the various chances

chapter twenty two

Lily

We had an almost 20hrs flight and for the whole ride music played in my ears at volume low enough that doesn't damages my eardrums with occasional half hour breaks and Jeremy never took his hand from mine. His hand was there all along, other than occasionally lifting it off for popping some M&Ms.

We had landed at Mumbai airport and were waiting for our ride to arrive. Apparently our business partner had arranged our stay and rides which was very generous to begin with. It was 7 in the evening for the time zone of the country. The sun settling down the horizon, leaving the hues of orange and pinks to highlight the huge architecture of the city and turning it into a stunning combination of colours sprayed by nature.

A guy appearing to be in his mid-twenties, his name Ranjan picks us up. There was visible effort from his side when trying to make small talk; Jeremy didn't appear much interested so I continued anyway. He mentions various places where we could visit while we were at it for the trip. Also describes history of those places and the traditions regarding the same.

We made it to the hotel without Jeremy biting off the man's head because I had taken interest in keeping the man off his radar. Both the men take the luggage off the car while I stare at the hotel.

Some good 15-20 storey hotel, a blend of modern architecture with designing meeting the vibrant and colourful culture these people carried. Huge glass doors opened when 3 of us walked in. Magnificent carpet of some rich red shade lined up the floor, plants arranged at fixed distance to the walls and corners, chandeliers' golden falling every corner.

We make a right turn and turn to the reception. The rooms were booked under Jeremy's name. The man on the other side of the reception says, "Here is your room, Sir. Hope you enjoy your stay" and hands Jeremy the keys to the room. I tap the desk and ask Jeremy, "What about my room?"

"You are sharing with me."

I huff and silently seethe while jabbing an index finger to his chest, "NEVER." Turning to the receptionist I say, "You have another room available right?" He shakes his head and I hear Jeremy chuckle, this handsome idiot, I roll my eyes.

"Look, there has to be a room available" -I say. The reception guy shakes his head, "Sorry Ma'am but we are fully booked." "Why?" I whine. He winces a little before replying, "The Kapoor family is having an engagement party so they have the whole hotel booked."

I groan and drop my head. Jeremy taps his fingers on my forehead; I narrow my eyes at him and throw the accusation, "You could have told me about this." He shrugs, "Doesn't matters, we will have to share the room anyway." My eyes widen at the statement, "have you lost your mind! I did rather sleep on the couch of the waiting area" -crossing my arms across my chest.

"by all means" -he says- "you are free to do that but I am not going to allow that." He grabs a hold on my handbag and starts tugging me in the direction of elevator. "You are not leaving my eyesight in an unknown country" -he declares when we stop to wait for the elevator ride.

"Do you hear me?" his eyes held the certain determination his words held. I nod because words were refusing to come out when Jeremy's wild blue eyes were on me. The ding sound of the elevator opening breaks our stare competition. We hop in and ride to our floor.

The room had windows that showed the lights and life of the city, curtains of beige colour with a double bed in the middle and a dresser accompanied by a cupboard. We drag in our luggage with the help from a service guy. Jeremy lets himself fall on the bed face first and I hear him let out a sigh.

I understood his exhaustion because he'd keep an eye on me all along the flight. "You should go take a hot shower first", I suggest. He turns his head to me and sighs, "You sure?" I nod, "I'll unpack our bags till then." He gets back on his lower limbs, grabs clothes and necessities from his bag and heads to the bathroom.