Living life: Wonderful Idiots

Pride is man’s best friend. So, by default you have two very high achieving fellows behaving like absolute idiots because of the huge invisible mountain in the room, called the human ego. Tim and Tilly are just such a kind of your wonderful idiots. They live a good life, occasionally bump into each other in some A-list event in Kigali apart from the regular business meetings in which Tilly, the lawyer from a prestigious law firm is laying down the riot act, for Tim, the high-rising executive in a prominent blue chip company about what and what not to do in today’s high risk business environment. Tilly is usually reading through her top of the range specs, a contract or something, then peering above her glasses to lay down the ground rules for Tim and company, straight in the eye. Meanwhile Tim is returning the overbearing legal stare, with a casual I-dare-you look. In the informal environment, Tilly and Tim are ideal candidates in everyone else’s eyes, for a serial romantic liaison. Not with all the money, good careers, above average looks, and a horde of admirers. The missing link would be a ring on the fingers, plus a bunch of happy noisy babies to complete the picture of happiness. That apparently appears to be the furthest thing on Tim and Tilly’s minds. To Tim, it would be nice to go out with Tilly, enjoy the high profile relationship with the company’s hot shot legal adviser plus the trappings that come with it. Unlike all Tim’s friends, he does not see a long term future with Mrs. High Achiever beyond a few high adrenalin events. On the other hand, Tilly, unlike all his girlfriends, thinks Tim is an overrated rich kid from whom any good cannot come from. And thus, a cat and mouse game of self-indulgent courting ensures, with no meaningful purpose. Eventually it degenerates into an I can’t stand him – She is not my type, kind of senseless denial among peers, while clearly whenever they are in the same room, the sparks fly, the instinctive momentary meeting of eyes is pretentiously and immediately abandoned. They act like a couple of clueless teenagers whenever in proximity of each other even when in crowd, yet the words between them are like the proverbial sword of Damocles. It becomes a game of reverse psychology, I love you not. I love you never. I don’t know when Tim and Tilly will stop playing games, and realize they have successfully directed their destiny to one place with their boardroom dilly dalliances. But their circus can only end in two ways. One, they cut the stupidity, lock out the crowd, sit down over a cup of coffee and do a honest no holds barred tête-à-tête and hopefully we will soon enjoy the excesses of a stag party, a soapy church ceremony and a sorrowful post-wedding session in the bar, mourning the loss of one of our kind, to marriage, a nice thing apparently. Or two, Tim hits on Tilly’s more that willing best friend and something serious happens, and Tilly responds in kind, and jealousy springs up, of what, as if there was ever a relationship, followed by hateful malicious gossip, and that is how our much awaited stag party disappears into thin air, just like that! Have a non-egoistic Sunday. kelviod@yahoo.com