Destined by Chance

Chapter 9

She was a fool. Such a big one at that. What would Neil think? That she was a five year old instead of twenty eight. Simi couldn't stop berating herself for her actions last night.

Once they had had dinner together over some light hearted talks. She had found out more about the man. He was an avid reader too, when he had time from work of course. And his knowledge had amazed her.

She had always considered herself superior to her siblings and friends in at least one aspect and that was knowledge on various subjects. Where her brother was a walking talking google on law and her sister a master of everything related to her profession, they both lacked the thirst for knowing more. For going beyond what they knew. Her father was a similar case. As for her friends well, some weren't into reading at all, and some were only into magazines and gossips. It was strange she had never known anyone who was into extensive reading and not just related to their professional fields. Not even Preet. Simi was the bookworm of the whole lot.

But after last night she had to agree that she wasn't anywhere near what Neil knew. Of course, his heritage was a major influence. Or so she had gathered when Neil had told her that both his parents are avid readers too and so he kind of inherited the same from them. Besides he was a Senior Global Manager for marketing in his company and he travelled often to various countries, hence, he liked to know more about the cultures and social setups so he could target his audience.

What she had also found out, and which had surprised her was that he wasn't in touch with anyone from his mom's side or even his dad's side for that matter. In short what he knew of either cultures was because of either his travels or stories from his parents or what he had read.

He did know more about customs, festivals, language in Scotland than in Bengal though and that was because his father was a bit particular about those. His mother wasn't. Simi had found it really weird. She knew that most Indians settled outside were more particular about following customs, festivals and such things because of the distance from their homeland. The diaspora was more involved in these things than people back home, hanging onto their roots in order to give a similar environment to their kids who were being brought up in different countries with different cultural and social values. They did like to carry a part of their heritage with them everywhere they went.

Her own father who was a neurosurgeon, and had been in the US since the time when it used to be a novelty to come across the seven seas, preferred to speak in Punjabi at home than English. It was a norm to be followed at all costs. The food her mother cooked was Indian too. For everything else there were restaurants. The customary visit to Gurdwara every Sunday and then performing sewa too. That was the childhood she and all her siblings had had. She still visited the Gurdwara every Sunday. She spoke in fluent Punjabi despite being born and brought up here. Bollywood movies were her favorite. And old Hindi songs were something she loved to listen even today.

Neil did nothing of the sort. He hadn't visited a temple in years. He didn't celebrate Holi or Diwali or Durga Puja. He had friends who were Indians and who were gung ho about the festivals but he only visited their parties and that too if he had time.

If he was surprised at her knowledge of things he didn't show. Neither did he show any appreciation or disdain of how she had been brought up. How had she felt? Besides being astonished she hadn't felt anything else. It was just the way he had been brought up that's all.

He might not know old Hindi songs or didn't watch Bollywood flicks or not go to the temple but he did know about the culture, about the religion, about the people. Wasn't that more important? Most didn't these days. Why one celebrated a festival or why one covered their heads in Gurdwaras, if one was to ask most wouldn't know. Because that is how it is done and that was it. But Neil knew. That did say a lot about the man. In all she had summed him up to be a decent guy, intelligent, smart and ****y as hell. Simi never swore as a rule. But she had no option. The man was downright ****y and that was where most of her problem lay.

She had been attracted to him since the beginning. Since the second she had laid eyes on him. But she was sure he didn't feel that way. He would never feel that way. And she had wanted to cry. Why couldn't she have been born with good looks too? Her sister had. A typical sardarni with long hair, fair skin, high cheekbones, big eyes. She was a beauty with brains. And Simi had felt her heart sink.

And then those eyes of his. They were mesmerizing. That green color, played tricks. She could swear on it. With the ever changing light from the fire place the bloody color changed too. What she had thought of brown flecks at first were actually a deep gold.

What would it be like if just for this once Neil felt the same way about her? That he felt a little attraction for her too? She had begun to sound desperate and so she had to mentally shake herself and get a grip on her.

She had qualities too. And it would be better to remember that. Physical beauty was only skin deep. Hadn't she drilled that thing in her head? So it was better to remember that. If one couldn't look past the physicality of a person, then he or she wasn't worth the effort, no matter how good looking.

By the time they had finished dinner, her mood had taken a plunge. Towards the downside. She had felt grouchy and very peevish. She had grown quiet too. As the list of Neil's attributes increased by the passing second. He was warm. Considerate. Polite. Well mannered. Humorous. And he didn't even mind her sudden changes of mood. He took it all in stride. Which told her in no uncertain terms that he had more going for him than just his good looks.

She was so irritated with her thoughts that she had done the unthinkable. When he had changed and they had gone off to sleep according to their arrangement she had quietly risen and then placed a chair under the knob. He had told her before wishing her goodnight that if he needed to use the bathroom in the morning and she was still sleeping, he would make sure to be as quiet as possible. But she had stopped that possibility from happening by placing that chair. Because now he wouldn't be able to enter. She had reasoned she didn't trust him. But she knew that wasn't the case. As they had talked last evening she had found her trust growing. And still she had gone ahead and done something as stupid.

When she had woken up around seven thirty. The storm had passed though the sky was still dark grey. She had stretched her arms and then sat up. She had slept soundly without a worry. And then she had spied the chair. At first she had been puzzled but then remembered how it had gotten there in the first place. She had rushed to remove it. And opening the door cautiously she had peeped into the other room. The blanket Neil had taken was neatly folded and kept on the arm of the couch. And that was probably the only sign that he had been there. Because the man in question was absent along with his laptop.

Simi had squeezed her eyes tightly and groaned. Where was he? Oh man. What if he really had to use the washroom? Had he tried to open the door and realized it was blocked? Would he hold it against her? She still had four days to spend with him. Here. Maybe she could leave early. But wouldn't that look suspicious. She had looked out at the angry grey skies and piled up snow on the walkways below and realized she wasn't going anywhere in this weather. It would be hazardous. It didn't get this bad in winters in Atlanta. She had shaken her head and walked back to shower and order breakfast.

So here she was chewing on her toast and worrying what Neil might think of her behavior. She didn't have to be great looking but then she didn't have to be behave stupid either. She took another bite off her toast when the key in the door turned and it opened. Simi turned her head feeling contrite and guilty as Neil stepped in.

Would he understand? Or would he berate her?

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