Both David and Ben had just been blasted by their delivery head ten minutes after they’d stepped into the office. He’d given them a deadline - to complete the project by next week or collect their final cheques. It was a Monday and all bad things happen on a Monday, thought David. As they walked out of the delivery head’s cabin, David turned to look at Ben to share a mutual head-shake in disgust, but Ben was beaming. He didn’t say anything and kept walking. Their seats were next to each other. David sat on his desk with a ‘son of a bitch’ under his breath, while David stretched his arms, cracked his fingers, and went about checking a message on his phone.

‘It’s a beautiful day today, isn’t it?’ Ben asked, looking up from his phone, and leaning over to David who had been constantly watching him.    

‘Yeah, if your idea of a beautiful day is getting screamed at by that jerk,’ David said.   

‘Don’t worry about it. It’s not that big a deal,’ Ben said.

‘Not that big a deal? This time next week, I could be sitting at home watching Oprah,’ David said, his nostrils flaring with anger.

‘I will also send a request to Jack Canfield and Mark Hansen to write a Chicken Soup for the unemployed soul if you want,’ Ben said with a serious face.    

‘Shut the f…,’ David was about to say more, but controlled himself. ‘What are you so excited about Bambi?" he said.  

Ben just looked at him and smiled to himself.

‘Idiot, we haven't been given a promotion, alright. So wipe that smirk off your face and tell me why are you behaving like you've just had your first kiss. Right now,’ David hissed through his teeth.

‘It’s nothing. I will tell you later,’ Ben casually replied.

‘Huh? Fine! Fine! I am not interested anyway. Be happy. Keep everything to yourself. There was this juicy bit about that hot chick in our sales department that I was going to tell you about, but now that you are acting all uptight, you can go to hell. Hah,’ David said.

‘Oh is it about how she wanted to become a man and then changed her mind?’ Ben asked. 

‘Go die,’ David said. He turned to his computer and pretended to go through the deliverables list. ‘And by the way Ben I had to tell you one more thing,’ he said and gestured Ben to come closer. Ben turned around and said, ‘yes’? 

‘Screw you,’ David said.  

 Ben laughed.

 ‘Ben, did Brenda tell you something?’ David asked suddenly. He knew he shouldn’t have gone out with her. 

‘Who? The receptionist?’ David asked.  

‘’Yeah, who else? How many Brenda’s do you know anyway?’ David was clearly irritated at the way Ben was behaving today. 

‘Yeah she did.’

‘Dude, I swear to God I didn’t ask her to split the bill at the restaurant,’ David said and made an “I cross my heart and hope to die” promise.

‘Huh? She told me that Sarah had called. I missed it because I was in that meeting. But what are you talking about?’ Ben asked interested at the prospect of a joke he could make in the future.

‘No, no. Nothing. Forget I ever said anything,’ David said. He wiped his brow in relief.  

At lunch, David asked him again.

"Dude, it's nothing," Ben replied.

"Oh my god! You are such a jerk. Thanks for spoiling my lunch,’ David said. He shut his lunch box and pushed it away. He got up and went to the far end of the terrace, where two ladies were smoking.  

‘What did I do?’ Ben asked innocently, after joining him. He enjoyed having fun at Ben’s expense. Even in school, Ben would get upset about little things and not talk to David for days.     

‘Ben are you hiding something from me? We are best friend’s right? Or at least that's what I’ve been thinking all these years, even before Sarah came in to your life,’ David said. He gave Ben an accusing look.

‘Of course you are. You’re the best friend I've ever had,’ Ben replied, and flicked him on his forehead.

‘Then why won’t you tell me,’ David asked. He violently shook both his hands in the air. The women, who were smoking, looked at David’s reaction and giggled. ‘As if I had fewer reasons why women don’t like me,’ he added, glaring at Ben.  

‘As if any of them would go out with you,’ David said mockingly.

‘You are not a Mr.Smoothtalker yourself. You were lucky Sarah agreed to go out with you. I still remember how you’d asked her out. “ ‘Would you like to go out sometime? I mean of course with me being there,’ ” David said and burst out laughing. Ben joined him.     

‘OK OK enough fatso,’ Ben said when David’s eyes started watering. ‘See the thing is I have to tell you something really important.’

‘So tell me,’ David said. His impatience was evident.

‘Not here. In the evening, at Toonz.’

‘Damnit,’ David said and jerked his head, before adding, ‘but promise me you will tell me everything before you get drunk.’

‘Yeah man. Promise.’

‘OK whatever! I am starting to feel like your girlfriend, dying to know what you’ve got me for Valentine’s Day. Tch! Shut up and get to work now,’ David said.

Ben chuckled and started flicking through his file.

After work...

‘Are you done or what? How long are you going to keep me waiting? I am going to kill you if you don't get your butt off that chair,’ David said. He threateningly waved a thick file at Ben.

‘What's the rush? It’s not like you have a life anyway? You will just go home, order Chinese and watch TV,’ Ben replied. He ducked to evade the file catching him right on the head.

