But I didn't mean to...It was just a bad day....ummm..may be a funnnnnn day..!!!

I want to shouttttt...!!! screaaam....aaaaarrrrrghhhh...!!!! I hate this job of mine..!!! It sucks...big time....Do all of you hear this???....it sucks....just like all your jobs...!! I know all of you are pretending to be happy...but like me everyone wants to just run away....runnnn awayyyy....you hear me...runnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn away....!!!

Satisfied that everyone heard my thoughts I sink back into my chair with a big frowning face. Only if we could hear each other's thoughts then probably I would have been kicked out the moment these thoughts came to my mind. But hell, like I care...

Had to reach office at 7.30, but got up late which delayed my reaching office. Add to that, my whole team going on a sick leave as if it was only today that they realized that there exists something called as an immune system which isn't working fine for them. This left me with loads and loads of work...which doesn't exactly require the intelligence of an engineer to do it. But anyways...how can I be right when almost the complete IT industry believes otherwise. But like I said before, I couldn't care less.

By afternoon had lost almost all my patience, if it would have been a fantasy world you could have seen steam blowing off from my ears and my eyes red hott...(creating such fantasy worlds is my forte ;) ) I skip lunch because there's too much to be done and anyways bad mood gets the better of my appetite. As my mouse clicks its way to glory, and the keys on my keyboard play their grandest sonata till date, I feel like a coal-mine worker shoving gravels here and there with my tools. phew..!!! life couldn't have been better...

Thats it, I think...my mind's on a rampage, hunger's taken its toll on my body...I decide to sit still for a while... The cacophony subsides and calmness ensues. Its unusually calm I think...and dark too... Ohh...I have fallen asleep...and wait...if I am taking a nap, what the hell is Anay doing here...

He calls me out....Arya...Arya...oye listen...Why you so pissed off...??

"Nothing, just having a bad day at work, what the hell are you doing here??", I snap at him.

Unmoved he continues...(I so hate him for this...!!) "I guess I know what you should you be doing to make this sadness runn away"

Bewildered and reluctant I ask him,"What is it...?"

"Weren't you thinking of throwing things around a little while ago...", he asks me taking me totally by surprise. How on the earth did he come to know what was I thinking.

But I make him disappear as the idea of throwing things appeals me immensely.

I try to sit straight on my chair and concentrate on my task. Ahh not my work, I meant throwing things around. A look at my desk and I realize that I have a lot of ammunition. God save my Bay and the 3 bays' adjacent to mine. With an innocent look on my face I toss the pencil forward with good force. Everyone being on the leave helps as there is no one around me to notice what I am up-to... Yeah..and then after a minute or so I get up to see who has suffered at the hands of my armorus pencillus (please don't google this...its my creation...let it rest in peace...)

And bang it has hit the bald gentleman who thinks being bald makes him look more appropriate for the role he is currently assigned to....Hahahaha...!! I am loving this...I look around and notice with the corner of my eyes Mr.Baldy scratching head as my weapon has done some good damage while landing on the flat runway...!!

I settle back and feel more confident for my next attack... What next...what next...I start panicking, but then I calm my nerves. This is a war and I am a good general...!!!wohooo...

Next up from my side is the Armorus Eraserus, I flick it from between my fingers, it covers a longer distance than I had expected it to be. Possibly a long range missile, my "alice-in-wonderland" brain pops this thought. I feel good...and to check the accuracy of my attack I again rise up from my seat.

Awww...It has hit Vikrant from the adjacent bay. But well deserved, after all it is a crime to look so handsome and be shy at the same time. Good punishment for you Mister. Learn a lesson from this, my mind issues the diktat loud. Poor guy is still dumbfounded, clueless as to where that eraser came from...

Bunch of pop-up notes hit Miss Make-Up kit, My mouse ends up at the intersection of two rows I just bombed the junction...!!!,Scale lands right in front of Mr. Crook's laptop, amazing to see him scared out of his wits...hahaha..This is soo much funn... Some more things fly around in my bay and I hear the chatter rising...People standing up with the things that hit them in their hands and looking at each other with a blank expression on their faces. I also get up, innocence dripping from my face...hahaha...If only someone could see the devil's horns on my head, and look they have LED lights as well... :p red ones...

The time has come I think...The final assault...The weapon is one in a million the chosen one...Armorus nuclear shoelius...Not many have had an encounter with it...I take the shoe off from my right foot... My pretty black shoe...But it has to be sacrificed...this is war...!!!

My arm stretches backwards to gain maximum momentum...the shoe in hand...It points in the direction of my tormentor...No prizes for guessing who....Can I hold my nerves through this...I am this close to end the war forever I think... I fling my hand in the forward direction...and the ammo is released, my heart skips a beat. who will it be this time??

