A Usual Monday

The sun was slowly rising, the sunlight shone bright orange light, lighting up the planet. The dawn slowly vanished and a new Monday began. I was sleeping on the bed, face turned to the window. A beam of light passed through the window and lit my face. I woke up. Kaira left two hours earlier than usual because it was her OPD. I was lazy like a slug. My office timings were from nine in the morning to six in the evening. I woke up, and began my morning chores. And yes, I do most of the household work. I wash the dishes, mop the floor, and put the clothes in laundry.

I completed my chores in two hours and left to my workplace. It was in the western periphery of the city which was twenty kilometres away from my house. I parked my car behind my professional building. It was a twelve storied long plane white building. It had an underground parking, but it was not accessible by employees like me. We had to park it in the hot son. Everyday I'd return home like a fried chicken. The building had two entry and exit gates and a back emergency exit. If there was an emergency, we'd be the last to exit. The valuable humans first. I entered through gate two. The sliding doors opened and I stepped inside. There was a receptionist who was never around. I swiped my ID in the scanner to mark my attendance and made my way to the elevator. I pushed the button. It came down from the sixth floor. A minute later, the doors opened. I stepped inside. Just as the doors began to close, a woman came running in. She symbolically told to hold on. I wanted to close the doors on her, but I held the doors like a gentle man. She stepped inside and thanked me. I had pressed sixth floor. She pressed fifth floor. I guessed that she must be a recruit for the HR department. At first, their department was combined with the Operation Supervision Department. Later, their size grew with increased salaries and responsibilities and were given a separate floor.

While the elevator crossed the third floor, there was a sudden power cut. The generators took a few seconds to start. We were stuck for half a minute. When power goes out, the elevator goes to the nearest floor. It went down to third floor. The doors opened. Three people stepped in. One among them was I.M Ladwa, AKA Lawda. He was a fat, oversized, short man with a long black hair up to his shoulders. He used to eat all around the day. He was well respected. When he was put in charge of us, the losses were recovered in a year and the following years were fruitful. But everyone hated him. He was like an ugly fat pig that farts everywhere, eating all kinds of shit. The elevator reached the fifth floor. The doors opened everyone walked out except me and Lawda. There was a moment of awkward silence. Sixth floor arrived and we both stepped out. I went unnoticed to the office and sat down at my designated place. It was like an typical IT office. There were rows of computer on a table, each separated by a wooden wall. We all had our personal compartments. On one corner, there was a special room for the divisional head. It had three walls of translucent glass. There was a table and a black leather wheel chair. Lawda walked in and went into his burrow.

Eight hours later, I was still working. I was assigned to write an editorial of not more than two thousand words regarding my opinion on the training camp and a long summary of my training for the monthly magazine. All this in one day. The room was almost empty. It was dark outside. The last employee left. I still had a lot of work. Lawda came out and from the corner called me into his room. I was startled. He hates his employees. I thought I was going to be in trouble. I went into his office. He was seated on his leather chair sipping coffee.

'Have a seat.' He spoke. I sat down.

'So how was your camp?' he said 'I hope it was good.'

'Yes sir, it was helpful.' I spoke.

'Have you completed your work?' he said.

'No sir,' I said nervously 'I still got some left. I'll finish it ASAP.'

'Take your time with that. I've a new job for you'.

'But you said you needed it urgently, right?'

'People are least bothered about you or your training. We just needed something to fill the newspaper.' He said like he was mocking me. 'Are you aware of Lupin's case?'

'Yes, it was all over the news.' I said 'They closed the case.'

'Four years ago, you had interviewed her. So, I reckoned you were a good choice.'

'Choice? For what?'

'The case is closed. Mr Chadha told it clearly. I guess you know that it was not just a suicide. It can't be.' He spoke.

'I guess. But what can we do about it? We can't challenge their decision.' I spoke.

'I know. We aren't challenging them.' He said 'I want you to investigate into this case. I know it is difficult with the corrupt cops in your way.'

I did not respond to that. He offered me a job that needed me to take a risk. I'm sure he won't help me if I'm in trouble.

'If you solve this case, I will give you three times your salary.' He said 'It's a rare offer.'

Three times the usual, that is six lakhs. But I want more.

'That's a small reward for the risk I'm taking.' I said 'I think I'll pass.'

He looked at me with a sharp gaze, like a wild boar that is about to chase me. He was chewing his pizza that went cold.

'How much do you want?'

'At least five times.'

He gave out a sigh. Some particles of half chewed pizza fell off from his mouth and the disgusting smell diffused into the room.

'Alright' He said 'I'll give ten lakhs for this. But if you fail, no salary this month.'

'Fine. Thank you' I said.

I immediately departed to Washi Nagar. I had just witnessed the horrific smell of a fucked-up pig that is nasty as hell. He was the most disgusting person I've ever met. I reached home three hours late than usual. Kaira was waiting for me after a tiring day. She had kept the food ready for me. Even though she works more harder than me, she never forgets her work as my wife. I always try to lessen her burden by doing the chores. We sat down on the dining table. We began our prayer. There was paneer makhana with curry fry and roti.

'How was your day?' I asked.

'It was very good.' She replied

'Tiring I suppose'

'Yes. Today I saw about fifty patients. Half of them were admitted. I'll have to go on rounds tomorrow. How was yours?'

'Nothing like yours. I had a lot of writing to do. I may need to sit up all night. I skipped lunch as well.'

'Why?'

'I've no respect. Even though I'm more qualified, experienced, and hell-bent than that Lawda but I end up being on his feet.'

She broke down laughing on hearing Lawda.

'That asshole boss of yours,' she said 'he is surely fucked up.'

'By the way, I am going to investigate into Lupin's case.' I spoke.

'Good. Something to work.' She said 'You can start from my hospital.'

'I was thinking the same.'

We finished our dinner. I cleaned the table, locked the doors, and retired for the day.

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