Flipped apart

6. Rise and Shine

Author's POV:

New York - Manhattan

It was a chilly afternoon, and the whole Manhattan city was busy with the upcoming notorious event. People were buzzing all around, but a lady was sitting idle in Central Park, staring at the sky and thinking about the incidents took place this morning.

Four years ago, if anyone had said that Neha would be this confident, she herself would not have believed it. She was outspoken for sure, but she was never impulsive; she used to think about all the possibilities and approaches the outcome, but today was probably the first time she reacted quickly and rejected her dream of showcasing her talent at New York Fashion Week. Not only that, she even gave up her position to her assistant in a second without thinking further.

"What has happened?, Why did this happen? The dream I have built from the past two years just touched my hands and got lost. Did I make the right decision? Did I just get overwhelmed and take that shattering decision?" Many thoughts were revolving around her head, though deep down she do not regret her behaviour. It was her ideology and values that needed to be voiced out; it defines the projection of a designer towards their clothing, and no one has the right to point the finger at it.

She slowly removed her stilettoes and massaged her ankle to get rid of some pain, which she got used to in these four years. The girl with the height of 5'2", used to prefer flats back then, but now she's habituated to those 4-inch heels. She chuckled slightly, remembering those teasing memories of everyone: 'Chotu Nehu', 'Choti', and 'Potti' (the Telugu word for short) were the words she was referred to, but still, she always flaunted herself in flats because her comfort was the first priority. There are many contrasting personalities between Neha back in India and Neha in New York, May be this is her improvised version of experiences from her pasts; she do not want to get comfortable once againa and get betrayed again. Since the first day in New York, she has promised herself that she will not approach any comfort situation and made sure that she wouldn't entertain any personal relations; even with Jennifer, she used to maintain boundaries; she never entered nor allowed others into her personal lives. This made her alien to many things, though she lived here for four years.

Today, she was missing those teasings and hugs. She is feeling alone today, thinking if someone would have hugged her and patted her back, stating, 'You did a good job, Nehu, and every risk is worth taking. Don't overthink everything; everything will fall into place one day. Just believe in Al Mighty.'

She needed assurance of the risk taken and encouragement to think forward. But the reality is that no one has a slight idea of what has happened so far, and neither Neha nor anyone else is willing to share it with anyone. She has been a silent girl since childhood, never used to share anything with anyone, and assumed things on her own, which eventually made her an introverted overthinker. Secluded places like parks, beaches, and lakes have been her solace for a long time. During childhood, whenever she was upset, she used to escape herself into a nearby park and sit in a secluded place, enjoying sunsets and forget all her worries. Similarly, today she wants to forget whatever happened so far and focus forward; there is no second thought in leaving Luxurious Chic and she even has a plan for the future. She wanted to open a fashion house with the name ARAYNA, which means Queen, but she never thought that the plan of action would be like this. She wanted herself to get recognized first and later open a brand. Sometimes, things do not happen as per our wishes; it may be that something is awaiting in the future that we humans do not know, but we never understand it and think of bygones. Maybe we need some encouragement or a push so we do not have any fear of falling off. Sometimes, falling off is not a bad sign; it helps us to rejuvenate our energies and understand setbacks.