It was their usual coffee place, usual chill out zone, and he was with her after a long time. It felt good to be there, even with all that was going on in her life. Too many mess ups yet pulling through and holding onto her sanity levels. He did not ask her how things were, knowing very well she did not need to elaborate it all and live it all again. He did not ask her where the father of her kid was, though he noticed that her belly had grown while she had shrunk. He did not ask her of her health, not of her back pains or her parents with whom she lived. He just smiled, the usual smile she liked, and warmed her from within.

He was there, being a friend. They had not dated, because she had chosen the other, whom she married, whose kid she carried, and who ran off and screwed another. He did not tell her “I told you so” because she knew it all well. He did not hold her hand, like the night she was shocked, too shocked to react on hearing of the other. He did not see it right, though he could have. She would have just shut out, and shut him out, like at times she did. He just waited with her, for that is all he thought she wanted. She had not changed, though the spark was missing, and the laughter was gone. She was herself, trying to make life work, not depend or repent. He waited for her, like he always did, unnoticed by her . He waited till she smiled too, after their coffee and their silent conversation.