He quickly reached over to the bedside diary. He was not the one who would journal his life till last night. But he had a feeling he knew who this diary belonged to. He opened it, and in a handwriting that was unmistakably his, there was written Pooja.

“Hmm…so that’s what I am known as. Okay, Pooja, let’s continue…”

She started flipping the pages of the diary. Every page was an account of what happened on that day in brief and how it reminded her of some event of the past. She understood that she was the editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine and still lived with her mom. She has had no love life until now as she was building her career and often lamented if she would have one. She had breezed through the month of January when her phone buzzed.

It flashed “Anu (Office)”. The phone showed the time as 7:30 AM.

From her diary, she had gathered that Anu was her assistant, who was great at office work but too devoted to her work to enjoy any personal life.

She picked it up, “Hello!”

“Ma’am, Good morning. There is some urgent issue that you need to address. Your 2 o’clock appointment has been pushed up. The new cosmetic brand’s representatives have requested your presence at 1 PM. They were not telling me anything outright, but I surreptitiously asked. They said they want to have you on their board, and at 2, they would like to make a press release.”

“Umm…Anu…actually, cancel all my appointments for today and tomorrow. And I would suggest that you should also take a 2-day leave and go see the sights, have some fun. And no work phone calls unless extremely urgent.”

“Ma’am, what will I do? I don’t have any friends…”

“Then make some and have fun. If not, then have fun alone.” With this, she cut the call and went back to the diary.

After some time, there was a soft knock on the door. When she opened it, her mom and the maid were standing there.

“Come out bachcha, let her clean. You go, get fresh in the meantime. I will get you your lime juice.”

She made her way to the bathroom. It was not a bathroom. It was a bath suite. Just yesterday, she was a middle-class guy in Mumbai living in an average house, and now she was entering a bathroom that had a free-standing tub.

She let out a whistle. “Oh, so this is how the other half lives!”

She inspected the toiletries and found a range of moisturisers, face wash, face packs, shampoo, conditioners, bath bombs, razors, pads…the bathroom even had a set of magazines!

She splashed some water on her face. She half-hoped that when she wipes it off, she will be back to her usual self, and all this will turn out to be a dream. But no. Everything remained the same as it was in the morning. She started the faucet to let the tub fill itself and let her clothes drop. She went to the full-sized mirror, and her eyes scanned herself.

Black hair with brown highlights, hair till the middle of her shoulder blades, tight, perky breasts, taut waist, and long legs. There was no shred of hair below her nose except for a small tuft down there, perfectly shaped in a small triangle. Her hand went involuntarily to that to feel it. She had a thought to explore southwards as well but now was not the time.

While the tub filled, she sat on the pot and flipped through the magazine. She could see that the editorial carried her photo, and they were nicely written and always forward-looking texts. After briefly scanning it, she kept it aside and flipped through her social media on her phone.

Facebook was rarely used. LinkedIn was mostly about updating new trends in fashion. But Instagram was filled with photos from photoshoots, parties, some award functions, and some travel pics. She did a double take when she herself in a bikini.

“Damn…you look hot!” she muttered to herself.

After she was done, she moved to the tub. She dropped some bath bombs, played a soft melody on her Spotify, and immersed herself in the water. The bath gave her some time to collect her thoughts. She realised that it was not as if she had the memories of her 15-year-old self. But, she realised that only those memories were unlocked that were related to what she had read in the diary. She realised that she needed to finish it to understand what to do next.

After spending an eternity in the tub, she got out and went under the shower to feel the splatter on her head to clear her mind. She wiped herself dry, applied some moisturiser on her body, put on a robe and came out.

Her mom handed her the glass of lime juice. There was a fruit bowl along with it. She took both of them with a smile and told her she would be home all day.

She spent the entire day going through the diary. As she read, memories began to form in her head. She was getting better with each passing page. Although it was still like she was creating memories by watching a movie, she knew these would help her treading her new life better.

At noon, she requested her mother to send her the food to her room. She slept for a couple of hours after lunch. After waking up, she texted Anu, asking her if she was having fun. The reply came almost immediately that she was watching a movie in a theatre. She replied, “If you are watching a movie right now, then there is no need to reply immediately. Especially when you are in a theatre. And no need to reply to this text. Enjoy your leave.” She flicked the phone to her side and went back to the diary.

