The Last Meeting- A Short Story
The Last Meeting
Mira Patel- The young, vibrant, intelligent, talented, and optimistic lady for whom dedication and hard work were the only way to success. She proved that success is possible when you know how to give your best and dedicate yourself to achieving the milestone. But is that easy for the male-dominated society to accept the success of women so easily?
A resident of one of the posh localities of Delhi, Mira, at the young age of 34, managed to become the youngest vice president of the company “Triumph”. She worked here for the last eight years. A pass out of IIT, Mira, with her striking presence and intellect, managed to grab the position in campus recruitment and got placed with Triumph at a good package. Thankfully, she got posted in her home city, Delhi, which made her progress in the corporate world a little more comfortable. But least was she aware of the dark cloud waiting for the arrival in her life.
Mira was a disciplined and punctual employee, always on time to the office and the last to go out. She earned her promotion in the company with dedication and hard work. But her achievement helped her attain not only immense appreciation but enemies too. Her success never made her egoistic or proud in any sense. She was the one, who believed in hard work and was ready to help her colleagues and coworkers grow progressively with her. The night of 19th July 2010 was no different for her. She was almost on the verge of cracking another contract with a top-notch company in the industry and was checking the final details for the next day, afternoon meeting.
It was 8 PM, and the office was silent. Almost everyone left the office by that time. Mira was reviewing the contract as she wanted to seal the contract the next day. It will be the biggest deal for the company to date, so homework needs to be perfect to ensure the deal gets signed.
“Ah everything is perfect, and Mr. Mehras’s sign on the papers will complete the deal. It will be my biggest milestone achieved for Triumph.” While talking to herself, Mira leaned on her chair to relax for a few minutes before she signed off for the day. A knock on the door alerted Mira, and someone clicked open the door. It was Rohit Singh, her colleague, standing near the door.
“Rohit, what are you doing here so late?” she asked, her voice full of suspicion. He smiled, but that was not a normal smile. Mira always found a charming smile on Rohit’s face for so many years. It was cunning and suspicious too. “Just wanted to congratulate you on your big win,” he said. While talking, he stepped inside the cabin and closed the door. The sound of the lock made Mira shiver down her spine.
“Thank you, but you could have congratulated me over the phone or any time, in the day. But what made you stay back so late in office for this? ” she replied. Mira made the best possible effort to keep her tone normal. But as Rohit moved towards her, a sense of uneasiness knocked her. He kept moving closer to her “Mira, you have always been a star, haven’t you? Always shining with the grace of the boss and management little too bright. Is there no talented candidate like you in the office to get the position you are occupying, making the rest of us look dull.”
The words pinned Mira’s ears, and her heart began to race. “Rohit, what are you talking about?” Without giving Mira much scope to react, he put his strong hands on her shoulders. He roughly pushed her against the chair. Mira got panicked, and she struggled, but he was stronger. There was a sense of insidious hatred on Rohit’s face, which Mira could see even in the panicked state.
Mira screamed, but there was no one to answer her call. Her voice gets absorbed by the soundproof walls. She made the best effort desperately to save her, and her mind was looking for a way to escape. But Ronit was unstoppable. Ronit whispered, “Trust me, you will not be able to tell anyone about this”.
Terror banged Mira when the door opened again. One by one, seven men she recognized—once her colleagues and now the attacker—entered the room. Their faces twisted with uncanny smiles. They are the ones who always appreciated her as a performer and a true deserver of the promotion she got. But today, they are all here to ensure she will never rise again.
The attack was brutal and inhumane. It was a complete violation of body and spirit to make her feel a female like her has no right to taste success like men. Her mind drifted in and out, and she realized the true face of the men who were once colleagues and well-wishers. She pleaded for mercy. What she got in response to her plea was brutal laughter and jeers. Each man took turns to shed her dignity, humanity, and the right to be a female.
Hours passed, and it seemed like an eternity. By the time they finished the crime, Mira was barely breathing. Her body stopped answering or responding anymore. As they left her there, life slowly bid adieu, moving through her veins.
Her last thoughts were of her mother, the dreams she weaved for her, and the life she planned to start soon with her fiancé Manish. Life betrayed her in the end. Mira Patel, the shining star in the corporate world, was no more.
The next day morning, her body was found lifeless on her office cabin floor. The news spread like wildfire, but justice remained unanswered. Every possible effort management made to hide the rape in office. No one knows who the assailants were as all CCTV was closed before making the attack. The rapist gang remained free walking in the office and society as no one had proof to identify who they were. The crime remained hidden in the shadows of power and privilege.
But the city remembered. For the walls of the Triumph office premise, Mira Patel’s name became a symbol—not of the success that she had achieved with her talent and hard work, but of the brutal end that she needs to face to pay the price of being a successful woman in the men dominated world.
Is it an offense for a woman to be successful in the corporate world?
Is it wrong to ask for rights and justice?
Is it a curse to take birth as a girl?
Who will answer these questions? Who will give justice to so many Mira Patels who are getting brutally raped for asking for rights?
Where Is Justice?
This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2024
The story resonates the very recent incident and it reminded the horror once again. But now, we all have only one question: Where is justice? No answer to this we have received yet.
A hard-hitting story with no answer, sadly, to the question asked here.
As I recently saw in a movie, they call it a crime of anger, not attraction. So reminiscent of the hate ego hides. But the world hasn’t been kind to many, and it won’t until acceptance and surrender become the norm.