ONE YEAR AGO

Rome, Italy.2018

If there is any advice that you should take from people who have been to Italy before, then that is that you should never travel to Italy in summer. Italy in summer is like an extremely hot pan overcrowded with ants. The heat makes it nearly impossible to enjoy the scenic beauty around you and the feeling of being squashed between tourists wherever you go makes it near damn unbearable.

If you are a normal person making normal travel plans then the above advice would help you save some money and probably help you find some goddamn peace of mind. But if you are an unfortunate fellow such as myself who is bound to travel wherever her bloody job demands, then you are struck out of your luck.

I am not saying that Italy is a bad place to be, but if you are someone spotting a piercing headache from jetlag and getting stuck in traffic in the scorching heat of Italian summer, then you would probably share my sentiments.

I jolt awake from a shut-eye when the cab comes to a stop. The impatient driver quickly demanded the pay and skidded away the minute I got out of the cab. I stand in front of the massive building of the consulate of India, Rome with the sun staring right down at my face.

A new place, a new phase of life.

In the beginning, when I had first decided that I wanted to become a diplomat for my country, the thought of meeting new people and getting to travel to new places had been the very thought that had driven me to take on the job. But once I had gotten the job, the thought of moving to an entirely new region with people speaking an entirely new language made my back coil in fear.

Exhibit A of why this was so fearful would be the situation I had been facing for the last 15 minutes. For the past quarter of an hour, I had been trying to convince the front desk lady with the little Italian that I knew, that I was not here to get my visa renewed but to report for my first day of joining here. Whereas she ,with whatever little English she knew, was repeatedly telling me to take my visa and go to the second floor. At one point in the conversation I was convinced that she was doing it just to get on my nerves but looking at her wide-open doe eyes I couldn't bring myself to even doubt her for a second.

If it would have been any other day at another time, I probably would have laughed heartily at the predicament that I was in but with the killer headache I was having, every minute of this fruitless discussion was turning into torture.

That's when I saw her, THE HER, descending the stairs, gorgeous blonde hair floating behind her, clad in an olive green blouse and loose cream skirt, looking beautiful like a diva. She came down and saw us stuck in an impasse, walked towards us and looked into my eyes, and said," Is there something wrong here? Would you like some help?" that was the moment I knew, fluent English and fluent Italian along with that pretty face, I knew then and there that this pretty lady was going to be my knight in shining in this foreign land and I had to befriend her as soon as possible.

After a few moments of fruitful conversation with the stunning lady who later introduced herself as Nadia, I was finally able to get through to the lady at the front desk that I was going to be her colleague from today onwards and she finally, FINALLY guided me towards my new workspace.

What a heck of a start for the first day.

After clearing the misimpression, I was expecting Nadia to walk on her way to her work but as the ever gracious lady as she was, she offered to walk me to my office. As we were waiting for the elevator she turned towards me, smiled and asked, "So, Ms.first day, you haven't given me a name yet. If you don't want me to call you Ms.First Day for the rest of your tenure here then I suggest we go forward with the introductions."

The utter shame that washed over me at the realization that I hadn't even introduced myself yet made me want to crawl into a furrow and hide there till oblivion.

Introductions maya, introducing yourself to your savior is the priority on simping over her.

I bashed myself to death inside my mind and quickly turned towards her extending my right hand for a shake, " I swear I am usually more elegant when I meet new people. It's just that today had been going all wrong till now with the little misunderstanding and this killer headache I have going on from jetlag. I am Maya Singhania, secretary joining the consulate of India, Rome as of today."

She took my hand, pulled me in a light hug and said," Welcome on your first day of work Maya. I really think you would have a fun time working here."

She let go of me as the elevator arrived and walked into the door and the clutz that I am I literally stumbled over nothing. She quickly held me to steady me and giggled a little seeing how flushed I looked. Oh, that was the sweetest giggle ever. She pushed the button for my floor and turned to give me her full attention.

"I am Nadia Edwards by the way, assistant to the ambassador. And I can clearly see the jet lag on your face, dear. I know a little coffee shop down the corner that serves the best coffee around this area. The coffee will do wonders for your headache. If you still find yourself in discomfort just come to me. I have the meds for all kinds of headaches.", she said.

Just how? How can someone be so beautiful, kind, intelligent, pretty, and all these wonderful things all at once?

Nadia continued to introduce me to all the good places near the office as we walked towards my workspace, the best Panini sandwich on the street, the old grandma that makes the near-perfect pizza base, and the nearest place to get my shoes fixed. Apparently, my stumbling about three times in the last thirty seconds convinced her that that would be the place I would need most in my stay over here.

She even went as far as to rearrange my desk and ordered me a fresh bouquet of daffodils to symbolize new beginnings. She wrote down her number and the contact of the little coffee shop before going back to her work.

Perfection in a shot.

After bidding Nadia goodbye, I finally took a look around the place where I would be working for the next couple of years. The office was spacious enough, with a desk at one end and a little coffee table in the middle. The chairs surrounding the table were a medium shade of grey, perfectly matching the grey and white theme going on in the whole room. It was minimalistic, low maintenance, and perfect. Just like me.

I took my time putting away my things and checking the room for hidden doors. You can never be too sure. After finishing my inspection, I crashed into my chair and let out a sigh. I am gonna give a raise to whoever chose this comfy chair, god bless their heart.

After taking a little rest, I jumped in to get things started. The first order of action was a large iced Americano with a double shot. I swiftly called the coffee shop and placed my order along with a sandwich. The process went smoother than I imagined as they promised to deliver it within ten minutes. I progressed to gather my documents as I had to officially report to my superior.

In fact, I should have reported to them as the first thing, but I really was too worn out to see any more people at the moment. So I planned to take a little coffee break before becoming presentable again.

As I finished rearranging my documents, I got a call from the front desk lady, I really should ask for her name. She told me that a guy was looking to meet me or that's what I could understand from her speech.

Assuming it was delivered from the coffee shop, I gave her permission to allow the guy up to the room. delivery here is really fast, it had been just five minutes since the call.

A few minutes later, I heard a knock on the door and I allowed the person to come in. As soon as the guy came in, my breath was stuck in my throat.

Are all the people in Italy this beautiful? or is it just my luck to be blessed with such a sight? 

                                                                AUTHOR's NOTE

Hello peeps 

This is the very first day of Maya at work likeeeeeee literally she feels more like a clumsy child at first day of school and her simping on all beautiful things????????!!!!!!!!

Omg! I got second hand embarrassment from it 

How did you like the friendship at first sight ?

Who thee hell is the mystery guy at the end ? Are delivery guys so spectacular these days ?

Vote and Comment to share your thoughts

_aBHIRA