I hear my phone ringing...I try to reach out for it...It ain't on my desk?? I throw my hands on my desk to search for it...Just then I get hold of something...Aaah its my phone, but why can't I see it...

I then open my eyes...Confusiiiioooonnn...!!!

Was this all a dream?? I think out aloud... I get up I look around. I pick up my ringing phone, "So, how many did things did ya throw around", Anay asks me...It confuses me even more...!!!

Crazy Crazy world...I think...and get back to my work...Dream or not...I did enjoy that. And looking back now as I see it...It was nice throwing things around...But I didn't mean to...It was just a bad day....ummm..may be a funnnnnn day..!!!

The Gladiator and the Princess...Part 2

20 months since the fight:

Tears rolled down her eyes as she lay helpless and the poison working its way into her body. It was the physical pain that made her weep, for mentally she was far from breaking down. Didius sat by her bed side. He had never felt so helpless in life. Life had been such a bliss until yesterday, when Leora drank the potion which had been adulterated with the strongest poison any mortal could ever dream of. The Royal doctors were horrified when they checked her condition, a few whispers into Emperor Commodus's ears and he knew that fate in sometime would snatch away the most precious thing in his life, his daughter.

The crowds adored her, the senate thought highly of her, even Commodus's enemies spoke exceedingly well of her. What had she done to deserve such an end leave alone an end. As his mind clogged with such overwhelming thoughts he quietly moved outside so as not to disturb the silent conversation between his beloved and the boy whom he had handpicked as his successor. Just before departing from Leora' chambers he looked at both of them,what a beautiful picture they both made. Why...Why..Why does this have to end like this...He was enraged at his own helplessness.

"Don't lose heart Julianus, You know that the last 20 months of my life after our marriage have been the best ever. Just like a dream that I always wanted to live, where love and happiness was what preceded everything." saying that she managed a weak smile. Even in adversity her courage stood out. How many knew that beneath those tender and beautiful features lay a resolute and undying will. And even in death the fragrance of which didn't fail to enchant people around her. His eyes met her's with a forlorn look in them. He knew that tomorrow's sun would change every single thing in his life. Life as he knew would end the moment Leora's heart stopped beating. She would take quite more than a chunk from his life.

He made an attempt to speak but the words died down in the throat, he was choking. However he hadn't cried yet. He had maintained his composure for he wanted to show her that he still had the hope that she would survive this and they would grow old together. For he thought that tears rolling down his cheeks will break Leora and weaken her further. Only if he had realized that She was the one who was more composed than all the other people in the room. Even in death she wouldn't fail herself.

"I have loved you with all my heart, my dear", He finally spoke, voice quivering. She shifted her head from the cushion to his lap. He felt the tenderness of her cheeks, which were wet from the tears. This was it, he couldn't hold back those tears any further. He started sobbing like a child. At one point he contemplated falling on his own sword, to escape this misery. His heart wrenched with almost physical pain. The burden would be too big to carry all his life, he thought. And then he went numb, there was void, he couldn't comprehend anything around him. For a moment he thought that he had gone insane. But the moment her hand reached out for his, he was brought back into reality, to sanity, to his dying love.

He had lost all sense of time and reality, till the royal doctors arrived and requested him to move out of Leora's chambers. They realized that the end was now near, and Leora had every right to end her life with dignity. She would have to be left alone, for the doctors had seen that how painfully life ended when people died of poisoning.

He was reluctant at first, but when he realized the nature of the request he couldn't disagree. He reached out for her and hugged her tightly so as not to let her go. He kissed her, as if wanting to tell Leora that even in death his heart and soul had loved only her, no one but her.

With great efforts, he dragged his feet out of her chamber. Standing at the door he gazed at her with his tearful eyes. He wiped off the tears as he couldn't see Leora's face clearly. His eyes captured of what was the last living moment of Leora he would see.

After 3 hours the doctors had the message send to the Emperor. The chief doctor had confirmed that Leora was dead. Though the Emperor was expecting the news to arrive, he slumped back into his chair, when the guard actually told him of it.

Didius was sitting in the garden when he was made aware of it. He just nodded his head when the guard broke him the news. His eyes were no longer wet. Leora had died the moment he had left the chamber. There was still time before he could mourn her death in solace. It was only after he left Leora's chamber that the question nagged him that who had adulterated the potion from the doctors?

For others it was a mystery, but form him it was clear as a crystal. He needed to start right way to avenge the death of his beloved. There were a lot of things to be done... A long road ahead he thought, but the only one he had...

to be continued...