'Everything happens for a reason' they say. But, according to Zahra, at least it didn't apply into her life. Whatever happened with her seemed unusual, whether it was good or bad. Things would be great when she will come to Clydesville, she had thought but since she had come here, she had started thinking the other way round. Nothing had gone right with her.
First, there was that head-on collision with the guy who had a big fat ego and then, she had found out that, unfortunately, he was the CEO of her Alma mater, although, she thought that she owed her success to the 'Company', not him! Then there was the running away from the battle ground, a.k.a the CEOs office, when she saw him sitting like a king-o'-nowhere on the red hot seat, but failing terribly in NOT grabbing his attention.
And that day was the worst of all days when she had broken that confounded vase. Even when her motives were pure and innocent, they seemed 'devilish' in his eyes. She had stopped trying to undo her mistakes now, because she had found that they never turned out good. People had even started pointing at her in the crowd now, saying "hey, isn't that the girl who broke that vase." 'Arghhh!! Leave me alone, you creeps, don't you know it isn't good manners to point fingers at someone in public' she thought. But it was no good trying to make these people understand, so she had just let it drop from her mind, adopting the 'do-what-you-want-I-don't-care' attitude in front of them.
Things had been quite quiet this last month. Most probably, her body had got bored of doing all those antics and was on a long vacation. People wondered what she was planning next, but she never planned on anything in advance, it just....happened, and she had nothing on her mind right now, absolutely nothing at all.
The fortnightly check of her report was due in a few days and she was frantic to get it done by then and prune it a bit to make it worth seeing by her supervisor. The only thing that had happened worth noting in these days was that she had finally met the man who had made this giant of an organization what it was today, Michael Walworth, and she had found him surprisingly amusing, witty and awesomely down to earth, very much unlike his 'bloke' of a son.
Well, finally, the day on which she had to give-in her report dawned bright and sunny, much to Zahra's dismay, but thankfully, she had been able to complete it by midnight. She got to her office, checked-in at the reception desk, submitted her report, and went on to sit in her cabin and work on the next report that was due after fifteen days.
After about two hours had passed, somebody came looking for her. It was Ms. Andrews. Looking at her, she was always reminded of her primary school principal, who looked at every pupil like he was an ex-convict just out of a jail, and she felt that way even at this minute. Huh, what ruckus had she caused now? She was tired of all this calling-up game, and she felt like she was at primary school all over again, and was being called by her principal for being reprimanded but had been hiding in some corner to save herself from facing the wrath of that gruesome woman.
"Mr. Walworth Sr. has called for you to come to his office in two minutes. Hurry now, he's very particular about being on time and doesn't like to be kept waiting" she said, not so harshly, and even smiled at her before going out of the cabin.
Zahra was properly puzzled. 'What did she mean by throwing that warmer-than-the-sun smile at her?' Nevertheless, she hurried out and when she reached the CEOs office, she saw Jennifer standing just outside the door with one hand on the door handle, uncertainly looking around her, thinking how she had ended up standing there. Just then, she spotted Zahra coming towards her and grabbed her hand, visibly relaxed. "I'm so glad that you'll be going in with me. By the way, do you know why they've called us two here, in particular?" she asked her, confused. "I'm as much puzzled as you are. We'll only get to know it when we get inside. So let's go" Zahra replied, opening the doors to the huge room.
"I'm guessing you are Ms. Fatimah and Ms. Riley, right?" the older man asked and the two girls nodded, throwing a glance at the younger Walworth who stood beside him. "Do take a seat, both of you" he said pointing to two chairs across the carved mahogany desk. When the two girls had settled in their seats, he started pacing up and down the whole length of the room and spoke again, but this time to his son, "David, please brief them upon the reason of their visit, would you?"
"Yes, sir. So, as you must have noticed by now, these are your reports that you see on the computer screen, the ones that you gave in just this morning. These were forwarded by your supervisor, in case you've been wondering how they happened to end up here. The reason why he forwarded it was because he found them different from the whole lot, he found them almost....extraordinary. First, I would start with Ms. Riley."
