When your workmate is also your high school friend

everything just goes right, even when it’s not right!

It’s great if your workmate is your close friend. But you know what’s greater?

It’s when your high school friend is your workmate.

She has your back, all the time. Helps you out with difficult projects. Picks you up when you are confused. Covers for you. And when your boss is getting the better of you, she knows how to calm you down and you do the same for her.

The best, you go for your regular tea (or coffee) breaks and you feel as if the high school has never ended. It is a boon, really.

I must have done something good with my life. And one day, the universe whispered to me, “so be it”. Yes, just like that, I found out that my workmate is my close friend from high school.

No, it wasn’t planned at all. In fact, we had not spoken to each other after the second year of college. It was a surprise, for me- pleasant. For her, not so pleasant.

Going rewind.

First day of college, so overwhelming!

New people, new place and I were only a fresher. My first day started with excitement. But soon, ended in disappointment.

How so? Because here people are mean and nobody spoke to each other.

As a result, I was terribly missing my best friend, Brity. She had to go to a different college because we picked different courses.

Can there be anything more nightmare-ish?!

College without your best friend!?

So I call her up and soon, we meet at a cafe near her college.

But, you know, she doesn’t come alone. She brings her.

Do you know what is worse than not going to the same college with your best friend?

It is to find out that your best friend has found out another best friend, that too on the first day of her college.

It was harder to gulp down for me because this girl was not any other girl, she was Lopa, with her signature kohled eyes.

Lopa has always been our close friend. But when it came to the point of being best friends, it was always me and Brity. Nobody else could cross that line. That’s how it is, no? But, guess what!? For Brity, Lopa was in the line.

No, don’t get me wrong. I love Lopa… I just can’t share my best friend.

Nevertheless, we spend days and weeks, enjoying college, making memories and making fun of Lopa, in all the sweet ways.

Fast forward a bit,

Lopa feels the awkwardness and very cleverly, removes herself from the situation. She never speaks to me. Meanwhile, Brity finds another bunch of college friends and they come close to the radar.

Sometime after, Brity and I fall out too. She gets busy with her college, assignments, friends. I get busy with my college, assignments and work.

For some time, Brity and I work at the same firm.

But I had long working hours.

So when I used to work, she kept having fun with her other friends.

That went on the same for weeks and months.

I was going through a rough period, yet she was never there.

Soon, we started avoiding each other, we stopped meeting completely and everything came up to a few texts once in a while.

We didn’t go for birthday surprises and hardly thought hard for each other’s birthday presents.

Her college friends substituted me in her life. My work substituted her in mine.

Soon, college ended. We spoke even lesser. We parted ways, she went to America for her master’s and I found myself a full-time job.

A few years later:

I landed in my dream job. Well, not exactly. But I had found my calling in writing and got a job that completely fulfilled it. I was excited and happy.

Just when I was completing my documentation, she walks in.

Open hair, black dress and signature kohled eyes- there she was, Lopa.

She punched in her attendance. And half an hour later, I find out that my desk is right next to her!

How amazing, no?

No. Because she didn’t like the idea of spending her office time with me. What disappointed her, even more, was that this was work and not college!

We could not even resign because we’d signed bonds. Plus, both of us loved the job.

For the entire first couple of weeks, she had her bitch mode on.

She kept giving me cold shoulders, indicating that she doesn’t want to do anything with me. I tried catching up with her and she would either ignore me or would end up the conversation giving shortest possible answers.

At the end of the day, she made sure she’d ignore me by either going before me or after me.

Suddenly, what felt like serendipity, felt like a nightmare.

But, after my training ended, I started delivering works. I was working on a blog, of which she was impressed. Out of nowhere, she asked my opinion on a project that she was doing. I helped her and things changed, soon after.

That day, she took me on a tea break. She told me how bad she felt and how immature I was! And I apologised and explained everything. We cleared our grudges and decided to be on one team.

We went on to become not only closest co-workers but closest friends.

We shared works, tricks, ideas, opinions, gossips, memories… and uhm… even the back bitching. In short, everything. We’d pick up each other on bad days and made good days even better. When self-doubt crept in, we made sure we swept it away. When things went wrong, at work or in life, we’re only a tea break away from consoling each other.

Just like in high school, somedays, we’d chat using the last page of our diary. We communicated through eyes and passed silent comments.

Somedays, our conversation remained longer than working hours and extended to the phone calls after work. Soon, we started to understand our vibes. We would understand each other only by being near one another!

God! How inexplicably longer were the days when she was on leave. Even so, we made sure, we spoke over the long calls.

That’s how days at work got brighter and full of joy. Over time, it did not felt a workplace, it felt like college. She became more like a family and trust me, all of it could not have been better!

We no more work together and that’s what we miss the most.

What ended on a bad note and started with a cold shoulder, continues with the warmest bonds, filling our lives with love and joy!