It was a Monday morning after the long weekend; the Easter Holidays. The sound of the alarm pierced through my ears and I literally fell off the bed. It was the last snooze and I had only twenty minutes to brush up and rush to office. I had to skip shower; barely managed to brush my teeth and get myself into the suit.
The next dreading thing was the search for my car keys; just couldn't find them and the lines from Ironic by Alanis Morissette kept hitting my mind "It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife". I could see everything but my car keys. Finally found them lying under the clutter of CDs that I had been watching over the weekend. I rushed down my apartment’s staircase and I remember my ankle getting twisted and down I went, tripping and rolling over five big steps till I hit the ground. I heard a chuckle and as I got up dusting myself off; I saw my neighbors’ children playing outside who were now having a good laugh at my interesting fall. I could feel the blush of embarrassment on my face.
I could barely manage to walk but I made it to my car which i could not open despite several attempts. It was weird but I assured myself it is because I had just had a fall and cannot think straight. Fumbling with the keys I finally opened the door and fastened my seat belts. The car had a pungent smell inside and I wondered why. I turned on the ignition and hurried to my office which was a few signals away. Luckily I found all the signals green and a parking space too. Barging into the office I could feel eyes that questioned my disheveled appearance and I thought using the rest room would be a good idea. What a horrible sight it was to see myself in the mirror; I had a bad bruise on my elbow and dust around my collar and in my hair.
After a little bit of effort I regained by composure and stepped out of the rest room with a constant effort to avoid meeting my eyes with anyone around. I had hardly switched on my computer and unlocked my drawers when the office security guard came to me asking where my car was. I gave him a questioning look and pointed that my car is parked there in the parking. He said I’m afraid but that’s not your car and there is someone out there who is claiming the car to be his. I was like, what; I mean it was unbelievable. Confused, I looked at my car keys and they were surely mine; what went wrong? I took the keys and went out with the guard to inquire about the issue. Outside Mr. Peter my neighbor from the adjacent street was standing there beside my car; he smiled as he saw me. Mr. Peter was a generous old, man and a sweet character. His wife had passed away and his children settled abroad; he lived here alone and we had shared some nice summer walks.
As I walked towards what I thought was my car; I read the number and of course it was Mr. Peter’s car. We had the same cars; the same make and model. My day started so bad; getting up late, tripping down the stairs and to top it up - getting into someone else’s car.
Gosh I was embarrassed. Once again I could feel the blush in my face as I met Peter’s gaze. “Your first working day after the holidays, eh; May I take my car?”, and we both laughed. I felt both embarrassed and relieved knowing that he was not angry at least. And I couldn’t believe what had just happened. Really It was one hell of a day.