Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..............

Deepanita struggled with the yawn, trying hard to keep her eyes open. But it was a futile attempt. Right after the weekoffs it was the same thing. No matter how hard you tried, the darn eyes refused to stay open. And the it did not matter whether you were talking on the phone or not...sleep would somehow take over. Finally the old lady hung up and she threw the headphones on the table. All she wanted was to take a nap...a small cat nap that should fix her up.
"Wake up girl!" Nimesh shook her slightly and she opened her eyes to notice the red light go up. Hastily she replaced the head phones and was speaking again, the same line time and again. To her relief it was merely a transfer call and she hastened to oblige. If this continued she would get a bad C-Sat cause the chances were any minute now she would doze off.
"Sleepy?" Nimesh asked and she turned to look at her Team Leader sitting on her left, staring at her. He was a sweet guy, she thought looking with amusement as she noticed how he managed to fit into a chair, all cross legged.
"Very..." she said and he smiled.
"Go get coffee..." he said and she shook her head.
"Nahin yaar...it won't help."
"It would...come on now...u have a half hour log out left...haven't you?"
"Yes...should I take a break now? I still have 15 minutes to that..."
"Do it before the damn thing rings again..."
That was enough. Deepanita rushed through the series of numbers on her Avaya and stood up. Nimesh was already standing, waiting patiently for her. But not much patience was required. It hardly took her a minute to lock her computer and log off from the Avaya, gather her purse and stand. He was amused how quickly the person could log out. Beginning of the shift was the biggest ordeal for Nimesh. He had to keep calling people to log in...but give them an opportunity to log off...hardly a minute...But he was not going to say anything about it...after all....he had been there...done that!

They walked to the terrace, the cups in hand. It was a warm night and the transition from the centrally air conditioned office was strangely refreshing. The light breeze seemed to comfort the mind and feel fresh against the chilled skin.
"Hows life?" Nimesh asked and Deepanita shrugged.
"Its the same. The same old Avaya and the same old customers..."
"And the same sleep...Still sleepy?" he asked and Deepanita nodded. Her head felt heavy and eyelashes were being forced to stay apart.
"How come you are always so fresh?" she asked and waited while he lighted his cigarette.
"Habit I guess."
"Its a bad habit. One should not get used to staying up all night!" Deepanita joked and was rewarded a smile.
"Right. But we all must do so...it really does not matter Deepanita. All you need to understand is that we are operating in a no sun land!"
Deepanita sipped on her coffee and waited for her brain to formulate a reply. But all she could really think of was a bed. That was all she really needed...a nice warm bed. If only...
"Drink up." he said and she dutifully placed the cup back to her lips. It was not a nice coffee...truly speaking it was horrible. Yet it seemed to bring a certain relief. She waited for Nimesh to start talking again but he kept mum. There was nothing to say. This was just the time to sip and relax. Coffee finished they walked back inside. She looked at the watch to realize the 30 minutes were all but over. Sleep was calling on to her again as the work floor loomed in front. Yet the floor was all ablaze, instead of the constant murmur, there was a loud banter and it did not take her more than a while to realize that it was an outage. People standing on their workstations, chatting loudly, a distant Avaya ringing, a little silence and then chatter again.
"How long?" Nimesh asked and Adi gave him a wide smile.
"6 hours at least..."
"Great." Nimesh said and Deepanita noticed a certain disappointment in his voice. Amused she walked to her chair and stared at the blank monitor screen, blinking helplessly back at her. 6 hours...another five hours for her shift and this was...it was just perfect. Slumping on her chair she closed her eyes...This would do was the thought that crossed her mind minutes before all sleep left her.