Past Becomes Present

It was the fifth time the tall, slim man was yelling at the other servant and Isha shook her head. To say the least, she was disgusted and she could see the anger boiling through Sandi, she would have left a hole in the man’s face and she wouldn’t be wrong in any way. But did a servant have any choice?

If people saw half of what she did, she swore they would live differently, positively. She had seen a million things, and funny enough, ninety percent of this was in her head. Her gift was real, and it was pure, and although she never knew exactly why she had to live with a lot of horrors, she had somehow learnt to deal with it.

Twenty four years and counting, the journey was a long one but she figured out each passing day, one day at a time.

“Almost time guys.” Bhavini called out. She was the princess of the Yadav household; Dark, full hair, the most banging body and a perfect figure eight. Isha always tried as much as she could to shut her third eye when it came to her, but there was always something disturbing she felt whenever Bhavini came around or she heard her voice.

Glancing at the clock, Isha knew if she kept being distracted, she would not meet her target and she knew how bad that would be, so she cleared her mind of every unwanted thought and set to work. She mixed drinks and arranged the barstools. The red carpet would begin in two hours; it was enough time to get everything in place for the grand occasion.

The Yadav family was a household name, one that turned a lot of necks. Being one of the greatest and known doctors in India, coupled with his active involvement in politics, Preshant Yadav was well acknowledged in India and beyond. To Isha, this meant a hundreds of guests, so much cooking and generally, excess stress. She wasn’t wrong though, for in a few hours, the place was crowded.

Round tables were arranged in every space in the room, and people in colorful sarees and designer suits sat in them, chatting away and taking photographs. Above the soft music, orders were issued and the servants were doing their best to make sure everything was in place. Isha was done cooking and the highlights of the evening began to unfold as the bride to be made her grand entrance.

As the presentations played on, Isha changed into her uniform of white jeans, white shirt and a navy-blue hat with matching sneakers. She ignored the weird feeling in her brain and focused on her job. She felt the hairs at the back of her neck stand in harmony but she ignored that too, what was the worst that could happen?

She stepped out, feeling and looking smart. She walked round the tables, dropping menu on every one of them. Fully aware of the stares she received from everyone in the room, she tried not to get distracted. She was a beautiful girl and she knew it; face and body were a one hundred percent, it seemed God spent an extra day making her. She knew how well to flaunt her beauty and even the groom to be had been trying so hard to have a relationship with her but she had turned him down the same way she turned down the numerous guys that had been in line, asking for her hand.

While many thought she was proud for shoving the men away, she knew better and this wasn’t about her, it was more about protecting them.

Isha gripped the talisman hanging on her neck and muttered prayers as she began to work; the history of that talisman was a long one. She grew up like every other girl in a small quiet town in India, but as she advanced in age, she began realizing she was far from normal. She always had these dreams, these weird, frightening dreams. Of course, the good ones came from time to time, but out of ten, eight were nightmares and they didn’t just end there, these dreams manifested. She had spent days wondering and crying if she could have prevented some miseries since she saw them before they happened, if she could use these gifts to help people.  She tried though, tried so many times to stop until she realized this was beyond her powers.

As though the horror of watching the worst things happen to people wasn’t enough, a new chapter began unfolding in her life. She fell in love and while that should be a beautiful thing, it ended tragically. Her first was taken away from her in the cruelest manner, after some years she gave love, another try and the same circumstance replayed. The third had the same story and Isha decided enough was enough. She had seen all their deaths before they actually happened, and she couldn’t do anything to stop it. She had gone through an unbearable pain through that whole period and decided to stay off relationships until she met Zayn. Zayn Vendant.

Zayn was different from the other guys she had dated before, he loved her and her psychic gifts told her his love was true. She pushed him away but he kept coming back till she gave in. He loved her, took care of her and treated her like the most important jewel on the planet. They got so close till she disclosed the true story of her life to him and instead of driving him away, it drew him closer. Her feelings were let loose and she fell hard for him, hard in a way no one could understand. They never kept secrets from each other and their relationship was one people dreamed of, the kind found in fairytales. He talked of getting married to her and travelling the world together and having children but she knew it was going to end up in a pipe dream, somehow, she thought he knew it too. Then one day, the nightmares began and she just couldn’t take it, anyone but Zayn could get hurt, anyone, just not him.

So, she fled and although, she wasn’t proud of it, the only thing that kept her going was that their separation meant he was safe, and that was all she cared for, so why on earth was he on her mind?

She got three orders and delivered them for serving and then proceeded to the table at the extreme of the hall. Seated there was a man and two ladies, among which was Myra Mohan; the goddess of India’s fashion world. She ruled the runway and had once grabbed the Miss Universe crown, everyone knew her, cherished her and surprisingly, she had humility attached to all that grace.

Isha was sure this was the reason she felt uneasy the whole time, she normally got nervous when she had to serve prominent people.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen” she called out in her most polite tone. “What can I get you?” she asked, flashing a beautiful smile.

“Let us have drinks for now, we will order food later.” The other lady spoke, she looked like a model too, Isha judged from her attire, her neck was adorned with sapphire jewelry and she looked absolutely stunning.

Isha nodded, “that’s great.” They made their choices of drinks and Isha couldn’t help glancing at Myra from time to time. The queen was sitting quietly and just pointed out the drink she needed from the menu, didn’t say a word.

When all was decided and Isha made to leave, she heard Myra speak; “Bring an extra three for our friends who went out, the same thing I’m having.” And for the first time Isha took a good look at her, her green backless gown flowed gorgeously around her, leaving her looking dashing in every possible way, she smiled to Isha as she spoke and Isha thought “what an angel!”

The orders were getting out of hand and she felt sick, not from the orders but something else, her mind was clouded and she couldn’t focus on the vision because she was forcing herself not to, she couldn’t be in a trance at such moment. She had the call that the order for the table where Myra sat was ready. She got them and made her way to where they sat, she could see the table was now occupied; their friends must have been back. She walked swiftly through tables, left hand high at her shoulder level, holding the drinks. She kept her smile on and approached the table until she felt her steps slow, her vision blurred and she understood the reason for her uneasiness the whole evening, there was Zayn Vendant sitting side by side with Myra Mohan, hand in hand.