"Ms. Riley, as I said before, the report we've received from you is extraordinary and I won't hesitate in saying it all over again. It is the best report we've got by a trainee since the last three or four years. Your way of writing things in simple detail so that even a lay-man would get the whole idea in a nutshell is something that we appreciated extremely, and we would like you to continue with such kind of a performance in future. Well done and good luck." Jennifer was literally gaping when he finished.
"Moving on to Ms. Fatimah..." At this point, he stopped speaking and searched her with his penetrating glance, as if he was trying to figure out her innermost thoughts. The older man stopped pacing the room, came to a standstill beside his son, and began to speak, "The reports that you give in to your supervisor are usually better than the whole lot, believe me, we checked. But this particular report has been 'exceptional' and I'm totally serious when I say that, because I don't usually show so much emotion in just one sentence. It was something that we saw for the first time done by a trainee since the inception of this organization.
"You do have a special way of doing things, don't you? Everything from analysis to conclusions is simply great. The ideas that you've put in at the end are quite practical and we found them very apt and according to the requirements of the organization in the present day. We are even thinking of applying some of them in our ongoing projects, if you don't mind, that is to say. It would be preferable if you also keep up with this performance, in fact, try to do even better. Both of you will give original hard copies of your reports by tomorrow, and a copy of them to Mr. Hammond. You may go now, and Ms. Fatimah, you'll need to stay back for a few minutes. I'm sure it wouldn't be irksome to you in any way."
Zahra nodded in acquiescence. Jennifer gave her a broad smile, thanked the two men profusely and went out. The older Walworth spoke again. "Now, Ms. Fatimah, what would you say if I told you that you're not a trainee anymore? In fact, you've just become something better than that. You are now an employee here." Hearing this statement, Zahra was stunned. She kept staring at both the men with her mouth open, thinking that they were playing some kind of a joke on her.
At last, finding her voice, she said, "I would be extremely happy, Sir, but I would test the waters first, for if they weren't what they seemed to be, I would sink if I had no rescue nearby. And frankly, I don't know how to swim." This answer made both the men laugh their heads out.
"You are a clever one, good for you. But you wouldn't have to go any deeper because this is for real. We don't give out hoax jobs. Everything has already been arranged for you. You'll work in the HR department under Mr. Steve Vaughn who is the HR head. When you come tomorrow, you'll work according to your new schedule. But, remember that you're on a trial period for six months, so you must work carefully and maintain your performance. You can go now." Coming out of the room, Zahra felt that it was all a dream and was too good to be real.
Since that day, she had not given herself even a single minute to stop and breathe a little. Her whole room had been rigged up as a makeshift office by herself and she was literally living on coffee now, working late at nights and racking her brain to bits in the office the whole day. But there's an end to everything. Before she even knew, Christmas holidays had come and she was bored to death this year. She had no friends in this place, except maybe Laura, but she lived in the room next to hers, so, where was the excitement in that. Saying that she missed her best friend horribly was the understatement of the millennium, because she had no words to describe the feeling.
One day, a few days before Christmas, her mother called her, while she was making coffee in the kitchen for her flat mate and herself. She touched the screen to receive the call and was elated to hear the same sing-song voice on the other end of the line. "As Salam-u-alaikum (greetings) Amma (mother), how are you?" she sang, kind of. "Wa-alaikum as Salam (greetings to you too), we are fine, how about you?" "So, child, are you not coming for the holidays?" her mother asked, without giving her the chance to reply. "No Amma. I've got a truckload of work to do, so I won't be coming this year, maybe in the next holidays, I'll be there, Insha'Allah."
"Next holidays? But all this training stuff was for just one year, right?" her mother asked confused. "Yeah. Oh! How silly of me? I totally forgot to tell you. I got a job here, Amma, I'm not a trainee anymore. Isn't that awesome. So, that's why I won't be coming back after this year. I know Amma, I'm being very selfish here and it's a little sad to know that I won't be seeing you for a long time, but look at the bright side...." "You will not stay there for even a second more after this year, do you get it?" her mother shouted at the other end, before she could finish what she was saying.
