Page 99 of Not Safe for Work
‘I messed up at work. Badly,’ I began.
‘How?’
‘I …’ I trailed off. How would she feel when she found about my lie? What if she felt ashamed of me? The thought alone was enough to make me whimper.
‘Beta,’ her voice on the other end was unbearably calm. ‘You can tell me anything. You know that, right?’
I nodded tearfully, forgetting that she couldn’t see me through the phone. Not that she needed to. ‘Then talk to me, Kavu.’
‘I, um … I had lied about something to get my job at Jharokha. And they’ve found out about it.’ There. It was out in the open.
I’d half expected her to bombard me with questions. But she simply asked, ‘Why did you lie?’
‘Because I thought they wouldn’t hire me otherwise,’ I said, my voice small.
‘Then the real problem isn’t the lie.’ A faint sigh escaped her. ‘It’s that you didn’t believe in yourself.’
I closed my eyes and swallowed, letting her words crash over me. ‘What should I do now, mom?’
‘I can’t tell you that, beta. But whatever you decide, I’m with you. We all are.’ There was so much strength in her voice that it made it easy to borrow some of it. ‘We don’t care about a fancy job, promotion, or what people will say. All we care about is your happiness and peace.’
The weight on my chest already felt lighter. But we spoke for a little while longer, until she felt confident that she’d talked me off the metaphorical cliff. After assuring her that I’d call again if I needed to talk and promising to speak to my brother—who had apparently been in a foul mood since the day we’d fought—I finally felt strong enough to hang up and do what I needed to do.
I opened my laptop and began typing.
Resignation Letter
K
05/07/25 6:30pm
