The Contingency Plan

The Special Ones

There's a kookaburra outside my window as I'm writing today. How's that for Mother Nature?

Yet even stranger than this bird's laugh, is a voice message I received today from Sophie, my best friend of seven years. We had a major falling out on Friday and although I don't want to take you through all the particulars, I will provide you with some background information:

* Sophie knew I wasn't looking forward to my birthday (I'd broken up with my boyfriend of four years just a few weeks beforehand)
* She was too busy to call me on the day (at a relaxation retreat, no joke)
* She called a couple days later to cancel our plans
* I didn't hear from her for over two weeks after that, she called as she wanted to pick up a book

Of course I feel hurt and disappointed by her actions, but that isn't the thing that's bothering me the most, rather it's the way she positioned everything on the phone today. She talked about 'managing our relationship', 'meeting expectations' and 'results' - since when did our friendship start sounding like a business meeting? Sophie doesn't even work in a field where these terms would be part of her vocabulary.

Her only excuse is that she's a bandit for those bloody self-help conferences and ironically just returned from a retreat with her favourite Indian Guru, who's known for her selflessness, empathy and compassion.

It just seems absurd when all I really wanted was some crappy phone call to say 'happy birthday'.