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The cost of friendship
His phone rang. Notification light blipped and notification read "Hi"

He replied, "Hi"

"Can we talk?" Another-blip and notification.

"I am busy working but I can step away from it for a few minutes so what is it that u want to talk about?" He typed and sent.

"I am getting married. My marriage was fixed today." She texted back.

"Hmm." He sent back.

"Are u okay?" She asked.

He saw the text but didn't reply back instead he looked at the text, read it again-and-again then locked his phone and slid it in his pocket.

She kept waiting for a reply but when she didn't get one, she assumed she would never get-one.

Her phone buzzed. She picked it up to see who massaged her at 1 am.

"I am fine. Just got busy." He continued-the-conversation.

"Are u not-gonna ask who he is?" She added.

"I know it isn't me besides I am sure he must be someone ideal for u." He replied.

"I know how u are feeling and believe-me u wouldn't feel this way for-long. Soon, someone; just made for u will come along and everything will be fine." She sent-back with some-smilies.

"That's funny that U know how I am feeling. Stop doing-this please." He replied controlling-his-anger.

"Stop what?" She-asked.

"This. This pity party. Stop patronizing me. The truth is that u have no-idea how I feel. I am angry. Do u understand? I am angry but I can't get-it-out. I want to blame u but I can't do that either. I am suffocating. It feels that I have-been-buried alive. Have u ever questioned the one-good-thing-that has ever happened to u? Have u ever questioned its motive? Have u ever felt a pain so severe that it paralyzes u sometimes? Have u ever felt that u are suppressing ur-emotions so hard that-ur heart-might burst? Have u ever-prayed to-God for someone so hard that when she slips away, u lose all the faith that u have been carrying for years? If u have ever felt all this together. Then u may-know how I am-feeling." He poured his-anger into his-words.

It was-true she-never-felt that because she always had him. He was smart, funny, sensible, trustworthy and had-every-quality she ever dreamt in her husband. In all those years, she admired him, worshipped him, respected him but could never love him as he-loved-her.

The-day he told her-abt his feelings, she couldn't-reciprocate. She told-him-how-she-felt-about-him and being the gentle soul he was, he-gave her_time and space-that-she-needed-to-process-all that and-decide.

Only_the time_that should-have-been days, changed into months-and-months into_a whole_year but he kept waiting.

Never-even once he-changed his behaviour or try to rush her-into any-decision and when she told-him her-final-decision and that her-parents had-started seeking groom for her with her consent; he just walked_away without-saying-a-single-word.

She knew that-he was-good-at bottling up his-emotions so she knew that-it was the anger he had-bottled-up-that-was-talking.

"Will u come to the wedding?" She dared to ask.

"Yes. I will_and that_would be the last-price I-pay for-our friendship. This_" friendship" has_only costed_me and so-much-so that I am-in-debt-of-my-soul now".

He sent this last text and switched off his phone..
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