Chapter 3
Veer shut the door unable to handle the intensity in her eyes. He was used to seeing women’s eyes darken with lust within moments of laying eyes on him, and for her to stare him down when he was half naked and his solid body on display, caused him more annoyance. Her unaffected perusal was more irritating than the random call he received about his show. She had the darkest eyes he had ever seen and were stunningly unreadable. She seemed unimpressed by his celebrity status, and that even hurt his ego slightly.
He stepped out of his room a few minutes before seven for dinner and headed into the dining area to have every head turn. Women looked at him like they wanted to taste him, and the men just stared at him hoping to make him disappear.
That felt natural, not the look the toughie in the next room gave him earlier today.
Ariya walked into a crowded bar and restaurant that hosted tourists from all over the world and not just the guests staying at the lodge. She was yet to meet the rest of the crew, but tonight was about Mr. Celebrity. She scanned the room, and it took her less than a second to spot him. It was hard to miss the long, dark, wavy hair over his broad shoulders and the tapered-V of his back. She approached the bar where he sat looking out into the dense forest like he could see through the thick greenery.
“Something interesting out there?” She slid onto the barstool next to him.
“I can’t wait to go out there.” He continued to look out into the trees.
“We all want to, but for now, you are stuck with me.” She placed her notebook and pencil on the bar counter.
Veer almost spewed his drink when he saw her notebook. “You can’t be serious.”
“What?”
“Why do you have a notebook, you are a photographer?” He continued to laugh, but it surprisingly didn’t annoy her, maybe because he seemed genuinely amused and was not being cocky.
“Photographers aren’t allowed to take notes?”
“I’ve never worked with someone who took notes and definitely not at the bar. It’s an insult to my friend, Martha, here.” Veer winked at the pretty bartender.
“I don’t mind, Veer,” the bartender winked at him with her cheeks flushed.
“Fix her a drink, Martha,” he called out with his smooth voice.
“No, I’m good.”
“I insist.” He smiled.
She smiled at the bartender who seemed to be waiting eagerly. “I’ll get a virgin Mojito.”
“A virgin drink? When do you turn twenty-one?” He mocked.
“Been more than a few years, but that’s the closest to ‘a drink’ that I’m getting tonight. I don’t drink while on assignment.” She picked up her pencil and tapped the end on the notebook.
“Fine.” He shook his head.
“So… Would you like to tell me what kind of pictures you want for your profile?”
“You mean what I want or what my followers want?” He chuckled.
“Let’s start with you first. Why did you upload your very first picture on your profile?” Her eyes bore into his like she wanted to know everything.
He looked at her for a long moment like he couldn’t believe she asked him that question. “I wanted to connect with people, people who shared the love for the animal kingdom as I do.”
“And?”
He ran his fingers through his hair sheepishly. “I barely had a hundred followers for the first few months. I then uploaded a picture of a puppy, and a lot of people started following me.”
“You are talking about the picture of you with the puppy, right?” She raised a curious eyebrow.
“You checked out my profile?” He seemed surprised.
“Dr. Thakur, I do this for a living, and yes, I did see the picture.” She smiled.
“It’s Veer,” he said softly.
“Okay… Veer, the puppy is super cute but you being in the picture added a lot of value. I hope you realize that.”
He laughed. “Trust me, I do.”
“So, what is not working for you? You look great in the pictures, you have an exotic animal your followers want to know everything about. What’s missing?”
“Look… I’m not complaining about all the admiration, but that’s not what I’m looking for.”
“Are you saying people would stop following you if you don’t put your pretty face in every picture?” she asked casually.
“Wow… pretty face? Fine.” He took a big gulp of his drink pretending to be hurt.
“I have no time to spare your feelings. I have expectations to beat.”
“Nice, I like that.” He smiled.
“Not sparing your feelings?”
“No. Exceeding expectations and not just meeting the goal.” His voice softened.
“Well, I don’t think you want to stop at a million followers.” She snorted.
“Sure.” He winked.
“Going back to your pretty face… do you want to be in the pictures or not?
He shook his head taking a final sip of his drink. “I don’t want… speaking your language… I don’t want my pretty face in the pictures, I want me in my pictures.”
“I get it.” She wrote a note on her notepad.
“What did you understand? I’ve had this conversation with every photographer, and I want to make sure you get it.”
She looked up from her notepad. “You want to be in the picture as the guy who cares for the animals and not someone who is posing with the animals. You want people to appreciate your work and not just your pretty face and…” She stopped when she caught his unreadable expression.
Veer looked at her for a moment. “Stefan is right, you are good.”
“I’ll agree with you when I get you to a million and a half followers.” She made another note on the sheet.
“Do I get to see my pictures you took from the bus?” he asked.
“Sure.”
“Why did you take my picture?”
“Why wouldn’t I take your picture?” She scrunched her nose.
“What was it that compelled you to take those pictures?” It was a simple question, but she knew he was trying to make a point.
“The entire setting, the rain, and the fact that you were enjoying riding the horse.”
“That’s what I want in my pictures. The essence of the picture should be about how connected I am to the animal I am working with or talking about.”
She smiled and made a note in her notebook.
“Do I get to read your notes?” he asked, pretending to peek at her notebook.
“No. Why do you want to read my notes?” She scrunched her nose.
“Just curious to see if you wrote ‘pretty face’ in your notes.” He chuckled.
She closed her notebook. “You’ll never find out.”
“You ready to eat? We have an early start tomorrow.” He signaled to the bartender.
“Do you have any questions for me?” she asked softly.
“Do I have to ask you all the questions now? He retorted looking away as the woman approached them. “Would you be a darling and bring my buddy and me some food?”
“Anything for you, Veer.” The woman almost purred.
