Since childhood I appreciated my friends and liked to give gifts. It was more pleasant to give than to receive. As I lived in a wealthy family, I could afford much myself and gifts did not bring me the proper joy, but the emotions that my friends gave me, opening my gifts, very much lifted my spirits.
As a schoolboy I tried to give Robert, my best friend, the best toys and things he was interested in. He was from a large family, his parents couldn’t afford much, but my parents and I gave him cool cars and a new phone, and more money so he could buy what he wanted. The amounts were always relatively large or, rather, enough so that he could afford more than usual.
It didn’t occur to me until a moment ago that Robert was taking advantage of this, and no longer considered me his friend so much as a conveyor belt of great gifts. He left school early, went to college, and though we mostly didn’t hang out anymore, he was always calling me for my birthday or New Year’s Eve.
The older we got, the more often it was the money I gave, for fear of not getting into his interests. Since we were no longer in close contact, it was harder to guess what he wanted.
I planned to give him the same thing for his wedding. I suddenly became an invited guest, even though I didn’t even know that Robert had a girlfriend.
It just so happened that I was having money problems at the time-my mom was gone, I was moving, and problems at work did the trick. I could not give a large sum of money at that time, and I did not want to give a completely useless gift. Then my father advised me to do the classic thing: give a nice set of tea sets. My mother collected a whole sideboard of them. She beat us on the hand and forbade us to use them, so they were as good as new.
I repent, I only splurged on the beautiful packaging, but the gift as a whole was very good. Still, Robert wasn’t thrilled. I felt embarrassed enough as it was, and they started looking into the gift in front of me. I’ll never forget the dryness in my throat and the heart that began to beat faster when the smile fell off Robert’s face at the sight of the set. I honestly tried to choose the most beautiful and modern one, but the groom didn’t like it.
When Robert got drunk during the celebration and mentioned me in a toast, he blurted out that this time the gift was “out of my league.” He said it in front of all the guests, making me blush thickly.
That was when I thought that there had been no friendship between us for a long time. Only cold calculation. He used to call me for gifts, and as soon as I fell on hard times, and I myself was waiting for some gift at least of fortune, Robert put me down like that.
I don’t communicate with him anymore. I can answer his question about my affairs that I’m fine, but I don’t go to his holidays anymore. He even called the first couple of times himself, and after four refusals realized that this was a lost cause, and almost completely stopped writing. He just throws in some news and asks about my family from time to time.
