Phone Stops Ringing Test of Friendship

“All his life he had been striving and to suddenly stop felt strange and wrong. He still played sport but part of its pleasure had been the break from work and it was not sufficiently fulfilling by itself. He continued to watch the desultory sharemarket, dabbled in it when he saw opportunities, and lost money but nothing filled the gap. Nothing seemed how it used to be. In addition, the phone stopped ringing, which showed him that most of his callers had not been ringing because they were friends but because they wanted something. The essential element of fun, he already knew, was not money but other people. Most of his friends were working and had other commitments. They were not on tap for him.”

“Heatley’s brief attempt at retirement was too late to save the relationship. And after six weeks of reading books and playing golf, he was bored. Despite now living in a luxurious house in St Heliers, his first designed by Pete Bossley, and being able to buy any car he wanted, in the aftermath of Rainbow he felt flat. Making money and having any lifestyle he chose had been a dream since boyhood. It had come true, but it did not feel as good as he had imagined it would. All his life he had been striving and to suddenly stop felt strange and wrong. He still played sport but part of its pleasure had been the break from work and it was not sufficiently fulfilling by itself. He continued to watch the desultory sharemarket, dabbled in it when he saw opportunities, and lost money but nothing filled the gap. Nothing seemed how it used to be. In addition, the phone stopped ringing, which showed him that most of his callers had not been ringing because they were friends but because they wanted something. The essential element of fun, he already knew, was not money but other people. Most of his friends were working and had other commitments. They were not on tap for him.”