He roamed his eyes over the cufflinks, which were arranged neatly, row after row, on discreet black velvet trays. For some reason, he was the only customer in the shop. Maybe it was just the time of the day when business was slow. Nevertheless, it seemed that the long upheld traditions of wearing cufflinks and pocket squares were fast disappearing in an age of fluid modernity that did away with the excesses of the past. If he weren't shopping for a gift, he wouldn't have entered this little shop.There were a few playful designs that turned up the corners of his mouth. He was sure his best friend wouldn't mind declaring his favourite football team on his wrists, but how often does one get to be cheeky? Certainly not in front of a prospective employer, or at one's graduation ceremony. He sighed. The thought of him graduating soon and most probably, separating with the few friends he'd made here weighed heavily on his mind. Not that he would miss all of them anyway — most of them were his acquaintances and at most, allies with whom he'd weathered so many storms. But his best friend?
He was brought out of his reverie when a salesgirl approached his side, smiled curtly and tried to offer her assistance. "What style are you looking for, sir?"
"Something elegant," he replied, then added, as an afterthought, "but understated."
"Are you buying for yourself, sir? Or ..." the girl ventured to ask, before turning slightly away to sneeze.
"I'm buying for my brother," he lied, without batting an eye. It wasn't entirely a lie. His best friend was like a brother he'd never had.
"For what occasion? Is he graduating? Or already working?"
"Graduating soon. But it's more like a Christmas gift for him." Another lie, no, half-truth. He wanted to thank his best friend for sticking with him through thick and thin, for trusting him when no one else did and for being such an understanding person. Something even his filthy rich parents back home couldn't provide him with.
"How sweet of you to buy a gift for your brother," the salesgirl commented with a smile. "Do you know what he likes?"
"He's a serious person." Which was true. They were total opposites of one another: one gregarious, the other quiet. One academic, the other athletic. One rich, the other, well, not so affluent. Not that he minded all these and other differences anyway - he liked that they were able to connect with each other, sometimes without words, almost telepathically. They were thick as thieves and he'd daresay that his best friend was his soulmate, if he actually believed in such things.
The salesgirl had selected a few pairs of cufflinks and pinned them on a display shirt for him to inspect. "This is our bestseller. A lot of customers like its gold and silver design. Now these here are simpler, since you said your brother is serious. The designs are not very complicated, and the colour is not so eye-catching but still, they look good."
He compared the few choices he'd been presented with, turning each one this way and that to check for the glint of light reflecting off its surface. He wasn't a good judge of aesthetics - that was his friend's forte. He still remembered the first time he made his best friend a gift of a set of high quality paint brushes. His friend, though a gifted painter himself, politely declined the gift, citing a long list of reasons that he couldn't quite grasp. He wasn't trying to show off his, or rather, his parents' wealth, or trying to measure their friendship in gold. It was just his way of showing his gratitude.
"I still find the gold and silver ones better than the rest," he decided. He was quite optimistic that his best friend wouldn't mind a parting gift (and a fancy one at that too), since he would be flying back to his home country come the new year. After all, there can only be so many times that he can reject him. Even if that were to happen, he thought he could ride on the festive mood of the upcoming Christmas and be his best friend's secret Santa.
The salesgirl brought the cufflinks to the counter next to the cash register and slipped them into a large black velvet tray. "Please examine them, sir. Our products have a warranty period of six months for manufacturing defects. If you're not satisfied with your purchase, you can come back within the next two weeks and exchange them, with the receipt as proof." He rolled the little pieces of metal with his fingers and wondered whether his best friend would like them.
When he finally paid for the "Christmas gift" for his "brother," the salesgirl once again smiled and praised him for being such a good sibling. To which he said nothing, but offered the girl a smile identical to hers.
Author's Note: As far as I remember, this is my first attempt at creative writing after graduating from high school. It's rather rough and unpolished, but I thought I should write something non-factual after submitting my thesis/dissertation. Anyway, this story combines two themes from psychological research: best friendship and affluence. Male/male friendships and intimacy between two guys have been underrepresented or avoided altogether mainly due to two reasons: (a) fear of being mislabeled as a homosexual and (b) society's insistent imposition of the tough guy image/masculinity, which promotes competition rather than collaboration. Therefore I chose to write about two males in a best friendship, but best friends could also be of male/female pairing or female/female pairing etc. The other theme, affluence, only recently emerged from social psychological studies. Psychologists tend to focus on the underprivileged and people of minority status, such as the poor, the mentally challenged etc. Some psychologists, however, urged that more research attention and clinical interventions should be directed to the other end of the extreme: the rich. Interested readers could find an illuminating introductory to affluence in Luthar's (2003) paper "The Culture of Affluence: Psychological Costs of Material Wealth." As you can see, this story is relatively straightforward. I'll try to be more subtle in my future writings. Constructive feedback are welcomed. Happy holidays! — 23 Nov. 14.
