More Today than Yesterday

What's a Best Friend for?

The next morning they were woken by the doorbell. It was half past eight in the morning and Benedict's coworker was supposed to pick him up for their weekly game of tennis. Sophie sat up, rubbing her eyes, still tired; few things can tire you out as much as crying.

Benedict got up to answer the door. Outside, Henry was getting a little impatient so he rang the bell once more after which he could hear Ben making his way to the door inside. Henry was a little surprised by Ben's appearance when the door was opened; Ben was usually ready to go when he arrived.

"Sorry Henry, I know I texted you last night saying I came home early, but I can't today." Benedict told his friend and coworker, he continued with "Sophie is going through some stuff and I need to be there for her."

"Hey man, don't worry about it, we can play next Saturday." Henry replied.

"I know I should have let you know, but she showed up last night and I completely forgot."

Henry looked at Ben's wrinkled clothes and started to smile before saying "She spent the night huh?" the smile turned into a grin.

"It's not like that" Ben defended, knowing what his coworker was thinking.

"Too bad," Henry said "but I'll leave you to it then, see you Monday." The last part half yelled as he was walking back to his car.

When Benedict came back inside he found Sophie lying on the couch looking up at him. "Who was it?" she asked in a low, sleepy voice.

"Henry from work, I forgot to cancel tennis."

"You shouldn't cancel your plans just because I showed up" she said, feeling bad that she was ruining Ben's day with her problems. She also felt bad for Henry's ruined day, in her mind she was just a horrible burden on everyone around her.

"Hey, I play tennis with him almost every week, I can skip a week" Ben said while sitting down on the sofa where she lay. While putting a hand on her shoulder he added "besides, you are much more important." She smiled slightly as he said that, it is nice to know someone cares.

"Do you want to sleep some more before breakfast?" Benedict asked.

"I'm still pretty tired," she answered with a slight nod.

Benedict got up, took a blanket off the back of the couch and spread it across her body. Before he left the room he closed the curtains a little better and turned off the last lamp that had been burning throughout the night.

He went into the kitchen and checked his calendar to make sure he had not forgotten any more appointments, but since they had arrived a day earlier than planned the rest of the day was already free.

An hour and a half later Sophie walked into the kitchen where she found Benedict looking at something on his laptop whilst sipping on a cup of coffee. She quickly found the pot and poured herself a cup.

"Feeling better?" Benedict asked hopefully.

She looked at him and to her he looked just like the same little boy that had been so sad when he had broken her favourite plastic tiara many years earlier. This time it wasn't even his fault she was sad.

"A little, that first blow hits hard, but even after that is gone I'm still stuck with sadness and betrayal." She said causing mixed emotions in Benedict, on one hand he was glad she felt better, on the other he hated that she still felt bad.

"Where did I put my jacket?" Sophie asked Benedict "I think I left my phone in the pocket."

"I'll get it for you," Benedict said as he almost jumped from his chair "you just sit down and drink your coffee."