Chapter 8
On the fourth day in the rainforest and nonstop running around the national parks, the crew came back to the hotel sooner than planned because of a looming storm. She dusted off her shoes, clothes, and her camera bag with a brush for any lingering bugs before stepping into her room.
The bite she got the night she arrived was still healing, and she was glad she didn’t have to care for it much after the first day. She went straight to the bathroom hoping to wash off everything she had collected on her skin along with the soreness in her muscles.
Her body felt stiff as if she had been cooped up in a plane for hours when she had been spending most of the days outdoors. She has been arriving dead tired to her hotel room the past few days and would fall asleep just thinking about how much fun she had.
Ariya’s phone was ringing when she stepped out of the shower.
“Hi, Siri.”
“Hey, jungle girl, how are you doing?” Her sister laughed.
“I am so tired, it is not funny, but I love, love, love it here.” Ariya smiled at her sister.
“I haven’t seen you so happy in such a long time. You looked so stressed on your previous assignments.”
“No… I enjoy all my assignments.” Ariya scrunched her nose.
“This assignment seems a lot more enjoyable I suppose… hot celebrity?”
“Gosh, stop it,” she growled at her sister.
“Is he not hot?” Siri teased.
“Yes, he is. He is not the only reason I’m having fun. Stefan is here, and I like working with the crew.”
“Is Stefan trying to keep you away from the celebrity?” Siri asked, curiously.
“No… Veer… Veer is not bad. He is not like a typical celebrity. He is different.”
“Oh… he is different, huh?” Siri teased.
“Yes, and I like working with him because he is nice. He does his job well and lets me do my job.” Her voice was suddenly elevated.
“Nice, huh?”
“Yeah… I still don’t know what the other photographers did to piss him off.”
“Well, he might have been the cranky one,” Siri retorted.
“No, he doesn’t seem to be…”
“Having a crush on a celebrity… Ariya?”
“Gosh, stop it, Siri. I said he was nice because he held my hair up when I was puking my guts out.”
“Oh… puking?”
Ariya rolled her eyes. “I threw up yesterday, because the ride made me sick.”
“Fine. Whatever!” Her sister pretended to be hurt.
“What are you up to? Mom told me you were close to picking a date for the wedding.”
“Yes, but I didn’t pick the date… the temple priest did, and we agreed even though it is four months out. Now, the location… wait for it… it is going to be at the Jaipur Palace Hotel in beautiful India.”
“Oh my… how exciting,” Ariya squealed.
“I can’t wait for you to be back because I need to start shopping.” Siri was excited.
“Siri, didn’t you just say you had four months.” Ariya rolled her eyes at her sister.
“I need to pick the outfit for my wedding and take the time to fit into that outfit.”
“Siri, stop it. You have no weight to lose.”
“I do have a few more pounds to shed, and I meant getting my flat butt into a perky kind of readiness.” Siri laughed, and Ariya shook her head. “Well, you have no idea what it means to have a flat butt. You have a nice cushion on your rear.”
“Okay, I will help you pick the outfit when I’m back.”
“How much longer…” Siri’s voice was lost in the sound of thunder.
“Wow, this is some storm,” Ariya said looking out of her window.
“Stay in your room, don’t go wandering off in the dark,” Siri ordered.
“Okay, I’m gonna go pick up something to eat and go to sleep. Tell Mom I’ll call her in the morning before I go on the river cruise.”
“Oooh… river cruise. Let me know how that goes.”
“Yes, I will. Love you. Bye.”
Ariya missed her mom and sister quite a bit when she was on assignment. She ended up spending a lot of her time with them and less in her apartment when she was not traveling for work.
Shortly after, Ariya went downstairs to the almost empty restaurant and ordered soup for dinner. She sat at the table with a couple of other crew members who were waiting for their food to take back to their room. The crew had been working tirelessly, and the storm turned out to be a blessing in disguise for everyone to catch their breath.
When her soup was ready, she took the bag and almost walked out of the restaurant and then decided to eat her meal on the covered balcony. The rain was coming down hard, but she wanted to enjoy the cooling effect the downpour brought that night. She settled on a table away from the splash and sipped her soup staring at the rain.
