Bangalore, INDIA.
It is a simple rule of life that it never tends to stay still. You probably wouldn't believe it, but it will always have something unexpected planned for you, at some sudden turn in your life. It likes to play games, and wait to see our reactions when the unexpected hits us with full force. Something similar to that was going to happen to Zahra's life, a very ordinary human being with nothing exceptional to set her apart from the crowd. Yet, future is not known to anyone, it's always a mystery. So pretending to believe that things will go your way is simply a mistake almost each one of us make in our life.
What was in store for Zahra, she had never imagined in her wildest dreams. It all depends on the events of life. If they are extraordinary, they put you momentarily in a spotlight. And if they are common like a bird pooping on your head, or a six year-old boy ramming into you while learning to ride a bicycle for the first time, nobody cares to take a look, except maybe to laugh at you.
But what happened to Zahra, set her to one side from the usual people. This is the story of that phase of her life which was the most unusual. It is the story of her struggles, her moments of dipping self-esteem, and moments of fear, happiness and sometimes, utter confusion with respect to her feelings for a certain someone. Her life never failed to surprise her, nor will it fail to surprise you! This is about an epoch in her life which will kick start her on a long journey that will either ruin her, or change things for the better.
Curious about the end result? Swerve with her on this roller-coaster ride that will pick up speed just when you'll be beginning to relax, catching you off-guard so spontaneously that you wouldn't know if you should sit still, or thump your arms and legs in the air in order to free yourself. It is an extraordinary story of an ordinary girl, who grew up believing she was just another load of unwanted cargo sent to the earth to add to the pile of populace.
And on top of that, she was a girl, believed to be ill-omened by ever-nosy neighbors, for they saw her the cause of destruction, whenever it occurred, because she simply happened to be connected to it! Heck, her life was a disaster itself, apart from a few things. And it became even more so in the particular phase we'll be witnessing shortly. Besides all that, she was just that, a girl. The species no one saw as something to be amazing. But, they were wrong. She turned out to be extraordinary... in a dazzling way. And, whatever you believe, never assume a girl to be ordinary. Because, no girl is ordinary!
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The pre-dawn was the same like it had been every other time of the year. There was nothing unusual about it. No furious storms or frightful lightning in the sky as a prelude to the turns the day would take when there will be full light about every nook and cranny of the earth.
There was nothing out of the way to mark it different from the usual days when the beautiful and mysterious dark night began to give way to the moderately warm October days. It was a calm, serene stretch from here to everywhere as the moon got dimmer, a beautiful epiphany to witness. The inhabitants living under that vastly spread star-spangled sky were dreaming peacefully in their sleeps, ignorant of what was to come.
Under the same Bangalore sky, lived a girl. An ordinary girl, who was, at the moment, drooling in her sleep! There were a few surprises in store for her that day. Good ones, for a change! The ones that would change her life forever. If only she knew that. And if you would've told her about it, she would've gawked at you, and then laughed till her sides ached. Coz her life was immensely boring and painfully static.
That pre-morning, Zahra awoke with a start, hearing a loud thump on the door of her bedroom, realizing after a few minutes that it was her mother, waking her up for Fajr Salah (pre-dawn prayers). She was a heavy sleeper. Nothing less than a bang to her door was needed to make her wide awake and in her senses. "Zahra, wake up, or I won't hesitate in breaking this dumb door!" 'You're already on your way to do just that,' she thought, grumpily. "Just ten minutes are left for you to pray." 'What in the name of the Lord?!' She was fully awake now. "It'll be dawn soon. Come on, get up? Can't you even hear your alarm ringing? It's been breaking the house down with that noise of it since this past half hour!"
"Alright, alright, hold your horses, mom. I'm up," Zahra replied peevishly. Thankfully, the fist-bumping on the door stopped for good. Apparently, her mother was satisfied with the answer. But, after a few seconds, the girl fell back asleep with a thud. Ugh! So much for staying up late till 2:00 in the morning!
After about five minutes, she hastily aroused herself from her snooze, remembering she hadn't offered her prayers, yet. Searching for her phone on the bed, she switched it on to see the time. God! Exactly ten minutes left for her to pray. 'What cheek of the woman to lie about the time!' she thought, forgetting her manners. Mentally slapping herself upside the head, Zahra threw the covers down and ran to the bathroom to make wudhu (ablution).
