At four in the morning, before dawn, Nayara was already awake and getting ready. Besides preparing herself, she also prepared everything her only child needed, since he had to be left at daycare.
This time, Nayara didn’t involve Rudi. She chose to do everything herself, including making Andra’s solid food. She had also put her pumped breast milk in a cooler bag for Andra to take while he was staying at Ratih’s daycare.
“Where are you going this early, Ara? You usually wake me up and ask me to watch Andra.” Rudi was puzzled. It wasn’t even five-thirty, yet Nayara was already dressed and ready.
“I have a meeting with a client in the neighboring regency. It’ll take an hour to get there, so I’m going to the office early and then heading to the neighboring regency. I think it’s time I started doing everything myself. Even before I met you, I was a very independent woman,” Nayara replied firmly.
“What’s gotten into you, Ra?” Rudi tugged at his own hair in frustration.
“That’s the question you should be asking yourself, Mas. What’s gotten into you? And I should be asking myself too—what am I lacking? Even though I have a career, I’ve never forgotten my responsibilities as your wife. I go to the office after you leave, and I come home before you do. I only leave our child when I’m working. I take care of you the way any other woman takes care of her husband. Is that still not enough?” Nayara’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
“You’re taking this way too far, Ra. I don’t understand all this drama. This is the first time you’ve acted like a child. Wait a minute. I’ll take you and Andra. I’ll drive,” Rudi interrupted.
“You’re so stubborn, Mas. I’ll say this one last time: ride your own motorcycle, the one you bought before you married me. From now on, I’m using my own car,” Nayara snapped.
Nayara had never once raised her voice in front of her husband. Even though she had grown up without either of her parents, she knew how to treat her husband with respect.
Ratih, her employer and adoptive mother, had shown Nayara how to treat a husband properly.
“Ra! Why are you keeping score with your own husband?” Rudi looked furious.
“You shouldn’t have to ask me, Mas. Ask yourself instead: have you done something behind my back? Something that made me change the way I treat you?” Nayara’s tone was cutting.
Nayara didn’t wait for her husband’s answer. She walked into her child’s room. She took care of him with practiced efficiency until he was ready to leave. Nayara was a new mother, but caring for babies had been one of her skills since she was in vocational high school.
After graduating from vocational high school, Nayara went looking for a more promising job. She wanted to build a better life for herself. Ratih’s family had offered to send Nayara to college, but she refused. She felt she already owed Ratih and her family too much.
Fate was on Nayara’s side. A bank needed an employee for its marketing department. Nayara was taking a gamble by applying with only a vocational high school diploma, even though the minimum educational requirement was a diploma or bachelor’s degree.
Once again, fate favored Nayara. She had no competition by the application deadline and became the only applicant. After going through interviews and a psychological test, she was given the chance to undergo six months of training under certain conditions: Nayara had to acquire at least one client a month, and at least five clients over the six-month period. If she met the target, she would receive a one-year employment contract.
Nayara refused to be lazy. She had to keep moving if she wanted to change her own fate. She had experience caring for children and babies, and the parents of the children she had looked after liked her very much. Through them, she had connections.
Nayara offered the banking products launched by the bank where she worked, including savings accounts and other programs such as Hajj savings, education savings, and Sharia-compliant insurance.
The first month brought no results. Even though her supervisor pressured her for failing to acquire a single client, Nayara’s spirit didn’t waver. She firmly pointed out that her training period lasted six months and that there was still time left. The main point was that by the end of the training period, she had to have five clients.
In the second month, Nayara finally acquired one client, though the deposit was small. But once again, Nayara didn’t lose heart. All her hard work paid off. In the final moments of her training period, she met her target—and even surpassed it.
Nayara’s employment contract was a dream come true. Being a bank employee was considered a highly prestigious job at the time.