Quirk of Fate
"Maya, I need the reports by morning."
Maya looked up from her laptop in annoyance at the retreating back of Mr Shenoy, her manager.
"Typical!" Maya muttered, "The day I want to leave early, he dumps his work on me. Now, I will miss Karan Malhotra’s concert!"
Karan Malhotra, on whom she had crushed for so long. And today on her birthday, she had gifted herself VIP tickets to the concert. “Concert that I will miss cos of stupid Mr Shenoy”, Maya thought belligerently. It was past ten by the time Maya finished, and the office was empty by then.
Yawning, Maya entered the elevator glancing at her reflection in the elevator mirror. Her outfit of sleeveless navy dress with contrasting red heels was casual chic. "What a waste of dressing up", Maya thought. Weary to the bone, she just wanted to go home and sleep. Coming out from her office building, Maya was in for another shock. The usual line of rickshaws in front of the office was missing. With an annoyed huff, Maya opened the Uber App to book a cab. Unfortunately, there was only one Uber Share available. "Well, beggars can't be choosers", Maya thought as she booked it. Within a few minutes, the Uber driver called, asking Maya to come to the main street. He didn't want to come to the side street where Maya's office was, threatening to cancel the ride. By now, it was almost eleven, and Maya was exhausted. Maya had no choice but to accept.
Hugging her handbag tight, Maya started walking down the ill-lit street. Just when Maya could see the traffic of the main street, her foot twisted. "Uff!" Maya said, wincing with pain. Maya stared at her broken heel in dismay. A new expensive pair, now broken, all thanks to Mr Shenoy!! Limping, Maya started walking again, trying to reach the main road when plop! a drop fell on Maya's nose, followed by another. Maya looked up in surprise.
"Rain? In May? Are the gods playing a joke on me? I don't even have an umbrella!" Maya howled in annoyance.
Rubbing away angry tears, Maya walked as quickly as possible with her broken heel. As the rain intensified, Maya desperately checked Uber's location. "Less than a minute away", Maya sighed with relief. As the rain intensified, a car glided to a stop near Maya, its headlights illuminating her bedraggled state. Quickly opening the door, Maya got in, eager to get out of the rain. As she settled into the plush seat, closing her eyes in relief, Maya remarked, " I didn't know Uber had luxurious cars".
"They don't", replied a husky voice dryly.
Startled, Maya's eyes opened to meet a pair of amused brown eyes. Eyes that belonged to superstar Karan Malhotra! Fate had made Maya get into the wrong car!
At their tenth wedding anniversary, Karan thanked Maya's ex-boss, Mr Shenoy, for giving her extra work, setting off a chain reaction leading to their happily ever after.
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