Coming back, she quickly bowed down her sinning self into prostration in front of her Lord, asking for forgiveness, and after reciting the Qur'an fell on her bed and dozed off, again! She'd airily planned to wake up after a while so she could take bath and run to her office. Because it took her at least one whole hour to get tidy, so it was totally understandable that she had to get up for it early, in advance. Getting late would be such an embarrassment!
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Trapeze, CLYDESVILLE.
David Walworth was a mess since the last few months, drinking hard and going to rave parties every other night. Never did he fall asleep alone, in his bed. And tonight was no exception. Strangely enough, he didn't even remember who he was with, in the mornings. All he wanted to do was escape from his mind, break free from this chain of the corporate world that held him in its intolerant grip.
And losing himself in the drink of the devil seemed to him as the only plausible solution to his problems. Aware of going downhill, he made no move to fix himself, as he screwed some girl in his splendid mansion almost every day. Owing to all this reckless behavior, his otherwise smooth relationship with his father, was on the rocks, and he never left a chance to annoy him.
The two of them were constantly bickering about something or the other. The situation was tense in the Boardroom. The Organization was not doing well, either on the stock exchange, or in the banking world. However hard he'd tried, the poor guy couldn't save the Company from going down into continuous losses for six months straight, except in a few countries. One of those few countries was the Indian subcontinent.
And it was in these tough times that his old man splashed cold water onto his last efforts. The Board had decided to bring the best lot of the subcontinent to the HQ, train them for exceptionally demanding jobs, and then let them hold the reins until the Corporation made it out from under the water. But, for some obscure reason, it hadn't gone down well with the young CEO. He had lashed out and stormed off the last meeting, and was in no mood to attend another anytime soon.
David was in the middle of a beautiful dream of his much younger version being chased down by his laughing mother as he shouted to his dad for help, when the phone rang noisily. He cursed vociferously, gripping his aching forehead, and felt around the bed for his phone. A body collided with his hand, and he hoarsely shouted colorful curses for the person to get the he** out of his house. He didn't even remember who she was. Squinting to look at the phone, he immediately shut his eyes as he felt the bright light stab them mercilessly.
Without caring to take another look at the caller id, he accepted the call, instantly regretting it. For his dad screamed at the other end without relenting, "What the heck are you doing, Dave? Didn't I tell you we had a meeting? Come at once, or I'll see to it that you're relieved of your duties, and stripped off your title." But the thing was, being the CEO was his pride, and David couldn't imagine getting stripped of it.
"No need to shout, father! I'm coming. It was just like you to schedule a meeting at such an ungodly hour," he scoffed indignantly. "Save this attitude for some other time, boy! Whatever you may feel about it, the changes have been already announced. It only needs a few touch-ups. And you know very well we can't begin things without you. So don't act like a cranky teenager and just come quickly, alright."
Dave was furious. How dare he order him like that?! That too in the middle of the night! He felt like kicking something or someone. The girl seemed like the best target, but he wasn't raised that way. So he contented himself by shouting at her. Her name was Casey or something like that. "Hey, you girl! Get up, and make yourself presentable," he bellowed, his mouth pressed into a thin line of impatience. "It's Kylie," she told him as she got up. "Yeah, whatever. I'm not gonna leave you here, and I have to go someplace. So, either go on your own before I'm out, or ask the man at the gate to drop you wherever you live."
"Aww, babe. Why can't you drop me to my place?" she asked him in an endearing tone. "Mind what you say, woman! I ain't your chauffeur," David replied, his fuse blowing out the window. "Look, I'm asking you nicely to leave, or I'll drag you out the door and leave you in the middle of the street to nowhere, got it? Now get out of my sight."
"And what happened to the promise you gave me at the bar?" "What promise? I don't remember making any promises to anyone! Either way, I was too drunk to care. So, don't think you're special or anything, alright." The girl was annoying the he** outta him. Why he was having this conversation with her, he had no clue. "But... but, you said I was very beautiful?!" the girl asked him incredulously. "Did I, now? I must've been either terribly blind or terribly drunk, because now that I see you, you look ghastly," the young Walworth replied, sneering. "And you said, you were genuinely in love with me!"
"That was only a joke, okay. Now, don't push your luck, and just leave. You're in the influence of too much alcohol. The door is that way. Go before I, myself, throw you out." The senseless girl lost her cool at that. "Well, you know what I think?" she shouted in a shrill voice. David shook his head at her dramatics. "I think you don't want to admit you really loved the time we spent together." He laughed mockingly at that. "I know that you love me. And I won't leave you this easily. I'm gonna make you admit your undying love for me, even if it takes me forever."
