Ugh! Waking up to go to work is one of the worst feelings ever. I regret being born into a middle-class family every single morning. If only I were rich I wouldn't have to go through this.

It's not like I hate work. I like working. Sometimes I feel like work is the only thing that helps me stay sane. Plus I'm good at it. I'm really proud of my work ethics.

It's just the whole process of waking up so early, waiting for a bus, suffering in the traffic that annoys me. You know what I think? The world would be a better place if work and school started a little late and not in the mornings.

How I wish I was one of those influencers I stalked last night! Their lives are so damn perfect. Now if I tell this to Salima, being the matured one she'd tell me that everyone has problems and that I get to see only one part of the internet famous people's lives, which I agree in some way but then again I have a point too, right? Don't you think all those free things and attention that influencers receive make their lives better than the crappy life that you and I lead?

It's not like I hate what I do. I love marketing. It's exciting. It keeps evolving. So, there's a thrill in working in this field. But still, there should be something more to life than losing your sleep for a low paid salary, right?

If ever I get a chance to become an IG influencer I'd just throw away everything I have and blindly accept it. My ultimate dream job!

Anyway, since it's pointless sulking over something that I can't change, I push myself to accept reality and just get out of bed. As I do this, I so badly want to go online and check whether I've received any messages from Sameer but I don't have the time for it right now.

I'm already super late. Plus, it's Monday. It's going to be so hard to find a bus with empty seats and the traffic will be massive. I'm generally very grumpy in the mornings and Monday mornings bring out the worst in me.

So Sameer can wait. His confession can wait. His sad smiley can wait. Above all my impatience better learn to wait!

No time for a shower or even combing my hair today. I quickly finish my washroom duties, put my wire-like curly hair in a messy bun, wear an abaya and a shawl that need no ironing and walk out of the house.

Poorly-dressed-and-rushing-to-work — very normal behavior for a Monday in Ilhaam's life! After all I'm going to be seeing the same old faces I work with. Nobody new. Nobody interesting. Therefore this dress is more than enough for office today.

After waiting at the bus halt for around 10 minutes and spending more than 1.5 hours stuck in the traffic I finally reach office at 9:02 am. Okay, so I'm half an hour late and even though this happens often — I mean, I hardly come on time, my coworkers still make sure they stare at me incessantly and make it super awkward for me like I've committed a crime every time I arrive late.

Ugh! Stupid corporates and their stupid timeframes. I don't believe in working a 8:30 - 5:00 job. Why can't we all just get flexible hours?

I walk upto my station and keep my bag on the table and before I could move another step forward I get stopped by Naomi. Naomi is our HR assistant. She's petite, tan-skinned and super pleasant.

Though I envy her like with every other female that looks better than me, I also like her. She's one of those few people who's never commented anything about my skin tone or size.

Our mutual hatred for the boomers we are surrounded by has made us work besties. So, she comes to my desk for a chit chat in the mornings like this whenever she has some work gossip to update me about. Let's see what it is now.

"Saw the email?" asks Naomi with a smile as I stand there confused. What is she talking about? I did check my emails during the weekend but there was nothing important.

She can't be talking about anything sent today, right? I mean generally I stay online until I reach office but today I was too sleepy. So I put my phone on do-not-disturb mode and dozed off in the bus the whole time.

"What email?" I ask. "The one your boss sent in the morning of course" she replies with a grin. Okay now I'm even more confused. Why is she smiling weirdly? What did my Manager James write about? Can't be jokes. I mean, he does look like a joke but I don't think he shares any jokes via emails with subordinates.

"Darling, you really didn't check the email about today's Board Meeting?" asks Naomi again. Okay, what the hell? Board Meeting? Today? It was supposed to be on Wednesday and even if there's a change of date I should've been informed earlier. It's not like I am anything important or I head the meeting. It's just that I need time to collate all the necessary data and that can't be done within a few hours, right?

I turn around to check what my useless Manager James is doing. But I don't see him and his room still looks locked and even the lights and the air conditioner are switched off.

He generally comes to work even before the boomers. This looks weird. "For real I didn't check. Anything important?" I ask Naomi and before she could respond someone calls her. So she walks away and I unlock my phone and turn the internet on to see it myself.

Couple of notifications pop up. The first thing I notice is that there is no reply from Sameer yet. How stupid of me to even think that me being inactive for a few hours would actually make him miss me and make my inbox overflow with his messages of concern? It would never happen because I mean nothing to him. He's not even my boyfriend. Why am I even thinking of him when I should be just checking my emails?

"Focus Ilhaam! Focus" I tell myself and click on James' email to find this,
"I won't be in today due to an unavoidable circumstance. Ilhaam will take part on behalf of me and explain the Marketing stats for the previous quarter and also discuss plans for the next quarter."

No no no! This can't be. There are so many things wrong about this. Firstly, I've never been part of a Board Meeting before. Secondly, I'm zero prepared with the stats right now. And third, I'm poorly dressed and there's no way I'm walking into a serious meeting looking like this!

The only silver lining about this whole mess is that I finally get to go check out the boardroom! I mean junior employees like me never get a chance to go in there. I've only seen it from the outside and I've always wanted to go in and see what actually happens there.

Maybe I should just stop overthinking it. This is after all a good thing except for the fact that I don't want to make a fool out of myself going in there without preparation. If only I had known this earlier!

All this is because of James. So I type a message, "Seriously James? I don't think I can do it. Why didn't you just tell me earlier?" I giggle once I press send because it's so dramatic. Out of context, it sounds more like a text sent to a cheating boyfriend. Not like something sent to your boss.

My phone beeps and there's a message from James, "You can do it. Also, you owe me one." What does he mean by that? I don't owe him anything!

I reply back, "owe you for what boss?" and he texts back, "for all those times you came to office late and I never questioned you or deducted your salary 🙂". Okay, now I know he's just joking but the emoji he used makes it look as if he really meant it. Middle-aged people are so bad at using emojis while texting!

I get a second text from him, "I've put together a presentation for today's meeting. You can use that and add whatever you have. Emailing it to you now." Wow. This is so cool. I'm the one who normally creates PowerPoint presentations for James. But today, he's doing it for me.

This day keeps getting better and better. First, I get invited to the Board Meeting and now my boss is being my assistant. What more to come?

Alright, so it's 2:00 pm and here I am at the boardroom. I'm the only young person in a room full of boomers. But I like it in here. This place totally has the movie vibes. I should come here more often. Makes me feel like a real deal corporate chick. This is going to fun.

It's 4:00 pm and now I'm bored. The meeting is not as cool as I thought. The Sales Manager and the Finance Manager ate up two hours of the 3-hour meeting repeating the same issues again and again. I heard them complain so much that I might even dream of their problems tonight.

The rest of us spoke only for 10 to 15 minutes each because that's all we got. I don't know what exactly I said but everyone seemed to be impressed. The truth is these boomers hardly know anything about marketing that they get easily impressed the moment a few social media stats are thrown at them. Good for me!

As I leave the boardroom, I'm smiling and I'm genuinely happy. This is why I love work. It always brings out the best in me. I was so busy getting ready for the meeting today that I hardly even thought about Sameer. "I always knew that I'm a strong independent woman and I don't need a man to make me happy" I tell myself when my phone beeps.

It's Sameer and guess what his message says? "My girlfriend dumped me 😔" Okay now, I know I'm not supposed to feel happy about another person's distress but this one is special.

I smile and my imagination keeps getting vivid and I can't help but realize that I may not be that much of an independent woman after all!

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What do you think will happen next? Will Ilhaam have a chance with Sameer? 😉 Let me know your thoughts in the comments below ♥️

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