She woke up startled, she was late again, she hurried to the bathroom to take shower and get ready for work. As she stopped by a red signal, she saw a boy selling bestsellers, aghast! She saw her name printed on the cover. She pulled down the windscreen to take a closer look but the boy just mocked at her waving the book and slowly he moved back, back, back and back…. suddenly an ambulance came blaring its siren, the noise was deafening, she put her hands to her ears but the noise increased and pop! She opened her eyes. Wow! It was the same dream all over again, every time she reached for the book written by her, it vanished from her sight.

Amy woke up at her usual time and mechanically she headed towards the washroom to get ready for jogging. Everything in her life went according to a set routine, wake up at 7, go out jogging at 7.15 then back at 7.45, shower followed by stapled breakfast of cornflakes and skimmed milk, leave for the work at 8.30 and be at her desk at 10.

She was not a recluse, she had her own set of colleagues, she went out with them, partied and mixed, but never did she reveal her true self to them. Yes, there was a real Amy behind this prim and proper, well organized Amy the banker.  She had won the employee of the year award three times in a row, she was one of the most efficient executives her bank had. She had her own house, a sleek car, attractive payroll and a handsome bank balance. Amy had everything going her way, she could complain about nothing until the day she met Jordan Jr.

Jordan Jr. was the son of one of their most esteemed clients, Mr. Jordan aka Iron Man because of his no nonsense attitude. He was a man of very few words, he always wanted the very best of the services and obviously he always received it. It was on his instruction that Amy was appointed to deal with his son because she was his favorite and he wanted nothing but the best.

Amy waited impatiently for Heath in her chamber, she was not the one to entertain single clients, she always dealt with groups of aspiring startup entrepreneurs, handled workshops or trained other newbies, she had crossed the stage of pleasing a single client to get business. However, this was the order from the director himself so she had no choice but to wait for him. She planned to explain their investment plans, introduce him with new businesses and call off the meeting.

“Helloooo there,” someone barged in her chamber without knocking. Startled she looked up and for a moment the earth slipped beneath her stilettos. She just looked at those hazel eyes and all the memories flashed before her. She was in her high school when she had first seen him. She was new to this town and had very little knowledge about the metropolitan cities for she grew up in a farm. Treehouse was her favorite abode, day in and day out she read fairy tales, Aesop fables and fantasy stories. She stuck to classics, and Brontes were here favorite. Initially she was the princess and the treehouse was her castle but as she grew up, prince charming was replaced by Heathcliff, yes the Heathcliff, the dark devil who loved his Catherine with total fury. He burned her, himself and the whole world with his fiery love for her. Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights. She dreamt of someone possessive, dominating and intimidating to sweep her off her feet and take her to the Wuthering Heights where they would live happily forever.

Her first crush, first kiss, and first and only love was Heath aka Jordan Jr. They were instantly drawn to each other due to their similar interests, books, paintings, poetries, museum, heritage, history and so on. They were too good to be true, whether it was the name or his personality that made Amy starry eyed every time she looked at him remained a mystery to her, but she loved with him with her heart and soul.

Heath was named after his mother’s favorite hero, of course the immortal lover Heathcliff. His parents were the perfect mismatch, her mother was a hopeless romantic, philanthropist and idealist while his father was a shrewd businessman, practical and stubborn. Heath always felt that the over domineering personality of his father was too much for the fragile disposition of his mother. Much to his father’s chagrin, he was more of his mother than his father.

Unlike the smooth life of Amy, his life was rough, full of turmoil, the only solace he found was in her company. They always dreamt of opening an Art School where they would encourage artists be it a writer, painter, photographer or a musician and so on. But as luck would have it, Heath was sent off to one of the top business colleges of the country after school.

Amy was devastated not because he shattered their dream of joining the same college of art or of opening the Art School together but he left her abruptly. He did not even provide her with a forwarding address or a contact information. He did not even bid her a proper farewell. She had no idea where he went. For a few months she was frantic thinking where he had vanished but one day one of their common friends gave her the message that he has left the town and gone to some business school. She realized that he was his father’s son.

That day, something snapped inside her, she ceased to be the same person. She decided to be a better business executive than Heath. She hated everything she used to love once, she burned her tree house and stacked away all the fairytale romance in a trunk. No more was she a free bird but a mechanical human robot.

Heath clicked his fingers in front of her face and brought her back from her reverie. His expressions did not give away anything, he carried this broad grin on his face and before she could start off with her presentation, he blurted, “Care to meet over coffee?” She gave him a steely look and replied in a clipped tone, “Mr. Jordan, you have only half an hour at your disposal and I plan to execute my POA for you. Shall we start now?”

“Wow! That is some heavy duty business thingy, but tell you what Amy…” “Miss Shimmers,” interrupted Amy. “Great, so you still single,” Heath drooled mischievously. Amy was finding it hard to cope with this boy of a man, Heath had become naughty and mischievous instead of being practical and sly, plus he looked all the more handsome now, his golden tan, shabby dark hair and casual attire, he was every bit a rogue she so loved to despise.

She tried to talk business with him and he only piqued her with personal remarks like “Why so serious?!!” in Joker tone or “Coffee, Tea or Me,” rhapsody or commenting on how funny she looked in her formal dress, he also showed his displeasure towards her bob cut hair. The more Amy tried to throw him off, the deeper he went in her skin, call it his charm or her weakness for him.

She called off the meeting after 30 minutes. She tried her best to concentrate on her work but Heath kept intruding her thoughts. She made up her mind and spoke with her seniors, she refused to deal with Jordan Jr. any further and made it crystal clear to them.

Much to her surprise, Heath did not turn up after that. One month went by without any news of him, she was once again agitated by the whole thing, she so badly wanted to meet see his smiling face one more time, listen to his nonsensical talks, she actually missed him and hated herself for that.

One night as she sat by her table without her businesslike bob cut wig, her long wavy hair was loose and covered her back, she looked so much like Rapunzel when she was away from the maddening crowd. Automatically, she took out her pen and paper and wrote….

You are no sky with silver linings

But sunshine you are

You would never promise a happy ever after    

But prince charming you are

I bask in your glory

I lose myself in your eyes

I consider myself to be the reason you smile

I hate to admit but you are my life

I am more of myself when I have you by my side

I forget all the constrains when you are close by

Can’t we escape to a fairyland

To this big bad world, Can’t we just bid goodbye

Call it destiny or stars, no sooner did she finish writing, someone rang the bell. It was quite late, she went to see who it is. As she opened the door, she saw Heath at her door, before she could utter a word, Heath snatched the notepad from her. Shucks! It was way too late for Amy to reprimand herself for carrying the notepad to the door. “Amy, Amy dreamy Amy, the Rapunzel waiting for her prince to come to her rescue. Romantic Amy still wasting pen and paper in the technical world!” He droned, she tried to snatch the pad from him but just couldn’t because he was way too taller for her 5”2. She blushed red as he read out her poem.  next page