2: the big news

Aara ambled out of the bathroom with a towel girdled around her chest, the hair on her back dripping on her back.

she paced back into her bedroom to get ready for work and change into her sandy plain gown and black baggy hijab with fine brown stripes along the hem.

it took only a few minutes and she finished just in time for fajr.

afterwards, Aara brewed tea in a small steel pot she bought onsale a couple months ago. this had been Aaras routine for almost three years.

Aara had two jobs. She worked as a cleaner in a cafe and  daycare.

the only day offs Aara gets are on fridays. she uses this time to hunt for other jobs or vist her sick father in the hospital.

He was struck with a serious heart problem ever since his company went bankrupt a few years back. the cargos worth billions sank in the sea and left him with a mountain of debt, so much so they had to move from nigeria to sultania.

Aara switched her phone on as she waited for the water to boil. Her badly cracked screen displayed notification from the news app trending

she had wonderd what could possibly be trending since nothing bad ever went on in sultania.

the country was very strict about rules and shari'a and it was considered a good thing

"Avoid like the plague". are the exact words of the emperor as he repeatedly warned every workplace from hiring anyone without license and certificate starting from the start of next month" The charming news man said as the screen showed pictures of the speech.

Aara gaped horror-strucked she knew exactly what that meant, losing her job with a side dish of getting kicked out by the landlord, not to mention her fathers medical expenses and the loan sharks.

she took a deep breath and searched for ways to get the certificate. it turned out that it had been announced for three years now and it had been fee free but recently the training license for cleaners was about a thousand dollars.

Her calm was now breaking. "ya Allah let this be a dream..." She prayed bitting her finger as she read an article about the subject.

starting from next month she, Aara would be a jobless