The Achiever – A Short Story

Representative image

8 a.m.

Alarm rings. He groans in sleep. Turns off the alarm. Goes to sleep again.

9 a.m.

Phone rings. His hands search for the phone. “Hello?” “Where are you? It’s 9. The meeting starts at 10. Be here in 30 minutes”, says his boss from the other side. “Shit. I’m screwed.” He wakes up in a hurry. Runs to bathroom.

9.20 a.m.

Rushes out of the house. Takes out his mobile to book an Ola cab. “15 minutes away!”, he sighs. Starts walking towards the main road.

“Auto”, he shouts. “MG Road, Business Park?”. “No, anna. There’s a lot of traffic”, replies the auto driver. “Anna please charge 1.5 times. I have an important meeting in office today and I’m late. Please anna”, he pleads. Auto driver agrees. He rushes into the auto.

9:30 a.m.

Phone rings. “I’m caught in traffic, Sir.” “Yes sir, I’ll be there before 10, I promise.” “Anna please make it fast”, he pleads the driver.

9:45 a.m.

Red light. He’s one signal away from office. “Phew! I’ll reach in time”, he sighs with relief.

9:46 a.m.

He looks out to see the traffic light status. His eyes are caught by a woman wailing in pain on the footpath. She seems to be in labor. She needs help. He looks at his watch. If he doesn’t reach office in time, he’ll lose the deal. And the promotion. And the increment. And the foreign trip promised by boss. And the ‘achiever’ title. Ugh! But she needs help and nobody else seems to help her out.

9:47 a.m.

He rushes out of the auto. Carries her in her arms and puts her in the auto. Tells the auto driver to rush to the nearest hospital. Phone rings. Phone rings again. 10 missed calls from boss.

9:55 a.m.

Doctor rushes her to the labor room. Phone rings again. “Hello?” “Where the heck are you? The client is already here. Rathi will be presenting it to the client. And YOU ARE FIRED.”, the boss shouts. He feels nothing. He is only worried about the woman and her baby.

10:20 a.m.

Doctor rushes out of the OT. “Congrats, it’s a girl.” He smiles as he looks at the baby girl. Doctor praises him for his generosity and humanity.

10: 25 a.m.

He meets the woman. She thanks him with all her heart and breaks down into tears. He hands her some money and walks out of the hospital. Proud. Happy. Contented. Achiever.

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7 a.m.

He wakes up in horror. “It was just a dream.”, he sighs. Goes back to sleep.

8 a.m.

Alarm rings. He groans in sleep. Turns off the alarm. Goes to sleep again.

9 a.m.

Phone rings. His hands search for the phone. “Hello?” “Where are you? It’s 9. The meeting starts at 10. Be here in 30 minutes.”, says his boss from the other side. “Shit. I’m screwed.” He wakes up in a hurry. Runs to bathroom.

9.20 a.m.

Rushes out of the house. Takes out his mobile to book an Ola cab. “15 minutes away!”, he sighs. Starts walking towards the main road.

“Auto”, he shouts. “MG Road, Business Park?”. “No, anna. There’s a lot of traffic”, replies the auto driver. “Anna, please charge 1.5 times. I have an important meeting in office today and am late. Please, anna”, he pleads. Auto driver agrees. He rushes into the auto. Wonders if he has met the auto driver before, but is too late to recall.

9:30 a.m.

Phone rings. “I’m caught in traffic Sir.” “Yes sir, I’ll be there before 10, I promise.” “Anna please make it fast”, he pleads the driver, wondering if this conversation has happened before. “Have we met before anna?” “I am an auto driver anna. I carry so many passengers daily. I can’t remember, anna”

9:45 a.m.

Red light. He’s one signal away from office. “Phew! I’ll reach in time.”, he sighs with relief.

9:46 a.m.

He looks out to see the traffic light status. His eyes are caught by a woman wailing in pain on the footpath. She seems to be in labor. She needs help.

It’s now when he recalls. It’s happening all over again. It’s the same series of events. The same auto driver. The same woman. The same place. His dream is turning into reality. He’s having a Deja Vu.

He looks at his watch. If he doesn’t reach office in time, he’ll lose the deal. And the promotion. And the increment. And the foreign trip promised by boss. And the ‘achiever’ title. Ugh! But she needs help. He’s confused. He knows his choice in his dream. But this is not dream. This is fucking reality. He cannot afford to lose the job he’s been working his ass off for, day and night. Today, is the day he’s been waiting for since ever. What will he tell his parents if he makes the same choice he made in his dream? What will he tell himself? His girlfriend? That he lost this golden opportunity, only to help who? A stranger? How will he buy the bungalow, he had promised his girlfriend to? There are so many people around and anyone would come forward to help. But, what if they don’t? Oh! Someone definitely will. Yes, someone will. “I would have helped her out, if I hadn’t had this meeting today. May god help her.” He tries to convince himself and decides to leave.

9:55 a.m.

“Thank god, you’re in time. Let’s hurry. The client should be here any moment”, the boss takes a sigh of relief. They revise the points as they head towards the meeting room.

10:20 a.m.

They come out of the meeting room. “Congrats, the deal is sealed.” He smiles as he looks at the signed contract. Client praises him for his acumen and creativity.

10: 25 a.m.

He meets his boss who thanks him with all his heart and pats his back. “You’ve made the company proud.” He smiles trying not to think of what happened to the woman on the footpath. He walks out of the office. This time, not so Proud. Not so Happy. Not so Contented. Not an Achiever.

Writer’s message: Neither of the course of actions described in the story is right or wrong. The intention here, is to highlight how different our lives are, in and outside dreams. How easy it is to be selfless in thoughts but how difficult it is in reality. Because reality comes with priorities, responsibilities, aspirations and desires, which together restrict us from doing what we would have done otherwise.

While this story reminds me of many incidents that I myself have been through, I’m sure you too must have had a throwback while reading this post.

May god grant us courage to follow our hearts without thinking of the consequences at least once in our lifetimes. Amen.

Image Source: Jay Bergesen, Flickr