Destined by Chance

Chapter 2

Simi couldn't believe she was doing this. 

But she couldn't say no to Preet, not after the way her wedding had been called off. Poor thing. She couldn't come to terms with something like this happening with Preet. She was such a fun girl. Pretty, smart, and successful at her job as an accountant. What a lively girl she was and yet.

 Simi had to give it to her cousin. Preet hadn't crumbled after the rejection she had faced in front of all the relatives and friends and that too a day before her marriage. She had stood proudly and faced everyone. The strength she had shown had made Simi respect her even more.

 Because she knew had it been her, she would have never come out of her room. Ever. What she couldn't understand was how Robbie could do this to Preet? How could he hurt the girl he had been in a relationship with for over two years? The girl he had been in love with supposedly? There was not one plausible reason Simi could come up with. 

The insensitivity of the man angered her. But it also scared her. The callous way with which things had just fallen apart...it was supposed to be a love match with both families fully agreeable. How come relationships ended in such a cold manner? One second and everything came to a halt. What of the love? The memories? The shared laughs and tears? The promises of being together? How could things end so abruptly, as if nothing mattered? Simi shook her head.

Was she going in the right direction? And she quickly checked the GPS. Yup, she was very much on the marked path. Another five miles. Damn, but the traffic was slow. She hated driving on hilly terrains and with so much snow around and more was to come if the weather reports were to be believed. She didn't want to be caught up in the storm.

 She shivered despite the heating in the car. It never did get so cold in her hometown. How she hated driving? One reason why her tiny apartment in Atlanta, Georgia was so near her workplace. She walked every day. To and fro. She had a car. A MINI actually. But it was more for emergencies than anything else. She even walked to most of the restaurants or grocery stores. It upset her family so much and made her the butt of jokes her friends cracked over her but she didn't care. She didn't like driving, she didn't like it. There was no hard and fast rule she had to. She hit the brakes hard as she suddenly realized the car before her had come to a complete halt. She released a drawn breath. Phew.

Why was she here again? Ah yes, because Preet had requested her, no begged her to come. And all because Robbie's aunt had booked a honeymoon suite for Preet and Robbie for five days all expenses paid, at a luxury resort in Tahoe, California. Since the marriage was cancelled the gift was now a burden than anything else. Only it could neither be refunded nor transferred. And Robbie's aunt was going ballistic over the waste of money. It was an expensive gift. While Robbie couldn't be found, Preet had felt it was her responsibility to find a solution as the gift had been meant for the both of them. That was the reason why she had asked Simi for the favor. Preet couldn't come alone because she was going to Vancouver with her parents, to escape the ugliness of what had happened. Besides she couldn't have come, it would have reminded her of Robbie. It was a honeymoon suite after all.

As Simi slowly eased her car into drive mode, she looked at the GPS for guidance. Again. Three and a half miles for the exit. How long was that going to take? She had been driving her rental car from the Sacramento airport, and it shouldn't have taken her longer than three and a half to four hours to reach, only she had been driving for over seven and all because of the wretched snow and the long lines of traffic. Christmas right. Had Robbie's aunt trying to give the couple a gift or was it a curse? After all, it was peak time for traffic everywhere. Her idea of a fun honeymoon. Who was it fun for? Simi had no clue. She shook her head. 

The magical time of the year. She had yet to understand why people felt that way. She had believed in it too, once, when she had been a kid, when she hadn't known any better, but as she had grown up, she had lost all interest in it. It was all about the vacation, the deals people got in stores and spending money these days. The spirit of the whole thing was lost. She sighed.

 Exactly when had she become this caustic towards things? She recalled her dad's reaction to Preet's broken engagement. 'How could you not have known the boy was irresponsible?' he had said to her uncle, Preet's father. 'You should have given Preet more sense than freedom to make her own choices, look where it has landed her' he had said strictly. 'Look how I have raised Daljeet and Ramanjot' he had said proudly. 'Look at their partners'. 'You have failed as parents' he had yelled and nobody had had the guts to tell him to mind his business. 

But that is how her father had always been. An overachiever, one of the most successful neurosurgeons in the world. And his kids had been the same. With the exception of... her. Where her brother Daljeet was the top attorney in criminal law, her sister Ramanjot was a well-known gynecologist. Their spouses were equally successful. Daljeet's wife was a dentist while Raman's husband was a pediatrician. And she...she was just a teacher. 

At least her family saw her profession that way. There was not much respect for her within her family fold and so it hadn't been surprising to hear her father exclude her from the example he had given her uncle. She didn't matter to him. Dr. Prem Sardana had no patience for anyone who wasn't as successful. Her mother Geet, was only interested in getting her married off. That was all. Simi sighed. Her siblings had no time for her either.

 So, in her own family she was the invisible one. They didn't see her. They didn't hear her. Besides all of this, her father was one of those who liked to bear down on people. Dominating any conversation or situation was his favorite hobby. It was always about his opinions and notions. It didn't matter what anyone else thought or felt. There were always two choices. Either you agree with him or you agree with him. Anything else wasn't acceptable. Another thing why nobody took it upon themselves to interrupt him and tell him otherwise. It was seen as a foolishness to cross her father. And everyone in the family knew it. Including her.

But Preet had treated her differently. Always. Unlike her siblings she had always been warm and more receptive, asking her to change her attitude. To believe with conviction in what she did. To stand up for herself. To get out of her shell and be proud of what she had achieved. And for that alone she was grateful to her cousin. Besides Preet had always been telling her that she led a boring life. She needed to let her hair down once in a while. Be more carefree. And not careful, all the time. So she had agreed. This was the first time Simi was doing something unexpected. She was not a spontaneous girl. She was a very planned girl. A very careful, cautious sorts. So to go to a resort pretending to be someone else...Simi sighed again.

And she was nervous. She had every right to be. The problem that no one had thought of and which had hit her only halfway down to the place she was going was that she had no husband with her. Wouldn't they ask her about it? It was supposed to be a honeymoon suite after all. She hoped not. Because if they did, she didn't have any idea what she would do.

And with that she took the exit that led to the resort.

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