She steps away, laughter follows her back. She is happy her friends are having so much fun. She steps out of the house to meet her boyfriend. All eyes at her retreating back, waiting and watching. "I hear he owns a Merc" One of them jeers. A few snorts of disbelief and then silence. More stares. All huddled at the window, eyes straining to see her prince charming. They quickly retreat to the living room as they await the prince.
Seconds later, the naive girl emerges. She is in the arms of a handsome man beaming as she introduces him to her friends. "Hi!!" They all respond happy to meet him. He is quite a catch, they all agree. The clothes are not bad either, another whispers and they all smile. All is lost to the girl,she is just happy her friends like her boyfriend.
The prince charming has to leave. Disappointed faces inquire, "Where to?You just got here." He smiles that dashing smile of his and explains. She had forgotten some tiny detail, he was leaving for Australia, and was en route to the airport via her place. "She insisted I meet her friends, and so, here I am." They insist on tagging along to the airport, he declines politely and insists he will be fine in a taxi. He says his goodbye to them, a special one for her. A couple of jealous eyes stare.
"Yeah, honey, what is he going to Australia for?" One of them inquires. Just some business, she replies dismissing the topic. Lets plan our weekend, she suggests. "Good idea", they all genuinely agree.
Later that night.....
"Did you see her clothes?"
"Yeah! And those pitiful shoes?"
"What did he see in her?"
More snorts, jeers and genuine dislike for the naive girl, their friend's taste in dressing.
"What was his name again, bet he could use someone of his class"
Murmurs of agreement rent the air, an idea is actually born out of that.
Two weeks later, he asks her out to dinner. "Be careful honey, with whom you entrust your secrets." He urges her. He knows the girls are not her genuine friends but he does not know how to say it without sounding malicious. He knows she is a bit naive to how the world works. Her innocent nature and genuine inner beauty is what attracted her to him in the first place.
"I am careful honey, you know I am wise" She replies.She is wise yes, but not the worldly wisdom. She grew up sheltered and thus not exposed to harsh realities. How else does he explain to her that one of her friends is coming onto him, very strongly for that matter. She revealed that she does not understand why he loved the silly girl. Being the gentleman he was, dismissed her as politely as he could.
The naive girl has her weaknesses, she does not hide them and readily shares with her friends. They empathize, sympathize and offer solutions. They even let her cry on their 'shoulders', she is happy they listen and care. Such wonderful friends.
Within days, her story was out in the open. Each of her friends issuing a vehement denial of being the source of the leak. She was devastated, stabbed and bleeding but willing to forget.
"Honey, there's something you need to know. Please don't be quick to judge my words" He could take it no more.
As gently as he could, he poured out what he had kept hidden for long. His love was not furious, far from that. She was calm, collected and cool. She smiled at him, thanked him for caring and insisted it was not true.
Later in deep thought, it dawned on her. She had many friends, but only a few were truly friends. She had her first worldly lesson and it made her smile that bitter sweet smile. She was growing alright and he had a hand in that. The 'friends' were indeed useful, they had taught her a valuable lesson.
After all, it is friends that we put our trust in, and they teach us the most lessons especially when our trust is betrayed. So worry not when your life is full of 'friends'. They make us wiser and help us grow.
Love it.
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