a gay friend - all over again

i went for a networking event this afternoon. and about 15min into the presentation, a guy walked in and was seated at my table. for a moment, i didn't know how to react. it was rather awkward for me. you see, we used to be regulars in the army and i had once constantly and silently kept watch over him. but some years back, he had accused me of telling on him and as a result, the military security department called him up and interrogated him. i stopped contacting him after that and didn't want to spend any effort vindicating myself. i was sure it would be a futile effort to do so given that he was so convinced it was me. but well, my conscience was clear and i simply decided to let things be. i met him a couple of times after that incident but chose not to acknowledge him for i didn't know how he would react to me; and considering the hostilities of our last contact, i rationalized it would probably be easier to just let things be. the last time i met him was at the shopping centre near my place some months back. if i recall correctly, our eyes met but yet again i chose not to acknowledge him.

anyway, back to today's lunch. as i said, it was an awkward moment for me. it was by such coincidence that he was ushered to my table, and it so happened that my table had one vacant space. we nodded our heads and acknowledged each other but we didn't interact much during the whole event. i told myself that i should make myself scarce as soon as the event ends. i didn't want him to feel awkward too. so... yeah, the event went on rather well and i kept my distance. but when the event finally ended, i sensed he wanted to talk to me and i slowed down my exit from the event. true enough, he came up to me and asked if i had 5 minutes. that was a positive signal to me, that he wanted to talk. i agreed and i was rather taken aback when he, without any hesitation, apologized to me. "sorry", he said. i knew what he meant, but it was not me to blame anyone for what's passed. i simply told him i had forgotten all about it.

we spend the next half hour or so catching up. it was really good. he shared with me his process of facing up to the security department and how he eventually left service. he is now happily attached, found his balance and is able to live his life as a gay person without any fear. i felt so happy to hear this. best news for me for a long while. made my day.

:-)