I met my friend during a training course I attended when I was preparing to apply for a very prestigious job in London. To be truthful, I found some parts of the material quite challenging, and she was a real help. Eventually, we finished the course and kept in touch. She was still financially dependent on her parents, whereas I was married and didnt have that sort of support.
I was job hunting, and a mate was fortunate enough to recommend me somewhere. The whole process dragged on for ages. We met up a few times after the course, but she often cancelled at the last minute, usually saying its gotten too late. I was busy myself, but we still exchanged messages now and again. Eventually, we were both called in to submit our applications and take the entrance exams. By that point, Id stopped working and was scrimping to save up for some medical procedures. Meanwhile, her parents continued footing all her bills.
She passed the exams on her first try, but I didnt get through. I tried twice more, but still, I wasnt successful. I asked her to help me study, but she was always too busy. After that, she just vanished for December and January. I kept looking for work but couldnt find anything until halfway through Februaryit was a difficult stretch. When I finally landed a job, I had to work weekdays and weekends alike.
At the end of February, she got in touch, saying she wanted us to meet up in March and catch up. Honestly, I hesitated because I didnt feel like seeing people from that world anymorebeing turned down had stung. But since she was special to me, I agreed. The plan was to meet up on a Saturday, which meant pleading with my boss for a day off. I messaged her Friday night, but got no reply. No message Saturday either. So we didnt meet. I got myself into trouble with my boss for swapping shifts unnecessarily, and my friend only messaged me on Monday: something about a family issue.
I was pretty frustrated and stopped replying to her messages for about three months. Then, after my operation, she called me by chance. I told her what had happened, that I was feeling delicate, but still chatted briefly. She said, Why dont you have a nap, and Ill ring you later to check on you? Of course, I never heard back.
Another two months slipped by, and she suggested we meet uponly she was free during weekdays. But by then I was studying in the afternoons and couldnt afford to skip lessons, especially with the fees I was paying. I hesitated, agreed at first, but eventually cancelled in advance.
She then started to ring up just to ask how I was, but it felt insincere, as if she was mocking me. Shed always prod about my family, constantly hinting about whether my parents had divorced yet. The thing is, it wasnt my fault her parents had split. I started to notice these jabs more, and little by little, I broke off contact, keeping my replies brief or, frankly, lying.
One by one, I removed her from my social media, and by March the following year, I deleted the last account. She messaged again, but I ignored it. The day after my birthday, she phoned and demanded to know what was going on. She said shed always tried to help me and couldnt understand why Id treated her like this. I told her I never even had time for myself, yet somehow made time to post pictures with others. I said, Maybe spend time with other people.
In the end, she insisted shed only ever wanted what was best for me and that she wouldnt contact me again. Honestly, it hurt. Now I find it much harder to trust people. I think she wanted me to do well, but never better than her. She never really cared, even though I made such an effort to reach out to her.
Looking back, sometimes I wonder if I was just some twisted romantic interest, given her mocking remarks about my partner, or the way shed insist on inviting him along or comment on other womens photos. I was open and genuine with hermaybe that was my mistake. Now I see, she only wanted to keep me around for her own reasons. I truly believed we had a real friendship and so much in common, but I was wrong. Its not easy to trust anymore. Id like to have more friends, but its become difficult.
If theres anything Ive learnt from all this, its that not everyone who says theyre your friend is capable of true friendship back. Now, Im learning to value my own time and to be more wary of those who dont respect it.
