Thursday, September 18, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Leila - Part 2
Chapter II
It has been sometime during October 2000, and it has been her first working day ever! She laid her hand on her first job! What a feeling!
She was a fresh graduate; actually she has only graduated three months ago, the top of her class, a brilliant accountant.
It has always been such a surprise for people when they knew she studied Accounting! What would a girl do as an accountant?! It has always been for them such a masculine field and that always bothered Leila! She loved numbers! Is it that strange for someone to love numbers? Even for a girl! So what? She loved equations! She loved auditing! She loved budgets! She loved financial analysis! She loved all that! And she took it as a career.
For someone with her skills and talents, it hasn’t been such a hard thing to find a job. She was smart, confident, and eager to learn. You could sense professionalism in her attitude, she was simply a catch. A piece of clay waiting to be shaped! Raw material ready to be manufactured!
Waiting at the reception, she looked around her. The light blue room; the walls, the floor, even the couches, they were all in light blue. “They’ve always said light blue is such a soothing color, it gives you peace and hope, but I guess in certain situations light blue is not good enough!!” she thought. “am I too early, but she was the one who told me to be here at 8am sharp, maybe she got busy, what if they changed their minds! What if they suddenly recognized that they don’t need me anymore!” she felt a drop in her heart. “Come on Leila, it is not that bad! The receptionist already informed her, she must have got a little busy that’s why!” she thought, trying to push herself to relax..
It was around 8:30am when the HR officer showed up extremely apologetic for the delay.
After a little chat, she took her into an introductory tour around the company. Leila could definitely feel the butterflies in her stomach. She was now an adult, a responsible one who joined the rest of the world in their battle for achievement! The idea of change has always frightened her but it didn’t matter anymore; she was on the right track, building her professional career and a little bit of anxiety wouldn’t stop her.
She walked through the corridors and into the offices, lots of faces and lots of designations; she managed to memories some though. Now they reached to the Accounts Department, her final destination, and the butterflies wouldn’t stop now, would they!
She has met the Head of Department previously, Mr. Ali an elderly man with such an aura, a decent gentleman rapped in wisdom and solemnity. But what about the rest of the team? Would they accept her? Would they consider her an intruder? Would she be the “newbie”? How would they treat her? “Well, everything is about to get revealed anyways! It is kinda too late for such questions, isn’t it Leila!” she thought.
At the door, Mr. Ali waited for them and from there he took the HR Officer’s job to introduce Leila to the rest of the team.
“So! Welcome on board & the best of all! Don’t forget us at the HR Department! We’re here to help ok!” said the HR Officer while heading it to the stairway.
“Thanks!” replied Leila while all the voices inside her head screamed “Wait! Don’t Go Now!”. After all Susan was the only familiar face around since they have met several times during the interviews.
Leading her through the way, Mr. Ali welcomed her into the department. It was such a huge area divided into 5 cubicles and one separate office. The big separate office was vacant along with one of the cubicles. The vacant cubicle was for her and the office for Mr. Ali she assumed. Taking another look around the room she also noticed that she was the only girl at the place! She was shy by nature; confident but still shy- of men. What a weird combination!
They were Adel- the nerd with the thick glasses and who was obviously more nervous than she was, Walid- the chubby dude with the messy desk, Omar- the well-dressed guy with the good manners and the Deputy Head of Department, and Sami- the guy who was busy on the phone (apparently with a female, a girlfriend maybe) and who waved her a hi from above his screen without even looking at her. Those were her colleagues, the faces and brains she’d spent 8 hours a day, 5 days a week with! “God be with me” she thought.
She was a fresh graduate; actually she has only graduated three months ago, the top of her class, a brilliant accountant.
It has always been such a surprise for people when they knew she studied Accounting! What would a girl do as an accountant?! It has always been for them such a masculine field and that always bothered Leila! She loved numbers! Is it that strange for someone to love numbers? Even for a girl! So what? She loved equations! She loved auditing! She loved budgets! She loved financial analysis! She loved all that! And she took it as a career.
For someone with her skills and talents, it hasn’t been such a hard thing to find a job. She was smart, confident, and eager to learn. You could sense professionalism in her attitude, she was simply a catch. A piece of clay waiting to be shaped! Raw material ready to be manufactured!
