It was a bright and warm day, with people swarming the café.
It had been a while since he had been to this café; a place which had seen all
his highs and lows. He was standing in the line to order and while doing so let
his memories unfold. The pranks he had played and those joyful moments he had
had in this café unfolded as a montage. ‘How may I help you?’ said the barista
and it took a minute for his wandering mind to register the question. ‘How may I help you sir?’ repeated the
barista, this time with a raised voice. ‘Can
I have a grande hot chocolate’, he said. He grabbed his drink and picked a
comfy spot to rest and let his memories to break loose. Sipping his coffee and staring outside
through the nearby window he completely got lost in his world of past. He
didn't even care to look who was sitting in the opposite couch. He just took a moment to see what is going
around him that’s when his eyes fell on the girl sitting on the opposite couch
and coincidentally she also did the same. For a moment his ears got muted and all
he could hear was his pounding heart. His eye was transfixed on the girl and so
was the girl. He wasn't sure on how to react and what to say, so he chose to be
quite. He turned away from the girl and tried to ignore her but he could still
feel her eyes on him. It was this café which brought them together as friends
but that was long time back; now all they have is their bad memories of their
friendship going bitter.
He took a long breath and decided to get out of that place
but he stopped when she broke the silence and said ‘How are ya doin?’ He avoided looking at her and remained silent. He was trying to control his emotions and so
was she. ‘Do you still live in this city?’,
she asked. ’ No’, he replied
back. ‘I’m surprised to see you here. I
thought you would have forgotten this place’, she said. She kept staring at him like the way when she
met him first and hoped that she could cuddle in his arm for rest of her life. ‘Do you remember those days that we spent together
here?’ she asked and without waiting for him to reply she went on , ‘I still remember, though our friendship didn't last for a long time but those memories are still green and I come here
to relive them’. He wasn't sure on how to react, so he remained silent. ‘Sometimes I even wonder why am I thinking
too much about person who was just a friend and nothing more than that’,
she said. He looked at her, her eyes were moist but he again remained silent. ‘Well, all I can say is that our failure of
friendship is our cowardliness to accept what we had was more than friendship’,
she said. He wasn't able to control his emotions anymore, so he vented it out, ‘Look, that’s a thing of past and there is no
point in speaking about it. I don’t think we can never be together because I no
more like you, for all the pain that you gave me by ditching our friendship and
no tear of yours would put it back in place’. She smiled at him and said, ‘you have still not changed and even the way you
raise your eyebrow in anger’. He didn't know how to react to this comment
and looked at her helplessly. He wasn't sure what is going through her mind and
this unplanned meeting was spoiling his evening, so he decided to move. He got
up, looked at her and said, ‘I wish that
we do not bump into each other again’. ’ Do you really wish that?’, she said. He gave her a stern smile and said ‘Have a good evening’.
As he was about
to open the exit door he turned back to look at her and she was still looking
at him with a long face. He said to himself ‘I’m sorry my friend I did not mean
to hurt you but we just can’t be friends. He hardened his heart and walked out of
the place convincing himself to believe that the friendship which he shared
with her was just a friendship and nothing more than that.
