By Abraham Mills

As the sun set over the city, the bustling streets below were beginning to quiet down. Amidst the noise and chaos, two men sat quietly on the edge of a roof, their legs dangling down the side. They had met a few months ago, and since then had become inseparable. Their conversations flowed easily, and they could talk about anything and everything for hours on end.

This night was a rather different one, nothing like the ones they had become used to. The air between them was heavy, and the ease of their conversations seemed to have evaporated. They sat in silence, gazing at the busy street of Accra. Something had shifted, and they were no longer on the same wavelength.

For weeks before that rooftop date, things were spiraling downward. It started that fateful night when one spent the entire night browsing through memes on his phone in the middle of a classical concert he was invited to by the other at the National Theatre. An enthusiast of classical music as the other was, that moment was a deeply spiritual one for him, an unforgettable historical ride, as he solemnly imbibed every single melody of G. F. Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus Oratorio. His euphoric moment was mingled with feelings of disappointment at his date, as his occasional peeps at his date were met with a demeanor of apathy.

“You didn’t enjoy the concert, I could tell.” The other said to the one, as they made their way out of the hall.

“Duh, I managed to survive it.” The one replied with his gaze on his screen, giggling at a meme that had caught his eye. To him, classical music had no place on his taste buds.

The other felt a jolt of disappointment in his heart at the comment of his date. Despite all he thought they shared, he had never felt this estranged from his friend at heart.

“Well.” He replied, as they walked further to the road to order for a ride.

The days after that night took a different turn than the friends were used to; each day with a degree of heaviness worse than the first. They talked, but the conversations were shorter, and there were more awkward pauses. They stopped making plans to see each other, and when they did run into each other, it was as if they were strangers. It was painful for both of them, but they couldn’t quite put their finger on what had caused the shift. They still cared deeply for each other, but something had changed, and they didn’t know how to fix it.

Out of the blue, one received a message from the other. It simply read, “I miss you.” They arranged to meet up, and that’s how they ended up on the roof. They had barely spoken in weeks, and the silence between them was deafening. It was then that one of them finally spoke up.

“I miss you,” he said softly with tears in his eyes, his voice barely audible over the sound of car honkings.

The other man turned to him, with sadness written in his voice. “I miss you too,” he said.
There was a long pause, as they both struggled to find the words to express how they were feeling. Finally, the first man spoke again.

“I don’t know what happened,” he said. “We were so close, and now it feels like we’re strangers.”

The second man nodded, his eyes fixed on the tears in his friend’s eyes. “I don’t know either,” he said. “But I know that I still care about you, and I want to make things right.”

They sat in silence for a while longer, the weight of their emotions heavy on their shoulders. Finally, the first man spoke again.

“I think we need to talk about what’s been going on,” he said. “We need to figure out what’s causing this distance between us.”

The second man nodded, and they both knew that they needed to have a difficult conversation. But they were willing to do whatever it took to salvage their friendship.

Over the next few hours, they talked about everything that had been bothering them.

“You know,” the first man started, “that night, our date at the concert..” he continued.

“Yeah, I remember vividly.” The second man remarked.

“..that night was a big deal to me,” The first man continued

“and I was disappointed it was a rather trivial one for you,” he added

“even more so when you made light of my attempt to talk about what happened.” He continued, looking intently at his friend in the eyes.

His friend turned to look down in silence, as though his next words laid there, waiting to be read.

“I didn’t realize your disappointment until I came to a realization of how much that concert meant to you, as I was reminiscing about the events that night after I got home.” The second man broke the silence, lifting up his head to gaze in the eyes of his friend.

“I’m sorry the night turned out like it did, even more for my cold remark.” He added.

“It’s alright.” The first man replied,

“That’s behind us now.” He added, turning away his gaze to stare at the honking vehicles for a brief moment.

“Since that night,” He continued, turning back to look at his friend.

“I began to wonder how long the chasm had been there..” he added, pausing for a moment.

“we were so much alike at heart, until that night.” He continued.

“I feared what would become of us.” He added, tearing up some more as he gazed into the eyes he had always known.

His friend took a deep sigh, retreating his gaze downward. The first man still looked on, his eyes yearning, waiting to hear what his dearest friend had to say.

After what felt like forever, his friend broke the silence.

“Maybe we weren’t listening hard enough,” The second man finally spoke, mustering his gaze back to his friend.

“perhaps not really paying attention to what mattered most to each of us.” He continued.

Yes, his friend had some annoying habits, like tapping his foot when he was nervous or making expensive jokes. Perhaps, the thing that they kept ignoring was that they didn’t have as much in common as they had thought. While the first man loved classical music and literature, the second man preferred pop songs and romantic comedies.

Despite these differences, they still loved each other. Or at least, they thought they did. As they sat on the rooftop, it was a thinking epiphany feeling for them, upon the sudden realization of what was actually lurking in the dark. It wasn’t each other they loved but the idea of them. They both loved the idea of having a handsome and intelligent boyfriend with whom they could openly talk, share interests, and make each other feel special.

Feeling confused and lost, they decided to take a break from each other. They needed some time to figure out their feelings and decide whether they really loved each other for who they were individually or just for the idea of them. It was painful, but it was also cathartic, and by the end of it, they both felt a weight lifted from their shoulders.

As they stood up to leave, the first man reached out and took the second man’s hand. It was a small gesture, but it spoke volumes. They had both been so afraid of losing each other, but now they knew that they were going to be stronger apart than they were together.