 ‘Hah. Very funny. I am still in the game. I might be thirty and might have a receding hairline…,’ David said and was about to continue when Ben raised his eyebrow.

 ‘Fine. I might be slightly chubby, but I am soon to going to work out and we shall see my friend. Then we shall see.’ David started fixing whatever was left of his once thick growth of hair. ‘By the way, girls still look at me,’ he added.

 ‘Yeah right, out of pity,’ Ben said.

 David pounced on him and choked him with the inside of his elbow, when he realized that they were still at work. On their way to the lift, they saw the girl from the sales department going into the men’s restroom by mistake and then walking out immediately. They both held on to their stomach to stop it from hurting, but all the mirth quickly drained out of their faces when they saw the delivery head walking in with his briefcase.

 ‘Boys,’ he said and nodded his head slightly towards them.

 ‘Sir,’ they both said.

 When they reached the parking lot, they waited to check whether the delivery head was around, before falling down on the floor laughing. They laughed so hard that David had to go up again to use the washroom. When he came back,

 ‘So how long do you plan to take these free rides on my bike, huh?’ Ben asked. Playfulness was quite evident in his tone.   

 ‘My bike’s still at the mechanic’s man. I’ve no idea how long it’s going to take,’ David said.

 ‘Dude, I’ve to meet Sarah now. So would you mind taking a bus or something?’ Ben asked.

 David stared at Ben before saying, ‘OK sure. Bye.’ He wanted to scream obscenities at David, but he simply turned around and started to walk.

 Just then Ben burst out laughing.

 ‘I knew you were a work of art, but I never knew you had a Ph.D in Idiocy. Now come on, don't stand there like an imbecile. Hop on.’

 ‘Whatever,’ David said.  

 Ben loved it when David went out of retorts.

 ‘Put on your helmet dude. These traffic cops are a real pain in the ass these days. If they catch you, you can easily kiss a few bucks goodbye,’ David said.

  ‘You know I don’t like wearing a helmet. Don't worry. I know how to deal with these greedy buggers,’ Ben said confidently.

 The traffic was unbearable and the noise was deafening.

 ‘What did you say? Can you be a little louder?’ David asked.

 ‘Idiot, I said, what do you want to do after Toonz?’

 ‘Let's get there first. For all you know, you’d never want to get out of there,’ David replied. Once Ben started drinking, there was no stopping him. David had taken him home on quite a few occasions.

 ‘I have to ask you something too,’ Ben said, turning his head sideways.

 ‘What the heck are you talking about? What do you want a mask for?’ David said.

 ‘Aaahhh. No you dimwit. I said I want to ask you something?’ Ben repeated, much louder than last time.

 ‘Yeah sure. Shoot, ’ David said.

 ‘Let’s get to the pub first.’

 ‘OK. But will you stop talking to me and focus on the road now?’ David said.

 ‘Why? Are you scared that I might bang into a truck or something? Huh? Chicken! Pakpakpakpaakaakpapkk,’ Ben said mockingly. He turned his head to look at David’s face, which turned from crimson to pale in a matter of seconds.

 ‘Watch out!’ David screamed.

 Truck. Brakes. Shrieks. Skid marks. Glass. Traffic Jam. Ambulance. Blood. Police. Hospital.

 David woke up in a dimly lit hospital room. His body was completely bandaged. Several tubes were stuck into his arms. His eyes were swollen and his head felt heavy. With great difficulty, he pressed the switch that was right next to his hand. It had a symbol of a bell on it.

 A nurse promptly came in.

 ‘Hello. How are you feeling now?’ She asked, talking to him like she would to a child.

 ‘Ben. Where’s Ben,’ David asked. The tight bandage around his skull and jaw was making it difficult for him to open his mouth.

 The nurse helped him sit by skewing the key at the bottom of the bed and set it at a 45 degree angle and told David to relax while she went to call the doctor. The doctor told him that Ben's head and limbs had been badly crushed under the truck and that he was dragged by the vehicle for a good half a kilometer. When David screwed his face, it hurt. The bandage around his eyes became moist. The doctor also told him that by the time Ben was bought to the hospital, he had lost too much blood and they couldn’t save him.

 The nurse bought him Ben's wallet, a key chain and a few loose papers. Sandwiched between the papers, was an off-white, now drenched in blood, wedding invitation.

"Ben Weds Sarah" it said in a cursive font.

"We both cordially invite you and your family to our wedding at the St. Johns Chapel on May 3rd." 

At the bottom of the card he noticed a scribble with a P.S. (please see this retard) written in front of it. A slight smile stretched his lips. 

‘And Dude you are the best man by the way. You have no option. I am not asking you, I am telling you. And yeah you can bring your mom along, since you have no girlfriend. Haha. Just kidding. I love you man. You’re the best friend ever."

Love Ben.

David held the card to his chest for a long time and thought about how the wedding would’ve been.