Waiting at the reception, she looked around her. The light blue room; the walls, the floor, even the couches, they were all in light blue. “They’ve always said light blue is such a soothing color, it gives you peace and hope, but I guess in certain situations light blue is not good enough!!” she thought. “am I too early, but she was the one who told me to be here at 8am sharp, maybe she got busy, what if they changed their minds! What if they suddenly recognized that they don’t need me anymore!” she felt a drop in her heart. “Come on Leila, it is not that bad! The receptionist already informed her, she must have got a little busy that’s why!” she thought, trying to push herself to relax..
It was around 8:30am when the HR officer showed up extremely apologetic for the delay.
After a little chat, she took her into an introductory tour around the company. Leila could definitely feel the butterflies in her stomach. She was now an adult, a responsible one who joined the rest of the world in their battle for achievement! The idea of change has always frightened her but it didn’t matter anymore; she was on the right track, building her professional career and a little bit of anxiety wouldn’t stop her.
She walked through the corridors and into the offices, lots of faces and lots of designations; she managed to memories some though. Now they reached to the Accounts Department, her final destination, and the butterflies wouldn’t stop now, would they!
She has met the Head of Department previously, Mr. Ali an elderly man with such an aura, a decent gentleman rapped in wisdom and solemnity. But what about the rest of the team? Would they accept her? Would they consider her an intruder? Would she be the “newbie”? How would they treat her? “Well, everything is about to get revealed anyways! It is kinda too late for such questions, isn’t it Leila!” she thought.
At the door, Mr. Ali waited for them and from there he took the HR Officer’s job to introduce Leila to the rest of the team.
“So! Welcome on board & the best of all! Don’t forget us at the HR Department! We’re here to help ok!” said the HR Officer while heading it to the stairway.
“Thanks!” replied Leila while all the voices inside her head screamed “Wait! Don’t Go Now!”. After all Susan was the only familiar face around since they have met several times during the interviews.
Leading her through the way, Mr. Ali welcomed her into the department. It was such a huge area divided into 5 cubicles and one separate office. The big separate office was vacant along with one of the cubicles. The vacant cubicle was for her and the office for Mr. Ali she assumed. Taking another look around the room she also noticed that she was the only girl at the place! She was shy by nature; confident but still shy- of men. What a weird combination!
They were Adel- the nerd with the thick glasses and who was obviously more nervous than she was, Walid- the chubby dude with the messy desk, Omar- the well-dressed guy with the good manners and the Deputy Head of Department, and Sami- the guy who was busy on the phone (apparently with a female, a girlfriend maybe) and who waved her a hi from above his screen without even looking at her. Those were her colleagues, the faces and brains she’d spent 8 hours a day, 5 days a week with! “God be with me” she thought.
Leila - Part 1
Leila
Chapter I
As she opened the door, she could only see a part of the living room. It was dark in there with some beams sneaking through the curtains; striking the room with unwanted.. hope!
There were the sofa, the TV, the coffee table, and the carpet. His smell almost faded away. She couldn’t sense the colors any more; everything was pitch-black, gloomy just like the dress she was wearing. There were no colors! No flavors! No scents! Only the dusky room staring back at her!
“Am I at the right place?!” she snapped out of her thoughts, took a few steps back, gazed at the number above the door frame, stared and stared as if the number was not clear enough, or maybe those were her tears blocking the scene!
“it is the right address, it is where I live, but where is home!!” mumbling to herself she burst into tears and rushed into the inner room and there he was standing like a victorious knight in his dark tuxedo grabbing her by the waste like his own trophy, his lifetime prize, the one thing he heart-fully worked hard to get; and there she was next to him in her ivory dress glowing like a diamond! The sparkling eyes! Oh, their sparkling eyes! They could overwhelm the world with joy! Everlasting happiness!! You could definitely tell that those two were in love! Profound and heavenly love!
With hesitant steps she reached to the picture laying on the side-table. She held it with one hand and wiped her tears off with the other.
“Now what?” she wept, “What am I supposed to do? How do you expect me to survive now?! You left and forever! How could you do that to me!! How could you!! You left me! ME! Your Love!!”. All she got back was the flashy smile of his, nothing more! That frustrated her even more! She held the frame high above her head willing to smash it into the tinniest bits ever, her eyes determined; focused on the ground and there it was next to her foot, the note he left her on his pillow on that doomed morning, folded nicely and dropped right there next to the bed, she reached her hand and picked it up “I Adore YOU!” it said; as if he knew. On her knees now, she couldn’t but sob even more! She held the picture tight to her chest. She squeezed and squeezed until it almost cracked. She didn’t want to let go, they were one, and that was how they were supposed to go on with their lives! One!
