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I've had a lot in my plate lately, as a result there are good friends I haven't seen for years, not that we quarrelled but we've been swamped with work to make out time for one another. So it was a medley of pleasantness and unpleasantness, when a tickling sensation on my skin around the thigh region drew my attention to the vibration of my phone which was inside the left pocket of my newly purchased black velvet trousers, which I had worn on that fateful Monday morning to work. As the phone beeped, I turned the items (some files really) that was in my left hand into the right, before sticking my left hand into my pocket, in an attempt to pull out the phone.
It was an incoming call from Mac, an old friend. He had called to inform me of his presence in my vicinity, where he had come for a wedding ceremony of his colleague at work place. He'd requested that I spare some minutes for us to catch up and at least honour the good old days.
I was just alighting from a bus and trying to make my way home from the bus stop when Mac's call came in. I was obviously tired from the action-packed-time I had in office. The only thing that was on my mind at the very moment, was how to make my way home and cuddle up to my bed for few hours before attending to the files I had brought back from office. That should explain why I received Mac's call with mixed feeling.
Although I was exhausted, I couldn't miss this rare chance of catching up with an old friend. It's been years for crying out. what's thirty minutes to one hour that couldn't be spared for this purpose? I thought to myself.
I gently strolled down to where Mac was. After violently slapping each other's palm and calling ourselves some of the most awful names in the universe in place of pleasantries, we quickly jumped into throwing allegations at each other;
"dude you're so wicked, you mean you could stay for two good......, or is it three years without seeing me?"
Mac flipped his fingers exposing his naturally long but neat nails, in an attempt to count the number of years we've spent without seeing each other.
I interrupted him;
"You ain't better off. This is the case of charcoal calling a pot black. Can't you remember that there was a day I called, while I was in your area, and you told me that you weren't back from work?" "Can't you?"
"Mine is even better, at least I showed up when you called" I added.
After going round in circles for some minutes, accusing one another in loud voices, we gradually started lowering our tones, acknowledging the fact that the everyday hustles and bustles had taken its toll on us, such that, we couldn't do so many things we would have loved to.
The sarcasms, satires and innuendos gradually started fading. The young men started being serious.
You know men talk; we spoke on jobs and projects we've worked on, in the space of three years. Though neither of us was exactly where we had earlier projected as teens, but one thing was clear, we were on the right path towards that destination.
We thanked God for how far we've come.
The atmosphere was quite tensed; we were too serious for comfort. For crying out loud we were not there for a business summit or something close. We've been doing business related stuffs all year long, why suffocate this little moment we stole for chit-chat with yet another business talk?
We noticed the tenseness almost simultaneously and immediately switched the discussion to why we aren't married despite all the money we're running around for.
You know women talk particular excites men for some unexplainable reasons. We gave out loud laughs. We started teasing ourselves on girls we had either crushed on or those that crushed on us. We made jokes on relationships that never came through.
We laughed at pranks we pulled out, in the days when men were boys.
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Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, when it was time to go, I walked away refreshed. Tonnes of loads seems to have been lifted off my fragile shoulders.
Then I was yet reminded that a little fun and laughter do help.
I need to make out time for fun a little more.
Everything shouldn't be that serious.
Should it?