After calming up a bit, she spoke again, "You remember Jamal sahib, your father's friend and ex-employer. He has asked for your hand for his son." "What the heck, Amma, are you serious? What did you tell them?" "Of course, we said yes" her mother replied. "God! Amma, are you out of your mind? Don't you see that they are extremely rich and all.
"They've got one big heck of an export empire. Do you even know what they think of people like us? You could've at least asked me once before giving your answer to them. Why do they even want to marry their son with a beggar like me I wonder?" "Hold your tongue Zahra, no one is a beggar here, at least not you. I called only to ask you to consider it once" her mother chided her severely for her lack of manners.
"There's a lot more to it than meets your eye, child" she said after sometime, her voice becoming soft and distant. "You already know that your father and I, we....we were not able to even make two ends meet when you were small. Where we lived, a famine came over the whole land once, and there was nothing to eat for months. We ran away from there, like everyone else.
"It was a cold December night, when we reached the outskirts of a city, after walking for days and crossing many jungles on the way. There was a lone but grand house in front of us and we breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that we'd get shelter for the night there, and look for some work in the city the next day."
"We knocked and a young man, your uncle Jamal, opened the door. We told him the whole story. He was reluctant to take us in at first, but after some time, I don't know why, he threw a glance at you and agreed, saying "I've a son of about your daughter's age. I will let you in, only when you agree to give her over to us in marriage with my son, when she gets to that age. You see, my wife wants to have a daughter who has got brown eyes, but she can't have one" he admitted sheepishly.
"It was a strange condition, but, nevertheless, as we were very desperate, we agreed to it and he let us in. After that, he even gave work to your father in his company. But even after your father had worked for him for so many years, he never gave him any promotion, but that is another thing. But....I think you should know the whole story" she said, apparently changing her mind to hide nothing from her daughter.
"After many years had passed, when you must have been in high school, your father asked him for a promotion one day, he refused and when he asked for a resignation, he refused to that too and threatened him with.....things. He told your father that he knew about our past and wouldn't let us get away with it. And was also ashamed that he had let such thankless people in his home that night. Well, he finally did let us come to Bangalore, but with a promise that we wouldn't marry our daughter anywhere else."
"You know how influential those people are, Zahra, they can do anything to us. I'm sure I've raised you well enough to make you see the light of the matter and act accordingly, and I do hope that you wouldn't let us down, my dear."
Zahra was dumbfounded with the information her mother had given her. "What...what was the name of their son?" she asked, trembling from head to toe. She had a small inkling of a person who could be the guy in question, because their surnames matched and he resembled uncle Jamal very much. He had been in her college. "Oh! I forgot to tell you. His name is Adel Jamal" her mother replied, on hearing which, she froze.
"What??!! Are you crazy, Amma? That guy is so cheap. Do you even know what kind of activities he does? He was in my college, so I know. He even drinks." "You are just being hyper, Zahra, he's nothing like that at all. Besides, how do you know that he's the exact same guy? I've seen him with my own two eyes and he's the most sincere and nice boy that I've ever come across. Don't be dramatic, alright."
"You know what mom, your knowledge about the guy is totally skewed. I really don't know what potion he's put into your systems, but I do know this that I've had enough, okay. I'll do whatever I want and you can't stop me. And I won't let my life get ruined, so please, just, let me live my way." Saying thus, Zahra cut the call throwing the poor phone on the bed and immediately broke into hysteric tears, feeling very guilty about the way she had shouted at her mom.
She prostrated herself before Allah, trying to find solace in Salah, asking Him again and again what she had done to deserve this fate, and the unfair treatment of the world in general to all those who were weak and couldn't stand up for themselves, who had nowhere to go where they could get justice. But then, she remembered that there were many people in this world, who were resigned to too much worse fates than hers, like all those people who were killed in in numerous attacks.
