Book 1 of the Love and Duty Series
Anirudh Roy, the steadfast and disciplined army officer, had always lived by a set of principles, none of which involved love. His life revolved around duty, honor, and the pursuit of his ambitions. Marriage, child...
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March, 2018 New Delhi
Dhairya
"I swear if it wasn't about my job, I would have already murdered him", I say, sipping the coffee along with my best friend Shruti.
"Haha and then you would have rotted in jail", Shruti says, laughing loudly. I gave her a sarcastic smile though the picture of me wearing those nasty jail clothes was forming in my brain. I could already imagine sitting myself in the cell crying. God! Save me from my imaginations.
"Yeah, that's the point. I certainly don't want to go to jail after killing my dumb boss. What does he think of himself? Do I look like a robot to him? Sunday Shruti! He asked me to work on Sunday!" I exclaim angrily while keeping the coffee cup on the table. Shruti giggles and I pout.
"Aww come on Dhairya, it's not that bad. I have three night duties this week and then my senior doctor is not very nice", Shruti says with a laugh. I roll my eyes at her comparison. She is a resident doctor while I am an engineer. When she was being given salary she was told that she would have to work for inhumane hours but when I was offered the job, I was very sweetly informed that I would have to work only for nine hours. And because of my boss's attitude, I won't be able to go to the library on Sunday!
"Shruti yaar! I don't want to work here", I whine, keeping my head on the table. She giggles and says, "Dhairya, you better work or your parents will call you back to Shimla". I snort but nod anyway. My father is very strict. When I told him that I got a job inside Delhi, he was very concerned about my well being. For some reason he always gives me this excuse of safety and threats and blah blah. Unlike my mother, he never wants me to step out of my house, too overprotective. But my mother is an angel. She was the one who convinced my father to let me live my life for once.
"Dhairya, if you don't like this job, why don't you search for some other job?" She asks, quietly sipping her coffee. That's the problem! I can't find any other job because of this inflation! Despite graduating from NIT, I am finding it difficult to find a good paying job.
"You think I didn't try? They are not paying me enough", I argue, laughing at my misery. If I leave this job and go back to Shimla, my parents will now expect me to get married as I am already twenty six. I don't think twenty six is a great age to get married but who can explain how parent logic works? My father has already started finding suitable men, he told me himself. Some of them were from his unit.
"You still get one lac per month, I am surviving on thirty thousand". Shruti comments, rolling her eyes. And just like I said, Shruti is Shruti, she won't understand engineering problems. When I share my job experiences with her she starts comparing it with her job. I love my best friend, I really do but she sometimes doesn't understand my thoughts.
"Well Shruti, you are still a resident doctor. Once you complete post graduation, you'll get a high salary", I sarcastically say, reminding her that according to medical professionals, she has just entered in the second step of her education, ie, post graduation. After that she will have to do super specialisation and then she is done for good.
