Sunita emptied her bottle to fill it up again. A little compulsive, she always did this. She didn’t like drinking water that had stayed in the bottle for more than a day.

“Why do you always waste water? You do realise that water is something that you drink baasi, it cleanses your stomach,” Bibek had to comment. He always did.

“Don’t believe everything you hear,” she said as she drank the ‘new’ water. “Besides, you are not allowed to say anything about wasting. When was the last time you finished your meal? Trust me, Didi is going to make  such a ruckus when she finds how much food you waste.”

“Like I care. Like she cares. She is never here anyway.”

Bibek and Sunita had been working in a souvenir shop in Kupondole for a while now. They had grown up together, as neighbours. First generation Kathmandu kids. Their families had lived in Thapathali for 26 years now. Their parents, who also used to be neighbours, had moved to Kathmandu from Jhapa in search of a better life.

Saturday. 1:24pm. They had only had two customers so far. The day was going slower than it usually did. The wifi had broken down and their internet service providers were not reachable.

“Do you want to play Baaghchaal?” Sunita asked.

“Why do you even like the game? It’s dumb!”

“It’s not dumb. It’s one of the smartest games ever created. You just haven’t gotten the hang of it.”

“Alright. It’s not like we have anything better to do.” Bibek was an easy man. He didn’t have many reservations. He took life as it came. Just like he had taken the job as it came.

When Bibek’s mother asked him to take the job at the shop, he just said ‘okay’. He didn’t ask too many questions. Didi was looking for youngsters right out of highschool who knew computer, who could talk to people, and most importantly who had eight hours a day in their hands to spare. Bibek’s mother used to clean for Didi’s friend, and when she heard that this woman was looking to hire salespersons, she pitched in two names. Didi trusted his mother and hence didn’t think twice before hiring the two of them. Bibek didn’t think twice before diving right in either.

Sunita was an ambitious young woman. She dreamed of working as a front-desk officer in a big corporate house until she got through college. Then she would work as an HR officer. She knew exactly what she wanted out of life. She worked hard at school, she worked hard everywhere she went.

Bibek was ambitious too. He just didn’t know what path he would take. On his interview, he had said to Didi, “I don’t have immediate plans. I don’t know what I want to do. But I do want to make money. I’ll commit a year, and then I’ll leave.”

Didi had later admitted that she hired him for his honesty. “You seem like a sincere guy,” she had said and Bibek remembered feeling absolutely nothing about it. That’s just how Bibek always was, he didn’t feel strongly about anything or anyone.

“So, are you really quitting?” Sunita asked.

“Yeah, I have to. I told Didi that I could only commit for a year. She will understand. I need to find a replacement though.”

“I think I’ll quit too.”

“Why?”

“Because, well, I don’t like it here. I have to work on Saturdays while all my friends go to all these cool places. Last week, my social media flooded with my friends’ pictures from Boudha. Today, some of them are hanging out at Thamel,” Sunita’s voice raised as she continued to whine, “and here I am stuck doing back and forth between Kupondole and Thapathali. Is this life?”

“Yes, Sunita, this is life.” Bibek was always the wiser one. Perhaps the wisdom came with his age, he was a year older. “It doesn’t matter where you go, once you start working you have to make compromises. Besides, I don’t mind working Saturdays. It’s a solid reason to escape social gatherings.” Bibek liked time to himself. He didn’t like it when his life blended with his friends’.

“Eeee, malai ta manpardaina. I want freedom. I want to be out there!”

Bibek smirked at Sunita. When they joined in together, everybody had little expectations from Bibek. But Didi had high expectations from Sunita. She wanted to push Sunita, to help her grow, to groom her for as long as she could. It was evident from the beginning. But with time, Bibek started doing better and Sunita started slacking.

“If you hate it so much, just talk to Didi, all you have to do is look for a replacement. Our contract is ending soon anyway.”

Sunita quietly stared at the Baaghchal, strategising. She didn’t like talking to Didi. Perhaps, she was aware of what could have been and what did not.

“But stay one more year if you can. Then you can boss around the new guy that I bring in,” Bibek tried to knock some sense into her. “They like you, it’s just that they are easy on me because they never expected me to go anywhere in life.”

“No, Didi hates me. She always has. I will quit.”

2:02pm. The mud-bells chimed as a customer entered the shop.

“Kuhire ayo,” Sunita said.

“You know how Didi feels about the ‘word’.” Bibek teased her.

Sunita rolled her eyes and welcomed the patron. “Hello Ma’am how can I help you?”

“I am looking for something to take back home. Something that won’t break.”

Sunita looked at the elderly woman in awe. She never got tired of these foreigners, they fascinated her. They made her dream of a world far away. They made her want to escape not just this shop, but everything that she ever called home. They made her want to be out there. To be what she deemed free.

“Do you have something?”

Sunita smiled, “We have everything.”