Horoscope

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It was 7 am in the morning . Abhay woke up and checked his mobile phone . There was a horoscope alert on it . It was throwing out light more than usual .

He read the prediction word by word –

“ You will taste prize , pleasure , power , party and pain all in same day “

“ Oh , that’s a weird horoscope , five things altogether “ – he said to himself .

But suddenly his mind focused on first word out of five – “prize” . He remembered   that he had bought an e-lottery the day before . He sprinted to his laptop , logged on to the site and started matching his e-ticket .

“ 5……..4……….8……….9 “

“w..i..n..n..n..e..r . I won 5 lakh prize “ – He shouted with exhilaration in his voice .

At that time , He could even hear the song in the backdrop “ We..….are…..the…..championsssss “

“ oh man…..oh man , horoscope is really true “-he sounded as if he was out of breath .

He checked the message again on his mobile -“ prize , pleasure , power , party  and pain . First four are good but what about pain . ”

“I hope its not that bad . But who cares if other three are as fascinating as the first one “-He thought with a grin on his face .

He dressed up in his formals for the office , took his breakfast and decides to take public transport instead of driving on his own so as to potentially reduce the untoward chances of an accident .

                                                                                …..xxx…..

Nothing happened till afternoon .

“Maybe it was just a coincidence ,  A rare coincidence “ He thought while on his way to office canteen during lunch break .

He was having his coffee when rakshita , the girl on whom possibly every company worker had an eye , arrived at his table and said “ Can I join you ? “ . She had a flowery smile on her shining lips .

Abhay- “ Ya, sure . Its my pleasure to have you at my seat “ . Suddenly his mind crunched to hear  “ pleasure ” from his mouth but then he focused on the lady next to him .

She said “ Abhay , it has been 2 years since we walked in this office but we have never conversed more than hi’s or hello’s “

She hesitated a bit but continued “ Maybe you will find this unbearable but I will put it straightaway . Abhay , I like you a lot . Every time I see you , a strange sensation runs into my body and now its very difficult for me to repress my  feelings “

“  so , I think  it is  the time that  I reveal myself to you “ she said it while touching his hand.

He was surprised but gathered his words briskly and said “ I too had the same feelings for you rakshita and by expressing yourself , you have made my day . No , actually you have made my life “

Rakshita was happy too . She kissed his cheek , whispered “ I love you “ in his ears and departed from the canteen .

Abhay couldn’t believe what just happened .

He suddenly remebered the horoscope’s  second prediction about ‘ pleasure ‘ . It was indeed the biggest ‘ pleasure ‘ that he just  got.

“ we are the champions “ was playing in the background . He felt nice and real to hear the song .

                                                                                …..xxx…..

It was 4 PM in the afternoon . Abhay was working in his office when ravi , his senior , arrived in his cabin and said tossing loads of files on his table “ I think you know what you are supposed to do . Right ? “

Abhay “ Yes sir “

Ravi “ you better do work on time “ . He left banging the door of the cabin . Abhay felt as if it was hit hard on his face .

“I’ll show him some day  what I am capable of , I’ll show him this for sure “ . This was his last thought before he dipped into his files .

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                ….xxx….

It was 6PM when all the employees were asked to report in the meeting room .

Abhay , completely exhausted by now , ran towards the water cooler to quench his thirst but he was cut off in mid way by ravi who asked him to burn his ass to the meeting room . Abhay obliged without saying anything .

As he entered the room , he saw the branch manager was sitting with chief of staff next to him .

Abhay searched for an empty seat but stopped when a voice called him from behind  “ Abhay , come here . Sit next to us  “ . He stared back and it was the voice of manager .

“ He knows my name , wow “ . He whispered to himself .

After five minutes , Manager started “ When we told you that we will be keeping our eyes on you , we certainly meant it . We have evaluated the performance of staff on daily basis and we have come to a result that most of you are redundant to our company . Many of you don’t even know how to adapt to a corporate culture . There are so many noted incidences when seniors passed their work to their juniors……….”

Ravi was hiding his face when manager said these words .

“……..we will still give you some time to improve yourself or be ready to leave . But  , In spite of all these Blunders , we have a gem in our office who is sitting next to us right now . Abhay , he has been punctual . persevere , true to his work and he has performed his duty extraordinarily .

Abhay stood up to this with a grin on his face .

Manager put his hand on his back and continued “ …..And we have decided to make him the head of operations as we know he is the most potent and responsible person to serve this position “

Abhay’s eyes got wet for some time but this wetness had a delight hiding beneath it . It was the joy of the impending “power” that was just offered to him .

Manager then announced a grand party for the whole staff as company showed a 21 % profit in their Q4

Results outperforming the speculation of 10 % by the market and abhay was proclaimed as the “Guest of honor” for the evening .

Abhay knew that he has just acquired “power” and “party” in his hand .

Abhay was amused when he again heard the sweet music “ We are the champions “

                                                                                …..xxx…..

10 PM at the night , Manager himself dropped abhay home . abhay wished him “ good night “ and moved towards his flat .

While on his way , he saw his blackberry mobile gifted to him by the company . There was message by rashita . He opened the message : “Good night Mr. head , Kiss “

He replied “ good night princess , Love you “

Then he pocketed his mobile and lost in his thoughts of what possibly the “pain” could be .

He started counting the possibilities –

“  One , Accident is not possible as I am almost home “

“  Two , My flat burning…… I don’t care, its on rent “

“ Three, burglary , no problem at all . I have 10  lakh , hottest girl in universe , a new post and a new respect . Life is so good now  “

As he was thinking he suddenly lost his balance fell uncontrollably on the ground . He went blank for some seconds. Everything was dark in front of his eyes but suddenly his body shivered and he got up rapidly .

                                                                                …..xxx…..

He was surprised to find himself in his room .and not outside . He checked his mobile .

“whattttttt , It is still 21^st june . But it should be 22^nd june “

He  realized after a thought and so shouted with a roar and a cry simultaneously “ you can’t do this to me ……….. It can’t be just  dream……….I never expected "pain" to be like this...oh god”

Suddenly , the  alarm bell started ringing “ we are the champions “.

                                                                                .....xxx.....