Chapter 9 - The Smothering Flames

Daisy was living a sedentary lifestyle for quite some time, however, after joining EHS she was welcomed by her manager, Angela. Angela briefed Daisy about what this department was, and how it was all about changing people's mindsets and creating a safe culture in the company. Daisy felt excited, as she seemed on the right track. She was walking on the road, that was all about changing people's mindsets. To understand Safety in a better way, Angela thought it was important for Daisy to learn about the critical installations inside the plant premises. It had been more than 2 hours since morning that Daisy was still walking with Fire Officer, from one place to another, she was curious to know about it all. Taking several minutes of rest, followed by Lunch, she followed another manager who was looking after the fire management system.

Daisy went with him when the shift meeting was about to begin. The meeting was yet to start, and Daisy suddenly sat on her knees in the garden. Daisy fainted, as she was not used to such kind of physical exercise on the very first day while she was only used to sitting in an air-conditioned room throughout the day. The ambulance came and took her to the medical centre. It was not often, but Daisy had fainted twice or thrice earlier during her school days. Daisy was given an electoral powder to boost her blood pressure. When she was resting, Daisy texted Norberto, stating that she had fainted in the company. He immediately sent his female work colleague to the medical centre and check if Daisy was doing good or not. He cared about Daisy. Daisy was also helping Norberto get over his past relationship, with the girl who was constantly torturing him through blackmailing. Norberto was a kind fellow, yet used abusive language on the go - which was not very sophisticated as Daisy wanted it to be and still she was there by his side all along. 3 months later, Daisy had already started performing her work, issuing permits for high-risk activities, procuring equipment for the department and conducting various meetings and training. Soon the time for promotion arrived, and she was promoted to Deputy Manager. She was quite a performer and a perfectionist in the kind of work she did.

Meanwhile, Sebastian who had gone for higher studies returned from the UK and Mr Alexander returned from Italy, for a while to reconnect with his parents and enjoy the lovely culture in his hometown. Mr Alexander even lured Daisy to bring her a fine bottle of wine and a stunning Bikini, that he wanted her to wear for him only. Daisy was so whimsically shy about it, but she had to deny his offer – it was not in her value system to ditch someone she was currently with – Norberto. However, Daisy still entertained the flirting with him. This made Norberto angry and he stated, "how could you still be with someone else? I know your past by now, you are making a big mistake if you keep on continuing like this. You should stop it all at once." Daisy agreed to him and did not contact Alexander or Sebastian even for a tiny meet. Norberto took Daisy sightseeing venues around the town or for movies to keep her occupied and enjoy his time together. Sometimes he even called David to join the games they played. Somehow Daisy did not feel it right. Daisy never promised Love to Norberto, and neither did Norberto promise Daisy for talking to each other's parents about marriage. Daisy saw it coming when Norberto was looking for a girl to get married too soon enough. This would break her heart but decided to continue her relationship with Norberto until things were not clear between them.

Daisy was a value-driven woman, she did things in a certain way because her conscience told her to do so, or she found omens through the universe. It was never about Money as far as Daisy was concerned, however, this later became the epicentre of her life. Daisy was always afraid of trusting people, as people had used her strength as a weakness in her past. Despite all of this, she remained ethical about her work, family, relationship etc. Daisy tried to be the best version of herself most of the time, whenever she could – but it just wasn't enough when it came to Daisy's life.

It had been more than 2 years now that, her father George had not still found a job and kept everyone at bay's length. Daisy and Danielle even considered convincing his boss to get him back but did not work out. George denied going for any job interviews that he was selected through the applications that Daisy had applied on his behalf over the online job portals. Daisy also used her industrial connections for her father to get started. He also received an opportunity to go to Africa and look after agriculture. On the other hand, Danielle never forgot to remind him again to keep finding that perfect job he was looking for. Her father was not ready to swallow his pride and work again only to start from zero all over again! He was rather more interested in making double the money with the time he had lost in 2 years. Danielle showed the advertisements for job openings from the newspapers, that could help him get a job.

George always had good intentions for other people, but just not for his family - neither his son nor daughter. George was still enjoying his life through Daisy's hard-earned money. Even if he was talented at managing finances for corporate companies, he wasn't zealous enough, and this made Daisy very sick most of the time. She cursed herself, why did she have a father like hers who doesn't value his beloved family or has a zeal to live life joyfully? All he did was gave a hard time to all those around him. Once he even kicked Daisy on her back while she was sitting on the verandah. Violence has been his tactic to cope with all the stress he carried in his brain for no reason. Sometimes he would break the earthen pots or start making trouble for the neighbours by arguing with them till death.

The game was all about persistence. People are usually persistent in their efforts to achieve something great in their life. That definition of "Great" varies from person to person depending on their situation. George was deplorably persistent in doing nothing but creating trouble for his family. On the other side, Danielle and Daisy were persistent in their efforts to make things right once and for all. The game of persistence persisted until…