Long lost

It’s been a long day , you so want to grab a hot cup of coffee before you head home, but there’s hardly anytime before you can catch your 4pm train . You pick up your stuff to rush , and behold , you see Stella the office admin coming your way with “ free coffee day “ banner and Dave the facility guy walking beside her with the coffee hamper !!!! You thank your stars , and grab your cup to make it on time and also enjoy your cuppa !! 

The train is fairly occupied and today you even got your favourite spot . You can’t thank your stars enough today , and hope “ I wish I could have wished for a million dollars today !” You smile at your stupid thought and relax as the train slowly moves towards your destination. Sipping the coffee you check your email to find all those shopping offers that you will never be able to avail , when you spot a mail that makes you stop scrolling and read it twice , thrice ... and more to finally fathom the fact that it’s a mail from your long lost best friend. Before you could start reading it you realise you have reached your destination.

You quickly get down and rush home as you can’t wait to read the mail .  Your furry baby is eagerly waiting for you to take him out for a walk . You quickly leash him and take him out , thinking about your bud who has been out of touch since you left your school . Its been years but he has kept his email the same ??Wait , he’s not the only one , you too have the same email !!! You remember the times when email was the “in” thing and how excited you and your best bud were to finally get to create your email IDs!!!! You are lost in your thoughts when you are woken up by your furry kid’s whining and head back home . After fixing the meal for Ted ( your 4 year old Labrador ) , you fix a warm water bath and relax with your phone of course to finally read the “email “ .

“Dearest Teena ,

Believe it or not !!!! It’s me !!!! And with this I win the challenge ! Wait ! Don’t tell me you forgot all about this challenge ? It’s exactly 20 years after we last met and we made a pact that who so ever reaches out through our first email will win the challenge !

Silly me ! We never decided on what the loser is going to do huh ! 

Call me as soon as you get into your senses !!! 

Here goes my number +1 432 345 4567

Wake up loser!!!

Brendan 

Tears of joy start rolling down your damp cheeks when you finally realise it is indeed your lucky day ! Your quickly get dressed and realise your battery just died and so did your phone ! Ted’s complaining eyes say ,” this will happen when you ignore me , meh “ . You quickly put the phone to charge and give Ted a tight hug , as you are ecstatic with joy of finding your lost buddy back . 

Your stomach growls finally making you realise that it’s almost dinner time and also a Friday night !!!!! You fix up quick veggie noodles and pour yourself some white wine and settle down on your couch to finally call your buddy . 

“Hello “ You are dumbstruck , as if you heard a ghost . “Hello ??” The voice is throaty and husky , you don’t believe it’s the same Brendan who could hardly speak in school .”how have you been ?????” You ask finally. “Who is this ? “ says the male voice from the other end . Gosh !!! How would he know that’s its you ???? “ Hey ! It’s me Teena ! Is that Brendan ? “ you finally gather yourself. 

“Teena !!! That you !!!!!! Where the hell have you been ??? “ 

“ I am working here in Toronto. Where are you ? “ “ Are you kidding me ? “ ,Brendan exclaims , “ I am in Toronto too ! How long have you been here ? “ You can’t contain your excitement and tell him it’s been 5 good years since you moved . You want to talk so much but Brendan abruptly says he needs to go and will call back .

Your mind travels back to 20 years when it was your last day at school and you had to leave the city, the very same day . You were anxious to exchange address and contact number with your best buddy and there he was running towards you . To say you were the best buddies was an understatement, you literally were stuck to each other to such an extent that you never cared about any other friends . You did have your circle but when you two were together the rest seemed immaterial . And surprisingly everyone else seemed to accept it and move on .  

Snap ! There he was standing right in front of you when the memories of all the years you spent together flashes before your eyes . You wanted to give him your contact details when he stopped you and said the most unthinkable . “ Teena ! I know you will be mad but I would not want us to be in touch for at least 20 years ! “ You feel as if someone slapped you hard .... and you stare at him in daze . “ What are you saying ?” You tried to control yourself but your face turned red and you couldn’t believe what you just heard . “ I know it’s going to be difficult, but I want us to give each other time and space to grow individually “ said Brendan with such conviction that you couldn’t react . “ I know we are stuck with each other so much that we have stopped looking around us , don’t feel that it’s a bad thing but I want us to grow apart from each other so that we can understand what we want. I want you to follow your path and I follow mine without getting stuck with each other .” “ Why can’t we do it when we are connected anyway ?”, you asked angrily . Brendan smiled and said , “ We are so close to each other that we will always think of each other before making any decisions, and that will stop us from growing.” Before you could say anything he threw the challenge of getting back in touch after 20 years through email , and strictly no communication whatsoever in between . 

You finally fall asleep thinking about all those wonder years .Its the weekend and you don’t want to wake up , but the phone rings and anticipating Brendan’s call you jump out of the bed .It’s Brendan!!!! “ Good morning !”, you pick up the phone and greet him excitedly . “ Hey , it’s almost afternoon ,let’s catch up for lunch “ replies Brendan . So much happening so soon , you could hardly believe you spoke last night and now you are meeting for lunch ! It all sounds like a dream still . “ Sure ! Let’s have lunch “ you finally utter something. Brendan quickly gets your address and promises to reach by 1 pm . “ I will get lunch with me , don’t bother to cook anything awful please ! “ he ends the call with his usual witty charm . 

You look around , and start cleaning up before he comes . The bell rings at sharp 1 pm and your heart starts pounding. You open the door and can hardly believe your eyes . There was Brendan , looking nothing like what he used to look like 20 years back , but he had the same warmth in his smile . You give each other a big warm hug just like the old times and suddenly realise as of you were never ever apart . 

The long lost friend was never lost. Time and distance didn’t matter as friends are tied to each other by heart .