Chapter 4: Settling In.... & a Shock!

Trapeze, Clydesville

Zahra reached Trapeze at 6:00 p.m. IST, tired and happy. It was the capital city of Clydesville, with its main attractions as the Walworth Tower, which was the tallest in the country and a great architectural marvel of the modern era, and the ‘Hawthorn’ family country seat. They were a noble family, now known for their jewelry stores all around the world, and had been royal jewelers to many kings, nawabs, maharajas and Mughal emperors since hundreds of years. They were a respected family but were known to have been involved in the disappearances of some rare jewels over the years…but nobody had been able to trace the clue up to them.

But what excited Zahra most was the place with which she had a year old relationship, the place that had the key to her heart, and that was the Walworth Tower. But she was too tired to take a tour of the whole city, which was bustling with activity at the moment. Even that had to wait… for now. Six hours of continuously sitting on the same chair, although it was quite comfortable, had made her too tired to even stand. All she wanted to do now was to get into a real cozy bed and fall into a deep sleep.

It was 9:00 in the morning here and being located at a fairly high altitude, Trapeze was chilly…. really chilly at this time of the year. Zahra tightened her grip around her coat to keep herself warm…somehow, her teeth chattering the whole time as she made her way to the airport’s exit, dragging all her belongings along with her. She had been compensated to accommodate an apartment at the Aurora by the company…well they paid sixty percent of the amount and she had to share it with another girl. Lord alone knows who she was but she hoped for the best. She had never even shared a room with anyone, and here she was, going to live with some girl she hadn’t even seen ever before.

Heading out of the airport, she hailed a cab. “To Aurora, please.” “That’ll be fifty bucks” the driver replied smugly. “Wha-at” she cried, shocked. This was totally outrageous. “It’s further into the city, miss” he replied. “Ok… just take me there.” She felt exasperated. Life here, won’t be as easy as she thought. Her savings were disappearing… and fast. It felt as if it had wings of its own. She had already spent so much money on the apartment. But then, Allah always knows what’s best for us, so it was no use worrying. After all, its money, it goes as soon as it comes.

The Aurora was a large ancient residential building of old Clydian architecture and had been renovated recently so as to accommodate more apartments. Zahra handed the money to the cabbie and having got her things out (which were many by the way…. five bags and two handbags, soo full of whatnots that they just wanted to explode, it seemed), dragged them to the reception desk, somehow bringing them inside, together, on her own. She asked for her keys, looking up at the big list of all the people living there…. since who knew when, from the receptionist, who was sucking a candy with so much vigor and enthusiasm, it looked like either she or the candy would vanish into thin air….any minute now. “Name please” she asked in a voice totally devoid of emotions, if she had any.

“Err….its Zahra… Zahra Fatimah” she replied uncertainly, doubting if she was at the right place. “Room 415, it’s the first one on the fourth floor and here are your keys. The big one’s the main key and the other one is for bedroom. The lift is down that corridor” she replied mechanically after a while and eyed her suspiciously from head to foot, because of her attire. Zahra felt like lifting her from her ears and shaking her vigorously, for she was really thin and bony but she calmed her anger, quietly picked up the keys from the desk and walked away.

Whew!!! Her bags were heavy and without any help, she felt she would crash on the way to her room. Getting into the lift, she thanked Allah that she had almost reached the end of her journey because her senses were leaving her….fast. She could barely stand and in less than a second, she was out like a light bulb.

Someone woke her up, after a while. God!! She had fallen asleep on the lift….people would think her crazy. It was a girl, impeccably dressed. She cleared her throat and asked “Err…umm…which floor you have to go?” Zahra came back to her senses startled by the sudden question and replied a little too rudely “Fourth floor.” She was in no mood to talk, let the girl think her as rude or whatever. Right now, all she cared about was to get to her room.

When they reached the right floor, Zahra started getting her bags out, one by one. “Let me help you with them” the girl said. “Yeah….thanks” she replied relieved. “Which flat?” she asked. “Its 415” Zahra answered making her surprised. “Really! 415, right? Because that’s exactly where I’m gonna live. So you must be the other girl, isn’t it?” “Yeah, I’m that other girl” she replied. ‘So this would be my flat mate. She looks older than me….but seems fine, is very stylish though, a tank top with a jacket over it, paired with jeans, high heeled boots and a scarf to match the color of her top. Nice and decent….hope she is nice in nature also.’ Zahra’s thoughts ran this way, as she sized up the girl with her eyes.

