image:sylviaprabudy.comIt 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 21st june . But it should be 22nd 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 “.
