It all started in the summer of 1995, when I was 10.
I grew up in an upper-class family in London. My father, Albert, was a business man and worked in a company where he'd meet new people everyday. My mother, Katherine, worked for a fashion institute, so out of school hours, I was left to be cared for by our house maid, Maria. One day, when I was 10, my father invited a new friend of his who worked in the same company. I remember that day clearly. Jack, his wife Mary and only daughter entered our front door as my parents greeted them into our humble home. This wasn't any different to the hundreds of guests we would have every year but that there was someone the same age as me, who I could enjoy the presence of. My mother told me to take their daughter to the play-room where we could be out of their way, so I did. We rambled on about everything as 10 year old's do. I learnt that her name was Lydia and that she was 10 and wanted to be a model. We became friends at their first visit, and after my parents became good friends with hers our meetings became more frequent. Our mothers would meet at least once a week for the first few months. But then came the point where their family moved much closer to ours, so Me and Lydia could meet whenever we wanted. And we did...
A lot. We became best friends, we told each other everything. All our individual secrets became both of our secrets. We didn't get that sense of 'click' where we understood each other because we were young but growing up together meant we had similar likes and dislikes and that meant everyday was different. We would meet up at 6 o'clock near Kensington Gardens and we would talk about life, and how we'd like our future to be. The point at which we became closest friends, was when she realized that her parents weren't happy because occasional fights became frequent fights and she told me she was scared they'd get a divorce. That's when I realized she needed me more than I imagined. Our love for each other wasn't the love you'd have for your girlfriend or boyfriend at this time but a love of friendship. Four months after Lydia's 14th birthday, my mother helped her get into a modelling institute where, from what she told me she didn't feel comfortable doing. She would say that she felt like their property, so I helped her understand what she actually wanted to do. But everything was cut short a year later, when her mother had filed for divorce and Lydia was left in pieces. Her mother moved to New York where she had family which meant Lydia had to go too. It was awful, it felt like a piece of me was being teared off, and I felt lonely because the one person who was closest to me was gone. We kept in contact for about half a year, but then College got in the way and we stopped calling each other. The missing piece of me, Lydia, was a pain that I lived with for a while but then got used to, to the point where I didn't realize the pain. I sort of forgot about her, made a lot of new friends and relationships that I learnt a lot from. After two years I completed my A-Levels and enrolled for a degree in Law. My social life reached it's peak in university where I made several brilliant friends a few of which were similar to Lydia's.
By the time I was in my second year of university I knew where my place was, all aspects of my life had fallen into place which made me believe that my life was on a path that would inevitably would be followed. As my university course included a third year sandwich course, I had to look for a placement and being adventurous I applied abroad to several Law firms. After much searching, applications and interviews I got a placement with Greenberg Taurig, with the help of my father. After I told my mother, she was my reminder that Lydia had moved to New York. I completely forgot, I remember thinking that this could be it, our reuniting! I asked my mother if she had heard from any of them but she hadn't so I didn't know what approach to take. I rummaged through my drawers until I found her letters buried under old souvenirs. I found her address on the back of the envelopes. Could she still be there? I decided to take the letters with me. After several weeks, I started my internship. They had given me an apartment near to the firm which made it easy to get to and from work. The first two weeks of being there was a hassle which left me no time but to focus on work. The third week, things cooled down, I had moved in and was comfortable. I made a few friends with some interns and my neighbors were really nice people. I decided to try and find Lydia, I found the address and took a cab there. It was a tall building full of apartments. I got outside the door to where my old friend could be. I took a deep breath and knocked three times. I waited a while, and then heard footsteps coming towards the door, the butterflies in my stomach started beating my stomach but then died when a man opened the door.
After much chatter, I found out that he was her step-brother as her mother re-married. Lydia had moved out on her own and he said that he rarely hears from her. He gave me her address, and I was off. I took another cab to her address and that's when I had realized that it would probably be uncomfortable if I just appear out of no where. So, I decided to wait near her apartment in a bar to see if I could spot her. While sitting there, the bar got slightly busier as everyone was coming home from work. Only when I heard a mixture of a British accent with a slight drop of New York-ishness I turned around to see a woman standing next to the counter waiting for her drink. What gave me the confirmation that it was Lydia was the fact that she had a large metal 'L' key ring attached to her set of keys that I'd given her on her 15th birthday.
I stared at it just to make sure it was the one I'd given her. I improvised and decided to stand up and walk towards her. What do I say!? The only thing I could think of, was: 'Excuse me. Can you tell me where you got that L key ring from?' When she turned around my face lit up. It was her! Her hazel eyes glowed and her brown hair, bunned up. At first she didn't realize it was me, she picked up the key ring and looked at me with confusion as to whether I thought it was a good pick up line or just actual curiosity. She explained that an old friend gave it to her, and I just stood there and smiled. She looked back at me first, with again a confused expression which slowly turned serious and then a mixture of surprised and happiness. She jumped and hugged me and we just stood there holding each other for an age. We went for a long walk, just talking and talking about what things have been like. I stopped and apologized for not keeping in contact, but she understood and explained her side about why she couldn't either. That night, she took me back to her apartment, where we expressed feelings for each other that we'd never done before. That's was the moment where I found the pain I was in before that night. The piece of me that was taken away was finally a part of me again and I was ecstatic! We were different people, yet inside we still knew each other how we used to when we were young. The next few years of my life was nothing I had expected. I proposed to Lydia after one year of that day. We are now the happiest couple in New York. Then we were 21, and now we're 26 expecting a baby girl in a few months. The moral of this story, is that although you may feel there is a set path in life, you may never go down it..and that isn't a bad thing because the path that you do go down, could be 1000 times better.. :)
