Twenty Four Seven

I have been following Saima for last few days. She comes out of the office and goes straight to her home. She always strolled the way and I followed her on foot too. My curiosity about her kept increasing and so was my obsession.

She worked in my office. I ran a small software house in the midst of a big metropolis. My clients were mostly from abroad. My software house developed various applications and utility software for some very renowned foreign companies. I had a staff of nine people working for me. My office comprised of one small room, one hall and one kitchenette. Small room was my office and rest of the staff occupied the hall. Out of nine, one was our peon cum chef. We called him Fazlo Baba. He was my oldest employee and I trusted him the most. The other eight were programmers, which included Saima as well.

She comes daily exactly at nine and would leave at sharp six. She did not talk much to anyone in the office. She always brought her lunch from home and did not spend time in usual lunch parties. I paid to my staff depending upon their workload. She was always paid the highest as she worked the most. She never wasted her time. It was common saying in the office that she does not give more than one minute to anyone. I tried many a times to get in discussion with her but she would agree to anything I say and that was the usual end of discussion and the end of her one minute.

I had always kept a strict account of my office property. Lately, office things started going missing. Someone was stealing from the office and for some absurd reason I believed it was her. I had ignored when couple of stationary items went missing but one morning a router disappeared and then we could not find couple of external hard drives. I talked in confidence with every employee. When I inquired about it from her, she showed complete ignorance about the missing hardware. However, she did not take anybody's name unlike everyone else who put blame on others. My suspicion was getting confirm but I needed evidence. My main concern was not the petty missing office stuff or computer hardware but anyone who can steal these things can also steal the valuable client details or the programs that are under development. The thief can sell the software for a hefty payment. It may not only hurt me financially but can also tarnish my reputation.

I spoke to a friend who advised me to install a hidden camera in the office. If I catch the hardware thief then I surely will prevent any software pilferage. Last week, when everyone left, I along with Fazlo Baba installed a miniature spy camera in one corner of the hall. It had a wireless transmitter so there was no need of any cabling. I had its display unit in my office and I could see her table very clearly. I only had to change or recharge the camera battery once every two days.

First day of monitoring, I kept watching her on the display screen throughout the day. She remained focused on her work and did not take anything from the office. Over the period of one week, I intentionally kept loose stuff on her table but she did not pick any of them. Strangely, when I kept this stuff away from her table, it usually went missing. I continued my routine for two weeks till I got fed up. It was then that I decided to follow her and see her activities en route.

I had seen her home during my surveillance ventures. She lived at twenty minutes’ walk from my office in a township comprising of small houses. One day, I got up from my office at noon and went to her home. I had a clear plan as I wanted to see her home from inside. An old man on clutches opened the door after I knocked for almost ten minutes. I introduced myself to be from a verification agency. I further told the old man that Saima has applied for a job in a multinational company and that I have come to verify her credentials. The old man took me inside and offered me a chair. The house was neat and clean, and reflected good housekeeping skills. The old man told me that Saima is his only child. His wife expired last year after a long illness. He told me that he is a retired school teacher and has spent his entire life in teaching good values to his daughter. She wanted to study more but was forced to take care of an ailing mother and a diabetic father whose foot had recently been amputated. The house rent, utility bills and medical expenses were enough to break her back but she never lost her courage to face the cruel realities and hard challenges of life.

The same night I returned to my office. The building supervisor knew me so he let me in. I opened my office with my set of keys and adjusted the hall camera. I installed another camera in the kitchenette. Next morning, I found out that my most trustworthy employee Fazlo Baba was not only drinking the milk but was also stealing stationary items. In next few days, I also discovered that every other person working in my office was stealing from me except for her. 

I recovered most of my stuff from the employees after threatening them of giving the footage to police. I also fired the nasty ones including Fazlo Baba. There was still one thing missing. It was a little piece of my heart. I knew for sure that Saima has stolen it.

On next Sunday, I sent my mother to her home to ask for her hand. She treated my mother with lot of respect and asked for some time to think over it. She also stopped coming to office from next morning on wards.

After couple of days, I mustered up some courage and called her.

Her phone rang for a long time.

When I was about to put an end to call, she attended.

I could not think of anything at that moment so I just inquired about her father’s treatment of his diabetes.

She said, ‘how do you know about my father’s medical condition?’

I said ‘My mother visited your home few days ago. She told me about your father.’

‘But my father was not at home at that time and I certainly did not have any conversation with your mother about my father’s diabetes.’ She replied.

I could not think of any response so I changed the topic and sincerely apologized to her for sending a marriage proposal to an office coworker.

She did not say anything. I got quiet too.

This conversation had certainly exceeded one minute mark.

After silence and listening to each other's breaths for a while, she asked, 'Do you want me to come to office even after marriage?'

I just could not control my excitement. I instantly said 'Yesss'.

She said loudly 'What?'

'I want to see you 24/7'. I said.

She laughed and hung up the phone.

Written By; Nadeem Alam

    

Other short stories by same author:

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Urdu Afsana - Intezar
My Million Little Pieces
Pay Back
Cinderella
Right Decision
The Missing Bride
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The Devil
Lost Girl 
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