𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐄

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚇: 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚊 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚎

The following day, aunt visited me again. As soon as she knocked the door, I was expecting something good to hear. I could see it in her eyes.

“Lhamo, I am here to drink tea again”. She joked 

“You can visit me here everyday. I like spending time with you”, I expressed how happy I was to be with her, and even it was for few minutes.

“My friend wants you as the sale girl in her store. Congratulations! You can join your duty from tomorrow. It is the perfect time for you. Tomorrow is the first day of July. The salary will be discussed when we go tomorrow”. Aunt was with the good news as I have expected from her smile.

“Thank you so much. I will always remain in your debt. I can’t thank you enough”.

“Where is Tashi? Didn’t he come home yesterday?”

“He came and he left. He had been acting weird since the day we moved here. I knew why he was desperate to move out. He told me that he is in love with one of the girls in drayang. He also told me that she is better than who I am. It was a great mistake. I have ruined my life. But, I don’t regret. Our marriage was arrange marriage. If there is disappointment, our parents will realize. I didn’t hold him back. He was willing to go”, tears started falling down again.

“I didn’t expect such cowardice acts from him. He came from the remotest village and he is forgetting where he came from. His parents would always tell us that he is a gentle boy. I was wrong to believe before seeing it with my own eyes. By the way, who is paying your rent?” she said.

 I was ashamed because I barely had money. I paused for a moment before I could say the truth.

“I don’t have a single penny for now. I am afraid I might be driven away from here. I really need help. I will repay as soon as I get the pay”, I was begging internally to help me.

“I knew it! I will help you. I will lend you five thousand ngultrums for now. You can pay the rent and get necessities at home. You can use some for travelling. The location of store is at the main town. You have to travel in the morning and come back home in the evening. Here in Thimphu, you need money for everything”, aunt agreed.

As soon as she agreed, she took out five thousand ngultrums from her pocket. I proudly went to the owner and paid the rent. As she instructed, I planned to buy necessities with remaining money.

When I realized, aunt had been more than just a person. She was the savior of my life when I was about to jump from the high bridge. Now, she helped me to pay the rent. I had so much reasons to be grateful. 

The next day, we were at the Clothes Store at the main town. 

“Is she the girl who you talked about last time?” The owner asked the aunt.

“Yes! She is. She is really in need of a job. She works hard and she can be your helper”, aunt boasted. I was silently smiling.

“I will be happy to have a hard working girl like her then. Let’s talk about the pay. Will seven thousand be okay for you? Many sale persons around Thimphu are paid seven thousand in a month”, the owner said.

“She comes from Babesa Zero and she needs some for travelling as well. She is soon going to be a mother and she is saving for it. Can you give eight thousand?” Aunt was pleading like as if she was the one to work. 

“Okay. Deal agreed. The good thing here is, I am going to provide the lunch here. The money for travelling can be generated from commission. I give commission to motivate my workers to work harder every day. If you work hard, you are going to be paid the same”, the owner said.

“The working day starts from today. Your aunt is clever! She brought me the helper on the first day of the month!” The owner was laughing.

I started to work hard since the day one. I was earning commission before my salary. In a short period of time, I could give back the money I borrowed from my aunt and could buy the necessities at home. As the time passed by, I felt comfortable working with the owner.

There, I learnt a very important lesson. No one is useless. Everyone has a role to play. For me, I had to be the hero of little one sleeping inside my belly. I was restoring the broken hearts and I was forgetting all the sorrows.

One day, I told my mom about the situations I went through. I explained to her how I was treated by him.

“I have never expected such things to happen between you and him. Don’t worry daughter, I will be there soon with you”, I was glad to hear those from my mother. She meant a world to me.

In the evening, I was preparing myself to close the shop. The owner was counting the money. Suddenly, Tashi appeared into the store.

“Lhamo! What are you doing? Why are you ignoring me? How could you tell my parents about how I treated you?” He was carrying a sharp razor blade in his right hand.

“Now, tell me? Will you go with me? You are my wife and I have loved you with all my heart”, he was screaming while the owner was shocked.

“If you don’t let me be with you, I am going to cut all of my hand!” He was swinging the blade all over his wrist. The blood was oozing out and the floor was painted in red.

“What are you trying to do to my helper? Should I call police?” The owner was looking for her phone as I saw her panicking over the amount of blood lost on the floor.

I could not say anything. I just hunched my back over the clothes and started crying.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦! 𝘋𝘳𝘰𝘱 💚 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨! 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦!🚀