By Indu Kumar
The rattling of the letter box broke the silence . Slumped on the armchair, Brian opened his heavy eyelids . Bertie stirred , stood up and starting barking in short spurts ,looking at his master with his wide brown eyes bringing the room to life .
Brian struggled to his feet pulling his thick checked housecoat closer around him .
His bones creaked as he bent to pick up the thick envelope on the carpet. He rested his head on the indented cushion and his elbows on the faded arms of the chair.
The postmark caught his eye. It wasn’t a bill. His deformed arthritic fingers struggled to open it .
“REUNION “ the letter said .
It was an invitation to attend the reunion of some of his classmates from school . The venue was not far from where he lived .
A half smile crossed his face. Good old days . The memories flooded back .
They all had nicknames . Brian’s nickname was “Brain “ . He was the clever one . He was top of the class . Straight A’s . Then onto university . Scholarships , top merits and gold medals followed .
He sighed.
Muttering under his breath he dropped the letter onto the high pile of mail, scattered on the carpet.
He would think about it or not !
Bertie wagged his tail as if sensing the change in his mood . Brian bent and gently patted him.
He reminisced.
What happened ? He was not sure . Possibly a broken relationship followed by depression and redundancy ! He had lost his “mojo “ .
He only had himself to blame .
He glance at the framed certificates proudly displayed on the wall . The gold medals were in a drawer somewhere in the room !
……………….
“Romeo” and “Juliet” gazed into each others eyes . “Get a room “ somebody shouted from the back of the class .
Just as the bell rang Mr Smith the maths teacher strode in through the door . His favourite battered brown leather bag was hanging on his shoulder and weighing him down .
The two lovers quickly pulled apart. Just in time !
“Settle down “ he barked his orders . He looked down his horn rimmed glasses, balanced at the end of his nose . “Roman you can collect yesterdays homework and you Julia distribute the text books “.
He pointed to the 2 sitting next to one another in front .
“Now turn to page 36 “ he commanded writing with a piece of chalk on the black board, his back to the class . There were a few mutterings but everybody obeyed him . No one wanted a weeks detention after school .
Julia was the new girl in the school . She had come from London where her father was the manager of a factory . They were “filthy rich “ . Unfortunately along with his wealth came trips away , sealing deals leading to temptations and affairs .
Finally a day came when he was “caught red handed “ when his wife paid him an unexpected visit !
Julia left with her mother and moved north to pastures new. She was a gorgeous and elegant 15 year old . She soon caught the young eyes of Roman a polite demure young man and they hit it off at once.
“Love at first sight “ “Soulmates “ were how people saw them while the rest of the class giggled and pretended to look away at their open show of affection . The whole school knew about these 2 who seemed to be “ made for each other “ .
“Personally I don’t know what he sees in her “ came from Donald scratching his head . “ She is a beauty but is she an airhead“
Sadly that was exactly what Donald was .
Unlike Brian who was always top of the class.
It was Donald who held the position of last in class . He always was “Donald the Dummy “. The teachers were still debating whether he was dumb or just plain lazy . Either rang true .
“What’s the matter Dummy ? Green eyed monster got you “ the others mocked .
Finally even the shy Jacob who normally was a man of few words chipped in . “Sour grapes “ he quipped to them .
Jacob was “different to all the others.”. This was obvious from the beginning. He was a very shy warm and kind hearted human being . Some thought he was weird . He was always “Jacky “ to his friends and never Jacob .
Surprisingly it was Donald (Dummy) who came up with the idea of a reunion . He considered himself lucky in his life and yearned to see his long lost friends.
He was able to tract Roman (Romeo) and Jacob (Jacky) easily on their social media . Julia (Juliet ) was the easiest to contact !
Brian though was untraceable . He tried everything and nearly gave up . Brian was not on social media . He had simply vanished . Donald checked him on “who is who “ . After all the “Brain “ of the group must be up there somewhere !
He imagined Brian inventing something for the world and being nominated for a Nobel prize !
The reunion would have to be close to the school . He chose an expensive hotel and took it upon himself to book rooms for all of them .
Finally it was by chance that he tracked down Brian . During one of his visits to his sister who still lived in the village where he went to school, he was chatting to the pub landlord about the whereabouts of Brian when another drinker overheard them .
“You mean Brian the recluse , mate ?“
Not one to gossip Donald discreetly used his skills and came away with a huge smile on his face and an address for Brian tucked away in his back pocket . That was a stroke of luck. He was still unsure if Brian (Brain ) would make an appearance but was hopeful .
Donald checked his watch . He was probably the first to arrive .He looked around the room . Many diners had already taken their place at the tables . It was busy and nearly full . The staff were bustling about with trays overloaded with drinks . The conversation was low and muffled at the tables . The lights were dim . Soft music came from above . An occasional laugh punctuated the conversations.
