He Was a Friend

/17/ She's back at Earth. /

"Drinks, snacks..."

Louise came back to reality after hearing the voice of the flight attendant. She and Eric were sitting around the back row of the plane where there were only two seats on one side of the row. She was sitting beside the window, and Eric took the aisle seat. Eric wasn't there at his seat that time.

He probably went to the toilet.

She blinked twice, and remembered the flight attendant.

"Excuse me, Miss. One brewed coffee, please," she ordered. The flight attendant nodded and smiled, and proceeded with preparing her order.

"Make that two," a man's voice was heard just in front of the attendant.

It was Eric – standing with both hands on his pockets, as he waited for the attendant to complete their orders. He can't really sit in his seat yet because the cart having the food and drinks was blocking the way.

Louise caught the attendant blush when she looked at his friend's face.

Aha. No can do, Miss. That guy has a stone heart, she chuckled.

The flight attendant gave her the coffee as well as Eric's, and blushed again before taking off. Even the women on the other side of their seat were stealing glances at her childhood friend, who doesn't seem to notice.

Or probably, he knows, just that he's used to it and doesn't give a hoot. Tsk, tsk.

Eric sat beside her. He hasn't uttered a word ever since the airport incident. She felt genuinely thankful for that, at least he was considerate enough in giving her space to gather her thoughts by herself first.

By force of habit, she placed her cream and sugar at his desk – because she drinks coffee without those.

She drank one gulp and took a deep breathe as she felt her nerves starting to ease up. She was trying not to laugh when he saw Eric looking at her every now and then, as if trying to gauge her mood on whether it's okay to strike a conversation or not.

Poor guy.

"Sooooo..." Eric muttered, making her look his way. "How was it?" he added, as he stirred his coffee with the cream and sugar she gave, acting as nonchalantly as possible.

He's pretty obvious though, she snickered.

"The coffee?" she asked innocently.

"To hell with the coffee. You know what I'm talking about," he pouted, not looking at her.

She finally laughed.

If it's just friendship, this guy's really the best.

She took a deep breathe again before answering.

"Well, I honestly don't know. It wasn't bad. I can't say it's good as well - at least at the moment," she explained, while drinking another gulp.

Eric nodded as he drank his own.

"I was surprised. I mean... I've been with him for 15 years. Why now?"

Eric choked and coughed consecutively, and got his handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his lips.

She continued. "And it was Art. The Art. I've seen Art's ex-girlfriends – and they're like... polar opposites of me, both in looks and personality. You've seen them, too, right? They're so different from me, right?" she nudged Eric, who made him spill a bit of his coffee due to her careless nudging.

Eric cussed as he tried to remove the coffee stain on his shirt using his hankies, and looked at her accusingly when it didn't work.

"Yeah, yeah. They're all such beauties all right," he smirked, and flinched at the same time when he felt her fingers pierced his ribs.

"I mean, I would've understood if it was you who confessed to me and not him—"

"EXCUSE ME?" Eric exclaimed.

She burst out laughing seeing disbelief all over her childhood friend's face. It was her turn to get her tissues as some of the coffee she was drinking splattered a bit.

"Wow, Ms. Bernal, I think that airport incident made your self-confidence bloat by a bunch. Should I bring you back to Earth?" he sneered, also wiping some of her coffee which reached his desk.

She kept laughing, but smile left her face after suddenly feeling a sense of deja vu. It was a similar incident with Art in the past – where they were also laughing so much that the juice they were drinking were everywhere.

She let out a sigh.

"So... What are you gonna do about it now?" Eric asked, while he mixed his other packet of sugar on his coffee.

Louise did a face palm.

"I don't know. Help me?"

Eric looked at her and for the first time in their 25 years of friendship, she can't read his expression.