Living In Oblivion

15

"Why on earth did I agree to accompany you in the first place?"

Avanti sighed, readjusting her bag that kept slipping off her shoulder. She glanced back to see Divit trailing behind her like a lost child, huffing and puffing. "I never asked you, sir."

The markets were nearly closed, and the shops had shut as they walked through the empty streets of Huda market. The fog grew darker and denser, engulfing the night in a white magical smoke. Avanti felt at home, while Divit shivered as the temperature dropped.

"I wonder if I'll make it back home without freezing," Divit muttered, hugging his black office coat tighter and quickening his pace to match Avanti's.

Coming to a stop, she turned back and scoffed, "Why the hell aren't you wearing a jacket or something warmer? It's not like you're new to the city and don't know about the temperature here."

"Forgive me for not knowing that I'd have to go for a job hunt, stepping out of the confines of my warm cabin and car," Divit snapped in a monotonous tone.

Rolling her eyes, Avanti unzipped her bag, muttering under her breath, "What a princess."

Divit abruptly halted when a shawl came flying onto his face. Brushing it aside, he looked at Avanti, who had a mischievous smirk on her face.

"Thank me later," she said, bowing down dramatically before turning back on her heels to search for the elusive shop.

Avanti was getting more excited now, even though they hadn't found the store recommended by her colleague earlier in the morning. The shops they had visited so far were either too shabby or too local, unable to offer the minimum sum of five thousand she was aiming for in a part-time job.

Despite feeling tired and hungry herself, Avanti refused to give in to Divit's complaints. "Nearly the whole market is closed, and I don't think we can find--"

He was interrupted by her chirpy voice, "There it is! Arora Machinery Repairs. Wait here for two minutes; I'll be right back."

Divit looked at the illuminated sign of the small showroom shop on the first floor, adjacent to a confectionery shop in a three-story building. The building glowed dimly under the yellow streetlight, and he could see students studying inside a coaching center on the ground floor. Black iron stairs clung to the building, taking up as little space as possible. Divit climbed the stairs behind Avanti, completely ignoring what she had said.

Avanti entered the shop, glancing nervously at her surroundings. A middle-aged man, dressed in a T-shirt and worn-out blue jeans with a turban on his head, rose from behind the desk, holding a dummy mobile phone in his hand. He seemed too busy to take notice of her as he placed the dummy back in the showcase, muttering to himself, "Winters these days. If it keeps going like this, my grandmother and I will end up on the streets. And here we sit, wasting our time all day, with those lazy workers taking leave because of loose motions--"

"Sardar Ji?" Avanti interrupted the man's rant.

He looked at her and scoffed "Fuckers ! Why do they eat if their rotten stomachs can't handle"

"Sardar Ji ?" She interrupted again, this time louder .

The man stopped rambling and looked at her raising an eyebrow as if she appeared in the room magically or grew from the land or was dropped from the sky. He blinked "Madam Ji ?"

Walking closer to his desk, she grinned at him pointing towards the door seeing the man still confused "I came from the door"

After staring at her for few seconds in silence, the man laughed and shook his head "Sorry that wasn't for you, I was a bit taken up"