The day was hot and clouded. Trapped
in her cubicle, Ragz was thankful for the air conditioner cooling the office at
full power. While working on the latest budget presentation, she found herself
drifting… Her focus always shifting toward the window, looking on one of the
most magnificent views the city had to offer. The slow moving traffic, the
faint light glinting off the river, the laziness of the afternoon all made her
think of the day of the accident. The day she met him. The day her life was turned upside
down.
It was on a day, just like this
one. Slow, lazy, hot and fuzzy. Driving her friend’s brand new Cadillac down the
road, Ragz hit a guy. Her friends urged her to ignore the accident and to keep
on driving, but Ragz could not make herself ignore what might be a dying man on
the road. She stopped the car and went to check on the guy. Thankfully, he was
still alive. Ragz said a silent prayer and then immediately called for an
ambulance. All her friends left soon after, saying they had done what they
could and that there was no need for them to hang about. They were really
surprised when Ragz said that she was going to stay with the guy till she was
certain of his safety.
As she watched her friends leave
with disdainful looks on their faces, Ragz herself felt surprise at her
decision. She realized that her old self, the Ragini before she was Ragz, was
suddenly surfacing. Ragz, the coolest girl in her college had totally
transformed herself from the simple small town village girl that she was just a
few years ago. She had suppressed the small town Ragini inside her when she
moved to the city. She was determined to live her life like a true, modern city
girl. Thus, Ragini became Ragz, the beautiful, yet cold-hearted, popular girl.
Half lost in her own thoughts
and very concerned about the unknown guy who was suffering because of her, Ragz
sat in the speeding ambulance staring at his handsome face. The doctors at the
hospital informed her that there was nothing serious about the accident; the
patient was just suffering from a minor concussion. Ragz heaved a sigh of
relief and planned to leave the hospital soon. But again, she surprised herself
by going to meet the guy she had knocked out by mistake. She went in his room
and found him sitting upright in his bed, looking a little confused. Ragz
introduced herself and explained what had happened. She was prepared to get
yelled at, even cursed at, but what she wasn’t prepared for was a sincere smile
and a heartfelt ‘thank you’. Ragz was completely taken aback and her
bewilderment showed on her face. The guy, seeing the confusion on her face,
reached out and touched her hand. Suddenly all her bad feelings went away and
she started feeling very warm and sleepy. Soon, she was fast asleep on the
hospital bed. When she woke up again, the guy was nowhere to be seen, but she saw a note on the bedside table. It
said, “It was really nice meeting you, Ragini. I really enjoyed our little
meeting. Please don’t feel guilty about the accident. It wasn’t your fault. We
were fated to meet. And we will meet again… Shaurya.”
To be continued…
