man, not yet forty years old, a healthy ordinary guy. A big man, working and saving money every month. He was in his best age, tall and strong, with a face of a man who works out on building sites.
Every day, five days a week, he was working hard and every afternoon, evening and night, he spent with…
A
woman, a few years younger than the man. A blond, blue-green eyed, slender, beautiful woman, working in an office. She was a tender caring woman, who always met the man in the doorway, when he got from work.
Every day she looked like she was the happiest woman in the world.
T
he man, my friend, had been a bachelor for many, many years, when he suddenly met this wonderful woman. He instantly fell in love with her and the woman had the same feelings for him. They were ‘the perfect couple’. I was happy to see them go so well together. The perfect couple.
My friend and I met frequently at his place or mine. We also had contact by telephone and sometimes by mail, so I knew quite well how their relationship was. The only thing I was wondering about was when they would get married and maybe, at least in the future, when a small child or two would come to this world.
They lived together, but… they had two apartments. They both had quite small apartments in different parts of our town. They didn’t sell them and bought a bigger place together. I didn’t think so much about it more than it had been clever to reduce the costs a little. And I don’t know how they were thinking. They were happy with the way they lived.
As I was a bachelor too, I often visited them in one of their apartments. I was always welcome and stayed chatting over a cup of coffee or some food. To be honest I was a little jealous when I looked at them. They were so in love and they were so happy. The perfect couple.
S
ix years passed.
O
ne day I tried to get in touch with them. I called both him and her. None of them answered my calls. Later I tried again and early next morning. They didn’t answer. At this time I was a little worried because this had never happened before. They always told me if they were going somewhere for a day or so.
When I called day three with the same result I became very worried. I took my car and drove to my friends place. I can tell you that my heart started to beat hard when I saw his car outside his house. What could have happened? Was he sick? Why didn’t he answer the phone and why didn’t she? Many questions flashed through my brain when I hurried up the stairs to the door.
I
could hear the doorbell ringing inside the hallway. I tried again. And again. I started to knock on the door, shouting my name at the same time. Nothing happened in the apartment. Now I knew something was wrong. It could be very wrong. My heart was like exploding for every beat when a grabbed my cell phone and called him again. Now I could hear his telephone too inside the apartment!
I took three steps backwards and ran for the door.
It only hurt my shoulder, not the door.
I went further away from the door and tried again.
It was a solid door.
I was desperate and kept on trying to get through the door, I even used a small chair to try to break the door open.
Then, suddenly the door was open. How I don’t remember now, but it was. I rushed inside and there he was. Good lord! He was alive! I saw him from behind when he was sitting in the sofa. He had his face down in his hands and I could her him cry. The big strong man was crying in pain, like a baby with tears streaming down his face.
Seconds became minutes and minutes became hours, before I understood he was unhurt and should be okay.
It took a long time, with cold water and a friendly hand on his shoulder, before he even could start to talk.
He really tried to talk, but it was hard to do when he was crying.
I understood that his girlfriend had left him. It was bad news but in the same time it was good to know he wasn’t physical hurt. But mental…
This big, solid man was like a big baby. He didn’t want to live anymore, so I had to take him to my place and watch over him for two days and two nights before I could leave him and go to work.
O
ne day when I came from work he had made dinner for us. He was grateful for what I had done and now he wanted to talk.
He started to say:
- 100 percent. Not 90, or 99 or even 99,9 percent.
- Can you take it from the beginning? I said.
- Yes I’ll try, he said slowly.
- You knew us, he said. Or you thought you knew us. But the fact is that you didn’t. Nobody did. Not even she or me ‘knew us’.
After a short break he continued:
- I have never, and I mean never! met someone like her. We liked the same tings, the same music, the same food, the same jokes and you know there were many jokes, don’t you?
- Yes, I know, I said.
- We laughed and cried for the same things, he said. We wanted to travel to same places. We even liked the same sex, you know.
- Well, that is very private, I said. Maybe it’s best you don’t tell me.
- These years…he said. I haven’t had so fun in my entire life, together, if you understand?
- Hmmm, I said.
- I have laughed every single hour we were awake, sometimes in my sleep too, as I remember. And then it happened.
He got silent for a long time. I looked at him, without showing it. I waited.
He started over:
- And then it happened, he said again and the words came silently from him mouth.
- She said she didn’t love me anymore.
I could hardly hear him talking. He was looking through the wall, through the wall in a distant world.
- It was a week ago, he said. But still I can’t believe it, he said and went to the kitchen for the desert.
The world tumbled for me too. He made me a dinner in his state. Amazing.
When he came back he said:
- I hope you’ll find a woman like her. I’m not angry, I still miss her so, he said, while the tears started to fall again.
- I am pretty sure you do one day, he continued. And one day, one day I’m gonna look back and say; this was the happiest years of my life…
His voice disappeared...
- 100 percent, not 99,9 percent, he said when he could talk again. Be sure your relationship is 100 percent. Look at me how it can end otherwise. I knew it wasn’t 100.
He cleaned the table, left all things in the kitchen for me, shook my hand saying he was lucky to have a friend like me. Then he went.
O
ne year later he went for good. His company needed him in Manchester, England.
I’ve seen many moons since then. We keep in touch sporadically. Nowadays he is a happy man, looking football once a week and he have met another woman…
I’ll keep my finger crossed…
G
ood luck my friend.