There was a woman who believed that somewhere in the world there was a man who was perfect for her as she would be for him. She thought that there were probably a hundred men, but most of them would be far away in Montevideo and Cairo and Calcutta and Melbourne, so it was unlikely they would ever meet. But it seemed to her that there had to be at least one man whose path she would cross at some point in her life. She looked forward to the day when their eyes would meet and they would recognize each other. It would be such a beautiful day. How they would talk! Nothing else would matter. They would laugh and eat and walk and sleep and make love together and their lives would be complete.
The woman always looked as good as possible. She stood out in any crowd because she cultivated a pleasant expression which she kept in place at all times. But still she did not find him.
``I must have just missed him,'' she thought each day.
``He must have left just before I came in.''
``He must have got on the bus just after I got off.''
``I know he's out there,'' she told her cat.
But she was thirty seven and he hadn't shown up.
Then she was forty seven.
She began to answer personal ads. She put in her own.
The men she met appalled her.
``Is this all I'm worth?'' she asked her cat.
The cat stuck his claws affectionately into her thigh then leapt from her lap.
``I think your standards are too high,'' the cat said between licks to his paws.
``I beg your pardon?''
``You heard me. I think your standards are too high.''
``Excuse me. You are seventeen years old. I found you in the street when you were a kitten. I spent money I didn't have to get you fixed up at the vet's. You've lived with me all these years and now you decide to talk? I've asked you questions before and you never bothered to answer!''
``You just weren't listening,'' said the cat, ``I've always answered you.''
The woman looked carefully at the cat - and he certainly still was a splendid creature.
``It's you, isn't it? You are my perfect man!''
The cat was arching his neck trying to lick the top of his elegantly striped chest.
``I shouldn't think so,'' he answered.