Daniel was not an interesting person. He strolled through his life at a leisurely pace, finding most of the world too mundane to put in any effort. He believed his soul accomplishment, the only aspect of his life that he could take pride in, was somehow he managed to convince a girl to love him. A task he had all but given up on before he met Penny.
Penny was not an interesting person. The main difference between Penny and Daniel, however, was that Penny recognized her life as boring. She always knew there was more she could be doing, but her crippling phobias prevented her from truly enjoying life. Instead of travelling, or learning to ski, she stayed at home, ensuring her apartment was clean and free of spiders.
Daniel and Penny's meeting was an accident. You could replay the same scenario a dozen times without them ever meeting, Daniel could have been his usual indifferent self, Penny could have been her usual quiet self, but that day everything worked in their favour.
Penny was in a hurry, she was late for her therapy session, all she had asked was if she could cut in line, not an unreasonable request. She wanted to buy a pack of mints, she was always worried about her breath during therapy since all she did was talk, but that self-righteous woman with the cartful of groceries couldn't be bothered to listen to reason, rather she took the time to explain why that wouldn't be fair to her or the rest of the line. "Get over yourself," Daniel said from behind the register. The woman, completely taken aback, would proceed to complain to the manager about Daniel, his third complaint in the last month, this little comment cost Daniel his job, but it was best thing he ever did.
The next day, with advice from her therapist, Penny tracked down Daniel, determined to apologize and relieve some of the guilt she felt so strongly. "You don't need to apologize, that job was a joke," Daniel said, not trying to console Penny, rather just being honest. Penny smiled. Daniel smiled.
The two went for coffee. They talked, they laughed. They immediately got along, but don't think that they were "soul-mates" or perfect for each other, they were simply comfortable, which they both would misinterpret as love. It would only be Penny that would realize this.
The two stayed together for a year. Daniel's parents and the few friends he had left were thrilled, Penny's were less so. At first they thought he was great, but they soon realized that Daniel enabled Penny's lack of living. Daniel's overall disinterest complimented Penny's fear of the world nicely, the two spent hours together not really doing anything. Daniel was content, but Penny, with support of her friends, grew indignant.
Penny moved out on a Sunday, only two weeks after she had moved in. Her car, filled to the brim with boxes she never bothered to unpack, pulled away. Now, Daniel stands alone in the street, a broken man who was never fully put together to begin with.
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