Johan looked at his old friends. They had known each other for 70 years, one from elementary school, others from high school, and others from university.
There was old Martin and his bellicose wife Cecilia, their clothes were second-hand. Since they were young they had been an interrupted couple, that is to say, they fought until they broke up and came back to each other every day. He lost count of the number of times he witnessed their arguments. At least they had a string of children and grandchildren to protect them from old age. Next to the couple was the bitter Tom, who from youth his words were meant to complain about life. The heart attack he had suffered two years ago did not change his personality at all, he too had a single child conceived by a miracle that would ensure his safety. Opposite Tom was the beautiful Johana, nicknamed La Hermosa by the group. She had stolen the hearts of several, including those in the group. Among those were Giovanni's casanova and Jason's introvert who was seated next to Johana. The last chair was occupied by the elegant and intelligent Sofia, she was close to him.
Johan lifted a silver spoon and contemplated his aged face before touching the teacup. The sound caught the interest of all his friends.
“I invited you to this tea time to see each other for the last time," he wanted to get to the point. "We're old, so I can't say when I'll see you again.
His friends looked at each other disconcerted.
“I have Alzheimer's," he let the news take its toll.
The first to speak was Giovanni. He would miss that seductive voice, as well as the complicities that the two of them lived, after so many binges they had.
“How can you say last, I'm sure it's still a long way to go before you get worse," every time Giovanni spoke he gesticulated like a lord. It gave an air of being in a court in that room that he had rented. “I know that look Johan, something is up.”
His friends began to talk carelessly. None of them had tasted tea.
“I have diabetes, it can't get any worse than that," Tom spat, twisting his lips as he always did. “There's no worse thing than...”
He received a nudge from Cecilia.
“Shut up, you old sourpuss.” Cecilia was the most troublesome of the group, but she defended them to the hilt, whether it was from her husband or a stranger. “You can't go through life comparing other people's problems with your own. I'm tired of telling you.”
“Something's up, otherwise Johan wouldn't have rented this place for this afternoon," Tom was using his innate characteristic tactic of changing the subject. “Tell us, Johan," he lifted a cup to put it back on the table.
Silence reigned for two minutes. No one touched the muffins or the coffee. The room was ideal for the tension being harvested, not even the bustle of the street entered, and the whiteness of the walls with their baroque art paintings added to the intrigue.
“Everything okay with your retirement plan? “ Sofia, the closest one, took his hand.
Previously they had had an affair, but because Johan couldn't have children he had distanced himself from her, dedicated to work he kept his distance. Still, they both loved each other, but he didn't want to involve her in this.
“Yes, everything is fine.” Johan caressed the lady's hand and remembered the first sweet kisses and the last bitter ones. “I'm just afraid of the treatments and how long it will take until I start to forget.”
He couldn't bring himself to tell his friends that the retirement plan sucked. He didn't have the words to tell them that what little he had he spent at that meeting. Inflation had eaten away his savings, his social security was no longer valid, and not having children meant he was losing that pillar of financial stability.
“Oh, Johan! Tell us what's going on." Martin was a retired psychologist, but his talent still flowed from his pores. “ We are in confidence. Look, suicide rates have risen as a result of inflation, thousands of workers...”
“You're going to go on! “ Cecilia returned to the charge.
Just in time.
And they began to fight like in the old days. They brought up past infidelities, failed dates, and dissatisfactions from their lives.
Johana was the only one who didn't pay attention to those details and grabbed a muffin, took a simple bite. Johan contemplated how even the woman's lips were suggestive. Once in drunkenness The beautiful one showed herself to everyone, it was for a few seconds and was immediately covered up, but they were few of the seconds Johan would long for. Youth and ignorance to that fate of old age.
He detected the looks of Giovanni and Jason, they were still in love with the woman. Jason many times confessed to her that he suffered from Johana's hints and died of jealousy every time he saw her with someone different. He was now a brilliant computer engineer and was still paralyzed by that woman. Who could blame him, he was still at a loss for Johana.
“I just wanted to see them. I'm old now and the news of my illness made me realize something," he raised a blue cup as a toast. “The world may change, but not my memories. That, even if it fades, you will treasure it and tell your grandchildren about it.”
He sipped some tea, he didn't like it at all, he preferred a rum or vodka. However, it was worth trying something different one last time.
“They will recount how we faced the world. Some of us succeeded, others not so much, yet here we are cashing in what time we have left.”
He could not afford the treatment, a painful end awaited him. He hoped that his friends would remember that moment, and not that of a poor old man whose promises were placed in a corrupt government. Johan hoped that his friends' children or would have a better fate.
He lifted the blue cup again and elegantly sipped the foul tea.
Cover and Banner made in Canva, Image used from Canva. Separators made in Photoshop.