Song of the chapter is
Primadonna by MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS

-05-
-Zoya Afreen-
-Present-

______________

Salazar's Shoppe, Pune
7 November, 2030
6:45 pm

"What do you mean the site's crashing, Morris?"

My voice came out all throaty and hysterical, but it didn't bother me one bit.

"There has been an overload in the server, I guess." My assistant answered nervously from the other end as I clutched a few strands of my hair.

"Well your guessing isn't useful, Morris. I need you to work through the problem and fix it, damnit!" I slammed my fist on the pecan mahogany table in front of me.

"Ma'am, we're trying-"

"Try harder! I need this website fixed in the next five minutes or else there'll be a huge problem!" I intervened, shouting at the top of my voice, earning a few looks from the people on the other side of the glass partition that seperated my office from the rest of the work station.

I passed them a reassuring look, and turned to the other side. "Morris, we need to get these ads out by 7:00pm and it's currently 6:45pm! Do you want to get us both fired by Anaita?"

"No ma'am, of course not-"

"Well then chop chop! Get to work and get this fucking website fixed within the next ten minutes!"

I didn't wait for a response before cutting the call. Morris was used to working under the corporate pressure. I knew he could handle it.

Not saying that it didn't take a toll on his mental health.

But when you're slaves to capitalism, your mental health is probably gonna be the last bit of your priority.

I paced around the office with my coffee in my hand, waiting for him to call me back with a positive response when suddenly my phone kept on table dinged with a new notification.

I grabbed it immediately, expecting a thumbs up emoji from Morris but instead, I was met with a new email.

The moment I clicked on the notification, my heart instantly paused.

Three words ; Delmore High School ; washed in front of my eyes, making it harder for me to think clearly.

My eyes darted over the subject matter under those words.

Delmore High cordially invites the graduating class of 2020 till this day to their ten year reunion at the school on the 14th of November, 2030. All alumnis are requested to be present.

RSVP to confirm your presence.

I gulped as I finished reading the entire thing.

A reunion? Seriously?

These roaring imbeciles had the audacity to send us the high school reunion notice despite knowing fully well about the torment that we had faced in that building all those years back.

What were we supposed to celebrate?

The trauma, the years of mental turmoil, the mind numbing panic attacks, the constant fear everytime a text from an unknown number would pop up? Or was it the epic highs and lows of high school life that we had the utter privilege of experiencing on top of all the murder and blackmailing shit?

There was nothing about high school that I wanted to remember. Nothing. Not the people. Not the building. And definitely not the trauma of being seventeen.

My life had fortunately turned out to be not as shitty as everyone had expected from me. I was a fashion executive at Salazar's, one of the leading retail chains in North India. I was the head of my team at the Pune base. I had three people working under me.

I had my life sorted out.

I didn't need to go back to the place that had given me a lifetime package of PTSD flashbacks and trauma that could make a grown ass man-child cry.

Man-child....

That place had taken away one of the most important people of my life. I would never be able to forgive and forget that, no matter what my last three therapists had said.

Delmore wasn't a part of my life anymore. It was my past. And like every bad thing in my life, my past too needed to stay buried six feet deep.

The thought of going back to that place was revolting and yet I felt hesitant to type ‘Suck my dick, suckers. I'm not coming,’ responding to the invitation.

God knows I needed a drink right now.

Before I could even process that innate want of mine, the phone rang, breaking the uncomfortable silence dying in my throat. As I picked up, Morris immediately chimed, "Ma'am it's done! It's finally working. The website's finally working!"

"Huh?"

"The website, ma'am. It's working! I fixed the overload problem!"

"Oh...yeah...um...good job, Morris." I acknowledged somehow. My mind was already tuned to a different station.

"Thank you ma'am." His voice was a mixture of excitement and relief. "Um....is everything okay, ma'am?"

"Huh?"

"Is....every-... everything okay? You sound kind of spaced out-"

"Yeah, something came up....umm..do you think you'd be able to upload the photos yourself? I'll send you the serial order, everything else is done, so you'll just have to place the photos correctly, that's all." I said in one go. "Do you think you'll be able to do it yourself?"

"Su-re....sure..... ma'am." He stuttered.

