You are lucky (2016 draft)
"You are lucky you came to see me today. He is working late today" she said and peered out the window as she was sipping her coffee.
"His office is on the other side of the city darling" I rolled my eyes. I took the tea bag out of my mug. It has been soaking in there for a while now, the liquid was dark, just like her eyes. "What are you afraid of? I know he doesn't like me, after how our friendship has ended, but that was years ago, he must..."
"You don't understand, there is no point arguing with him, he just doesn't see why I should keep contact with you. I will just tell him I had my lunch break with Tiff."
I had just turned up at her office 20 minutes ago and convinced her to have coffee with me. It was a sudden idea, I was in the neighbourhood and after all, we had history, we were friends back then.
"Do you still travel a lot?" she changed the subject nervously. Another sip from her coffee, even though it was still steaming hot. I could tell, she wants to make this visit as short as possible.
"Yes, barely have any time to be around." I don't think I have ever poured milk in my tea this slow. I, however, was trying to stretch the minutes. "That is why I thought we could catch up, you know. I hear from you every few months, but it is nice just to sit down and chat, even if nothing major is happening."
She smiled, and for once she spoke without looking out the window again.
"Oh yeah, I told you I had got this promotion, didn't I? I am well excited, will be so good. The pay rise will help me to get my own place. I just need to get him to sign the papers and the house will be sold."
"It was better this way" I said. "I needed to get away from here, my new job was everything I had."
"We had a plan together, and you bailed the last minute."
"I know, I put all my passion in that new job then. I should have stayed in the business with you, I can see now."
"Oh my, if he would know you are saying these things to me, he would be so mad. Even now, when we are separating and he has no saying in my career."
I wanted to say, who cares, you weren't even dating him back then, I was there first, I am your friend, I don't care, if he thinks, I left you behind. But instead I just asked her, "Does it really matter now?"
She didn't reply to the question, just said "You are lucky", mainly to herself, as she was looking outside the window. She downed her coffee which has cooled down just enough. "Have you talked to Mark recently?"
"Yes, we exchanged a couple of emails a few weeks ago, nothing really important."
"Oh wow, he usually mentions it to me when you talk. I used to be able to tell, if he speaks to you, I could just see if my brother had something on his mind he didn't want to mention."
"It wasn't anything significant, I was just asking about some paperwork" I must admit, I was slightly upset that Mark didn't mention it to her.
"Hmm. I better get going, really. I don't want him to call to the office when I am not there. I don't want to have to explain..."
"I know, don't worry" I smiled and stood up.
"Well, it was lucky you stopped by today, I wouldn't have been able to spare this much of my time any other day, because he would pick me up in a few hours and... nevermind. Will you not finish the tea?" She said like she was expecting me to stay behind in the café. Was she scared someone will see us walking out together? For heavens sake, we were just having a little chat like adults!
"His office is on the other side of the city darling" I rolled my eyes. I took the tea bag out of my mug. It has been soaking in there for a while now, the liquid was dark, just like her eyes. "What are you afraid of? I know he doesn't like me, after how our friendship has ended, but that was years ago, he must..."
"You don't understand, there is no point arguing with him, he just doesn't see why I should keep contact with you. I will just tell him I had my lunch break with Tiff."
I had just turned up at her office 20 minutes ago and convinced her to have coffee with me. It was a sudden idea, I was in the neighbourhood and after all, we had history, we were friends back then.
"Do you still travel a lot?" she changed the subject nervously. Another sip from her coffee, even though it was still steaming hot. I could tell, she wants to make this visit as short as possible.
"Yes, barely have any time to be around." I don't think I have ever poured milk in my tea this slow. I, however, was trying to stretch the minutes. "That is why I thought we could catch up, you know. I hear from you every few months, but it is nice just to sit down and chat, even if nothing major is happening."
She smiled, and for once she spoke without looking out the window again.
"Oh yeah, I told you I had got this promotion, didn't I? I am well excited, will be so good. The pay rise will help me to get my own place. I just need to get him to sign the papers and the house will be sold."
"New adventure, eh? Are you ready to face this? You could really come with me for one of my trips, it would be fun!" Was I being serious when I said that? Even I started to question my offer. We did fall out badly, years ago, a part of me understood, why he didn't want her to keep in contact.
It was my time to take a sip from my beverage.
"Oh you know, that would be nice. You should have taken me back then, on your first trip, but you weren't too keen, were you" she laughed, laughed very uncomfortably. Here we go again. I thought there was something still left from our friendship. Every time I tried to see if we could be friends again, but the past overshadowed everything. It felt like I was trying to warm myself up with an ice cold tea. Or like trying on an old dress but somehow it just doesn't fit anymore. I suddenly started to wish for her to look at her watch and say she had to go back. There was a long silence after her laugh."It was better this way" I said. "I needed to get away from here, my new job was everything I had."
"We had a plan together, and you bailed the last minute."
"I know, I put all my passion in that new job then. I should have stayed in the business with you, I can see now."
"Oh my, if he would know you are saying these things to me, he would be so mad. Even now, when we are separating and he has no saying in my career."
I wanted to say, who cares, you weren't even dating him back then, I was there first, I am your friend, I don't care, if he thinks, I left you behind. But instead I just asked her, "Does it really matter now?"
She didn't reply to the question, just said "You are lucky", mainly to herself, as she was looking outside the window. She downed her coffee which has cooled down just enough. "Have you talked to Mark recently?"
"Yes, we exchanged a couple of emails a few weeks ago, nothing really important."
"Oh wow, he usually mentions it to me when you talk. I used to be able to tell, if he speaks to you, I could just see if my brother had something on his mind he didn't want to mention."
"It wasn't anything significant, I was just asking about some paperwork" I must admit, I was slightly upset that Mark didn't mention it to her.
"Hmm. I better get going, really. I don't want him to call to the office when I am not there. I don't want to have to explain..."
"I know, don't worry" I smiled and stood up.
"Well, it was lucky you stopped by today, I wouldn't have been able to spare this much of my time any other day, because he would pick me up in a few hours and... nevermind. Will you not finish the tea?" She said like she was expecting me to stay behind in the café. Was she scared someone will see us walking out together? For heavens sake, we were just having a little chat like adults!
"No, it got too cold, it won't do much in this freezing weather. But I will just go to the ladies" I said and said goodbye. I waited 5 minutes in the toilets for her to get back to the office, then I left as well. Maybe in a few months time, I will try to see her again.
Moo.
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