Tired and exhausted; she pulled the blanket over her weary body and rolled over the huge bed.
It must have been 8pm when the bell rang. Terrified, she woke up. Uncertain of what was going on or where she was. It took her few moments to bounce back into her awful reality.
Dragging herself out of bed, she reached the door half-conscious. She opened it and at the door step were her parents.
There she was standing in front of them, their 24 year old sweet Leila.. a widow!
She has been such an adorable child – and will always be – a vivid, full of life little girl! Who grew up to be such a smart and successful woman! All the beautiful memories faded away once they noticed the black dress, just like the smoke her father blew into the void; disappeared. With the pity in their eyes they entered. Her father suited himself on the sofa, and her mother headed it to the curtains pulling them away.
“Go wash up your face” her father whispered to her, “Did you say something?” her mother followed. “Nothing, just leave the curtains and come and sit down” her father noted.
Unwilling, but forced to do so, Leila pulled her suffer to the toilet hoping she would drawn it there along with her sorrow. Above the sink she stood looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her other “self” was right at the opposite side pitying her and sympathizing! She hated that “self” a lot. She shut her eyes, moved her face away and dried it with the tiny towel to her right. She made sure not to look at the cologne bottle located to her left, which was boldly challenging her to take a glimpse.
If she were alone, she would have done that with no hesitation. She would have hugged and absorbed that bottle! She would have told that bottle how much she missed Sami! She would have had endless conversations with that bottle; they would have talked and moaned for hours! But she knew she couldn’t, not with her parents waiting for her in the other room.
“I need you to pack up and get ready, you are moving back to our place” the father said.
“Dad, this is my place and I won’t leave it, not yet!” an astonished Leila replied.
“Don’t argue with me Leila, I’m telling you; you are moving back! end of discussion! It has been three days already! Isn’t that enough for you?” the father replied with a raise in his tone.
“Three days! Three days?!! You said it; it has been three days not thirty years dad! What..”
“I told you he wasn’t good enough for you! But you never listen” the mother interrupted.
“What are you talking about?! How is this related to anything now!! He is my husband! How could you…”
“WAS! Was your husband! And I think it is time for you to get over this!” the father screamed.
Barely holding herself, torn apart from the inside, and extremely disappointed with her parents; with a steady foot she reached the door and opened it widely; “I’m sorry, I am really really sorry, but I need to stay by my self now. Please leave” Leila holding the door.
Dissatisfied with her reaction, her parents moved slowly towards the door; “just give it a thought and you will realize that we’re doing this for your own good” her father said with a frown on his face.
Listening to the footsteps fading downwards along with the long curvy stairs, she slammed the door as hard as she could, and with an ocean of tears in her eyes; she ran into the room weeping and hardly breathing. She grabbed the picture, “I Adore You Too” she screamed, “I Adore you, are you listening?! I Adore You!” she yelled at the picture while sliding to the ground. Next to the bed she collapsed, falling into her own grieve, love, faithfulness, and solitude. With no one to really understand or care, the only person who once cared was no longer there. Shut upon herself she stayed for hours, thinking nothing about the future, nor about the present; all she thought about was the 2 most wonderful years she had ever lived. By his side, wrapped in his arms; there with him she found her sanctuary.
There were the sofa, the TV, the coffee table, and the carpet. His smell almost faded away. She couldn’t sense the colors any more; everything was pitch-black, gloomy just like the dress she was wearing. There were no colors! No flavors! No scents! Only the dusky room staring back at her!
“Am I at the right place?!” she snapped out of her thoughts, took a few steps back, gazed at the number above the door frame, stared and stared as if the number was not clear enough, or maybe those were her tears blocking the scene!
“it is the right address, it is where I live, but where is home!!” mumbling to herself she burst into tears and rushed into the inner room and there he was standing like a victorious knight in his dark tuxedo grabbing her by the waste like his own trophy, his lifetime prize, the one thing he heart-fully worked hard to get; and there she was next to him in her ivory dress glowing like a diamond! The sparkling eyes! Oh, their sparkling eyes! They could overwhelm the world with joy! Everlasting happiness!! You could definitely tell that those two were in love! Profound and heavenly love!
