It was 10:16 p.m. when Aristia finally left the office, her mind in complete disarray. One problem at work had been resolved after a long, drawn-out drama. At first, they had agreed there would be no overtime. She was supposed to go home at six, but it had ended with five extra hours of work.
They waved to one another and saw each other off with wishes to be careful on the way, good night, sleep well, and every other farewell before splitting up and heading down their separate roads. Her teammates all had homes to return to. Families waiting for them to come home. At least, that was what she knew. Aristia had a house, but it had never truly been a place to return to.
A ride-hailing car pulled up and took the exhausted Aristia home. The driver did not even dare make small talk. The man deliberately gave her space to enjoy what little remained of her break. As she leaned back in her seat and watched the nighttime scenery, the twenty-seven-year-old woman tried to rest her body. Her mind, too—or at least, that had been the plan. But her intention to rest vanished when she remembered something.
She still had not washed the dishes left over from breakfast the day before yesterday, along with another pile of dirty dishes that might not have touched water in over a week. As if the dirty-dish problem were not enough, she also had several piles of dirty clothes that had not made it into the washing machine, plus other clothes she had not even picked up from the laundry. Haha... and that was not all. She had not touched her cleaning supplies in several weeks. Work had taken up so much of her time, maybe even her life.
She might be a quick and dependable team leader who could handle anything. But no one had better rely on her when it came to domestic chores. Her coworkers and teammates' subordinates had always known Aristia as an almost perfect woman—they claimed perfection belonged only to the Creator. Haha, that was not a joke at all. Everyone at the office knew it, too. She was always in the spotlight because she had both a beautiful face and a sharp mind. What they never knew was that this almost-perfect Aristia had a weakness when faced with... tidying the house, cleaning, cooking, uhm... basically, the kind of work women were supposed to be better at than men.
“If you’re this filthy as a woman, how could you ever become a wife?”
How annoying! At a time like this, she had to start imagining her stepmother's face, the woman who was judgmental all the time. Ugh... even now, they still could not get along. Arguments became unavoidable every time they met. The subject was never far from Aristia's poor ability to tidy the house and cook. Her own father did not help much, either. Even though she lived alone in that huge house, it felt as if she had no real place to return to. It was nothing more than a building where she ate and slept. Ever since Mom's death, the house had no longer been a place for her to come home to.
“Thanks, sir. I paid through the digital wallet, okay? Sorry for being so quiet this whole time. Good night, sir.” Aristia was about to leave the car after saying goodbye to the middle-aged man behind the wheel. But the man stopped her with a few words that somehow sent a small ripple of calm through her.
“I don’t know how heavy your problems are, miss. But please never forget to be happy. There are still beautiful days ahead of you.”
After that, Aristia was left with a mess whose end she could not imagine. The laundry was unfinished, leftover food had not been cleared away, every room was beginning to be covered in dust, she was running out of presentable clothes, and, ah... that was only inside the house. She had not even checked outside yet. The backyard might already be covered in dry leaves, and the plants that usually bloomed could have dried up and withered.
Ugh... she did not want to think about it anymore. She kicked off her shoes, let her blazer slide to the floor, and decided to sleep on the soft living-room carpet, even though it smelled musty and was covered in dust.