UNSPOKEN BONDS

4. Close To Home

© archanaj1308 2026. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.

Few Days Later

The UAE never introduced itself gently.

It arrived like a contradiction-glass cities rising out of sand, silence sitting beside speed, tradition layered quietly beneath ambition that refused to stop growing.

For most people, it was a destination.
For Amritha Srinivasan, it had become something else entirely.

A temporary life.
Eight days had already passed.
Only two remained.

And somewhere between desert mornings and skyline nights, she had stopped feeling like she was just "traveling" and started feeling like she was briefly living inside a version of time that didn't ask anything from her.

Dubai had been structured, sharp-edged, almost mathematical in its perfection.Abu Dhabi had felt slower, more reflective, like the city itself paused before speaking.

But Khor Fakkan...
Khor Fakkan didn't behave like the rest of the Emirates. The weekend felt different in ways she hadn't anticipated.

It didn't perform.
It existed.

Mountains leaned into the sea like they had always known each other. The water didn't glitter-it breathed. Roads curved like they had been drawn without urgency. Even silence here had texture.

This was the place Sam had added.
Without asking her.
Without explaining.

Just placed it into her itinerary like a sentence that didn't need permission. And somehow... it fit better than every other lesser known places she had planned herself to visit around the UAE.

Jai Srinivasan rarely surrendered control of his schedule.

Even on vacations, he had a habit of checking emails before breakfast, taking "quick calls" that somehow lasted forty minutes, and pretending board meetings could not survive without him for a week.

Today, however, he had done something Amritha had not seen in a very long time.

Nothing.

He simply stood near the railing overlooking the Gulf of Oman with a cup of Arabic coffee from the famous Pentagon Cafe in his hand and watched the waves crash against the rocks below.

No phone. No laptop. No urgency. Just stillness.

And somehow that sight alone made every stressful booking disaster worth it.

Leela adjusted her sunglasses and looked at her daughter, who was suspiciously glued to her phone while smiling at absolutely nothing. That smile widened. Then disappeared. Then returned again.

Leela narrowed her eyes. "Who are you texting?"

Amritha nearly dropped her phone.

"No one."

"That was an aggressively guilty response."

"I was replying to Dhwani."

Leela looked unconvinced. "You smile differently when you text Dhwani. With Dhwani, you look dangerous. Right now you look... embarrassing."

"Amma!"

Jai turned around laughing. "Leela, let the girl breathe."

Leela folded her arms. "I will let her breathe when she stops smiling at her phone like she's starring in a Yash Raj film."