Destined by Chance

Chapter 13

Simi's muscles were sore. She groaned as she woke up. Her legs felt like jelly. With all that tubing and sledding and skiing. All in one day. Oh man. Agreed she was a thin person but that was naturally how she was. And since she had always been thin she had never felt the need to go to the gym and exercise. She rose from the bed as her lower back protested. And she quickly placed a hand on her back to keep from falling back on the bed. She had dozed off in the car and then again when she had returned to the room. She hadn't even changed. But she had had fun.

There was no denying that. She hadn't felt so adventurous or so confident in such a long time. They had taken Neil's SUV. The man drove a BMW. He sure liked to live his life well. But then he was single and earning well. So why not? And then he had taken her to the top of that snow covered hill. Of course she had been nervous. And she hated heights. They made her head spin so she had clung to him on the lift not that he had minded. He had just joked and made sure she was feeling okay. Once there she had felt as if she had witnessed the most beautiful sight ever. She could see the azure colored water nestled between the white snowy mountains. It had been a Glacier. Once. Long ago and then it had melted to form a lake. It was gorgeous. The beauty that surrounded her had woven its spell around her. And Neil had done nothing to break it. If anything he had made it stronger. Her heart had done nothing but sigh and skip beats all day long. Neil had of course made sure she had her basics right before she did any of that skiing. He had been so patient despite her constant failures. She had fallen at least fifteen times if not more.

"You are lucky," he had said.

"I fell at least fifteen times already Neil," she had told him morosely.

"Yeah, and you haven't broken a bone," he had cheered.

"When exactly did you start to ski?" Simi had asked. She couldn't resist it.

"Hmmm, let me think," he had said and stood there thoughtfully for about five seconds.

"Neeeeiiiillllll," she had said dragging his name.

"I was five," he had said grinning at her then continued, "and broken my ankle with my second fall," he had told her, "so you are lucky. You have fallen fifteen times and yet have to break a limb," he had said.

"I will never get a hang of this," she had told him.

"You sure will," he had said confidently, "you are a natural. And you are doing so well, trust me I will have you down this hill in no time, just follow the instructions is all," he had said and shrugged.

The confidence in his voice had given her the boost. She had scaled the hill with him by her side. And she had felt mushy at the thought. It was wrong. And she shouldn't think that way. But there was nothing wrong in feeling happy every once in a while. She knew that after a couple of more days she might never see Neil again. Considering Robbie and Preet's marriage had been called off too. Or else she could have had the opportunity of bumping into him once in a while. Wishful thinking. She had told herself strictly. But once at the base she hadn't had the strength to go back again. And Neil had let her be. That is what she had liked the most about him. He hadn't made fun of her. Sure he had joked but the spirit had been right. It had in no manner of word offended her. It wasn't meant to hurt or humiliate. And Simi did have it in her to laugh at a good joke even if she was at the end of it. She had enjoyed his company. To the T.

The attention she had got. She hadn't even considered the threat of losing her heart to this man. Because if she had then she would have lost the charm. And she had been awed when she had spotted him skiing. Oh man. He was a pro to say the least. At least he had looked that way to her. The fluid motion of that body scaling down the hill with a dust of snow behind him. The smooth moves. The flawless technique. The power and strength it took. It was a beautiful sight and one she wasn't forgetting anytime soon. And she had wished she could ski like that. To be able to go down that path with him. He had taken five turns. Before he had decided it was getting too crowded and with amateurs in the way he was done.

They had shared lunch together. And the conversation had been light and fun. At no point had she felt pressured. Neither had she felt uncomfortable. He was an easy guy to be with. He was carefree and yet he was careful. There had been that time when the waitress had almost dropped the hot soup on her lap but Neil had steadied the tray before the accident could take place. He had noticed it even before the waitress had. There were so many guys she had met as prospective grooms and none of them had shown any sensitivity or observation skills. Sometimes it had been a pain to even talk to them or sit there patiently for them to finish a litany of their achievements. Neil did nothing of the sort. He hadn't looked down at her for her choice of profession and this was when he himself was successful at whatever he did.

Agreed, he wasn't a prospective groom but the easy acceptance of who she was and what she represented had lifted her confidence in herself. She had felt respected. Best he wasn't pretending about it, he believed in it. And that made her like him even more. After their lunch they had gone tubing. She had screamed the snow down but she had had fun. It was fun sometimes to scream. Wasn't that what people did in giant wheels or roller coasters. He had accompanied her on the second round. She had still screamed. And laughed later on. Next they had gone sledding. That had been the most fun of all. With him sitting behind her and arms loosely around her to hold the reins, it had made her feel safe. Secure. She hadn't felt unsafe with him at all. He had taken care of her. Made sure she was alright. He didn't have to but he had and that had made her heart go mush all the way.

He was a responsible person and she had seen it with her own eyes unlike Robbie. And she had recalled how she had likened him to his friend the day before. It had shamed her somewhat...but he hadn't seemed to mind it so she had cast the thought away. Only thing she had tired out. Not just physically. Her constant thinking about the man and evaluating her reactions to him through the day had tired her mentally too. She didn't know what to make of her reactions to him anymore and so she had dozed off in the heat of the car. He had woken her up once they had reached the resort. Snow had begun to fall by the time they had reached. And then she had crashed again when she had reached the room.

Simi washed her face and then used her moisturizer. She was thinking of whether to change into night clothes or evening clothes of some sort. She didn't have many. She had travelled for a wedding so most of her clothes were traditional Indian wear. All she had was one dress she had worn for the cocktail party and a couple of jeans and sweaters. They weren't exactly evening clothes. Hmmmm. Maybe she should buy a couple of things from the boutique in the resort. Only boutique clothes were expensive.

As she pondered over the lack of her wardrobe and budgeting she hoped after spending an entire day with Neil there won't be room for any awkwardness to creep in. What was he doing? Well, she could go and find out. And she would once she was done deciding about clothes. Something was buzzing. And Simi angled her head to hear better. It wasn't the alarm was it? But she hadn't set it. Her phone. It was her phone. She rushed to the room to take the call. Who was calling her? She quickly glanced at the small clock on the bedside and she searched the bed for the handset. Where had she kept it? Five to seven. It wasn't as late. She found it. Under the pillow. As she looked at the caller id she groaned. It was her mother. What was she doing calling her up so late? Well, Simi's mother was on the east coast and Simi was on the West. A three hour time difference. It was ten in the night in Atlanta. And by rule her mother went off to sleep at nine thirty. Every day. Unless there was a party. Simi just hoped all was well.

And with that she took the call.

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