Lisa stared at her phone. She willed the notification light to flicker at her, and several times she thought she spotted a glimmer of green at the top left corner of her screen. But no. Nothing.
"Watched kettles never boil," said Theo from behind his newspaper.
Lisa rolled her eyes at him and put her handset facedown on the coffee table. "It's just so frustrating."
"We've been over this." Theo lowered the paper. "You don't understand what you did wrong - even though you may not have done anything at all - and the silence is killing you, but you're too proud to send her another message. Did I get the gist of it?"
"I know you think I'm over-reacting, but you know how important friendship is to me. Why would she..."
"I'm going to stop you right there. If I'm to continue this conversation, I'll not do it sober. Besides," he glanced at his wrist, "the football is about to start."
Lisa stood up and stomped out of the room, only to remember halfway into the passage that she'd left her phone behind. So, she stomped back into the lounge to retrieve it. She glared at Theo.
"Don't look at me like that," he said, folding the newspaper towards him. "You know I'm right."
"Yes. But..." When he began to chuckle, Lisa left.
Three days. Three days of silence. Lara had read the message - and she'd been online as recently as ten minutes ago. And yet she woiuld not condescend to reply.
"This is ridiculous!"
"I agree," called Theo. She heard the football crowd cheering and the sports announcer's commentary echoing down the passage. "Be a darling and make us some pancakes. It is pancake weather, after all."
"I'm not in the mood."
"Go on, it will take your mind off things. And we can eat them together. I'll even turn off the football."
She walked back into the lounge. "I just want to know why, Theo."
Without taking his eyes off the TV, he said, "I have a theory, but it'll cost you three pancakes."
Lisa and Lara met at a Business and Communication Workshop in the city. They were both bored out of their minds, and during the tea break they tried to escape the tedium by tasting samples of every single mini-muffin on the cake table. They'd even shared the last chocolate mini-muffin and deemed it the best of the batch. By the end of the day, they were firm friends, and the doodles all over their workshop papers attested to their similar humour, tastes and inability to draw anything more complex than a stick man. In fact, they were so inspired by that awful workshop, that they jointly agreed to sign up for six more, just so they'd be assured of a partner in skiving off work legitimately. They'd met up for long lunches that turned into shopping trips where they infuriated salespeople by trying everything on and buying nothing. Theo liked Lara and Jim liked Lisa, and soon the double dinner dates led to weekends away. Lara was the sister Lisa never had, and she told her things she'd not even shared with Theo.
Three days ago, Lara sent Lisa a long voicenote. She'd listened to it so many times that she could almost recite it verbatim. The last ten seconds of the message haunted her. "It's just, Lisa, that I feel disconnected from you and I think it's better if we don't see each other anymore." No explanation. No clarification. Just the bombshell and the beep as Lara ended the call.
Lisa whisked the pancake mix and tried to ignore Theo's running commentary on the football match. She melted the butter in the frying pan and poured in the batter. The smells of cinnamon sugar, lemon juice and maple syrup stalled her thoughts. She carried a stack of pancakes and Theo's favourite accompaniments into the lounge on a tray. Once he smelt the cinnamon, he kept his promise and turned off the TV. They chewed in silence for a few minutes, and then he took both their plates and placed them on the coffee table.
"Hey, I was eating that..."
He took her hand. "Look, I know it seems that I'm not being very supportive of you. I'm angry that you're sad and I know it's frustrating not knowing why all this happened."
"Thank you."
"But have you considered that her behaviour may have nothing to do with you? Maybe Lara is one of those people who has short-term friendships and then burns her bridges. I mean, has she ever spoken about any of her other friends? Apart from Jim, we don't know any other people in her life."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that maybe she needed you for a while but now that she's got that promotion and she's moving out of her department, she feels she doesn't need you anymore."
Lisa gnawed the inside of her cheek. A tear escaped the corner of her eye.
"Some people are like that. They don't know how to be in relationships; they just move from one person to the next, saying that they only live for the moment, or whatever."
"Yes, that sounds like her."
"You became friends really quickly, and it has been an intense relationship. Don't get me wrong; I've had fun with her and Jim. Seeing you two happy also made me happy, but there was something about Lara that made me think she was always holding back a bit."
"I know. I used to defend her when you said that." Lisa sighed. "What do I do now? And don't you dare say 'let it go'."
"Actually, I can do one better."
Theo held up his phone and pressed the screen. Paul McCartney's voice counselled her with 'Let It Be'.
She rolled her eyes at Theo, but let him hug her nevertheless.
"You know what?"
"I have a feeling you're about to tell me."
"You still have me."
She snorted.
"And you still make the best pancakes."
She held him tightly. "What do you say to playing The Beatles' greatest hits while we watch the rest of the football?"
Theo picked up the remote control. "Thought you'd never ask."
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