She loved the rainy season, and she missed the showers that were a relief from the heat and not the freezing rain in California. She loved the monsoons in India. She remembered playing in the rain as a kid when she visited family during her summer break. The last time she was in India on an assignment, it was during the monsoons, and she had a good time enjoying the piping hot street food in India.
She sipped the last spoonful of her soup gulping down the warm liquid before getting up to walk closer to the rain. A strong urge to walk into the rain enveloped her, but she knew better. She had just showered, and her hair was still damp. She slowly stuck her hand out under the rain, and the droplets felt heavenly on her palm.
Ariya walked to the side of the balcony that had a small flight of stairs leading to the picnic area behind the resort. She took off her sandals and stood on the very last step enjoying the feel of the drops on her bare feet. She wanted the feel of the rain on her face but without getting her clothes wet. She put her phone in her pocket and hugged the wooden pillar at the end of the staircase and leaned back to stick her face in the rain.
She moaned taking in the moment of bliss as fresh rainwater splashed on her skin and what was supposed to be a few seconds to feel the rainwater turned into minutes. Her hair was getting wet, but she could not get herself to step under the covering over the staircase.
“Seriously?” A familiar laugh cut through the sound of the rain and startled her. She opened her eyes to see Veer, and when the water rushed under her lids, instinct told her to let go of the wooden pillar and held on with one hand to rub the water away from her eyes.
She squealed in horror when she felt her other hand lose her grip on the rounded wooden pillar. She desperately reached for something and felt her fingers graze over warm skin and then she stopped falling, but only for a second.
Ariya heard Veer swear under his breath, and the next instant she landed but not on the wet, muddy ground but on Veer. He held her to him as she lay on him, the rain splashing on her back.
“Veer,” she gasped.
“Yes, you are welcome.” He laughed.
She pushed her body away from him by flattening her palms only to crash onto his chest again.
“Hang on,” he whispered into her ear. He held her to him for a moment longer, before giving her a boost to get off of him and out of the rain. It was less than a few minutes, but her clothes were drenched, and so were his.
Veer tried to wipe off the mud from his clothes under the rain before stepping under the shelter.
“What were you trying to do?” A small smile played on his lips.
“You startled me,” she growled, and he started laughing.
“You looked ridiculous hanging from the wooden frame.” He wouldn’t stop laughing, and that annoyed her.
“I was doing fine until you showed up.” She turned around to leave, but he wouldn’t stop laughing.
“Andy will have a field day when he hears about this.”
She stopped short and turned to look at him laugh. She came down the stairs to stand one step above him. “You are not talking to anyone about this. It is not funny. We could have gotten hurt if…”
“If, I hadn’t come to your rescue.”
She clenched her teeth and took a deep breath. “I was doing fine, enjoying my solitude until you interrupted.”
“I did?”
“Yes, and remember, we are not discussing what I was doing out here with anyone.”
“Say thank you.” His voice was suddenly soft, and he inched closer, making her lean back. His eyes bore into hers under the dim light.
“No. I won’t. You need to apologize for making me fall,” she challenged, staring at the intensity in his eyes.
“No. I won’t. Because I am not sorry I made you fall.” His voice was a low rumble.
She took a deep breath and leaned away from him. “Fine, we are even.”
“We are not,” he called out, laughing as she turned to leave the balcony.
“Yes, we are,” she called back without turning to look at him. She didn’t have to turn to look at him to know he had his eyes on her. She had started to pick up on something else from Veer’s manner, but she just couldn’t figure out what.
*****
The next morning, Ariya was the first one to pack her backpack and be ready to go on the river cruise. The plan was to shoot for three days along the Amazon River and to come back to the lodge and shoot the surrounding towns to close the show.
Ariya was halfway through her breakfast when Veer and Stefan walked into the dining area. She put away the book she was reading and smiled at both of them.
“Good morning.” Stefan yawned.
“Sleeping beauty didn’t get enough sleep last night?” Ariya teased Stefan.
“Apparently there was rain splashing on his face through the window,” Veer said coolly, and she almost choked on her bite of the omelet.
“What?” She looked at Stefan.
“You guys stop making fun of me,” Stefan pleaded.
