A friend indeed

She sat on her mobile and managed to send four blank messages to a person on her contacts list. Next thing she knew said person was asking if things were okay and what not. He actually called back because he saw strange messages. She had no clue what was going on, not having realized that she was sitting on the mobile before the lock thing set it. But, then, if she was indeed in some distress, now a new number to ring.

It reminded her of a long ago trip on a dark rainy night through flooded streets in an auto. The driver seemed chatty. Nice, if a bit weird. He told her he suffered from incontinence Or was it impotence, it was difficult to understand, over the rain, the usual barrier of language, vocabulary, and background. But she was nervous. They were taking side roads. The rain was lashing, the flood was rising. The child was waiting at home, only a year old. She was flipping her fingers between two numbers, one of a friend she knew she could depend on to rescue her if required. The other, her husband, who was out of the country, but would need to be informed, if she required rescuing. She clutched her laptop closer, and wondered, was it really valuable by itself, should she strap it on and run or jettison it?

And now, it feels like its time to update the quick dial numbers on her mobile. Since there is another possibility. Someone else who cares. But she decides to wait a while. See where this friendship goes. Sometimes it grows and becomes nicer. Sometimes it fizzles out and stays as an ache in the bottom of her heart, and a barely-used contact on her mobile.