Rain had been pouring since the afternoon. Its arrival merely soaked the earth, unable to stop the miserable human traffic in the big city. Aristia was stuck on the road for nearly half an hour, though luckily she didn't have to work overtime like last time. As soon as she got home, she threw herself onto the sofa and opened her reading app while munching on the sweet martabak she'd just ordered online. One box of martabak usually disappeared in a single lounging session. Strangely, that huge appetite vanished just like that. Her unease only worsened when the fine hairs at the back of her neck stood on end.
As if the universe were sending her a bad omen. Could it be because the dirty dishes in the sink still hadn't been washed at all? Ah, she just remembered that she hadn't washed or dried the carpet she'd used as a bed the night before. Unfortunately, sleeping on that carpet had left her entire body aching and her skin itching all over. Or was it because the blouse she was wearing had started to smell musty after going unwashed for quite some time? She had pulled this blouse from the pile of dirty clothes because it looked the neatest and didn't need ironing. Then she'd sprayed it with fabric freshener and her most expensive perfume. She'd even been teased at the office.
"Aristia, you smell amazing today. Don't tell me you're going on a date?"
"Ooh, look at you... Wearing expensive perfume like this means you're going clubbing."
Aristia grimaced. They had no idea that she was actually a hardcore introvert who spent most of her time at home. She also wasn't ready to lose her title as the team's ace because she'd sprayed expensive perfume to cover up the sour smell of unwashed clothes. As an office worker who spent nearly half her life at the office, Aristia had no time to take care of the house. Two months ago, she still had a reliable housekeeper.
Her name was Mak Imah. She had just turned forty and had a build like the comedian Nunung. She was friendly, too, and could always read Aristia's wishes without much instruction. That's why Aristia depended on Mak Imah so heavily. That middle-aged woman was the one who kept the house neat and livable. Still, Aristia knew all too well how hard it was after Mak Imah left.
Exactly two months ago, Mak Imah resigned. She planned to return to her hometown to care for her elderly mother. Ever since then, Aristia had struggled to find a housekeeper. During her first attempt, her new housekeeper had nearly stolen things from the house, so Aristia took the matter to the police and ended up dealing with the hassle for an entire week.
On the second attempt, she couldn't get along with her new housekeeper because the woman was always abandoning her work to call her boyfriend. Aristia fired her on her third day. And the last one never showed up, even though she'd already been called in. Three attempts, three failures, and Aristia gave up. Not having a housekeeper meant she had to take care of the house herself. That's where her nightmare began.
Aristia herself couldn't remember when she'd acquired cursed hands. Anything related to domestic chores broke whenever she touched it. Brooms, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, blenders, frying pans, ovens—even things as simple as plates and glasses.
That's why she preferred using plastic utensils and ordering food online. Her kitchen was an absolute disaster, as if it had been ravaged by a tornado. Piles of dirty dishes, food wrappers that had probably been sitting there for a week, several broken plates, a cracked mug, and a mountain of other messes. All the handiwork of her magical hands. That was also one of the reasons her stepmother often nagged her.
Ah, that uneasy feeling always led back to her stepmother. A woman with a motor-powered mouth. Everything Tia did earned her a scolding. That was why she hated dealing with housework. She simply wasn't destined to manage a household from the start. When it came to domestic matters, her role was to be the breadwinner. She preferred leaving the domestic chores to someone else.
That worked when she had a housekeeper, but she didn't have one now. If her stepmother found out what the house looked like, ugh... Aristia didn't even want to imagine it. That woman would definitely nag nonstop. Wait! Why had she been thinking only about her annoying stepmother this whole time?! Could the omen the universe was trying to send her be the arrival of her stepmother?
The moment she thought about that possibility, she got her answer when she heard a car engine outside. Beyond the curtain of heavy rain, the gate to her house opened. A familiar car entered the front yard beneath the canopy. Her father and stepmother got out of the car, laughing together.
Tia cursed. She scanned the entire room and realized it was already too late to do even a little cleaning. The only option left was to pray that her stepmother's nagging wouldn't last long.