“Hello, Priya? This is Soumen. It’s my new number” “Oh. How are you?” “Good, listen. I’m sending you back the five thousand bucks I’d borrowed from you. I’m sorry I took so long! Do you have Paytm?” Priya never expected to see that money again. He borrowed from her ages ago and never mentioned it again. True to her nature Priya couldn’t bring herself to ask for it either. She stared at the amount added to her account smiling broadly. She was feeling lucky! Life was good! Mahua the monster stood frowning as Priya stepped inside. “Arriving late has become a habit, has it?”, Mahua said. Her hazel eyes glared at Priya. This combined with her hair tied up in a top knot and the stern expression on her face made her look like a headmistress. Priya stood quietly. Her heart hammered in her chest. She wanted to say something. Try her luck. But she was afraid. “What’s the excuse for today?” the manager tapped her foot impatiently. Come on Priya! You know what you have to do. Luck WILL favor you. The pond has worked for others. It WILL work for YOU. “It’s the Durga Puja ma’am!”, she finally replied, “many of the roads are blocked and the traffic is too slow”, little by little Priya felt more confident. “So? Am I not here on time?” “I don’t live nearby, ma’am. My house is far away”, once Priya had started, she didn’t want to stop, “Even so I’m only ten minutes late.” Mahua glared at her for some time. “Get to work”, she finally said. Priya couldn’t feel her legs, her knees trembled, her heart pounded inside her ribs. But no matter how scared she was, she had done it. She answered back. And nothing bad had happened. The wishing pond had saved her! About an hour later Mahua appeared before her again. “I’ve taken the rest of the day off”, she said, “you’ll have to manage alone” Priya nodded silently. But then something inside her belly pushed her to speak up. “I’ll need a leave on Nabami” she blurted out. Mahua was visibly furious. “And why is that?” “I have some plans”, she tried to sound as calm as possible, “each employee here is given one day off during the four days of Durga puja, I’m applying for my allotted leave. So I won’t be coming the day after tomorrow” Mahua paused for a moment. “Send me an email” Priya was smiling ear to ear. Not even in a million years could she have found the guts to speak up if it hadn’t been for the wishing pond! 7
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