Yusuf descended the stairs, his professional composure fraying at the edges. At the foot of the staircase, he found Kirana, who was just about to head to her desk. Spotting him, she offered a polite, if slightly flustered, "Good morning, sir."
"Morning," he replied, his voice tighter than usual. He glanced pointedly at his watch. "You're late. Fifteen minutes."
"N-no, sir... I mean, I..." she stammered, searching for words.
"Don't mumble. I asked for the reason," he said, his tone sharper than he intended, the image of her laughing in that car fresh in his mind.
"No, sir. It's just... on my way, I got splashed by some water on the road. I had to go back home and change. That's why I'm late," she explained, her gaze fixed somewhere near his shoes, offering a half-truth that veiled the more chaotic reality of her morning.
"Fine. I'll let it pass for today," Yusuf said, the words coming out more like a managerial decree than he meant. "But from now on, any lateness will result in a deduction from your daily wage."
"Yes, sir. It won't happen again," she murmured, eager to end the conversation.
A sudden, impulsive question pushed past his lips, fueled by a week's worth of silent speculation. "Do you have any brothers?" he blurted out.
The question was so abrupt, so unrelated, that Kirana's head snapped up, her eyes wide with genuine confusion. "No, sir... I only have one sister. Why do you ask?"
The directness of her threw him off balance. He had expected an evasion, not a straightforward answer that made his probing seem odd.
"Nothing,"he dismissed quickly, his facade snapping back into place. "I was just asking. Go on, get to work."
Without waiting for another word, he turned and started back up the stairs, leaving Kirana standing there, puzzled by her boss's strange, intense inquisition. As he climbed, Yusuf replayed the exchange. She only has a sister. So the young man who drove her, who called her "Kira," wasn't a brother. The mystery, instead of clearing, only deepened, and with it, the restless, unfamiliar knot in his chest tightened.