"I'm trusting you with this one then, Morris." I enunciated as I packed up my things. "Don't fuck this up. You know what happens if you do."

"Right.... ma'am."

"I'm going to step out for a bit. If there's any problem-"

"I'll call you immediately." He intervened before I could finish.

"No, don't." I objected. There was a pregnant pause on the other end. "Call Malti. She'll know what to do."

"Al...right... ma'am."

I heaved a sigh as I grabbed my car keys and looked back at my dimly lit office.

"I need to be alone for a while." I said to myself more than him. "So do anything..... but don't call me."

"Oka-"

"Because I won't be picking it up."

And with that, I disconnected the call and stepped out of my office.

_________________

As I aimlessly drove around my neighborhood block, several thoughts clouded my mind.

The blinking streetlights presented themselves as a distraction from my overbearing thoughts. The gentle wind gushed beside me, softly caressing my hair. I tightened my grip around the steering wheel to stop my fingers from shaking.

Even Hozier playing on the dash stereo wasn't helping.

I pulled over at Arthur's Theme because I knew how desperately I needed a drink right now. And maybe food too.

Fortunately for me, the parking was vastly empty, with only a few cars parked here and there. I locked my car and walked up to the restaurant's entrance. The place was nicely lit, with golden and fluorescent lights illuminating the entire place. The chandeliers hung at equal distances from each other. The air smelled like birthday cake.

My gaze then spotted a small cluster of people at the far end of the cafeteria. A bunch of teenagers hovering over one from their flock, while the teen at the centre of attention had her eyes trained over the huge three tier red velvet birthday cake in front of her.

This was why it smelled like birthday cake in here.

I watched as two candles were lit, one shaped in the shape of the numerical symbol of the number 1 and the other, 7. I watched as she blew the candles and then cut the cake while the rest of the flock cheered and sang happy birthday.

A sharp pang blossomed in my chest.

There was a time when I had that. When I had friends like hers. When I was truly the happiest.

And that time had slipped away like a bottle of wine. Maybe because it was never mine to have.

Situations had brought us together. And neither had those situations  lasted, nor had we.

"They've booked the place for the evening, I'm afraid." A voice hovered  over me and I snapped out of thoughts. I looked beside me and found the owner, Arthur, watching the kids with a bright smile on his face.

"Can I have takeout atleast?" I asked, pouting. Arthur was an old friend whom I had known since my college days. I had been a regular since my Symbiosis (a university) days and he and I had grown to know each other quite a bit. Being a recent divorcee, he didn't really have anyone to talk to and so I had volunteered.

Plus, he made excellent margaritas, so I was always down for coming here.

"Only because it's you." He said, looking back at me. "Your usual, I presume?"

I nodded. "Add a Budweiser Magnum to that."

"It's too early for you to drink." He said, checking his watch. "Something up?"

"Nothing.... it's just..."

"Work pressure?"

I nodded negatively. "It's my high school reunion."

"Aw chica! What's the big problem then?" He inquired.

I rubbed the nape of my neck and shifted from one foot to the other. "Nothing..... it's just...my ex...who I had a lot of history with,...would be there."

Arthur didn't know of my past. Part of the reason why I liked hanging out with him. With him, I could just be a normal girl, who just had a hard corporate life and not someone who had been traumatized to their core at the age of seventeen.

He wasn't one to read books or search up people on the internet, so I felt safe in his presence.

"Man, that sucks. Do you want me to come down with you? Cause I'll beat up any guy who disturbs my chica!" He said with a determined look on his face, making me chuckle.

"As much as I like the offer, I would have to decline it." I explained. "I need to do this one myself."

He pressed his lips together as his brows knitted. "Well then, I hope you'll finally be able to bury the hatchet this time."

I gave him a half smile.

"Yeah..... I'll make sure to bury every hatchet.....for real this time."

____________

ooh! my raspy baby is back and she's coming back stronger than a 90's trend!

I've missed Zoya so much and i know you all did too!!! so here she is! and let me tell you this — boss lady isn't here to be messed with!

anywho, did we like the chapter? what do we think of it? do we stan or not?

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love,
Bosedisha