Worth the Wait

"Sir, you have a call, please wake up", with a blurry vision I recognized my secretary Mrs Raichand trying to wake me up. My neck was faintly hurting, and my hands were sore, I guess I slept on my desk again. "Sir, you have a call". I cleared my head, thanked Mrs Raichand and pressed the phone to my ears "Hello", "I can’t believe you forgot, again" came a reply, my eyes instantaneously focused on the clock, I was late by 2 hours. I can’t believe that I slept through the most important time of my life the time that I waited for so long. "I am sorry, I worked overtime and slept, I don't know why but my alarm didn’t ring and... it’s just I am sorry, can we reschedule?" I said, with my hands holding my head, a worried expression on my face and just a single thought going around my mind, please god just this one time. “This is enough, every time you have one excuse or the other, you have already backed out once before. You agreed with this, but you forgot. listen I know this is important to you, but you have to give some precious time of yours, because the system does not work according to you!". "Look I am really sorry Raghav, I will not make any excuse please just give me one more chance". " I asked for a date extension today and got it for tomorrow, make sure you’re there Sushant because this is the last time" saying this he hung up. This one last time, I cannot mess up. I started to pack all my belongings in a bag and stood up to leave when I noticed Mrs Raichand still standing in my office. She had a sympathetic expression on her face and said “sir, what I am saying is not as a secretary but as a friend, I know how much you want this to happen in your favor and I would be one of those people who would be genuinely happy if it did and I know that you are working really hard on both your personal and professional life, but Lilly is also a friend of mine and she is going through the same as you, and if she is giving this some serious thinking then I think you should too”. “I appreciate it Mrs Raichand and I promise that it won’t happen tomorrow” I said with my head bowed down feeling ashamed. Mrs Raichand had been a great support to me from a long time and I understood her concern. I walked out of the building with a million thoughts and questions sprinting in my head; ‘how do I make a good impression?’, ‘which suit do I wear?’, ‘will they be considerate?’, ‘what should I say?’, and what not. Rather than directly going to my house I drove across the town, looking around as the street lights were starting to light up, dogs taking an evening walk with their owners, people working in their shops and just the usual hustle bustle going around the town, after a long drive I finally reached my spot. It was on a hilltop from where I could see all the houses scarred bellow me and a fine rail of water flowing on a side. I found it when I was 12 years old and have loved it since, it is calm and at the same time one ca hear the faint noises from the houses below, it is the perfect spot. I have always felt in control here and with everything going around me I think that is exactly what I need. I sat down on the dull green grass which acted as a soft mattress below me and tried focusing on the beauty in front of me, but my mind was too preoccupied for that and soon enough the view turned into void. At times when one feels sad, one must find trust and help in themselves, this I have learnt the hard way. Words naturally came out of my mouth “I really want this, with all my heart and my soul, I have worked hard for this and I deserve this”. That felt good, a small ray of self confidence lightning up a room of insecurities. After about an hour I got up and drove back to the house. I collected all the necessary documents, arranged them in the proper manner, rechecked them once again and then went to sleep. Well sleep seemed like a foreign word at the moment, rather I laid awake thinking of the big day tomorrow and of what would be…

Next Day:

I woke up on time but still completed my routine in a rush. I had to be there at least half an hour early. I wore the best suit I could muster with my shaky hands, looked in the mirror thrice to confirm that I was looking presentable and then finally got in the car and drove.

Here I am, standing in front of both my dream and my nightmare, of what I was both looking forward to and dreading – The Courtroom. I repeated under my breath “I really want this, with all my heart and my soul, I have worked hard for this and I deserve this”. I took a deep breath and finally went inside.

After 2 hours:

I cried, tears flowing down my cheeks and my hand clasping my mouth, I could not believe that I won. I came out of the courtroom with a smile that no one could knock off my face. A beautiful girl was walking beside me with suitcases in her hand, spectacles on her nose and her black flowing hair. I was waiving the court order stating full custody like a medal in my hand and I was so damn proud. I have been waiting for this since so long and I finally feel complete. “Daddy, where are we going?” asked the love of my life sliding her soft and tiny hands inside mine. I replied with my voice breaking that “sweetheart, we are going home”.