"Well, Kayla, or whatever your name is, I'm gonna see you try it."
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At 8:00 a.m., a very annoying noise woke her up and this time, Zahra literally ran to the bathroom to take her shower. Whatever the heck was the problem with her stupid sleep cycle? Couldn't it be disciplined for once? She was annoyed at her mother for not waking her up. 'Like you'd have heard her above your snoring, idiot!' her inner voice scoffed at her. Being extremely lazy and all, it was too much effort for her in one day. But the girl was determined to break her own records.
Working extra fast, Zahra came out in just half an hour which, for her sloth-like personality, was an achievement in itself. She gulped down her breakfast, slipped the abaya (a long robe-like dress worn by Muslim women) over her dress, hastily tied her hijab (head-scarf) and ran out of the house, saying salaam to her parents on the way. "But baita (child), you didn't even eat anything well enough! Let me make you some lunch," her mother called after her. "Argh Amma! (Mother), I'm not a little kid anymore. I'll eat something at the office cafeteria, OK. Don't worry," she responded and went out.
One of her neighbors passed by her. He had a sardonic smile plastered on his face as he looked at her. Zahra felt like wiping it with a powerful slap, but she resisted the urge, telling herself to slowly inhale, and then exhale. In all this time, her phone had kept ringing incessantly. 'It must be that daft girl, Avi,' she thought, irritated. "Yeah, I'm on my way, okay. Don't make me go crazy!" the girl snapped at her best friend.
"I know exactly what you mean by that statement of yours, love. You've just come out of your door, right?" And Zahra smiled at how perfectly her best friend knew her. "Who are you trying to bluff, babe?" "Okay, okay, I'm coming. Don't be such a brat." "Well, hurry, coz I can't wait to see you, Zee!" Her friend rolled her eyes at that. "You just saw me yesterday," she told her dryly. "I know. But, I've got some news for you. And it's good, for a change."
Zahra stopped the taxi outside her office at exactly 9:00 a.m. Whew! She'd made it. The office was a large seventeen storied building, with 'WALWORTH & Co.' emblazoned on the top with bold black letters, shimmering in the sun. It always made her feel proud, just belonging to it, and coming here every day. At the age of just 23, it was a miracle in itself, working in one of the highly reputed international banks with practically no work experience. Something definitely to die for!
Though she didn't have that kind of a big paycheck as yet, she was still happy and thankful to the Lord for giving her this big a break. Seeing how hard she worked on anything from presentations to project reports... to her examinations, her teachers had always expected it of her. She had always been a good student, but never a bookworm. So, she'd been safe from being called a 'nerd', which was actually a relief for her. There had already been too many things to worry about, and she didn't want more things to add to the ever-growing pile.
Opening the large glass doors of the building, Zahra went inside, ticked the box beside her name on the list at the reception desk and waited for the lift to come down. It was working extra slow today. 'Just when I'm late, everything seems to go slow... well, except the time, the sleazy traitor,' she thought.
As the girl headed towards her cabin through the gallery on the fourth floor, she couldn't help replaying Avi's words in her mind, over and over again. "And it's good, for a change." What good news could be waiting for her?? A sudden shriek made Zahra forget all she was thinking of, and jump out of her skin, five feet high in the air. 'GOD!!! These girls can't control their emotions even at the workplace!' she thought, visibly annoyed.
But as she entered the hall, she heard several other shrieks from all around the room. In fact, there was a large crowd almost stuck to the notice board on the far left corner. She eyed them disapprovingly. Couldn't these people be any less wild? What was the whole commotion about, anyway?? Had there been a revamp in the positions of the organization??? Her eyes lit up at the thought. After working for a year in this place, and hopeful of getting a promotion, Zahra moved forward with eager steps and entered the huge room.
She spotted her friend Avantika, a little further from where the crowd was, as she frantically waved at her to come over. She walked past them, towards Avi's cabin, which was right next to her own and mouthed, "What's happening here?" on the way. "Then you, most probably, haven't checked your e-mail, you lazy bummer," her friend chided her. "What's it to do with my e-mail?" Zahra asked, annoyed at not getting a straight reply. "Oh God! I'll have to break it to you then. You. Are. Going. To. 'CLYDESVILLE'. Girl!!!!! Can you, even in your wildest dreams, imagine that?!" Zahra just stood there, stunned. Obviously, she had never.
And it was from here that her one-heck-of-a-journey began.