Serious in Love ✔

7- "Cos you're loud and whiny like a parrot."

« AHANA »

They say you should look into signs when you notice them. Those signs were a premonition of a near future. I was stupid but not stupid enough to believe those superficial stories. Though you see, adults ingrained those stories into our heads as a part of our sanskari (traditional) education. We would notice them even if we turned ourselves blind. Just like today.

It started right after I woke up. I walked into the balcony and the first thing I heard was my sweet, lousy neighbor downstairs shouting to a milk delivery man. Myth one-- if you saw or heard the voice of an unfortunate person, first thing in the morning, then it was a bad omen. Myth two-- If a black cat crossed right in front of you, then it was a bad omen, too. Myth three-- If your right eyelid happened to blink repeatedly, then it was a surefire sign. Even my mother warned me after she read my horoscope today. Normally, I wouldn't bat an eyelash but with multiple things happening, I was forced to come up with bizarre conclusions. A road accident? A natural calamity? A heart attack? Would it happen to my parents? No, no, hold your horses right there you overactive mind!

In the end, I listened to my logical mind and my logical Papa, prayed to God anyway and walked my ass to office. To hell with those centuries old myths. What could possibly happen on a bright sunny day?

Well, what do you know? I was proved wrong.

For starters, it wasn't anything to do with road accidents. At first, I didn't pay any heed to the loud commotion happening in front of the main office until I noticed my colleagues taking part in it. They seemed quite upset and angry. When I asked them what was wrong, they simply flashed me their termination letters they received from their evil boss. I probed them further but they were beyond frustrated to pay heed to me. From what I heard, it seemed like a case of redundancy. I entered the building with dread.

My worst fears came true when my boss handed me my resignation letter. I was kicked out of my job. She seemed pretty distressed herself as she stated the reasons. To be truthful, I kind of anticipated this but didn't think it would happen so soon. Design Plus, being a start up company, was tight on finances for a long time now. Our projects were successful, but the company needed to catch a bigger fish in order to cover their expenses and debts. We weren't even getting our salaries on time. Fearing that they might have to shut down their business altogether, our boss decided to make a majority of their employees redundant. For now, they only retained seven employees while firing everyone else. Being the head of the company, the boss was quite sorry herself and never wished this day would repeat again. I didn't even have the energy to fight back after seeing her sorry state. Though that didn't stop me from feeling dejected.

My mind did a flashback of all those days I've worked as I visited my cubicle for one last time. From the corner of my eye, I could make out Nikhil lamenting at a distance. The floor itself was empty now. I resigned to the seat, drawing out a long breath. Eighteen months... I've worked for eighteen fucking months here. Before realizing it, I got attached to the company and my colleagues. I sacrificed my Saturdays when things got hectic, gave my blood and sweat and what do I get in return? A piece of trash, confirming my termination.

Later, I settled down with my colleagues in the cafeteria. As we complained about the unfairness of it all, my feelings for my boss grew from pity, to resentment, to hate. I found myself hoping that those losers would dissolve their company completely to understand what was like to be in our shoes. The seven of us (four girls and three boys) ranted for the longest time and discussed our bleak futures. We departed, after promising to help each other in finding a vacancy for the job.

It was three in the afternoon by the time we bid goodbye to each other, including that handsome hunk. Too bad I wouldn't be seeing his lovely face anymore. Vansh would definitely be happy hearing that. I had an urge to call him, but according to his time, he might still be asleep by now. Time zones sucked big time. Nevertheless, I left him a message to call me when he was free and added that it was important. Not having the courage to go home yet, I called my best friend who I knew would spare time for me.