Crash! I jerked awake at the sound of glass shattering downstairs, followed by an all-too-familiar chorus of yelling.
"Syrus! You absolute disaster!" Rira's voice sliced through the chaos like a knife. My younger sister, Syrus, was probably in the middle of one of her daily meltdowns.
I could already imagine it. Syrus, as always, woke up late—like, really late. She had probably stumbled into the kitchen for her first cup of coffee, half-asleep and in her usual haze of confusion. And then—classic Syrus move—she probably tripped over nothing, grabbed the dining table to save herself, and sent her coffee mug flying across the room. Shatter! The sound of it breaking echoed through the house.
And, of course, Rira—our eldest sister, who's always on high alert—was there, right on cue, ready to fire off her judgmental remarks. "How can you be this careless? You're not a kid anymore!"
And just like that, another fight was born. Syrus would be whining about how her life was so unfair, while Rira would be giving her that "you should know better" stare.
I was still half-asleep, lying there in my bed, trying to ignore the noise, when—BAM—the door flung open. I could feel the cold air rushing in just before I heard Mom's voice, sharp as ever.
"Did you see the time? It's past morning! Get up already!"
Ugh. Not this again.
"It's your holiday, so what? Does that mean you can sleep until noon? Can't you help around the house for once?"
I squinted at the clock. Was it even morning anymore?
"Mom, seriously..."
"What's your excuse?" She cut me off, sounding even angrier. "You're still lying around while your sisters are fighting! Get up, NOW!"
I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, she grabbed a glass of water from the nightstand and—Splash!—the cold hit me right in the face.
"MOM?!"
"What? Can't you even wake up properly?" she snapped.
I wiped the water off my face, blinking in shock. "Mom... seriously..."
She didn't even give me a chance to breathe before she stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her with the kind of rage only a mother could muster. What a great way to start the day.
I groggily dragged myself out of bed, heading downstairs where the drama was still unfolding. Syrus and Rira were sitting at the table, acting like nothing had happened. Their argument was over, like they hadn't just been screaming at each other two seconds ago. Typical.
Now, Rira usually lives with her husband and kids next door, in the apartment beside us. But since no one was home, I figured that's why she'd popped by. As usual, she was full of opinion about everything happening in the house.
I rolled my eyes and flopped into a chair, grabbing some bread and jam to calm my nerves. "Why does all the shit always hit me?" I muttered. "You two go at it like there's no tomorrow, but somehow I'm the one who gets the splash of water in the face?"
Rira, not even looking up from her phone, smirked. "It's because you're the devil. Mom always punishes you."
"Blah, blah, blah." I shot back, taking a bite of my bread, still feeling slightly wet from the water attack.
Meanwhile, Mom was on the phone with Max, my older brother who's living abroad. Of course, she was telling him all about the disaster that was our morning. It's like she never runs out of complaints about how we are ruining her life. As if we didn't already know.
And just when I thought things might calm down for a second, my phone buzzed. I glanced at the screen—Boss.
Now, I'm a senior journalist in the crime section at NCC, a famous news channel in the country. My team and I have been working on an investigation into the recent mysterious killings of influential people across the city. But right now, on what's supposed to be my day off, the last thing I needed was a call from my boss.
I sighed, knowing what this meant. "What now?"
I picked up, and sure enough, the voice on the other end was all business.
"Ayin, I need you in my office in ten minutes."
"But... it's my day off!"
"Ten minutes, or I'll make it five."
What a good morning!!
I looked at the clock, then at my sisters, and back at the phone in disbelief. What happened to the luxury of a day off?