She smiled!

A smile is a wonderful thing.

Yesterday, I got back in touch with somebody I had been trying very hard to avoid for more than a month. We had been rather good friends, but certain issues had cropped up between us – more professional than personal. The result: I had gone off on a rather snooty high horse, pretending that she did not exist. I did acknowledge her mails and messages but did so in a rather cold tone, discouraging any further communication. I would see her on the chat but would not say a word.

Was I happy? The hell I was. I was miserable. Work hit a bad phase. I tried to keep myself busy but well, something was missing. Yesterday, I finally decided to drop her a few mails, just like I used to in the past. And she responded. We were both online for a while and chattered away amiably of this and that. Of course, we blamed each other for being out of touch.

And then she smiled.

Well, she did not really smile. She just put a smiley icon in her chat. But I realised that there is nothing – nothing! - quite like seeing someone you are immensely fond of smile at you. Even in a chat. All the trouble at work did not matter. The daft contract that a stupid client had handed to me did not matter. Who cared? She was smiling!

I know I will probably argue with her again. Something tells me that she will again do something that will break my heart or upset me. Or maybe this time, I will say something rude and she will do the walking away. And then we will once more go into this silent fencing routine - me sulking, she silent. And who knows, maybe next time no one will apologise and we will just go our separate ways with our memories of each other.

But until then, what the heck, I have plenty to be happy about.

You see, she smiled!