The Beep

 

Matt just lay there with his eyes tightly closed. “I’m 40, bloody hell!”, he contemplated in his head. He thought it sounded old and his best years were behind him. 

 

“Matt, Matt, come on you’re going to be late to pick up Suzy.”said his wife, Abbie.

 

 

Where do you go when you peaked as a child?

 

Matt was a popular kid, great a most sports, especially football, good looking, intelligent, and had a great if not naughty sense of humour. He thought he would never get older; life was a playground. As a kid you get to try new things for the first time and it feels amazing, new experiences and tackling new challenges. 

 

As he moved on in his teenage years, the pub and nightclubs were the new experience, drinking and smoking was the thing everyone did. Getting drunk was great, but there was a balance, too much and you become ill, and the morning hangovers are torturous. He had a large circle of friends from his school in Steyning, but his main group were, Mark, Simon, Dave and Ed. Ed joined their group late as he attended a different school but Dave knew him as they were in a band called Butterscotch Envy together.

 


Eventually everyone has to grow up, and Matt got a job in a marketing. It was never going to stimulate him, but it paid the bills and that’s where he met his wife to be, Abbie. They dated for a while and had a few temporary break ups but always got back together. They got married when he was 27, it felt like the right thing to do even though he was young, he was the first out of his friends to tie the knot. 

 

Mark was the only mate that lived nearby, so they met up fairly regularly, there would be the odd football match, family meet up, gigs and even still went to the pub. They had known each other since primary school so they had a lot of history and many funny stories to reflect on. They were incredibly close, but like most men they would never admit it. Mark’s relationship got serious, he had his own commitments and after a few years he had children. Everything was ticking along nicely for around five years, until Mark’s marriage broke down. He was always a ladies man and couldn’t stop himself from flirting. Eventually after he became a father and was not getting what he wanted at home he had an affair. As quite often in these circumstances, it was with a woman he worked with. 

 

Mark was kicked out of the family home and the new woman was married; she didn’t want anything more than a bit on the side. Mark had to move back with his parents until he could sort out his own place, but by then he had hit rock bottom. He was drinking hard, and eventually lost his job, he stopped seeing his children and was rude and abusive to people trying to offer any help. Matt was his closest friend and spent more time with him that he could really afford due to his other commitments, but Mark didn’t appreciate it. He would ignore his calls, he would refuse to answer the door and when he did, he acting like a victim, and it was everyone else’s fault. 

 

This went on for months, and Matt lost patience with him. He hated seeing his oldest friend fall apart but what else could he do. Matt had a loving wife, two beautiful children and a full-time job he had to prioritise, otherwise his life would start crumbling down like an avalanche. He decided to walk away from the friendship. Matt felt like he was the only one putting the effort in and Mark had just given up on life. It was a tough decision, it really upset Matt, but he needed to break free. They had it so good, and Matt felt he had lost a brother, he was in mourning. 

 

Matt deleted Mark’s phone number and vowed to his wife that he was moving on and wouldn’t put their relationship under any stress like that again. Life continued for him, work progression, husband duties and running around after the children. They had various clubs that they enjoyed so he was often out in the evenings. He missed his youth and the freedom he had, but he wouldn’t swap it, or that’s at least what he told himself. This carried on for years, and it was absolutely chaos.

 

Whilst sat at home one evening after his fortieth birthday, his phone beeped. 

 

He didn’t recognise the number, and it said, “hi, it’s been a long time, can’t we meet? Mark.”

 

Matt couldn’t believe it; it had been over five years since he last saw Mark. He didn’t know what to do. He left it for a few days and Abbie encouraged him to reply, he sent,


“Hi Mark, it has been a long time. How are you?”


Mark explained that when it finally dawned on him that he was about to lose everything, he had a decision to make. He contemplated ending it but took the decision to change his ways and push forward. He managed to find work and was back in contact with his children, his wife was willing to give it another go.


Mark and Matt decided to meet up in a cafe in Burgess Hill. It was a lovely cafe, very old fashioned with hanging baskets, oil paintings and China cups and saucers.

 

Matt was nervous on the day of the meeting. He was sweating from his brow and wasn’t sure what to expect.

When he arrived, he could see Mark was already there, he was sat near the window. He waved as Matt got closer; he looked good. His hair was short and tidy, he had lost the scraggly beard and was wearing a nice shirt. Matt walked up to the table and Mark stood up, they looked at each other whilst time passed in slow motion. Mark smiled his usual cheeky grin that he has been giving Matt since they were five.


Mark’s eyes swelled with tears of happiness, and he put his hands out to Matt. Matt paused for a second, then smiled and hugged Mark. 



People stared at the two grown men, but they didn’t care, in that single moment they became best friends again and that was the only thing that was important.