Cliff Park

'Never argue with me you better keep that in mind. Do you understand?' shouted Jim in the middle of the meeting. 

'Yes, sir. What I was saying is that someone gave me the wrong input.' clarified Tim.

Jim stood up from the chair and said to the board members, 'Look at this Ladies and Gentlemen. Did you hear that? I said no argument, and he is adamant on clarifying his mistake.' 

'But, sir. It was never my mistake. I prepared the chart based on the raw data of input given to me. You can not stick the wrongdoings of others onto me.' Tim said that in one breath.

'Gentlemen, we are here to check the pulse of management, and it seems it is quite off the charts,' said one of the board members.

'Don't worry, sir. We will focus adequately on marketing. The budget you allotted for this quarter will work wonders for sure. We will sort out this issue immediately.' assured Jim to the board members.

'Tim, can you prepare that same chart within 10 minutes. It will be quite helpful for us to have a look at it,' asked another board member sitting directly opposite Tim.

'Sir, I can prepare that in one minute. All I need is the correct data to feed in the program. Machines do not lie. It all came out wrong because someone gave me the wrong data,' said Tim

'Don't clarify. Do not get stuck in the problem, focus on the solution,' Jim offered some of the wisdom that he memorized while watching a TED talk.

'Solution is handy. Provide me the correct input, and the chart will be ready within minutes,' said Tim with added decibel level to make his point.

'I guess that will be all for today. Tim, you do one thing. Prepare the chart for the next meeting. And, Jim you stay here for a moment. Meet you all in the next meeting.' suggested one board member.

As soon as Tim opened the door, he heard Jim saying that a recent tragic incident has disturbed Tim. Tim is the most valuable asset of the company. Tim's performance was more than excellent, and that is why his boss would listen and tolerate Tim more often than necessary. 

Suddenly, the train honked loudly to alert anyone standing near the railway track.

'Can you slide a little please?' requested one of the fellow passengers so that he can sit. 

Tim was physically present on the train for more than half an hour, but mentally he was still stuck in the meeting, especially the last sentence of the Jim that he heard while opening the door. A tragedy can never dent my performance, he assured himself. 

Tim looked up to the fellow passenger that requested him to slide. He looked to his left side, and he slides to make some room for one more passenger.

Tim was lost in his world of chaos. 

'Are you all right?' asked that passenger after getting comfortable on the sit, for a long journey ahead.

'Yes.' the reply was short and to the point.

'You don't look like okay to me, gentleman,' said that fellow passenger while opening the newspaper that will help him cut time during the journey.

'Are you a psychiatrist or is it written on my face that I am not okay?' shouted Tim to the top of his voice. Tim lost his cool with that intrusive fellow passenger.

'Chill. If you do not want to share your grief then it is okay. At least do not shout.'

'Sorry, man.' saying that Tim got up from his seat and went towards the door to take in the cool breeze of the calm evening gushing in from that door.

The cool breeze calmed his nerve, and he waited for his station to arrive.

After five minutes, the station came, and he got off the train.

He started walking towards a destination where his life partner would be waiting for him. The place was a beautiful combination of lush greenery and a cliff.

The local administration converted the cliff into a lush green park with a nice view of the sunset.

The place was well known for privacy, greenery, and a Sunset viewing point. 

Tim was hurrying towards that park as his life partner would be waiting for him.

They met for the first time in this place only.

It was like nine years ago. Tim had just joined the corporate world, and he was not used to this corporate culture where work took second priority. The management forced him to join the meetings. The meeting was only on how they will work instead of letting them work properly. 

Wednesday was the meeting day in his company, and that day would be the one that Tim hated the most. So, to blow off the steam, he always made a point to visit this place. It was during one such visit that they met.

It was love at first sight. Tim was afraid to initiate a talk, so a weekly nod on Wednesday continued for three months.

Jessica made the bold move. She introduced herself to Tim, and Tim shyly introduced himself. After that, they met every week for six months. The courtship ended in marriage after a year. 

They were happy with their life. Jessica was an architect, and she loved her job. Tim also remained busy with the office work. Life was going great for both until Jessica fell ill.

The family doctor diagnosed her with breast cancer. The treatment took a toll on both. After countless surgery and numerous chemo sessions, it was looking good. The doctors were quite optimistic that Jessica would recover and live a routine life.

But after few months, Jessica left this routine life to embrace death in peace. She left the world too young, and Tim was all left alone. 

After that tragedy, Tim always made a point to visit that garden on the cliff.

He arrived and sat on the bench where he met Jessica. Looking at the beautiful natural scenery, he became one with Jessica. The chaos evaporated, and the peace returned.