At first, it was strange telling his life story to a stranger.

"This is so weird. I don't even know your name, and I am about to tell you what I have never told anyone." John said.

"I know it may seem weird now, but I am pretty sure it will help you feel better.

"You know how sometimes when you are sitting alone in the park and an old lady sits next to you, and you start chatting like old friends? Think of me as that old lady.

"My name is Gem, by the way." Gem said.

When she said to look at her as an old lady, he could barely contain his laughter. He couldn't see her as an old lady even if he tried.

Still, he managed to nod his head in agreement.

"I am John. Nice to meet you," he said, automatically stretching out his hand.

As they shook hands, he could feel a strange tingling sensation, and he quickly drew his hand back.

Their eyes met for a second, but they both looked away hastily. Gem was never a fan of eye contact because she thought it could reveal more than you wanted to say.

John, on his part, felt embarrassed for letting her think he was suicidal. Still, it felt so good for someone to finally notice him and care about what he had to say, that he decided that not correcting her assumptions was not lying.

"Okay, so basically, my life is fairly normal on the surface. I have friends, I go out, and live what could be considered as an average life, but under all of that, I am not happy.

"The more I surround myself with people, the less happy I feel. No one seems to be able to understand why I am the way I am, and what's worst, they are not even trying.

"I always try to understand and respect the opinions and personalities of others, but they don't do the same for me. This is especially true for my guy friends.

"They think it is weak to have any emotions, that it is not manly enough. So I can never truly discuss my feelings with them.

"My female friends are a bit better, but I can see that even they feel uncomfortable discussing emotions with a guy. For them, it's especially strange that I always try to be a gentleman. I recently found out that they consider it offensive.

"They even said something about them being able to open doors without 'a strong male stepping up to help'.

"I find all of that confusing, especially having in mind that my girlfriend broke up with me because I was 'too nice'," he stopped speaking and took a deep breath.

When he stopped talking for a minute, Gem took up the chance to try to reassure him, to help him feel more comfortable, and share his burden.

"I think those girls are idiots," she said bluntly.

"Opening the door for someone is not about strength or weakness, it's about politeness, about being kind, being a gentleman. There is nothing wrong with that. You just have to surround yourself with different people than the ones you have now, or at least broaden your scope of friends," she said comfortingly.

Her soothing voice gave him enough strength to go on, to reveal his soul to a total stranger. It felt so wrong because she was a stranger, but it also felt right because it was her.

There was something about her that made him feel connected to her, comfortable, more than he ever felt before.

"The thing is, I want to be free to be who I am. I don't want to change myself to comply with the norms of society. It would be so nice to finally be accepted for who I am, warts and all.

"For me, the goal of life is to find the woman of my dreams, get married, have children, and a good job to support them.

"I know it is a cliche, but it is something I truly wish, with all my heart.

"However, my friends say that it is crazy to think like that since I am a guy. Guys should value their freedom, and only marry if they have to.

"For me, there is nothing more wonderful than the warmth of your home filled with the laughter of your children and the loving presence of the woman you love," he said, blushing profusely at revealing more than he ever intended to.