What if?

What if she had not bumped into S right after landing in an unknown city? What if S had not taken pity on her and not invited her to his annual Christmas dinner? What if he had not decided to go for dinner at S’s? What if, when they found each other standing next to each other, and when she started babbling how much she hated social dos he would have stalked off thinking, “silly kid” instead of being amused by her dramatic denouement of the smug marrieds? What if he had something to do in the city the next day and was not bored to the gills and had not thought of meeting the plump girl with a lovely smile for coffee? What if, she had declined coffee the next day and instead opted to go for a movie with her roommate? What if the girl, who pretended to be sure of herself but in reality was in a state of jilted shock, had decided that all men were evil and it wasn’t worth making friends with anyone? What if he hadn’t seen through her fake self-possession and drama to see the sad, lonely kid inside? What if she was not fascinated with his rags to riches stories or he with her eclectic taste in literature and her opinionated monologues? What if he had always not respected her independence and she his space? What if both of them had never learnt to say sorry and meant it? What if they had never learnt to move on? What if they had never become friends?