It was around 9 p.m., and Khushi was settled in her swing chair in the balcony of her room, finishing the remaining jalebis from her first day at work celebration all by herself, humming "Munni Badnam Hui" song and scrolling her Instagram page and engaging herself in conversations with her social media friends.
Shyam knocked on the door of his sister's room. Even though it was slightly open, having a sister in his life implied respecting her privacy always.
"Come in, bhaiya!" Khushi shouted, and after getting her permission, he walked in the room and joined her in the balcony attached to her room. Her favourite corner of their home sweet home, to be honest, this balcony is also his favourite place to be in their house, mainly because it holds so many special memories that he has with his little sister here. This is where they hang out, this is where they have the most random and silly conversations, this is where they laugh freely, this is where they dream together, looking at the sky at night, this is where they gossip about their neighbors, this is where they observe the hustle and bustle that people go through every day in their lives.. and this is also the place where they sit in silence and comfort each other whenever one of them is down.
Khushi kept her phone aside, still holding on to her plate filled with the few remaining jalebis, as she looked at her elder brother, Shyam, who settled himself in the same swing chair with Khushi, making her whine loudly and complain of the way he occupied most of the chair space and how suddenly the swing chair felt cramped as soon as he joined her.
Shyam just chuckled at her, stubbornly sitting there, and asked her to adjust with it teasingly, earning a glare from his sister, who looked away, faking anger and continued munching her jalebi.
"Hey Titaliya... You didn't tell me about your first day at work?" he started the conversation, picking up her long black hair to try several thin braids on them. Something that would give Khushi a hard time tomorrow when she would try to undo her braids to style her hair. Still, she enjoyed those little endearing and affectionate moments she shared with her brother, so she never stopped him from doing those things with her.
"Bataya toh tha (I did tell you). It was a good day. My boss didn't give me much work to do," Khushi replied.
"Sach bata rahi ho na Khushi? (You're telling me the truth, right?)" his tone changed, and Khushi could sense the seriousness and concern in the conversation now.
She turned her head to look at Shyam, "Remember when I left home to work, you said to me that this world is not going to treat me like you, bhaiya? You were right, and now I understand it. My first day didn't turn the way I expected at all, but I've come to terms with it. And it's not like everything had to be perfect for me. Despite one unpleasant incident, I had my Aman by my side, and that's the most important thing for me. I met Anjali di there too, and I've made a friend too, her name is Aina.. she's a very sweet and helpful woman."
"And what's the unpleasant incident you're talking about?" Shyam frowned. He surely heard the positive aspects she talked about her work, but the 'unpleasant incident' she mentioned caught his attention. If he gets to know someone dared to lay a finger on his sister, no one can help that person land in a hospital bed for sure, and he doesn't even care about the consequences.
Khushi gulped, wondering if it was right to share this incident with her brother or not. When she looked at her brother and realised he won't rest till he finds out what she's hiding from him, she sighed in defeat and began to narrate him the nasty coffee incident that occurred between Aman and her new boss, ASR.
Shyam's frown deepened, "How can he just throw coffee on someone's face like that? Why didn't Aman take action against him?"
"ASR's father offered a raise in his salary in return for his silence on this matter. Aman accepted it because he didn't want to lose his job and get into a legal battle with these rich people who think they own the world, that people like us are their slaves and they can do anything with us and we've to stay quiet only," Khushi said sadly.
