I’m Sorry (excerpt)

“Listen,” he said to the minister, “I have a confession to make.”

“Well, what is it?” the minister inquired.

“You see, as a result of a recent realization I left my girlfriend-Anne a couple of days ago. I expressed my regret over the fact that our personalities were inherently incompatible and told her that she should have all of the happiness in the world-I was just not the right person she would find it with. I explained that despite my greatest efforts my humble love would always be insufficient because I could never imbue her life with the significance she deserved. Then I admitted that I had actually been unfaithful to her for quite a while now, for unfaithfulness was not simply being caught in physically intimate relations with another woman. Those types of betrayals, under the right conditions, were repairable. No, I told her that the cheating I had done was far more shameful and unforgivable, for even while she lay right next to me in bed, I had pushed a vast universe of mental and psychological distance between us. Even while she kissed me at the height of our lovemaking, all I could think of were algorithms and computations. I explained that I had been so consumed by my work that I had not been able to concentrate on anything else. I apologized for all the love I could not give to her and urged her to find a man more worthy than me of her pure and genuine affections.”

“Well, I am sorry to hear that, but unsuccessful relationships often come to these unfortunate conclusions. I would not be too hard on yourself.” the minister replied.

“No, but you don’t understand,” he demanded.

“What do I not understand?”

“I rejected her, for none of the reasons above. I left her because I just didn’t think she was that pretty anymore.”