Story
And she saved them!

  By Momina Javed

"Tina wait, have your breakfast first," Tina's mother called Tina, as she started to move towards the door.

"O, Mom. Thanks, but I'm already late," Tina replied and quickly went out, slamming the door behind her.

It was Tina's second day on her new job and she was late again. She had started working for a boutique, 'Trendy Wear'. The owner, Mr. Rochester, was a very strict person, especially when it came to punctuality. And Tina had already displeased him by coming late for work the day before.

It was winter and the morning was cold and foggy. Tina rubbed her hands, as she walked towards the store. As she approached the store, her heart started pounding faster. She crossed her fingers and silently stepped in.

She could not spot Mr. Rochester in the store. "Has Mr. Rochester not arrived yet?" she asked a fellow salesgirl.

"No, I've heard he's ill." She replied and walked away.

What a nice day, she thought and headed towards the dressing room to change into her salesgirl uniform.

She came back and went towards the counter. She was really happy to have this job. It was really a busy day. There were customers early in the morning. Tina's job was in the women section and so it was even more demanding. New variety of winter apparels had arrived and there were many housewives to have a look at them.

It was around eleven o'clock when Tina saw two strange men entering the store. She had never seen them before. Although Tina tried her best not to pay any attention towards them, she could not help doing it.

After attending a customer as Tina was returning to the counter, she saw one of those men drop a bag near the counter. She tried to reach over to him but he rushed away to his friend.

"Don't worry, it's all set,'' she heard him whisper to the other man, who nodded approvingly and marched away as well.

Tina wanted to stop them, but due to the arrival of a fresh batch of customers she couldn't reach them and they escaped. However, Tina smelled something fishy. There had been bomb blasts in the city in public places and the police had requested on TV and radio to report mysterious and abandoned parcels or bags without touching them. She rushed to the telephone and dialled the emergency police number.

The operator picked at the first ring. Tina asked them to hurry to the store and described everything she had seen. After finishing her call, she turned to look at the bag. It was still there. The officer had instructed her not to touch it, so she waited standing there. The police reached within five minutes. Seeing the police officers everyone got surprised.

"Where's it?" the man asked. "Near the counter," Tina replied pointing towards the bag.

Another man who looked like a technician moved towards it. He opened the bag and his eyes bulged out, "Oh God!" he exclaimed.

The next moment he took some tools out of the bag. He worked on it for a while with some tools he had brought. "Everything is safe now," he finally declared and went away.

Tina could not believe it. She had saved so many lives that could have perished within a few minutes. Mr. Rochester had also come. He was appreciating Tina and smiled at her for the first time. Now she knew she had really been a great girl! A heroine. Her job was finally secure.