Before You Say Goodbye

CHP 14: PIECES OF ADVICE?

As she reached Bernard's cafe, she greeted Bernard with a smile. "Hey, Bernard!! How are you old friend?!" said Cheryl putting up her best possible happy voice. "You seem quite happy, hmm. Where have you been the past couple days? Your friends have been trying to contact you for a week! And they were worried sick" replied Bernard with a hint of worry and a bit of resentment in his voice. "I was on vacation. And you know I haven't got a cellphone yet, so couldn't give them a call or inform them" Cheryl half-lied about the vacation part. "Ohh so you haven't got your phone yet? Your friends bought theirs just 2 days ago! Haven't you saved enough cash to buy one?" asked Bernard. "No not yet. Though I plan on buying soon" replied Cheryl. "Let me buy one for you," offered Bernard.
"I have a lot of things to pay for...without which my whole life would seem worthless," muttered Bernard to himself. It almost sounded like he was regretting something he had done in the past and wanted to set things right by doing something good for someone.
"No sir, with all due respect, I can't take it. I haven't worked enough for it yet and if you are going to cut it from my pay, it would be a big issue for me" replied Cheryl humbly. "Consider it as an Autumn gift from me! To be honest, I feel autumn is that part of nature which makes us think and also, teaches us a lot of things, only if we learn to observe. I personally love autumn season, it's like a teacher to me. Besides, enough of that. I'm sure you won't be interested in listening to something like this haha...today's kids are different. Anyways,consider this as a gift." said Bernard saintly.
Bernard and Cheryl went to a cell phone store and he bought her a phone and gave her the numbers of her friends and his own number as well, saying, "The next time you want a vacation, inform your friends and also me. Tell me a day prior if you want a day off".
"Thank you so much Bernard! I can't thank you enough. You're the best! And yes, the thing u said about me getting bored with your talk of autumn, it didn't bore me one bit. Actually, I would love to know why Autumn season is so important to you. "
"Oh! You're the first one to have said this. Welcome child, come, let's go to the cafe and talk about this."
Throughout their journey from the electronics store to Bernards cafe, it was silent for 7 whole minutes where neither of them spoke after Cheryl's last sentence.
As they sat, Bernard began, "You know what Cheryl, sometimes what we see or what appears to us isn't always the whole truth. Sometimes, we tend to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to someone else's thoughts. Sometimes we are a lot stubborn and refuse to even try to find out the real truth. Just like in Autumn, everyone sees the leaves falling off the tree, and the tree later on becoming all bare and alone. That's not the actual case, you know? The leaves though leave the tree, they do come back in some time. But this time period in between of the leaves falling off and growing back, the tree is given it's own personal space for it's nourishment. Also, do you know why the trees look so lively and great in the spring and the summer? It's because they have nourished themselves enough and now are adjustable to everything. When the leaves grow back, the tree doesn't behave in a stubborn way, saying that it doesn't want any leaves, it simply adjusts and accepts. Just think of the tree as yourself and the leaves as the people around you. When you were on your vacation without informing any of your friends, they felt like those lonely trees. But now that you are back, they will once again, look cheerful like the trees in the spring."
Cheryl was flabbergasted by Bernard's answer. She was so stunned by his analogy and explanation that she got tears in her eyes thinking how her friends had tried their level best at contacting her and how they were all so considerate towards her. Cheryl in her mind, recalled of how even she felt like a lonely tree and couldn't at all feel happy without her friends. Though she had this realization, she still had bitter hate for Oliver in her heart. She was convinced that Oliver never considered Cheryl any important. But, we all know how utterly wrong she was and how much she meant to him.
Out of curiosity, Cheryl questioned, "Who all had inquired and called for me?" "Felix, Catherine, Michel, myself and I don't remember theirs names. There was some boy named Ole something and another girl. She was very sweet and was the most concerned about you. Her name was something like Jany. She seemed very matured and was too calm and composed," praised Bernard.
"Oliver and...Jennifer?" guessed Cheryl. "Yes yes correct! The boy came on the first day of your leave itself and the girl Jeni- Jeni- what was it?...right, Jennifer. She came on the second day, and was really worried for you" informed Bernard. Cheryl wasn't sure of how to react on the news of Jennifer approaching her. She began to overthink whether Jennifer really cared for her or was it something else. Was it any trick of Jennifer's to again, humiliate and let down Cheryl... And what about Oliver! She was happy he came to check on her but still, she hadn't forgiven Oliver or Jennifer and disliked them.
Cheryl decided to open up to Bernard and told him about the incident at the party and how she cried for days and how she lied about her so-called vacation. "And hence, I wasn't contacting anyone.." completed Cheryl with a sigh. Bernard was left speechless at this. He truly wanted to be the right guide for Cheryl and so after thinking for a while, he said "Look here Cheryl, the decisions you make right now decide how your future turns out to be. I can just give you some guidance, but in the end it's you who has to choose. I'll just tell you this, it's not always what it looks like and we shall never judge a book by it's cover, right? That Jeni girl, whatever she did was completely wrong, I won't say anything otherwise but sometimes, we are ourselves in so much grief and troubled that we just vent out our anger on someone else. You're a student of psychology, right? You know all this better than me. At that point of time, we don't realize that being in distress and anxiety doesn't allow us to behave rudely with anyone. But once we are out of that phase, we later on realize how wrong we were! Do you know what the best part of all communications is? Just one word, "Sorry" it can end all the discomforts and misunderstandings between people. You know, I personally really hate the word sorry, but we can't always cling to our personality traits and keep justifying our mistakes. Sometimes, we need to see things through someone else's perspective and read their story from their view. Maybe, think of what lead to their actions and if they did something wrong and later realized it and ask for an apology, I feel it should be granted. And that Oliver guy, he seems too nice to do all this intentionally. In the end, you should do what you feel is right. But, if you ask me  I'll say, accept their sorries and be friends with them again because saying sorry and accepting your mistakes does indeed take a lot of courage. Also, that Oliver and Jennifer would be great additions to your group of four." Concluded Bernard. "Yeah maybe you're right. I'm not sure about it now, but I will surely think about it. Anyways, it's 1 pm already and I have a lot of assignments pending and a lot of college work to catch upon. Also, Thanks a ton Bernard! I didn't know you were so wise and amazing. It was a great help Bernard, thank you, really!" responded Cheryl. "Sure no problem. And text your friends once!" advised Bernard. "Yeah! Bye and thanks again" said Cheryl. "Welcome" greeted Bernard while waving a hand to Cheryl