What had those innocent people done to deserve that kind of a fate? She realized that actually, she was the one having soo many privileges that she couldn't even count them on her fingers. Nevertheless, she hoped that Allah would do whatever was best for her, because He loved all his creations dearly. Still, she couldn't help feeling melancholy for the rest of the day, and the days that followed. When her friend Laura couldn't get her to join in any kind of fun with her, she had an idea!
Three days had passed since the day of the phone call. Zahra was sitting just as morosely in one of the couches in the hall, which she and her friend shared, typing away on her laptop. Somebody opened the door to Laura's room and came out into the hall. Zahra thought that it was Laura herself, so she kept on working. But then, suddenly, a pair of soft hands clamped onto her eyes, blocking her view, and making her startled with fright.
"Laura, if this is one of your crazy games that you play to bide the time, then, I'm seriously gonna get you this once, and get you bad, believe me" Zahra said, irritated. Funnily enough, Laura replied just then, "Guess whooo?" Zahra couldn't think of anybody, although those hands definitely didn't feel like Laura's, so she wasn't acting, there was one more person in the room. The person she had in mind, could never be there, because she was thousands of miles away from her.
When she actually saw who it was, she couldn't believe her eyes. Her best friend and here, that was too impossible to happen. But she was there and no mistake. Zahra was so overcome with emotions of all kinds that she hugged Avi a little too tightly, making her unable to breathe. "Err...Zee...if you crush me at this rate, I would come out in jellies, don't you think so?" Avi asked her friend jokingly, making her stop from hugging her. Tears of joy had come into her eyes, just seeing her there, in person. "She was in my closet the whole day. I had called her to come as I couldn't take in this depressing sight anymore. Aren't I a true, caring friend" Laura said, with one hand clasped to her heart, and smiled.
That night the two best friends had a long chat about almost everything that had went on in their lives. Zahra related the whole matter to Avi. "You remember that guy named Adel Jamal, who was in our college, Avi. The one who threw lewd comments at almost every girl who passed in front of his eyes. The guy who was caught manhandling a girl in the gym. He even came to class drunk, once. You remember him?" "How can I forget" Avi replied, making a face, disgusted at the thought of him.
"That's the guy I'm betrothed to, actually" Zahra informed. "Yuck!! Really Zahra, are you serious?" Avi asked, surprised, her eyes bulging out of their sockets. "I'm seriously serious Avi. Oh! What am I gonna do? My parents don't believe that he's like that in reality, because he's all good in front of them." "Promise or no promise, you don't deserve this Zee, you definitely don't. You can't ruin yourself tied to such a man for the rest of your life. Is there anything I can do to help, maybe persuade your parents?" Avi asked, worried. "What can you do Avi, nothing? We're like two peas in a pod, for my parents. They think the same about us. When they don't believe me, how are they gonna believe you, tell me that?" Zahra replied between sobs.
"Look, Zahra, whatever happens, please don't lose your trust in god, and in your parents, do you get me? Your parents don't know the exact situation, and while doing the best for you, they've been waylaid. So, just wait and pray, okay, and please, for god sake, don't you ever lose hope. Maybe, sometime your god will listen to you and help you out" Avi reasoned with her.
And saying thus, she pulled her friend into a warm hug, making a promise with herself that as long as she could, she would protect Zahra, lest any harm should befall her, no matter what, and that was the test of a very strong and beautiful bond between the two, which they had passed. Their sorrows had brought them closer to each other than ever before.
----------author's note-----------
THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO THE PESHAWAR VICTIMS
i'm reaallly sorry for the late update. i've put some backstory into the chapter. i hope that you guys like it. i'm very much thankful to all those people who've stuck to the story no matter how slow the updates have been ;) thanks to all those who've voted on it too.
other than that, HAPPPYYYY HOLLIDAYS TO EVRY1 :D
LURV YA AWLL!!
That's the pic of David Walworth to the side...
Hope you like it :)