The Saturday that renewed a friendship
5 Jul
The weather was perfect on Saturday. OBF and I met downtown for lunch at a fancy restaurant that I’d been looking forward to since I’d started following the chef on Twitter. Unfortunately, the meal was a horrendous disappointment, but OBF and I had a surprisingly good afternoon of bonding.
After lunch, OBF and I strolled around The City and caught up. We found a roof-top patio and she had a cold beer while I sipped on a Long Island Ice Tea. I told her about what had happened with HB and WAF. She clearly did not approve of the HB incident, but since I had already resolved it and learned my lesson, she did not say anything. She was not all that surprised to hear about WAF acting so irresponsible and out-of-control though.
“WAF is always like that. She lets shit hit the fans because she knows someone else will clean it up. And you know she’s never, ever going to pay you back.”
“I know,” I paused, wondering if I still believed in WAF, “But I think maybe I just attract people like that. Because I’ve got my shit together, and they don’t, so I end up being the ‘better friend.’” I felt a little bit uncomfortable admitting this to OBF because my relationship with OBF was one of them.
She understood immediately.
“You’ve always been there for me, and I really haven’t paid you back.”
“No, no, I didn’t mean for you, I know you’d do the same for me given the opportunity. But you know, I just don’t give my friends the opportunity because I don’t let it happen, you know?”
“But you might be able to take some stress off yourself if you reach out for help more. And you can certainly call on me.”
Although OBF and I had been quite close in our adolescence, we really had drifted apart in the last four years. “You know,” I mused, “When you went to the States, I thought our paths would diverge farther and farther. But now you’re back and it seems our paths might even converge1, and stay converged for the next, oh, at least three years.”
“Well, I mean what I said, if you ever need me to bail you out, I’m there. Seriously.”
I reached across the table and patted her arm. “I appreciate that, I really do.”
And just like that, OBF was no longer a friend of the past. We were best friends again.
- She had come back to Canada for law school, and if I stayed in Canada, I would be attending the same law school. [↩]
I’m glad you rekindled your friendship… that’s awesome news!
That is great. It’s crazy how life works in mysterious ways.
Also that dessert looks delish.
that’s beautiful! :D yes, life has its own mysteries, something so complicated can be so simple when destiny puts its hands on our life, eh?
And I love all those food pics! Especially the desert :d
Aw! That was so touching. I know how it’s like to never give friends the opportunity to help me out. Yeah, my behavior was frowned upon many times.
Anyway kudos to you for this. I’ll learn from your story (and when I put it in practice I promise I’ll blog about it).
Aw, sweet. Life is weird, isn’t it?
Rekindling friendship is good. I secretly like fancy restuarants… I think my inner personality is one of lavishing… but the food does look slightly disappointing. Did you at least enjoy the dessert? I’m not sure what it is exactly, but it looks fruity! (:
I am such a freice restaurant critic – so I spend a lot of money dining out. But it’s totally worth it! Well, not in this particular case.
The dessert was basically a strawberry shortcake, except it was very spongey and not that soft. So no, not that good. But my chef read my review so hopefully he does something about it!
Oh my goodness, that’s too bad! Well, it was presented well, haha
Some friends can just go out of your life and come back like it never happened! That’s a real connection
That first meal looks rather interesting — is it just four strips of salami? Sorry to hear you weren’t impressed!
I am happy that you managed to rekindle things though, and that she appreciates what a friend you’ve been and wants to reciprocate :) Those are the friendships worth holding onto — the ones that can drift apart, but when you come back together, you’re stronger than ever.
I tend not to order desserts at the restaurants I eat, ’cause my experience with them hasn’t been so great. Instead I opt to go to a patisserie or cafe that specializes in desserts.
It was part of a three-course prix fixe meal. And I’m like you, I like to go to a cafe or something just for dessert. Because most restaurants outsource their desserts anyway (it’s too expensive to have a full-time pastry chef).
Friendships definitely have bumpy patches. The fact that you came out of it friends says something. Yay!
I hate being disappointed by a hyped up restaurant :(
Me too! Especially because I’m actually broke and going to these fancy restaurants is supposed to be a real treat! :(
I’m still trying to learn everyone that is in your life right now (i.e. OBF, HB, and WAF). But I would still like to say how great it must feel to renew a friendship from the past. ♥
O.M.G. to the food. I’ve never been in a “fancy” restaurant that served food that way…sorry the food was a disappointment. How so?
The pictures of the food you take look delicious!
The trout was completely tasteless, the risotto was too salty, the cured appetizers were too sour and the dessert was too tough/spongey.
:(
Too bad the food wasn’t that good… I want to go restaurant-hopping too but I’ll wait til I have a job and when I’m older. haha
Hopefully the chef impresses you next time..if there is a next time!
I doubt there’ll be a next time – I can’t afford such an expensive meal if I’m doubtful of the quality! But at least the chef is well-aware of my opinion ;)
Hey – thanks for the advice – I think we’re going to get rid of it all. It hurts. I like stuff. I just sent you a request on twitter.
It’s a shame that you thought this meal was horrendous as it looks rather appetizing!