Lack of Charm

Tom is still the smartest accountant in the town,

Joey is his best friend.

Tom is 94.

Joey is 95.

They both live in a small town near the beach. The nearest "big" city is around two hours away in a car when Joey drives, but only one if Tom is on the wheel.

This is a story of a friendship, love and drama. Not too many tears were shed, though.

Everything had started about 82 years ago. Joey was a small, spoiled boy, always on shorts, with his legs full of marks from his bike accidents. He was rather skinny, and just a tiny bit rude.

Tom on the other hand, was actually tall for his age, sweet and gentle, “charming” every adult used to say. He moved into the town and barely two weeks after that, he had already fallen for his friend’s lack of charm.

Tom and Joey’s first encounter was not as you would expect for men with such a good friendship, but kids are kids, and you’re only lucky if they actually grow out of their tantrums.

They met each other in a candy shop. They were both interested in the same girl. Buying sweets and chocolates to win her affection was not very useful, but they tried anyway. After she went to play with another boy, they both blamed each other and ended in a fist fight. After the tension went away, they simply became best friends.

Every girl Joey fell for, was most likely to be the same girl Tom was interested on, every single time. Since Shirley, the girl from the candy shop, to Martha, from the public library, to Nathalie from Tom’s office, the story always repeated itself. The women would refuse their affections and they would end up eating or drinking together.

Both of their love lives were a mess, if they even existed. And soon they accepted the fact that women were not really interested in them, although they never really stopped trying.

Each of them loved the other deeply, and cared as much as they cared for a brother. Suddenly they were sharing and apartment, and hanging out at the park every weekend, telling stories and joking around. They had no ‘love’ but had each other’s friendship.

Today Tom and Joey are still together, and will be until the very end …probably trying to charm some lady in the park with magic tricks and flowers.