The employees' whispers at the sales counter were growing louder. Every now and then, a few people watching their respective phone screens let out impressed clicks of the tongue and quiet laughter.
It was indeed time for a break.
Kabir was taking one too. The forty-seven-year-old man leaned back in his swivel chair in his office. After spending the morning poring over sales reports from several branches of his sales counters, he finally had a little time to breathe.
In between his busy schedule, Kabir only checked social media occasionally.
That afternoon, for some reason, his fingers opened one of the apps his wife had been talking about a lot lately.
Ku-Tub.
According to Kabir, the app was filled with nothing but people dancing, cooking, doing their makeup, or performing various things he didn't really understand.
But only a few seconds after opening the app, Kabir's eyes immediately went wide.
Kharisma.
His wife.
The beautiful thirty-five-year-old woman was dancing with Windi, one of her close friends.
Kabir straightened up so fast he nearly jumped.
“Oh my God, Kharis!”
He roughly covered his face with his hands.
“Since when has my wife been doing this?”
Kabir had never actually forbidden Kharisma from having the app. At first, he had assumed she only used it to document her daily activities.
Besides, Kharisma's content had once been fairly simple.
Hijab tutorials.
Although, to Kabir, those tutorials often gave him a headache.
“Why do you have to make it so complicated, Babe?” Kabir had complained some time ago while Kharisma busily wrapped the fabric around her head again and again.
“Just wear an instant hijab. We're already late for the wedding reception.”
Kharisma had only giggled.
“Come on, Babe. This is trending right now.”
“What trend?”
“Hijab tutorials.”
Kharisma had shown him her phone, her face glowing.
“I uploaded one to Ku-Tub yesterday. Did you know? Lots of people watched it!”
Kabir had only shaken his head at the time.
But now... his face flushed again. And it wasn't only from anger.
He was embarrassed too.
The video of his wife dancing had already been viewed by thousands of people.
Kabir stared at the screen in disbelief.
“Oh God... Kharis.”
He rubbed his face again.
Why was his wife getting more and more outrageous?
Kharisma hadn't been like this before.
Ever since technology had advanced and all kinds of entertainment apps had appeared, his wife seemed to have a world of her own right in the palm of her hand.
Kabir hurriedly pressed the call button.
He wanted to tell Kharisma to delete the video.
The phone rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
No answer.
Kabir frowned.
“She should've picked up. The video was uploaded only a few minutes ago. Her phone has to still be in her hand.”
He called again.
Still no answer.
Kabir let out a long breath.
“I have to go home.”
Without giving it much thought, he rose from his chair and walked out of the office.
But after only a few steps, Kabir heard music coming from one of his employees' phones again.
A song he recognized all too well.
It was the song used as the background music in Kharisma's video.
Kabir stopped immediately.
He turned around.
Two male employees standing near the display case were busy looking at a phone screen while trying to hold back their laughter.
Kabir walked over.
“What are you watching?”
Both employees instantly straightened.
“Ah... sir.”
One of them hurriedly turned off the screen.
“We're watching a funny video, sir.”
Kabir narrowed his eyes.
“Don't lie.”
The two fell silent.
“Do you want me to dock your pay?”
Their expressions immediately changed.
“Whoa, no, sir!”
Kabir held out his hand.
“Give me your phones. Let me see.”
The two employees exchanged glances.
“But this is our privacy, sir.”
“Privacy?” Kabir raised an eyebrow. “You work at my sales counter, get paid by me, use my Wi-Fi, and now you're talking to me about privacy?”
“But it's still our personal phone, sir.”
“Enough! Hand it over!”
Kabir held out his hand again.
The two employees continued exchanging glances.
Finally, one of them handed over his phone with a resigned expression.
Kabir looked at the screen.
“Where's the other one?”
He looked around.
“Call everyone over here.”