With hesitant steps she reached to the picture laying on the side-table. She held it with one hand and wiped her tears off with the other.
“Now what?” she wept, “What am I supposed to do? How do you expect me to survive now?! You left and forever! How could you do that to me!! How could you!! You left me! ME! Your Love!!”. All she got back was the flashy smile of his, nothing more! That frustrated her even more! She held the frame high above her head willing to smash it into the tinniest bits ever, her eyes determined; focused on the ground and there it was next to her foot, the note he left her on his pillow on that doomed morning, folded nicely and dropped right there next to the bed, she reached her hand and picked it up “I Adore YOU!” it said; as if he knew. On her knees now, she couldn’t but sob even more! She held the picture tight to her chest. She squeezed and squeezed until it almost cracked. She didn’t want to let go, they were one, and that was how they were supposed to go on with their lives! One!
Tired and exhausted; she pulled the blanket over her weary body and rolled over the huge bed.
It must have been 8pm when the bell rang. Terrified, she woke up. Uncertain of what was going on or where she was. It took her few moments to bounce back into her awful reality.
Dragging herself out of bed, she reached the door half-conscious. She opened it and at the door step were her parents.
There she was standing in front of them, their 24 year old sweet Leila.. a widow!
She has been such an adorable child – and will always be – a vivid, full of life little girl! Who grew up to be such a smart and successful woman! All the beautiful memories faded away once they noticed the black dress, just like the smoke her father blew into the void; disappeared. With the pity in their eyes they entered. Her father suited himself on the sofa, and her mother headed it to the curtains pulling them away.
“Go wash up your face” her father whispered to her, “Did you say something?” her mother followed. “Nothing, just leave the curtains and come and sit down” her father noted.
Unwilling, but forced to do so, Leila pulled her suffer to the toilet hoping she would drawn it there along with her sorrow. Above the sink she stood looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her other “self” was right at the opposite side pitying her and sympathizing! She hated that “self” a lot. She shut her eyes, moved her face away and dried it with the tiny towel to her right. She made sure not to look at the cologne bottle located to her left, which was boldly challenging her to take a glimpse.
If she were alone, she would have done that with no hesitation. She would have hugged and absorbed that bottle! She would have told that bottle how much she missed Sami! She would have had endless conversations with that bottle; they would have talked and moaned for hours! But she knew she couldn’t, not with her parents waiting for her in the other room.
“I need you to pack up and get ready, you are moving back to our place” the father said.
“Dad, this is my place and I won’t leave it, not yet!” an astonished Leila replied.
“Don’t argue with me Leila, I’m telling you; you are moving back! end of discussion! It has been three days already! Isn’t that enough for you?” the father replied with a raise in his tone.
“Three days! Three days?!! You said it; it has been three days not thirty years dad! What..”
“I told you he wasn’t good enough for you! But you never listen” the mother interrupted.
“What are you talking about?! How is this related to anything now!! He is my husband! How could you…”
“WAS! Was your husband! And I think it is time for you to get over this!” the father screamed.
Barely holding herself, torn apart from the inside, and extremely disappointed with her parents; with a steady foot she reached the door and opened it widely; “I’m sorry, I am really really sorry, but I need to stay by my self now. Please leave” Leila holding the door.
Dissatisfied with her reaction, her parents moved slowly towards the door; “just give it a thought and you will realize that we’re doing this for your own good” her father said with a frown on his face.
Listening to the footsteps fading downwards along with the long curvy stairs, she slammed the door as hard as she could, and with an ocean of tears in her eyes; she ran into the room weeping and hardly breathing. She grabbed the picture, “I Adore You Too” she screamed, “I Adore you, are you listening?! I Adore You!” she yelled at the picture while sliding to the ground. Next to the bed she collapsed, falling into her own grieve, love, faithfulness, and solitude. With no one to really understand or care, the only person who once cared was no longer there. Shut upon herself she stayed for hours, thinking nothing about the future, nor about the present; all she thought about was the 2 most wonderful years she had ever lived. By his side, wrapped in his arms; there with him she found her sanctuary.
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