It was 6 PM and the office was almost empty. Trisha was helplessly staring at herself in the mirror in the restroom. Despite trying very hard she couldn’t hold back her tears and finally let the emotions take over her completely. Aware of where she was, she tried to control herself but all attempts were going in vain. Just then Trisha heard someone walking into the restroom, it was the housekeeping lady.  Almost in a reflex action she started to wash her face. Then trying to avoid an eye contact quickly made an exit.  Even though it was few minutes of crying her mind was already feeling heavy and eyes tired.

As she walked towards her desk, various thoughts were circulating in her head. She knew there was work to do but she was feeling so helpless and weak. She just felt like running away from everything and hiding in an unknown place, where no one could find her. Opening her laptop, unknowingly her mind went to the call she got yesterday from her boss Sameer.

“Trisha we have the presentation with R&F day after, keep the slides ready and we can review them tomorrow. It’s a follow on from our last meeting with them, so just focus on the key asks and we should be good”

“Sure Sameer, will work on it tomorrow and will be ready with the draft by the evening for your review” Trisha had responded. R&F was an old but an extremely demanding client. Trisha had been working for them for the last 2 years and knew the team pretty well by now. The presentation was for a new project that was going to start with R&F.

She had to leave office as she had to pick up Samar, her son, from daycare and then reach home in time. Vinay’s office colleagues were coming over for dinner that night, so Trisha had to get the house in order for the get-together. It was 11.30 pm by the time guests left. Trisha cleaned up the home before finally retiring to bed at 12.30 am. The last thought she had before sleeping was around the presentation for R&F- “Tomorrow’s entire day needs to be devoted to the presentation. Will get it reviewed with Sameer by 5ish”.

The next day when she walked into the office with her plan of dedicating the entire day to just the R&F presentation, she got a call from the MD’s office and she was asked to represent her company at an external event that was happening in Delhi. Since it was the MD who asked she couldn’t have said no. The external event and the associated travel took most of her day and then there was a review meeting with Sameer and the entire team. Despite being fully exhausted she was just about to start her work on the presentation when there was a ping from Sameer- ” Let’s review the presentation for tomorrow, walk over to my cabin ..I need to leave by 6 today.” Shocked, tired, confused, fuming with anger she kept looking at the screen. Sameer was aware of her being away at the external event and she was with him in the review meeting, when did Sameer think she had time to be ready with the slides? She didn’t know what to respond and walked away to his cabin.

“Hi Sameer, can I come in”; said Trisha. “Come in” was Sameer’s cold response.

“Sameer, I will take some time to put the slides up. Today has been a hectic day, I will be able to mail you the slides by later tonight or early morning.”

” R&F is one of our most valued clients, we can’t be casual with them. I am wondering why we are waiting for the last day” Sameer interrupted Trisha

“Sameer I got the confirmation just yesterday…” Trisha tried putting her point.

Sameer started to pack his stuff, with a cold face and said ” I don’t have much to say, all I can say is it could have been planned better. Let’s hope the presentation goes fine tomorrow. I will wait for your slides. Message me once you mail them to me….”.

And he left.

Trisha was so frustrated at his attitude. Despite giving her best to the job, and being a top performer this was the response she got. She was filled with anger and frustration. She wanted to shout. It was just then her phone rang, it was from Samar’s daycare.  “Ma’am, Samar has fever since the afternoon”.

“Oh no, How much is the fever? Did you give him Crocin?” Trisha Asked nervously.

“Yes we did, but there isn’t much relief. Suggest you come and pick him up early” said the daycare teacher.

This was it, the final jolt of sorts. And Trisha just walked into the restroom.

She didn’t realize but she was still aimlessly staring at her laptop, while all this was running like a reel in her head. Standing up suddenly she took her phone and started to walk towards the elevator. There was no plan, she just wanted to get some fresh air and a hot cup of coffee.

While waiting for the elevator, she made a quick call to Vinay.

” Vinni,  need some help. Got a call from Sam’s day care; he has fever and we need to pick him up from the daycare now. I am stuck at office and won’t be able to leave, can you go and pick him up ? ”

“Ohh no . Ok I’ll leave now . ” Was Vinay’s instant response.

She entered the elevator, her mind was not at peace at all and she asked herself what am I doing? Am I a good mother? Am I a good professional? Why do I always fail ? Can’t I plan better?

Her mind was blank , she was feeling so weak. All she wanted to do was to cry for hours. She walked up to her favorite joint and picked up a cappuccino. She made herself comfortable on a bench in the park just below her office. The cool November breeze and hot coffee were perfect partners for her at this time. While she sipped her coffee she started to ponder on her life, what all she had gone through and how things had changed.

Trisha had always been a go getter and a strong girl. She had lost her father when she was in college. Being the eldest child she had to start working very early to support the family. She had had a tough life, with a night job and college studies during the day. Post her graduation in Economics from DU, she managed to get a job with an MNC. She had given her 120% to her job and four promotions in the past ten years were testimony of that hard work. She had had some wonderful colleagues and managers to work with. They all had a role to play in her corporate success. Vinay was a nice guy and had always supported her in all her decisions. She could never forget how he stood up with her when she wanted to resume work post Samar’s birth. Her in-laws were against her resuming work and sending Samar to a daycare. But it was through Vinay’s support that she was able to resume work.

She had bagged the best employee award thrice in the last 7 years.

It was her 32nd birthday just 4 months back and what a lovely surprise party her family and friends had organized for her. They had made a poster for Trisha, with messages from family and friends. All of them had written such sweet and lovely messages for her, the best were from her husband and her mother. ” Happy birthday to our Jhansi ki Rani , our eldest Son- from Maa and Papa”.

” To my magician , who adds color to my life – Vinay”.

She didn’t realize but her eyes were moist with these thoughts. She was blessed to have these people in her life. They had stood by her and loved her for what she was.

Today was just one bad day, she was a fighter and could not be giving up after just one bad day. Life had given her worse situations to handle, this was just a day and would pass very soon. She was her papa’s “Jhansi ki Rani ” and Vinay’s ” Magician ” . How could she even think of running away?

It was like fresh energy running in her mind and body with these thoughts.

” I am OK and I will do it ” Trisha said these words and got up to walk towards her workstation.

The girl who was walking back to the office was not the same girl who came down an hour back. She was under control and clear in her head. More than that she was feeling positive and blessed.

She started her work on the slides. With the positive mindframe, it took her less time than what she had expected. She was able to wrap up work by 10 pm and mailed the presentation to Sameer. While packing her stuff, she messaged Sameer – “Presentation mailed, have a look. Thanks”

While driving back home, she was at peace and beaming with positivity. The day would be special in her memory.

Life is a great teacher. And we have immense power to overcome our fears. All we need to do is to connect with our inner self to get that power. When we look back, we know what we have gone through to reach where we are today- those experiences; good and bad are our true learnings. There are so many people who have supported us in this journey and they are our real treasure. At times it is important to spend some time connecting to our life, to ourselves. There are days when things don’t go right, we feel lost and weak. Those are the days when we need to drive our strength from our past, our loved ones and ourselves. Life is not a struggle, it’s a continuous journey of exploring our own new potential.

A short story by Ruchi Sharma Kapoor a loving mother and wife, dedicated professional and a writer by choice. Your thoughts and stories inspire us, Keep writing.