Point

o for the

nd rechecked the address written on the back of an old receipt, and l

belonged in a place where the floors were polished and th

y purse, reality pu

-six r

get me halfway to

r a long time, as if maybe they'd multiply if I looked

ould

cupboard, and changed into my work clothes-the fa

sound of Raghav sleeping softly in the other room and

next

e ever

ive minutes late. Just five. But in this world,

hind the counter, loud enough for the regulars to

t smile. "Sorry,

o one wants your excuses, Meera. Get

y rhythm like I hadn't just missed the one

ses. Napki

e ha

d man in a cheap suit with too much col

o all the way to Pu

ir. It won't

ce is enough to keep a job.

e tea was barely warm. It always tasted like bitterness

ded with a laugh, "At le

ollowed. N

his. Being invisible when I wanted to be seen. Being mocked when I tried to mat

need

felt like it belonged to someone twice my age. My lunch was half a samosa I split

?" Priya asked,

ing important,

just nodded, understand

ond job-typing invoices in a dusty office that smelled like ink a

come yesterday," he

ours at the ca

s charity? You girls think a smil

wn and got to work. My fingers flew over the keys

ne. Raghav had done his homework and e

ed, eyes full of hope h

n my bag and loosening my sc

looked down, ashamed like it was

oice. "They would've seen how amazing I am and hired

le, but it didn'

me," I promised.

" he said, and tha

tudy and ace those exams. That's how y

side him on the mattress, sipping slowly. The fan whi

ou badly again?"

s nothing I have

deserve be

I wanted to believe that one day, I'd walk into a job wher

ould stand tall,

aid softly. "Maybe no

head on my sho

world locked outside our little room, that bel

bar

window, watching the rain slide down cracked glass. My