It would detail how stressful it was to work in her office. She wanted to make it more light and playful, but the demands of the clients and the market would mean everyone was always rushing. She also discovered that sometimes she lamented about being single all these years. And also that she had questions about her sexuality, which she never confronted.

“Of course…how would one know. And with what has happened to me, I don’t even know if liking someone would be hetero or gay right now. Not that it matters, but some clarity would be better.” she muttered.

She didn’t have dinner. She just went outside and chatted with her mom.

She remarked, “I didn’t know you liked talking about things outside your work as well. Nice change.”

She was dumbstruck.

“You mean…maa, what do you think of me?”

“What do you mean?”

“As in, how am I, as a person?

“You are perfect beta. Just some tweaks are needed.”

“What are those?”

“Do you really want to know?”

She stared at her mom like it was a stupid question to ask while controlling her urge to not speak loudly.

“Okay…you need to learn patience. You get angry very quick. It doesn't matter if you calm down fast after that, but your anger hurts people. Look at your assistant Anu; she is always on her toes, as if it will be her last day on earth if she makes a mistake. Cut her some slack. Cut everyone some space, but ensure work gets done.

Also, help people in their careers and lives. You have achieved enough. There is no need to rush for more. Do more for people. Even that would be enough if you can make just a person happy.”

These words made her think hard. This was not something that she could have learnt from her diary. She felt at least giving Anu a two-day off has helped her unknowingly. Maybe she will be a better person in the office when she joins.

She thanked her mom, bade her good night and returned to her room to sleep.

She went back to her routine from last night of moisturising and changing into her night dress. While keeping the moisturiser back, she noticed a small device in the drawer. She picked it up and looked it over. There was a switch, which she flicked on. The device started buzzing.

“Oh…so that’s how I compensate for the lack of love.” She remarked, kept it back in the drawer and went to sleep. But sleep was far from her eyes with today’s developments and revelations. After half an hour of unsuccessful tries and mindless scrolling social media, she got back up, went to the drawer and took out the vibrator.

She switched it on, pulled down her pants, and put it on her nethers. The stimulations sent shockwaves through her body. Every twitch sent electric signals that were new to her. She had not felt this when she shook her willy in her previous avatar. She experienced the throes of pleasure for 7 minutes before the dam broke. Her male brain thought of stopping, but the female body knew what she wanted. She continued on her adventure, and after 5 more minutes, she experienced another climax. She thought it was enough for the first time. She put the vibrator on the bedside, adjusted her clothing and went to sleep.

“So this is how the other half lives!” She remarked it the second time in the day and drifted to sleep

When she woke up the following day, she was feeling much better. She had a better hang of herself, her new life, and her new body. She also had a plan to make changes to her life. Only 4-5 pages of the diary were left unread, so she was in no hurry to get to it that day.

When she went outside, she saw her mom sipping on her tea. She went ahead and gave her a big hug. This was so unlike Raghav or Pooja (which she gathered from the diary and her interaction with her mother). Vidya was pleasantly surprised and held her close. When she broke off the hug, she said, “I am going to get fresh. Maa, today we will have a hearty breakfast. Make what you want.”

Her mom was surprised at this new turn of events but was happy with it. She went to the kitchen and cooked up some aloo parathas. When Pooja came out, she joined her mom at the table. They chatted about random topics, including feelings, which was unlike the Pooja everyone knew, who was uptight, stressed about work, and had no time for anything else. Her mom thought that this was an impressive change just in a day.

During the conversation, her mom remarked, “You know you should look for a partner. You should experience love.”

“Yes, maa, but no time for love.”

“Hmm…but machines don’t make a good partner. A hug and a cuddle also matter.” She said with a sly smile.

Pooja looked at her dumbfounded. Vidya gave her a knowing smile. Pooja’s eyebrows rose in surprise, and she started to feel embarrassed. Words escaped her as she had nothing to say this. They laughed at the situation collectively and let it pass.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Pooja waited with bated breath as the next day would be a new challenge for her.

P.S: This story was written by Pankhuri and the storyline given to her by her friends Anupama and Shruti.