Veer laughed and looked at Ariya but did not say anything. His eyes were riveted on her face, and she refused to look away.
“What did you order, Ariya?” Veer finally broke the weird tension that was building between them.
“Custom omelet.” Her voice was soft.
“Do you like it?” Veer prolonged the conversation, and she nodded.
“I’m gonna go order my food.” Veer turned and almost bumped into Andy.
Andy laughed stepping back. “Veer, wait until we get on the cruise to get drunk.”
“I have no eyes on my back, Andy.”
“Veer, what’s that on your arm?” Andy asked pointing to streaks of red on Veer’s skin. Ariya looked and almost choked on her food, for the second time. There were three very telling scratches on his arm, and she knew how he got them. She remembered her nails grazing over something before she fell, but it didn’t register at that time.
Her stomach coiled when Veer smiled and ran his fingers over the scratches. “I got attacked last night.”
“What? When? How?” Andy stepped closer.
“Andy, it’s nothing.”
“I can’t have you fall sick,” Andy grumbled not taking his eyes off Veer’s arm.
“Get over it, Andy.” Veer walked away leaving Andy and Stefan looking at each other not exchanging a single word.
Andy let out a sigh. “I don’t like him when he is so damn adamant.”
“Andy, Veer can take care of himself.” Stefan’s voice was calm, as always.
“Stefan, do you know how many people fall terribly sick because they get exposed to flesh-eating bacteria here in the rainforest,” Andy said, and a shiver passed through Ariya’s spine. She wanted to tell Andy and Stefan what really happened and how she ended up scratching him, but she didn’t want what happened the previous night to be a topic of discussion for the rest of the trip.
“Seems superficial, Andy.” Ariya’s voice wavered.
“I wish he’d tell us how he got the scratches, so we’ll know if he needs to be treated,” Andy grumbled, and Stefan patted his shoulder, nodding his head, indicating he would get the information.
Stefan waited for Veer to set his plate on the table and watched him sit down. “Veer, did you get those scratches when we were in the forest yesterday?”
“Nope.” Veer took a big bite of his omelet.
“So… when did you get them?”
“Last night.”
“Where?” Stefan maintained a calm tone.
“Here,” Veer responded without looking up.
“At the lodge?”
Veer nodded, chewing his food.
“How?”
Veer looked at Ariya only for a split second before shrugging. “Just happened?”
“Veer, why are you so secretive? How did you get the scratches?” Andy insisted, sounding worried.
Ariya felt the twist tighten in her stomach when she realized Veer was not talking about what happened the previous night because she had told him not to, just to avoid any unsavory rumors. Stefan and Andy continued to question him and also joked about him getting attacked by a kitten, but Veer ignored them and finally closed the conversation by walking away from the table. She felt crappy sitting at the table listening to Andy and Stefan continue to laugh about a kitten attacking Veer.
Ariya tried to talk to Veer to apologize and even thank him for respecting what she had asked, but she just could not get an alone moment with him. For the first time in the trip, Veer chose to ride the bus, and she hoped to talk to him then, but he sat next to Jerry, Andy’s assistant director. The three men were engrossed in their discussions all through the ride to the starting point of their river cruise.
She took pictures of the crew and went back to working on her computer. She hoped to start working on organizing the pictures and the outline of her story for the magazine she wrote. She was happy that her pictures she posted online were bringing Veer a lot of new followers and more awareness. The videos and pictures she posted of him got a lot of the environmental preservation groups to start looking at how to improve on the preservation plan of the Amazon rainforest animals.
She checked the pictures she posted every day and by far the picture she took of Veer, just before he got his hair cut, had the most responses. The second best is the one that Andy had posted of her and Veer. The comments on that particular picture were never-ending, and she stopped reading them. Almost every comment indicated how much the women want to be in her place in that picture.
Veer was everything a woman wanted—stunning looks, charming smile, gorgeous eyes. He had all the qualities for anyone to find him attractive just by looking at him. She admired his looks, but what she found more attractive about him was his work ethic, his genuine love for the animal kingdom, and most recently, his respecting her request even if it was like an order.
Ariya felt a strange shudder run through her when her eyes fell on him, and he happened to be looking at her at the same time.