After poured her bowl pop tarts cereal and her chocolate milk in a different glass, Julia poured her cat, Bobby, his breakfast this morning. She ate her dry cereal, just like her Bobby. A serene morning just like any other day called-self-quarantine days. It had been a week since the last day of her went to the office. She put her bowl and glass and of course, made a phone call for someone.
“Nino!”
“Hi, Jules!”
“Are you making peanut butter sandwich?”
“No, today is banana sandwich”
“Sounds weird… but I’d like to taste it”
“Yeah, if only this pandemic never exist”
“If only I stayed at your home since the first day of self quarantine”
“why?”
“So I would never get bored, and I could taste that banana sandwich, and we could play your board games, and I..”
“And you could talk all day long”
“Hahahaha and you would be annoyed”
“Exactly” If only Julia knew, Nino was smiling.
“I’m gonna tell my child later that there’s a time in my life that everyone couldn’t go anywhere and sleeping at home was how we save the world and help the health workers”
“Ridiculous”
“Nino, I get a ‘morning call’”
“Okay”
“I’m gonna put this call on loudspeaker”
“Oh, c’mon Jules. You should go to the toilet and just leave your phone outside”
“Yeah, but when I get a morning call, it is my time for my random talk too”
“You’re weird”
“Yeah, calling me weird but you always bring your phone too and have a talk with me while peeing” Julia put her phone on the soap box.
“As long as you’re not making any weird noises»
“Nino.. have you ever leaving a friend?”
“What are talking about?”
“I mean… leaving them.. and you never talk to them anymore. I’m talking about a really close friend here”
“Just like what you did to your ex?”
“Yeah.. kind of”
“Yes, I did”
“How did it feel?”
“Nothing. Free? maybe”
“Yeah it does. But.. is it bad?”
“Nope. Not at all. As long as you leave them with a light and warm heart”
“I don’t understand.”
“You know, leave them not with anger. You leave them, you realize that you’ve learnt something from them? Even though maybe you leave them because you just couldn’t handle them anymore. Why do you ask me this kind of question? I think you’ve experienced this too with your only ex”
Julia chuckled. “yeah, I forgot how it feels. It was 3 years ago, Nino”
“how could you forget that?” Nino smiled again.
“I think I just decided to leave some people in my life.” Julia didn’t answer him.
“Leave them as in you will never talk to them anymore?”
“No, I will never do that.. I leave them as in.. stop asking them, stop caring for them. I mean, I still care for them if they need me. But you know.. ah how should I tell you”
“You’re leaving them but not leaving them?”
“I leave them.”
“I understand. I mean.. you’re that kind of person. You ask them first. You talk to them first, You’re the one with that initiative. You don’t mind if you’re the one who’s trying to fix them, their problem”
“How could you say that?”
“of course. It happened to your ex too. You’re the one who always tried. You’re the one who asked him about his condition. I mean, he did try too but not as hard as you. That’s why..”
“Why?”
“That’s why I told you that it’s okay if you wanted to end that relationship with your ex”
“I got that. But there’s no ‘end’ words for a friendship, Nino. Do you understand that? For example, I don’t wanna be your friends anymore. Wait, I sounds like my nephew”
“I know.. so you just wanna stop talking to them?”
“No, I will talk if they ask me of course. But I will stop caring for them. I mean.. I won’t care as much as I did before. I’m gonna stop trying for them”
“So who are these people you’re talking about?”
“You won’t know. Both of them, I tried to reach them. I think, I’ve had always been a good friend for them. This one, A, I still love her.. So I just wanna leave her alone. Another one is B… I don’t know man.. I really wanna stop caring for her. I tried to reach her but she pushed me like an asshh. Oh I should stop my mouth from cursing.”
“How are you gonna end that?”
“Of course I talked to B nicely. That’s the final thing that I could do. I’m not gonna reach her anymore. It’s really tiring when she always wants me to understand her, when she just…. you know, full of drama. To A, I just stop talking to her. Usually I talk to her first. Nowadays, she’s ignoring me. I just want to talk to her you know… in this quarantine day. Maybe she doesn’t want to. So I’m gonna stop caring and thinking about her. But if she need me, I‘ll be there”
“Good.. just, don’t hate them”
“No, I won’t.”
“Jules, I know that you’re always trying to be a good friend. But some people might taking advantage of your kindness.”
“Should I hate that kind of people?”
“No, hate won’t do. Hatred will only bring negative aura in you. Just leave them. Leave it to the universe.”
“You’re talking like my Yoga mentor”
“I’m your yoga mentor. Are you done with your morning call?”
“yes. Nino, I’m so grateful for having you”
“Don’t forget to wash your hands”
“You too. After this crazy pandemic, you should come here. I want that banana pancake”
“Sandwich”
“Yes, I mean sandwich”
