright to talk to me like that do you?” She spat bitterly...”Accusing me of...accusing me of cheating on you...you foolish man.” The old man waited for the boy’s reply....waited for the young man to say something, anything...eventually, he got his wish and the younger man did speak. “I didn’t say that I accused you...I just said...” “That you didn’t like watching me throwing myself at that bloke...which is the same thing.” No...No it wasn’t the same thing...the old man thought, but he said nothing. “It’s not the same thing....” The younger man defended himself...the old man smiled and nodded his head. Good boy, he was right, it wasn’t the same thing, not the same thing at all, exactly what he would have said. There was no one else in the pub...just the three of them...two having their heated words and him, the old man...listening to them. “I never accused you of anything...but all I can say is that if you’re so defensive about it, then I can only think that perhaps there’s more to it than you say.” The younger man continued and the old man shook his head. No...No, wrong move boy...wrong words you foolish man... “So...you are accusing me of cheating on you...do you know what, you...you know nothing...nothing at all.” She’s right...she’s stone right, the old man concurred...the boy knew absolutely nothing, probably never has done. “All I know is what I saw...I’m not a fool...only if you think I couldn’t see what was happening.” “And what was happening?” She demanded... Yes, the old man sat up alertly...what had happened...he really needed to know. “Err....you were talking to that bloke...remember?” “Yes...that’s what I was doing all right...I was talking to that bloke...who just happened to be the bloody shop assistant...we were in a shop, that’s what people tend to do.” Oh was that all? The old man felt a little disappointed, let down, he’d expected it to be more. The boy was obviously jealous...that’s all he figured...it happens. “Well...you can kiss goodbye to our trip to Brighton...and...You can kiss goodbye to me...” She abruptly and angrily jumped from her seat... The old man looked across to their table...he could see clearly the fury in the young girls features...this had turned more serious...and the old man instantly feared the worse. “You do what you want...I don’t really care...there’s plenty more fish in the sea.” The old man shook his head...they were words of anger...the boy didn’t mean them; he knew that...he was...he was just being a fool. A very foolish man….that was all. “Oh really, well all I can say to that is...good luck with your fishing...here...you might as well have this...I bought it for you....to show you how much...how much I loved you.” The young girl had begun to cry now, she blindly threw a small box to the youth before turning on her heel and with a purposeful stride walked to and then out of the door and was gone in an instant. Go after her boy, go after her...tell her you’ve been a fool...ask her for her forgiveness, do it...do it... But the boy didn’t move...he simply sat where she’d left him, sat staring at the small box...staring at it like...a foolish man. The old man looked at the scene ruefully...what on earth was he doing? The boy sat for an age...not moving...doing nothing...just staring stupidly...finally, he decided to open the box and produced a...gold ring...a gold signet ring, with a gold snake set on the crest, a small diamond set into it as an all seeing eye...very nice the old man thought...very nice indeed. Eventually, he could see the boy getting to his feet...slowly...all so slowly before walking towards the door...he watched the boy as he went out of the pub leaving the old man sitting on his own... The boy was a fool...an immature foolish man if he thought that there were plenty more fish in the sea...he could certainly vouch for that...he knew first hand that only a fool thinks that love...true love, real love can be found just anywhere. He mused into his drink again...He’d had a love once...a deep love, though he hadn’t realised it at the time of course...he’d also been ever so careless with his emotions and had finally lost it...lost his true love…he’d been a fool himself, a foolish man and had fallen out over a stupid and petty argument fuelled by blind jealously...and by the time he’d finally come to his senses, it had been too late...far, far too late. He’d spent the last forty five years no less looking for his true love, now his lost love...to tell her how stupid he’d been...that he’d been a fool, perhaps to ask her for some forgiveness, but...he’d never seen her again...never once in all those long miserable years. Oh what a fool he’d been. The old man stared at his reflection in the big ornate mirror that sat behind the bar...stared at the old face reflected there...an old and lonely face...a face that had never married, never even come close to it, all because he’d never again found true love...tears now began to roll down his cheeks...Tears of regret...tears of self pity, he sighed and wiped his face with his old gnarled hands... What a fool he’d been...what a lonely stupid old fool he was now...he stopped himself from weeping if only just, wistfully swirling the now lukewarm liquid about in the bottom of his glass and stared at his trembling hands...stared at his fools hands and in particular...he stared at the gold signet ring, with a gold snake set on the crest, and a small diamond set into it as an all seeing eye...