Morning Blues and Unboxing Joys

After sending the email, Jack returned home feeling unusually heavy. Mixed emotions overwhelmed him – he wanted to cry, get angry and felt, tied down despite his freedom. As soon as he entered home, he tossed his bag onto the bed, collapsing beside it.

While staring at the roof, doubts clouded his mind about his life choices. Questions swirled in his mind:

“Is this the life I wanted?... Is it what I truly desire?”

“Is this the life I envisioned?”

“Am I truly free? and why does it feel suffocating despite being free?”

Questions flooded his mind.

“Was leaving my parents the right choice? … I’m stuck in a loop – work, home, work!!!”

“Is this all I’ll ever be?”

His eyelids drooped, the weight of his thoughts lulling him to sleep. Lost in introspection, fatigue soon claimed him, blurring the lines between wakefulness and dreams.

The next morning, he awoke at 6 a.m., lost in thought, glanced at his bag, turned over, and dozed off again. His sleep was interrupted by a faint ringing of his phone, in his sleepy eye he noticed 5 missed calls, realizing he was late for work.

Rushing, Jack muttered, “Ohh God!!! It’s 10:45 a.m., I’m late for the work. I need to hurry up!!”

As he hurried, his phone rang again.

“Is it my manager? what shall I tell him ... shall take a day off saying I’m not feeling well? hhuuuuhhh! My brain isn’t working”

Jack answered the call and found that it was a call from the delivery guy

Delivery guy: “Hello sir, I tried calling you many times to deliver your parcel.. can you tell me are available now so I deliver the parcel?”

Jack immediately said “YES, YES!! I’m at my home..”

Delivery guy: ”Okay, I will come in 10mins. I will call you once I reach your place and please pick up the call. If you won’t then I will put it for cancelation!”

Jack: “Sorry for that. Sure, I will pick up your call” and hung up the call.

“This delivery guy is so rude.. let me get my parcel then I’ll give him the worst rating...!

On the other hand, there is me, even if any customer yells or talks badly at me I need to listen and answer them politely…tch! this is why I hate my job… sometimes I feel I’m getting paid for the scoldings..huh!!”

Jack was happy about his laptop’s arrival and he couldn’t wait any longer. After 10 mins, the delivery guy reached Jack’s address and called him to come down and collect the parcel. Jack quickly came down with a wide smile on his face he collected his parcel and said

“Thank you!! I’ve been waiting for this for a long time...
Have a great day!! Once again thank you”

He hurried back to his place and unboxed the long-awaited laptop, exhilarated by its presence.

Jack excitedly started giving an intro of his laptop like it’s an unboxing video

“Yes! Finally, it’s the Horizon Blaze X900, a powerhouse engineered for gaming elites like me! Equipped with an Intel Core i9 processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics, a 17.3-inch 4K display, cutting-edge cooling system, immersive sound, lightning-fast SSD storage, and multiple ports for seamless connectivity, it’s the ultimate choice for serious gamers like me!!!”

Realizing the day could be more exciting, Jack decided to take the day off and immerse himself in his new laptop. He called his colleague, Austin, seeking cover for the day.

Their conversation:

Jack: “Hey, Austin, it’s Jack!!”

Austin: “Hey, where are you? Have you forgotten? Today we’ve got a meeting with the manager, and he wants to know about our daily productivity.”

Jack: “I remember that, but ..(hesitation) can you cover me up for today? please”

Austin: “Why? Dude today you can’t skip you know that!”

Jack: “I know, but I have been feeling down for the past few days. And today my new laptop just arrived and need some time to set this up... Please help with today and cover me up”

Austin: “Wow!! That’s great news… I will cover up for you for the last time, okay? Make sure it doesn’t happen again. Also, remember I’m doing this because I saw your dead long face”

Jack: (smilingly) “Thanks a lot, mate… Sure I will not let this happen again.”

Austin: “Cool! Tomorrow make sure you will treat me with the lunch for today’s cover-up and your new laptop”

Jack: “Yeah yeah, of course I will… thanks for understanding... Have a great day”

Jack hung up the call, he pondered Austin’s comment about the ‘the last time’.

“What does he mean by that? He acts like I’m always asking for favors… tch”

Jack shrugged it off.

“Well, time to dive into my new laptop.”