"Best Friend"

It was a mild evening with light breeze, the clouds were threatening a rainy night. And as usual Rakshith and Vani were seated at their favourite coffee shop, at their usual timings, having their usual cup of coffee and unwinding after a long day at work.

Neither ever found to fill up all the silence with chattering they were as comfortable with silence as with words. Sometimes they preferred silence more than words. It was jolt from a silent pondering when Rakshith's phone pinged.

He smiled apologetically while he looked at his message. As usual after checking his message he scrolled his facebook timeline and chuckled. Vani as usual knew he would do what he did and asked, "Who said what?"

He set his phone down and said, somebody has asked a question "What do you mean by "best friend"?

She smiled while sipping at her cup, both enjoying the companiable silence and the hot cuppa in hand.

As was their habit, today was her turn to pay for the coffee and his turn to drop her home. While he was taking the bike out, she asked "So .... what was your answer?"

He sat on the bike and thought for a moment like he knew the answers but he was searching for the words and then he said very nonchalantly  "Best friend is one whom we prefer over other friends"

She smiled indulgently and shrugged her shoulders.

On the way to her home he said "The one who knows you in and out". No answer from her, but he knew she was smiling.

When he dropped at her place and as she turned towards her home bidding him bye, his voice called her back "The one who can understand you better than all"

She nodded her head knowingly and waved him away.

Vani finished her nightly routine and while she was enjoying dinner with her family her phone pinged. A facebook notification that Rakshith commented "Best friend is the one who loves you no matter who you are. A companion in your smiles and a shoulder for your tears"

She smiled and turned her attention back to her mother.

After dinner while she was busy catching up with social media, her Watsapp pinged "The one whom you can be sure will never leave you or judge you. Who will know your emotions before expressing"

She sent him a smiley back.

At the commercial break between her usual T.V. news show, she scrolled her Instagram and saw a photo of herself with Rakshith posted with a tagline "My best friend, who can understand my silence and unfinished sentences"

She loved the pic and got back to her program.

As she got ready to bed, he called her. Before she could utter her hello he said "The one who guards you more than themselves, who loves even while hating you and who will never shy away in asking what is in your mind nor telling what is there in their mind. Actually who doesn't even need to ask, they will just know."

After a moment's silence he added softly "To tell you the truth, I can't explain best friend, I can't explain what you are to me. You just are my best friend. That's it. No explanation"

At this Vani couldn't hold back and she laughed out loud. She could sense his frown, knew that his eyebrows scrunched up and a hard glint in his eyes, his fingers will be plucking his bed-sheet while he waited for her to say something.

Finally Vani said in a voice full of smile "I just asked your opinion, you don't need to prove me anything. You were, are and will always be my best friend and I will always be yours"

She could sense smoothing of his frown and a smile laughing in his eyes while he said "Good night"

As usual he was the last person she talked to before falling asleep as he was always the first one to hear her voice.