When Sorry Doesn't Make It Anymore

A few hours after the sms argument I had with my colleague, I saw him at work on Sunday morning. I was smoking outside the theater and there he was, a few meters from me talking on the phone. A few breaths later, he hung up and sat beside me. I extinguished my ciggy and started heading for the door.

He said, "Hey, I'm sorry about last night."

I ignored him.

Fast forward to --- 5-minute call to places.

I was putting on my show shoes and then he came up to me and said, "Rye, I'm sorry. I really am."

"I don't wanna talk about it," I replied coldly.

"I want to."

"I spent too much energy this morning to come to work positive and smiling. I won't let you ruin it. If you really wanna talk, talk to somebody else about it. Not me." Walk out.

Fast forward to --- 7:40ish pm, just a few minutes before the volleyball game.

I got a lengthy sms from him that started with "Rye, I owe you an explanation." Wait a minute, just less than 24 hours ago, you said you didn't owe me, or anybody an explanation, didn't you? The sms was polite and apologetic in tone. The bottomline: he was drunk when we were on it. And when he woke up after that big drinking spree, he realized he crossed the line and that his being hammered was no excuse to act that way. And he felt bad because I am one of the very few people at work that he considers true friends. Good thing he realized that. But I don't care anymore.

He doesn't care, I don't care. We're even.

My reaction to the sms: "This is not the first time, ******. And your morning-after sorries don't justify your drunken rudeness anymore. Let's just forget this episode ever happened. And to save ourselves from more of these in the future, let's also just forget this friendship ever existed."

Shortly after, the referee blew his whistle to signal the first serve for the night.