Years ago I moved to a new city for a job. I had an indian coworker, let's call him Janjanesjan. Janjanesjan and i worked closely so we talked a lot and i was in a new city so we became friends. I was 25 and he was 32, his wife was 28, he had been married since he was 18.....
Long story short his wife and i ended up talking a lot. She was always so infatuated with me, as if she felt existential relief when i spoke to her. I wasn't flirting or anything because I was NOT into her. She was actually decent looking but not my thing. I just talked to her the way I talk to all my friend's wives. We would be at his house or out to dinner and they would get into a massive fight (which was basically her being reasonably offended and him being confused with that retarded fucking smile).
As we got closer he would ask me to explain what he did wrong because "she has so much respect for you, you understand women so well! How i make her not upset?". he basically wanted me to be his flirting coach for his wife of 15 fucking years. I ran out of ways to try to explain to him that it wasn't a case of saying the right words or buying her something or making a change, he just hurt her feelings. Even the most misogynistic westerner would have understood the problem and empathized with her, this wasn't an unreasonable woman situation it was a "husband who's so retarded he's an asshole" situation
I slowly figured out she was just touched to her very soul by the fact that i treated her like a human being. I did the same thing I do when socializing with everyone else: just listen to what they say > briefly put myself in their shoes > oh I imagine you enjoyed/didn't enjoy that haha!/mix in a joke or occasionally notice something. Just BASIC talking that I learned to do in high school. I'm not kidding no matter how much of a shut in autist you think you are, you could socialize at the level i'm talking about it was nothing special.
When we would talk i would see a "soul" start to fill her eyes. Her shoulders would relax and her eyes would glaze a bit, as if somebody was giving her permission to exist for the first time. And then it's like something internal would snap her back into place, as if she had to remind herself not to be too happy. It was fucking weird and frankly sad to watch.
The last day I saw her was genuinely depressing. It was my going away party for work because I was moving back home and would never see them again. Bunch of coworkers took me to dinner and when they got there she came up to me with this huge smile and hugged me "i'm so saad you are leaving...". Janjanesjan shakes my hand with that retarded fucking smile and wishes me luck in my professional endeavors, his wife at his side looking at me with this expression like "please save me!". 30 minutes into dinner her and Janjanesjan were fighting, she was in tears just bawling and he was looking around confused wondering what he did with that dumbass fucking smile.
They left without saying goodbye, but in the parking lot I walked passed them. I see her passenger seat of his car, he's sitting their with that retarded oblivious smile on his face as if his wife isn't sitting next to him soaked in tears, eyes bloodshot red. She sees me and I wave bye to her, she immediately smiles and waves back to me with this look of brief relief and hope in her eyes like "thank you". It was like something out of a movie and broke my heart.
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