“Did you get a new follower as soon as you walked into the bar?” she laughed and bit her lip. She realized what she said was rude only after the words left her mouth. “Sorry, didn’t mean it that way.”
“Does it look like I despise the attention?” He raised a cocky eyebrow.
“I’ll be sure to sneak you in the picture without stealing the thunder from the cute animals.”
He laughed, tilting his head back making her senses come to life. He was laughing so hard she wondered what was so funny about what she said. “What’s so funny?”
“Steal the thunder?” He continued to laugh.
“Whatever!” She smiled enjoying the easy conversation. An hour back, she was convinced he was an arrogant celebrity used to people sucking up to him, but she was willing to accept that her first impression of him may be wrong and was excited about working with him.
*****
Later that night, Ariya pulled her long, thick hair into a ponytail before splashing water on her face. She was halfway through washing her face when she felt a burning sting on her neck. She squealed, slapping her soapy hand on her neck and felt a scaly object under her fingers.
She washed her hand and then her face and looked in the sink, but there was nothing. The side of her neck was starting to turn red, and the pain was becoming unbearable. Without a second thought, she ran to the connecting door, opened her side of the door and banged on the other with both fists.
Veer opened a few seconds later.
“Doc, something got me… my neck hurts.”
He stepped into her room. “Where?”
“My neck.” She touched the area, and her skin felt hot.
“Was it a spider?” He scanned the room.
“I don’t know. I was in the bathroom… I had my eyes closed and…” her voice trailed off when he got closer to inspect her neck.
“Did you see what bit you?”
She shook her head.
“Where were you?” he asked.
“In the bathroom.”
He took her by her wrist and led her back into the bathroom and looked around. “Was it a flying bug?”
“I don’t know what it is. I had my eyes shut and felt the sting. I slapped my neck and washed my hand. It felt crunchy under my fingers.”
Veer bent closer to the sink and inspected the sink and looked under it. “There’s nothing here. Can I check your neck again?”
“Yes.” She stood facing him and looked at her pale image in the mirror as he ran his thumb over the area that burned and hurt like someone scooped the flesh out from under her skin. She responded to his questions as he inspected the area.
“Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”
Veer was gone for less than thirty seconds, and he was back looking down into a small pouch in his hands. He looked up from the pouch and dropped it and its contents. “Fuck!”
Veer reached for her, his hand grabbing the back of her neck turning it to one side and the next moment, she felt his lips on her skin as he sucked on the side of her neck and spat into the sink.
“Stay put,” he hummed against her skin as his cool lips, and the warm burn from his facial hair surprisingly brought her relief.
She stood frozen, one hand on his shoulder looking at the image of her in the arms of a man who sucked away her pain. He let her go before he spat one more time washing his mouth at the sink. He squatted to pick up a small spray that had fallen from his pouch and brought it close to her.
“Close your eyes. This will sting a bit.”
She shut her eyes tight, her fingers fisting in the softness of his t-shirt, and he sprayed on what felt like fire on initial contact. She pulled back on instinct, and that was when she realized he held her to him with a vise-like grip.
“Don’t move. It’ll stop burning in a few seconds.” He blew softly on the spot of the bite sending waves of unidentified thrills through her body. She was in serious pain, but relief seemed to be exciting her in weird ways.
She opened her eyes that had a rim of moisture from the pain and met his concerned look. “Thank you! I… I feel much better now.”
“You got lucky tonight. I’m glad you had the instinct to knock on my door.”
“Benefits of having a neighbor who’s a doctor.” She managed to smile.
“It has to be something that traveled with you from outside. I don’t see any signs of bugs on the inside.”
“I haven’t stepped outside since I got here.” She took her hand to her neck to scratch the itch away, and he caught her wrist mid-way.
“Don’t scratch it. Did you put your bags in the storage unit on the bus?”
“Yes.”
“There you go… the local buses are homes to many bugs, and you brought yourself a pet that you likely killed and sent down the drain.” He laughed running his thumb over her neck.
“That feels so good. Please let me scratch.” She hissed making him laugh holding her wrists together.
“Don’t, and it’ll heal on its own. Let’s hope I got all the venom out.”
“I’m sure you did. You are a doctor trained to be a vampire.” She ran the tip of her fingers around the area where his lips had been a few minutes ago.
“Do you have painkillers with you?” He picked the pouch up off the floor and started looking through it.
“I should… I’m sure my sister packed some.”
He looked at her, his eyes narrowed. “She packed your stuff? You have Cinderella as your sister?”
“Older sister turned mom.” She smiled, stepping out of the bathroom behind him.
“It must be nice to have a caring sibling.” He smiled, placing a small container on the bedside table. “You can take two if the pain bothers you.”
“Thank you!” She had never expected her to be so at ease around him, especially after her initial encounter earlier that day.
“Take one more painkiller if you wake up in pain.” He turned to look at her from the connecting doorway, smiling.
“I’ll be fine and will be ready to go even before you are up.” She walked to where he stood, her chin held high.
“I guess we are not going out by ourselves. The network wants us to stay put until we find another guide team.”
“What? No.”
“Don’t worry, Stefan was able to find another team, and we will start tomorrow but will have a late start. Rest up the entire day, if you need to.”
“Hey, I can’t call in sick on the first day of the assignment.”
“Yes, you can. You should rest up. Doctor’s order.” He winked.
“You’ll need to tie me up to stop me.” She challenged playfully and saw his eyes darken as if in reaction to her words.
“You are a workaholic.” His voice was soft.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He ran his eyes on her neck making her feel his gaze on her skin. “I’ve been bitten many times, and I know how much pain you’re in. I’ll understand if you need to take the day off.”
“Good night, Veer. I will see you in the morning.”
“Good night.” He smiled, before turning away from her. She looked at him as he stepped into his room and closed the door on his side, his eyes trained on her face.