When a woman tells you she's fine

When a woman tells you she's fine, she's probably just hanging on by a thread. She may be thinking, "I'm drowning, and don't know which way is up," but she'll tell you she's fine because she doesn't want to worry you, or maybe because she doesn't have enough oxygen in her lungs to explain that she feels lonely and abandoned, frightened and confused. If she feels strong enough, she might say that she's had a hard day, or week, but more than likely she'll tell you she's fine, never mind that she's barely holding on til morning when the sun might start a new day.

If a woman tells you she's okay, she might mean okay enough, even though she doesn't remember the last time she laughed with abandon, or talked to a good friend until the moon set and Orion rose, and felt joy like a nine-year-old girl lying on her back on a beach with the waves lapping at her feet.

If a woman tells you she's hanging in, she's nearing the truth, even though she probably holds her breath every time the phone rings or the Blackberry blinks, and feels like screaming at every email message or query around her, even though it's her job to answer questions, her responsibility to make decisions, her role to provide.

If a woman tells you it doesn't matter, it really does matter so very much because she's letting go of her interest and offering up to you the accumulated savings of her fortune: her time.

But, if a woman tells you she's happy, rest assured she is overcome with an ecstasy that cannot be contained or explained. It is joy, shared freely and completely, wrapped in stardust and presented to you with no strings attached and no money-back guarantee, but with all truth and wonder, her eyes shining and lips quivering as they utter words of simple gratitude: I am happy, thank you.