The NEXT Chapter

Landed

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have touched down in Amsterdam. The temperature outside is 1 degree Celsius. Hope you have a pleasant stay!"  'Well, I hope so too. That we do have a nice stay' muttered Neha under her breath. 

 After completing the formalities at the Airport, Neha and Karan collected their bags and started booking a cab to their hotel. The cab driver seemed nice and friendly. Though the country seemed cold and dull. It was something they had never experienced before. Neha spent every vacation in the hills, winter in this country was different. It was bitterly cold and not a ray of sunshine for the next couple of weeks post their arrival. 

The hotel they stayed at was located in a beautiful location and this would be their first home in Amsterdam for quite some time. 

Exhausted as they were, they decided to hit the bed straight away and then decide what needs to be done. Thankfully, Karan's friend came over with some hot food. 

The next morning, Neha woke up at 7 am and the sun hadn't risen by then. Though she saw a couple of people smartly dressed and walking out of the hotel. She even saw a hand full of people dressed as though it was summer. This confused Neha and made her put on a jumper and her jacket. "Eesh! Thats cold! I need to probably get into more layers of clothes." said Neha.

"I had warned you, don't go by what you see people wear. Especially you, who feels cold even at 25 degrees Celsius and is ready to cover herself up in a blanket in peak summers" mocked Karan. 

"Hey! 25 degrees is cold and just for the record, I don't cover myself up in a blanket in summer. Puhhleeasee!" said Neha rolling her eyes. 

Neha and Karan continued walking to the nearest store and exploring the area. As they were walking, they couldn't spot a single soul passing them by for nearly 5 minutes. They weren't used to empty roads or clear walkways. They were used to seeing a lot of people going about their business on the roads. The chaos and the chatter were something that she was already missing. Though the beauty of this place was something which she found difficult to explain in words. It said, that "you need to see it, to believe it". The sky was a different blue, the grass was a different green. The birds chirped louder than usual. Probably, the chirping seemed louder because there was no sound of traffic to drown it. 

Neha and Karan did face the usual challenges which people do when they move to a new country. It was fun for them as they had decided to make the big move and enjoy the process. Things like housing, taxes, bills, which side of the road to walk on, understanding the ways of public transport and so on. But with time these things got sorted. 

Within a month, Neha and Karan moved to their first rented house in this country. Life got busy with settling down and buying things for their new home. Once they settled, they got back to their routines. Karan went to his work every morning and Neha still wondered what she got to do with the time she finally had on her hand. 

The next few days of Neha's life went by pretty simply, but the human mind is such that you tend to complicate the simplest of things. She got what she wanted...TIME! 

In her case felt that the last 8 years went by in a heartbeat. She had made her job her life and there was nothing beyond that. She was to a certain extent living in her bubble and having a false sense of achievement.