Bluestocking's Note: This blog is a continuation of the two earlier posts about Murphy. Please find their links here: Part 1:http://bluestockingzblog.blogspot.in/2011/07/murphy-part-i.html, Part 2: http://bluestockingzblog.blogspot.in/2011/09/murphy-part-ii.html,
I tapped my foot
impatiently as I waited for the 10 MB mail to finish downloading. It was 10.30
PM and I was still at office. Somewhere outside my cabin door, my team members
were valiantly working to wrap up a “big” presentation.
I was tired,
miserable and disgusted. The story of my life, as it had been most of last
year.
When the knock
on my door came, I assumed it to be one of my team members, hopefully, come to
show me the piece of analysis that I had set her. So, without turning, I hmmmed and looked up to see the
reflection of the entrant in the glass window.
It took me a
little time to register his presence, as I frowned and tried to place him. And when
he smiled, I knew.
Holy shit. This couldn’t
be happening. But there was no denying it. He was here.
“Hello, Murphy.”
My greeting could not have been colder and it had no effect on his good-natured
smile.
“Hey. I see that
this time there would no exhausting rounds of denials and indignation, followed
by the inevitable admission”, he said as he strode further into my cabin and
made himself at home. On my desk. The nerve of the guy.
“Is there any
point to that? And have you come here to gloat? If so, can you please do it
away from here? Preferably, in the hypothetical world where you actually
belong. As you can see and you damned well know, that I am very, very busy
here. And would continue to do so, if you continue being contrary.”
I got up and
walked out of my cabin to check up on the status of work. The darned mail was
still downloading. I left him sitting smugly at my desk and refusing to test
whether he was my imagination or real by calling one of my juniors in, asking
them if they could see him. Nope. I was not willing to find out if I had
finally gone around the bend. Not just yet.
When I returned
some fifteen minutes later, he waved his hand towards my laptop. “Your mail is
downloaded. I could have told you the contents beforehand, if you so wished.”
“And give you
another opportunity to show off your perverse nature? Thank you very much. Given
my luck, it cannot be good news anyway, this late into the evening or night,
whatever you choose to call it.”
I quickly opened
the mail item and the attachment, keeping my fingers crossed and ignoring his
short laugh at my gesture.
It was not as
bad as I had expected. In fact, the contents of the mail were quite harmless.
“Thank ye gods!”
I murmured with a sigh.
“I think you
could thank me also.”
I just gave him “the
look” and continued with my work.
“You know”, he
mused, “it’s not fair. You blame me when things go wrong and I get absolutely
no credit if they go remotely right. How do you know that I sometimes in my
benevolent mood don’t set things right?”
I turned and
gave him a once over. “I didn’t know that you suffered from God-complex along with
that insufferable arrogance. You invented that stupid law which ruins my life
in thousand little ways every day. You do that to millions of other people out
there and you want gratitude? You got to be kidding me. Anyway, you just stated
a law which was probably always there. Like gravity, you know. But by stating
it, you just gave people like me, a favourite whipping boy. So, I don’t think
that you have the powers or benevolence to
do anything. Now, if you will excuse me, I have work to get back to. And you –
you should go and make some other person believe that she is having this conversation.”
I returned my
gaze to my screen but before I could point my cursor to another spot, he offered,
“What if I make you a deal?”
“You are no Lucifer.
And I am not interested.” I started going through the WIP report.
“So you claim. But
you should hear the offer before refusing. What if I promise that Murphy’s law
will never again make your life miserable?”
“Still. Not.
Interested. And there is going to be a catch somewhere. The fine print. There always
is. All the legends, fables and stories show that. Now, go away.” I was getting
pretty irritated now.
“Let’s do a test
drive. For tomorrow.” He waited until I turned back to face him. “Tomorrow.”
And then he
left, just as my team member entered. “Who was that? I thought we were the only
ones working this late,” she commented.
I closed my eyes
for a moment. Just a moment. “Nobody. Let’s work.”
With that I did
not recall that conversation again. That night.
