My simmering anger and resentment calmed down somewhat after a while as I sat in the car observing the countryside listening to some old Lucky Ali songs. A few hours must have passed when my stomach growled loudly making me grudgingly aware that I haven't had anything to eat since morning and it was nearing midday now. I slowly put down my earpods and threw a sideways glance at Sanjay wondering whether I must ask Sanjay to stop by some shop for a quick breakfast. As though he heard my mind he suddenly turned towards me. Or maybe it was the sound of my growling stomach that he heard.
"Feeling hungry Darling?" he asked with a false smile.
I had a feeling this was a smartly laid trap to lead me towards another round of berating rather than any actual care for my well-being. Still, it was worth a try as I was too hungry to care.
"Umm..Yes?" I replied.
"Well if we started the journey at least TWO HOURS prior like we were supposed to we would have had ample time to stop somewhere for a quick breakfast and make it to the resort in time for the grand buffet I have arranged for lunch. Now thanks to you uselessly wasting an exorbitant amount of time we don't have time to stop for breakfast and will be lucky if there is anything left of the buffet by the time we reach there."
I knew it. It was a trap. I sank back into my seat scowling and plugged back on my earpods, crossing my arms tight across my stomach finding some comfort in the pressure exerted on top of my empty stomach. At least my belly would look extra slim since it's so pitifully empty. I consoled myself.
Another few hours passed by. The pleasant landscapes we were traveling through slowly evolved into dense forests. The roads kept on getting steadily narrower and uneven as the journey progressed.
"Oh, Shit!" Sanjay whispered suddenly bringing the car to a screeching halt while looking ahead in dismay. I followed his line of vision and was confronted with sight of a giant 12 ft elephant standing in the way a few meters ahead of us, totally blocking our path. The sound of the screeching brakes caught its attention it looked our way. I tensed in my seat scared out of my wits as Sanjay quickly put the car in reverse gear and started driving backward putting a good amount of distance between us and the wild elephant.
The elephant kept looking at the our retreating car for a few more seconds as though daring us to come forward before going back to its leaf snacking as though nothing happened.
"Shit! What will we do now? Is there another way to get there?" I asked Sanjay.
"Not that I know of. Let's just wait for a few minutes and see. It will probably move on its own once its done eating." He said already flipping out his pack of cigarettes and getting out to smoke.
I groaned internally. Great! We are going to end up wasting even more, time now. It was already past 2 pm as it is. My small hopes of getting there atleast in time to catch some last remnants of lunch started slowly fading away. Sanjay knocked on the car window and showed his half finished bottle of whiskey offering me a drink. I shook my head politely declining his offer to fill my stomach with alcohol instead of any real food.
I looked ahead at the elephant willing it to move away and clear our path. But the elephant didn't seem to be in any hurry to finish its task at hand as it kept on chewing away leisurely whatever it was eating without so much as budge.
Minutes kept ticking away. Sanjay helped himself to another 4 pegs of whiskey and finished smoking 2 more cigars. Finally after what seemed like eternity the elephant finally started to move again throwing us a casual side glance which looked suspiciously like it was smirking before disappearing into the woods.
"Thank God!! Finally..." I muttered as Sanjay got back inside the car and started the ignition. The journey resumed once again. I couldn't wait to reach the resort now. And roads didn't make it easy. It was narrow, uneven, and looked wet and clogged with water due to some recent rain and the sides were steep falls since we were steadily climbing to a high range now. About one hour more hour must have passed when Sanjay finally got off the road to a dirt track and I could finally see the resort in the distance.
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A Taste of the Wild
RomanceDeepika is convinced she is having one of the unluckiest days of her life when everything seems to go against her on the fateful day her husband takes her along for a trip to a jungle resort where he was holding a get away party for his employees. F...
