Short Stories Collection.

4. Ann Collins

   
         I stared outside the window as my eyes took in the view before me-------The Mighty Sun retiring behind the hills in all its glory. I bow a 'Thank You' to the beautiful waitress who had set my coffee on the table and had excused herself after having learned that I have nothing else needed, at least not until my long-awaited friend arrives. 

    I took a sip of the beverage and washed it bitterly down my throat as I took a stroll down my memory lane. Ann Collins was the closest friend I grew up with until 12th grade. Our plans to go to college together were shattered when she and her family had to move abroad as required by her father's job. I remember having wept bitterly with her as we bade our goodbyes at the Airport, promising we would keep in touch via social media. But as adulthood would have it, our bond couldn't withstand the hustle and bustle of life and we kept reducing our time for each other from twice a week, once a week, once a month and eventually nothing at all. I was busy building my business and she was busy saving lives. 

    I thought we had become nothing more than fond memories until one sunday morning when I received an email stating that "The heroine was to be back in town" and that I was to ring her up with the number written in the far end of the mail as soon as possible. My ecstasy knew no bounds and I wasted no time in calling her. After a few rings, she picked it up and I could hear her scream in joy at the end of the line. We talk for hours like those years of disconnection never existed. 

And that's one thing about true friendship,You can always continue from where you left off without any complications. And as we're speaking, the heroine is to be here tonight as she had informed me. I await her arrival in the 5 Star Restaurant I booked or should I say I owned. 

    My trains of thoughts were disturbed by a phone ringing from beside me. I looked over as my Secretary, John, whose one hand was occupied holding a file, struggled to get his phone out from his pocket. He answered the phone, then looked at me and bowed, signalling he needed to excuse himself out of the room for a while. 

      I took another sip of the coffee and enjoyed the breathtaking scene before me. Just then, heavy heels-steps interrupted me and I turned back to see HER clad in Dior from head to toe and standing there to make sure she was in the right room. I rise from my seat and smile the widest smile on seeing her. When she got the confirmation she needed, she squealed, "Heyyyyyy… . "  as she took her seat at the other side of the table and my eyes never left her. Our smiles too never leave our faces. Once we settled down I spoke, 

"Nice hair. "

She let out a laugh as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said, " Well, being a brunette matches my profession. "

I giggled as I said, " You sound more like a Model than a Doctor. "

"You're looking great yourselves, Miss CEO, Bet you have a handsome boyfriend too. "

"Boyfriend?..... " I laughed ".... Is that an insult? "

"Yes."

We both laughed. 

We stared out the window. The sun had set by then giving way to an even more beautiful Dusk. 

"Wow!Look at that. " She said. 

"I know, right? How can the end of something be this beautiful? "

There was a brief pause after that. 

"You're still poetic as always. " She said as we let out another hearty laugh. 

   

       We spent the next 30 mins catching up on each other's lives. We were two pathetic friends still single in their thirties. We retell tales of our high school lives and had a good laugh about it. We talked of my notoriety for having a lot of crushes and hers for always dating the wrong guy. We also talked of our lives after we parted ways, but of course in the funniest way possible. 

  About half an hour later, darkness had settled in and I noticed the tiredness in my friend's eyes as our conversation, too, lost merry in it. 

"You must be jet-lagged. We should probably get you home. " I said. 

She gave me a weak smile and nodded weakly as she rose from her seat to which I followed suit. We stared at each other for a brief while, as we stood rooted in our spots. 

"I've missed you a lot. " She said. 

I widened my smile a little and said, "I've missed you too. "

A brief silence again. 

"I don't know when I'll see you again but when I do I promise I won't ever have to say goodbye again. " She said. 

"We will never have to. Ever again. " I whispered. 

She smiled. 

"I better get going. Goodbye. " She said as she stepped away from her seat and began to advance towards the door without making me voice out my response, and her heels-steps fades away behind my back. 

I slowly sink back into my seat never once looking back. 

My Secretary came rushing in just in time a tear slid down my face. I didn't even bother looking up at him despite sensing the tension in his hasty movements. 

"Ma'am.. Ma'am. Miss Collins met with an accident on her way here. And she… she died on the spot… . I'm sorry ma'am. "

I just stared blankly at the empty seat across me. After a brief pause, I said, 

"Her feet were suspended in the air the entire time."

"What? ".