It was mid-noon when I came out on the road from the office building. Like every day, the temperature was approximately 35/36°C however it felt way nastier due to sudden exposure from the AC room to the burning noon sun.
But nothing bothered me more than the sheer remorse and baffled plight I am plummeting for losing the job.
The first smite was "How am I going to pay the rent! It's already the end of the month!" And gradually the wave of troubles fussed their way through concurrently. Needless to mention god knows how long it will take to manage another job.

To add more dismay, stomach growling reminded me, that I haven't eaten anything since last night. Took a deep breath, and opened the money bag.
Crumpled one 10 and one 20 buck note are peeping from inside.

Need 10 bucks to go home. Now, what do I eat with this 20 buck?

I sighed. Thought they waited the whole morning and only told me to leave during lunch. I wondered that if they had delayed the notice since morning, couldn't they at least wait till I had my lunch!
It made me laugh!
Can there be any worse day than this! Skin burn for intense temperature yanked me off to reality.
Well! Let's just have one smoke with a cup of tea.
That is all I can afford currently.

That job was mostly like a part-time job, not very suitable for me who has already climbed the ladder of top-level professional. However, I nonetheless accepted because I need to focus on my study more right now.
Hence a job like that which requires no brainstorming has flexible working hours, and pays comparatively well was a perfect fit.

I had only joined the job 2 days ago. The director has been encouraging and seemed to look forward to working with me.
Everything was cool.
This is why I miss calculated to foresee what is coming when I raise my voice against harassment. But I suppose they were no different from cliche corporate slavery.

I guess there is no way you would get away with a SHOUT-OUT and that not to mention against an HR manager! What made me sad was that the director who chose me after 3 rounds of the selection process, didn't even mind inquiring about what had happened.

Well I guess at some point in life when I will grow old, I might turn into the same chilche slave of the corporate world where anything and everything will be answered with only "Okay/Yes/Understood"
And only now do I have the luxury to act upon my righteousness and will not have to bend to the system while things progress towards awry.

I inhaled one long last breath of smoke and thought of breathing out all the bitterness by exhaling with smoke.