“So….what’s your name?” the girl asked. “It’s Zahra….and yours?” She asked in return. “It’s Laura.” “Nice name Laura” Zahra said and smiled. “Thanks. So what’s the deal about this dress of yours? Please don’t mind the question though” Laura replied sheepishly. “No it’s fine, really. By the way, this robe like thing, it’s called ‘abaya’ and this headgear is known as ‘hijab’. We Muslims wear it to cover ourselves so that the person from the opposite sex is not attracted by our physical appearance, instead, he tries to look for that beauty in our souls and respects us for who we actually are as a person and doesn’t use us as a doormat to tread on. In fact, this whole attire represents progress. Early men wore nothing except a few leaves to cover their private parts. Mankind has come this far in its journey that almost everything is possible in today’s world. Then why should we go backwards in terms of our clothing. We are not early men, right” Zahra explained to her, bit…by…bit so that she could get the whole idea behind her dress. “That’s some logic girl…really, I’m impressed. So compared to you, we have come from some bygone era, it seems” Laura said and they both laughed at the idea.

The apartment was a small one with a hall and two bedrooms fitted with separate bathrooms and an attached kitchen, but it was well furnished and somewhat homelike. Satisfactory. Zahra thought and started checking the rooms. One had a small additional place for reading in, which she instantly liked and chose it for herself. “Fine with me” Laura said and smiled so as to tell her that she was agreed with her choice. The rest of the day was spent in unpacking all their things and putting them in their right places. They both were tired so it wasn’t long before the lights in No. 415 were switched off.

Zahra woke up at 6:00 a.m. the next day, took her bath, prepared breakfast, put on her abaya and hijab and knocked on Laura’s door. She was still lost to the world. “Hey Laura, I’ve prepared the breakfast and since its 8:00 a.m. right now, I’m taking a walk to my office, OK.” “Did you make the breakfast? Great. But how will you go, do you know the way there?” Laura asked, sitting up on her bed. “Yeah, I found it on the internet. Don’t worry, my GPS will guide me, ok? So bye for now.

Walking in the streets of the city, she was amazed by how big and glittery everything was. As she made her way to her office, she gaped at the large tower, seen from a distance. ‘It definitely is the Walworth Tower’ she thought and then started dreaming about how- great- it- would- feel- to- work- here………………. “Oomph”…”Ouch.” She had crashed into someone but couldn’t see who it was. “Can’t you see where you are going” he said angrily. So it was some guy, and a handsome one, but he just had too much gel in his hairs, yuck. He had a deep throaty voice. “And what about your vision. Are you blind? At least you could see that somebody was coming from the other side” she replied rudely, annoyed for getting all the blame. “Really. And what’s the use of wearing such long robes when you can’t even walk in them.” “Oh yeah!! And what’s the use of having perfectly fine set of eyes when you can’t even see through them. This is not a robe, OK, and FYI, I can walk in it” she replied, pointing to her abaya. “Did you just compliment me on my eyes” he said and smiled, in spite of his anger. “You know what, just forget it, OK. Anyway, you are wasting my time” she said, huffed angrily and walked away.

She entered her office and signed up at the reception desk. The girl smiled at her and said “So you must be from the group of trainees coming from India. You can wait in the lobby with the others while I inform Mr. Walworth’s secretary, Ms. Andrews that you have arrived. She will be showing you around the office. Have a great day.” “OK. Thank you” Zahra replied and headed towards the lobby. All her senior colleagues, from India, were there. She greeted some of them, whom she knew. After some time, a woman of about thirty odd entered the room. She looked like a very strict person with a no nonsense kind of attitude about her. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Walworth & Co. This way please. We don’t have much time, so I will brief you on your today’s schedule as we move along. The first task would be meeting up with the CEOs of the company, Mr. Michael Walworth and his son David Walworth.” There was a small shriek from one of the girls. “Silence please and don’t interrupt. Unfortunately, Mr. Walworth Sr. is not well, so you will only be able to meet Mr. Walworth Jr. Now behave yourselves as we are nearing his office, you are not in high school anymore and I am not your headmistress that I will be prompting you every now and then.”

They entered a huge room covered with pictures and certificates on the wall. ‘Best Global Banking Company’, one read. ‘Best CEO of the Year Award- Michael Walworth’ another one read and there were many more as such. The room was highly luxurious with a large square desk and leather backed chairs etc. etc. “Mr. Walworth, the new trainees” she said. “Thank you Ms. Andrews. You may go now.” The voice seemed vaguely familiar to Zahra. Deep and throaty. And when she looked up, her mouth fell open in astonishment. It was the guy from the street and now he had a name, Mr. Walworth Jr. The rest of the conversation slid from her mind, and just when he saw her, she thrust open the door and ran out.

---------AUTHOR'S NOTE------------

So this is my one terrible attempt at story writing. I hope you like it though. Do give me some feedback so that I get to know how I have fared so far. Any suggestions or comments are totally welcome. And if you do like it... don't forget to vote :)

About the hijab n abaya thing, whatever I have said in here, its just my own opinion about it so that those who do not anything about it get a good impression. It is not directed at some specific person or community, in particular. Still, if you find it rude, I am deeply sorry about it.

And you can expect the updates on sundays, but I can't promise anything. ENJOY. ;)