Friends

1:15 pm Fate or destiny

Time for her lunch break. At least that is what her body clock indicated. Not forgetting it was also time for her lunch hour walk, where she divorced herself from the computer screen which like an infant, was constantly in control of her mental and physical faculties. Time to leave the blue walls constituted by the corporate overlords designed to enslave her till her retirement, death or resignation, whichever she would choose to surrender her fate to.

1:16 pm Carl

Carl: So where are you going to have your lunch today Miss?
She: Nowhere in particular if you really want to know
Carl: Would you like me to take you to a new Italian restaurant that opened shop the other day
She: Not really, I need fresh air, not really a meal
Carl: You're sure
She: Yup. See you later!!!

1:17 pm Sunshine

There is something different about sunshine hitting you from the open compared to a few UV rays sneaking past the windows on tenth floor. More like swimming with fishes you own rather than watching them from the aquarium you rented from that uptown shop. Keeping up with the Joneses has its own disadvantages like not being able to have a relationship with your property. Only constant staring contests with the humongous house you got a mortgage on that you never get to enjoy because you are busy working late to pay it off; beauty pageants for your expensive phones every weekend when at lunch with your friends and staring contests with your dog because it is only there for the visitors to see and not for your security or company. If she was going to pay the mortgage and watch fishes swim in a glass tank in her living quarters, she thought she ought to at least enjoy one free thing, and for her, it was the gift of sunshine.

1:18 pm The King's Bench

He sat there as usual on his bench facing the tall blue buildings of the economic kings. It was not really his bench. It belonged to the City Council. However, after faithfully sitting on it for so many months, the people who passed there often had quietly and willingly acknowledged the bench as his and let him be. Men and women sat on other adjacent benches without ever bothering him. Probably because they also did not like the fact that he was a street urchin, and a suspicious one at that because he never opened his mouth to utter a word. He didn't stretch out his hand for handouts or help, neither did he have a cup for collecting coins. Once in a while during the lunch hour break, a coin or two was handed to him, to which he bowed in response to that gesture, but nothing more. Something else brought him there, a daily routine, an obsession, a prescription.

1:19 pm Company

 She walked towards benches as she always did. Admiring the freedom the bird had and wishing she were as they were. And she slowly approached her favourite spot in the environment, a bench with a King. She smiled at the man who smiled back at her and sat on the bench next to him. She put her hand into her bag and produced a transparent plastic bag containing the remains of her vegetable sandwich, which she had only had a bit of in the morning when rushing to work. She handed it to the mute who gratefully accepted it and went straight to consuming it. And as he did so, she stared at the birds, breathed in the air and enjoyed his company. As soon as he was done eating she smiled, got up and left.....