Destined by Chance

Chapter 10

Neil had woken up early. He had a conference call to take. And he knew that despite the headphones his voice would stream into the other room and disturb Simi. He hadn't wanted that. She had been so tired last night, she had almost fallen off to sleep while standing by the door waiting for him to leave the room with his blanket. Poor thing. And so he had folded his blanket, out of habit and taken his laptop and headphones along with him.

He had gone to sit at the twenty four hour café with a cup of strong coffee and taken his call. He was happy it had gone well. He was to travel to Hong Kong in the second week of January for the launch of their new product. There was an event. And he had wanted to make sure that things were in order before people left for Christmas holidays. Next fourteen days, most offices were either closed or low on staff with everyone celebrating first Christmas and then New Year. He had stretched his arms over his head and looked at his wrist watch. It was seven. Already. He had ordered another coffee. And then sent out a few more emails.

He could work through the holidays since he was here. Or he could take a break for the next four days just as everyone else and then begin once he was back in LA. But he had come here precisely for that reason alone. That he could work in peace. So why was he rethinking?

Nothing had changed. Except he had had an amazing dinner last night. It wasn't the food. It was the company. A very interesting company. It had started out all awkward and then slowly gotten animated. Books were clearly Miss Mouse's favorite topic. And he had been amazed at the amount of knowledge she had. There was no confusion or nervousness where her ideas or opinions were concerned over cultures, history, social issues. She seemed extremely confident and very vocal.

He wasn't all that surprised to know that she was a teacher. He had thought of her as a librarian before. And she did have reading glasses. Something she had sheepishly admitted to. He had laughed at that. He had been glad she hadn't taken an offense. She had joined in a few seconds later. Then they had spoken about a few other things.

He had noticed his not being involved with the customs or traditions from the Indian side of his parentage had not sat well with her. She had seemed surprised. But that was okay. A lot of his friends too had wondered about the same. He hadn't. He knew about India as a country and everything else it entailed but he wasn't into going to temples or doing venerations or keeping fasts. His mother hadn't been a stickler for it. She was more of a free thinker. Doing what one believed in than following age old traditions without giving any thought to it. That was what Protima Roy, his mother, had always told him.

His father on the other hand was very possessive of his cultural identity and traditions and so maybe Neil had to participate a bit more in that part of his heritage. Iain Mackay was not the kind of person who wouldn't take insult if one of his own kith or kin made a slip. He would. And when he did, it was pandemonium. Most times.

But Miss Mouse had seemed surprised that Neil didn't watch Bollywood movies or knew Hindi songs too. Well, he had never felt the need for it. His reasoning was, just doing all of that didn't make you a true Indian or otherwise. There was more to each culture than just popular representatives.

He did know a bit of Bengali and Gaelic and he was happy. There was no need for him to interact in those languages because he stayed here, in the US. Hell, he didn't watch any of the Scottish movies or know any songs except for maybe 'Auld Lang Syne'. Everyone who was even remotely associated with Scotland knew that one. And he did too. But that was the extent of it.

He believed in the Hindu philosophy and that was exactly how Hinduism had come into being. It was a philosophy, idol worship or customs or festivals had arrived much later. Hinduism was all about the way of living. The Upanishads, the Vedas all talked about it. Including Bhagavad Gita. Sadly most people didn't know that or did know but chose to not follow it. But that was a point of opinion. And he wasn't used to contesting it. He had never been a fan of debating faiths and value systems.

As for his Scottish heritage, well, he followed similar attitude towards it which often proved to be a bone of contention between him and his father. It wasn't as if he was against the Scottish customs and traditions but he had always wanted the freedom to be able to decide for himself. He did enjoy the best of both sides though. Whether it was food or language or culture. But he wasn't a stickler for those things. If one's attitude wasn't right what was the use of going to the temple every day and breaking a coconut or trying to project one's superiority over another just because you believed you were a superior race. It just wasn't his cup of tea. He respected all cultures and communities with their peculiarities. Because each of them had it. Extremism of any kind didn't sit well with him. Hence, his resolve to not try and prove who he was to people. He knew who he was and that was enough.

Coming to the girl he was sharing the suite with, he was intrigued by her display of various emotions. She had been awkward then animated and then slowly grown quiet. Shrinking within herself. She had seemed thoughtful but by the time he had wished her goodnight she had seemed irritated. And he hadn't been sure exactly why was that.

She had looked cute though. With her hair piled on the top of her head. He will need to get his head checked if he really found her cute in those silly pajamas and sweatshirt of hers. How long had it been since he had seen a girl wearing that combination? Since he couldn't remember he was sure it had been a very long time. The circle he moved in, even the notion of that combination for women was outdated. But despite that he had found her cute. Maybe if she got her clothes right and her hair styled a little she could look amazing. Maybe she liked herself that way. He had a friend who was into vintage things. A lot. Right from her hairstyle to dressing style to things in her home, everything had a vintage look and she liked it that way. Others' opinions didn't matter. It was possible that Simi liked herself that way too. But then why was she so unconfident at times. Nervous even. As if she wasn't sure of herself. And then there was that conversation last evening or even when she had told him how she wanted their arrangement to be. It didn't add up.

It was as if she was two different people rolled into one. He should stop. It wasn't his problem. Why was he interested? So what if she had an intriguing personality. If she had issues with herself she was old enough to sort them out. She was twenty eight years old. He had read her birth date when she had handed her license to the receptionist yesterday. And yet he found his thoughts returning to her.

He closed his eyes and shook his head then rose from his chair and stretched his limbs. It was quite a downer when he had to just sit in one place for hours. He could go to the gym for a while. He didn't have anything else to do. Or...or he could go out. It wasn't snowing anymore. He picked up his phone and looked up the weather forecast. Another storm was to hit, but that was tomorrow. There could be a bit of snowfall today but nothing severe. A bit of skiing won't hurt anyone. And he did have company too. Shouldn't he stay away from her? He had told her he would mind his own business. But the possibility was too big to pass on. How would Miss Simi Mouse Sardana like to go skiing with him? He smiled. Mischievously. It would be fun to know.

And with that thought in mind he went back to the room.  

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