Friendship

Source: www.chippingin.wordpress.com

She checked the shocking pink on her finger nails, carefully examining if the brush had done justice to each; slowly she shifted her attention to her phone lying next to the coffee mug on the table. Making herself look busy she did nothing but stare at the screen and check the time every time it ticked a second more. 4:00 PM, the clock didn't seem to move an inch. Then she twirled her coffee cup and watched the cream dance out of the lovely leaf that it once was, giving a peek of the fragrant caffeine that lay beneath. Slowly she stole a glance towards the chair opposite and watched him make the white in his cup jiggle with the brown just as she had done a minute before. He smiled down at the cup; the same mischief spreading over his face as it had a decade ago. A decade since they had met…a decade since they had been friends.

Silence had replaced the chatter and proximity had met its match with stiffness. What was once called openness was now redefining itself as hesitation. She inquired about his family and he her’s. A lot of vacuum in their lives had been filled but a few old spaces had remained empty.

Time flew back and she reminisced the old days. The afternoon lectures perked up with the exchange of silent notes and the pinches and tickles that saved many a snoozing days. Birthdays turning bumpier every year and exams fluttering every nerve. Crying over crushes and laughing over gossip. Getting drunk over heartbreaks and celebrating over job offers. They had been through it all. Right from the thick to the thin, tiding over every hurdle holding hands that were glued together with the strongest adhesive that was around – Friendship. Could a guy and girl just be friends? she had been asked. Look at us and you will know how, she had said.

Breaking away from the memories she had treasured over the decade, she sipped her coffee, the warmth seeping through her mind, making her wonder why she had let ten years just go. Seasons had come, of love, friendships, careers, marriage and jobs -Some to stay forever, some to go. They had made her forget and lose herself in the flurries and the drops that pelted down on the window of her life. But there had always been something amiss, something that added the zing to life like crispy hot pakoras on a rainy evening or hot chocolate on a cold wintry night. It had taken her ten long years to realize what had stayed away from her reach. Friendship. There were friends she had shared all those ups and downs with but ‘The’ friend had been missing all along. Taking with him that zing that would have made the defining years of her life a lot more memorable than they were today. She thought of all those albums and the pictures that captured the moments of her life. All her loved ones were in them except one.

She gave herself a shake, no longer admiring the paint on her nails. She looked at her phone, just a glance.Thirty minutes had passed by, thirty minutes of reliving those ten years that had slipped by. Thirty minutes of silence as they both fiddled with their coffee that had now gone cold. No more, she thought. She was now at a juncture where she needed her close ones with her, to look back and smile at the life they had all shared. Together.  

No longer did she steal a glance; instead she looked up, summoning the waiter. “Two more latte’s please?” she said, hearing the sigh of relief being let out across from her.

It was time to renew her friendship.

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A take on the prompt 'Describe thirty minutes into the renewal of a friendship'