I have a childhood friend. Our mothers were once friends for a long time and were pretty close friends. Now they are practically no longer friends, and we continue to keep in touch.
To my friend of 40 years. He is married. He lives in another city, so we can not see live, but we communicate only through social networks and via Skype. As a child, we saw each summer and spent a lot of time together. Now with the appearance of our families and numerous concerns, it became more difficult to see each other.
Once, not so long ago, we talked to my friend on Skype. He shared the latest news: about the family and children, about work. I listened to him very attentively, occasionally agreed, asked questions ... And then a pause suddenly arose, after which he looked at me very emotionally and said the following words:
"You know, I've loved you all my life ..."
To say that it was unexpected, to say nothing ... I almost lost my speech. Then a heartfelt, sincere striptease poured through his mouth, creeping into the skin. I sit as if in a pink fog and I think: "What can I say to his words ?! What do they usually say in such cases ?! "To say that I loved him, too, would be untrue. The maximum that I feel for him is sympathy. To say that because of me a lot of your brother was hurt, somehow not ethical.
I thought a little and asked him:
"Why did not you tell me before?"
We know each other, it's terrible to think, more than thirty years. Why now?! To my question, he could not answer anything intelligible and only said a lot of compliments to me, how extraordinary I am and how much I appreciate it. And the tears rose in the corners of his eyes. A little more and they would roll on the cheeks ... I confessed that I wanted to marry me, but did not dare to offer it to me. He told me that he would always love me, and I will always be in his heart ... I was extremely pleased to hear such words. They seemed to envelop me and fill me with happiness. There are no such words to express what feelings I felt at the moment of love recognition. How nice that someone loves you, especially if this someone is your friend ...