Outside a black taxi pulled up . The phone numbers were splashed on all the 4 doors . The driver got off and held the door open for the passenger for what seemed like ages . Finally a man stepped out . He was unsteady on his feet and slowly made his way to the reception .
His long grey beard was shaggy and unkempt. A grey flat cap partly covered his grey hair . He removed his gloves to reveal deformed arthritic fingers . He spoke to the smartly dressed receptionist In a low voice who looked at a list . Then a bell on the desk sounded and as if by magic a butler appeared .
Then a strange thing happened . The old man was being led towards the table booked by Donald for his reunion .
‘There must be a mistake “ thought Donald shaking his head . He was about to approach the desk when the man removed his cap .
Donald let out a gasp . He rubbed his eyes .
“ Brian ? Brian is it you mate ? God Lord ! It is you !”
He quickly composed himself and held out his warm hands .
No sooner did they sit down when Roman and Julia arrived .
They both hadn’t changed much . In fact they hadn’t changed at all . Julia was still as beautiful as ever . Her hair may have greyed and a few wrinkles had appeared on her forehead but she was still glamorous and a head turner .
It was no surprise to anyone when Jacob made his appearance . True to his nickname he was now no longer Jacob . She was nowJackie .
She had the full transition soon after school and was very happy in her new skin . After putting up with a lot of prejudice, raised eyebrows and whispering when she entered a room , the tide had now turned .
These days nobody blinked an eyelid . She had done well in life and was now a costume designer for a famous and successful theatre company in West End . She even played small roles in the plays .
Brian perked up after seeing his old friends . Nobody could believe how his life had spiralled downhill . He was better now he said . At one point he was on the verge of selling his gold medals and when he was really low he even contemplated taking his own life he admitted . But he now had enough money to survive and recently had got Bertie who was his life saver and best friend ,he smiled.
It was Donald’s turn . He definitely was not Dummy “ anymore . He had knuckled down and retaken his exams and came out with flying colours he said looking at the amazement on their faces . After that It was onwards and upwards .
“The teachers were right “ . “ You were just lazy “ they teased in good humour .
Donald joined in the laughter . They were right of course.
He was now a successful GP . Donald always knew how to make sweet talk to people . He was a ‘people’s person’ which made him very popular with all his staff and patients . And what about your family Donald ? they asked . All they got was a cheeky wink .
Roman had gone abroad and made his money teaching languages. He had travelled all over Europe and lived in France for a while .
“And what about you Julia “ they asked . Do you speak many languages too ?
“ No I just speak English “ was the reply they got .
But did you not travel with Roman . Surely he didn’t leave you behind .
“We have a big surprise for you “ Julia said coyly with a quizzical look .
They frowned .
“What do you mean , you were Romeo and Juliet weren’t you ? You are both here so it couldn’t have ended in tragedy . “
You both came in together .
You are sitting next to one another .
Brian and Jacky looked confused .
“ It didn’t work out “ Romeo tried to explain . ‘We got burnt out . We went our separate ways . Amicably of course. We are still good friends and kept in touch over the years.”
“ Are you going to tell them or am I ? “ Julia looked at Roman and then at Donald .
They all stared open mouthed .
What was going on ?
She was looking straight at Donald blowing him a kiss and pointing to her wedding ring .
“ It wasn’t Roman I married “
“ Whom are you married to “ they asked in unison.
That is my husband .
She was pointing to Donald .
The penny dropped .
“How ? When ? You two ?”
Then they all burst out laughing .
“Donald was practising as a GP “ she explained “when I went in with a friend who was his patient . I had been single for a while . We got talking about old times . Went out a few times . Soon I realised that he was the one for me . He had always been the one . He was the one who would look after me when I was old . “In sickness and in health “ . So we did it . Got married . 40 years later we are still together .
I just dropped off the grandkids just now and was running late . I bumped into Roman at the entrance of the hotel . The only vacant chair was next to him !”
They all looked at Donald .
He thought about what to say . He was lost for words.
His reply was brief .
“ What she said “ he grinned blowing a kiss to Julia and raised his glass amidst laughter !
……….
Brian was moved to a warm self sufficient council house , after Donald pulled a few strings for his friend .
Jacky invited the whole group to a premier of a musical at West End . They had front row seats !
The group got over the “tragedy “ of Romeo and Juliet “.
They all showered the “surprise couple “ Donald and Julia with blessings for a happy and long life together !
Author Bio:
I always loved writing . After retirement from NHS as A/E doctor I took it up again .
Love taking part in national and international competitions . The feedback you get and reading the winning stories is worth it even if you don’t win .
Contact Author:
Telephone Indu: 07908616354
