One Indian Girl(62)

‘That’s what we do. We close deals, Marcos,’ Neel said.

‘Wonderful. You are staying for several days this time, I hope,’ Marcos said as he signed the documents. ‘Stay on a different island each night.’

‘I wish,’ Neel said. ‘But there’s a lot of work back in Hong Kong. We will leave tomorrow.’

‘Same place then? Pengalusian?’

‘Yes,’ Neel said.

‘You saved my people their jobs. Thank you so much,’ he said.

I collected all the documents Marcos had signed. Neel shook hands with Marcos.

‘Pleasure doing business with you,’ Neel said.



I stood in front of the mirror at the Pengalusian Island Resort and turned from side to side. I wondered if my black shorts and the white gunjee over my pink sports bra revealed too much. Neel had suggested a run before our deal-closing celebration dinner. ‘Let’s burn calories before we consume them,’ he had said.

‘It’s fine. Be cool about it,’ I said to myself and checked myself out one last time. Okay, so the shorts were a little too short. The gunjee was, well, a little too short too.

I met Neel at the reception area. He wore a blue workout T-shirt and black cycling shorts. He also had blue mirror-tinted Raybans on.

‘Wow, you’ve transformed,’ he said. The sunglasses covered his eyes. I couldn’t tell if he was staring at me. I thought he did. Maybe I wished he did.

‘I haven’t run in the longest time,’ I said.

‘We’ll just jog. Three rounds of the island?’

‘Two, please.’

He laughed.

‘Okay, let’s go,’ he said.

We jogged around the periphery of the tiny island. We had walked this route on our previous trip. However, today the island felt even more dreamlike. Despite the bright sun, a cool breeze kept the temperature just right. We jogged on the beach away from the water, which slapped lazily against the shore. Neel ran slower to match my pace. This way he remained only a few steps ahead of me. I noticed his muscular legs. He had perfect, sculpted calves. He ran in flawless, graceful form. I, meanwhile, gasped, kicked and panted through the two-kilometre route. I wanted to quit after the first round. However, Neel wouldn’t let me.

‘Enough,’ I said, holding my stomach.

‘Come on, you are doing great,’ he said.

For the second round he remained behind me. I looked back from the corner of my eye. I don’t know if he noticed my legs. It would have been hard to miss them, considering my shorts bunched up even more when I ran.

‘I am done,’ I said, gasping for breath as I finished the second round.

‘Mind if I run a bit more?’ he said.

‘Sure,’ I said and exhaled noisily.

‘See you in an hour for dinner,’ he said and ran ahead. Soon, he disappeared into the sand and green foliage of the island.

I went back to my room and showered. I opened my suitcase and took out a white flowing dress with a floral print. It seemed perfect for an island resort dinner. The dress had a deep neckline; I wore a bead necklace to cover it. I applied make-up, and created a smoky effect around my eyes. I realized I had not dressed up to look good since my New York days with Debu. Also, I noticed the name ‘Debu’ didn’t sting as much anymore. I applied perfume and translucent strawberry lip gloss. I looked at myself in the mirror one final time. If I made an effort I could look nice.

Will he like how I look? The question floated in my head. Mini-me scolded me, He may be friendly, but he’s still a partner, and married. Get it?





26


I arrived at the restaurant before Neel. I sipped a glass of champagne as I watched the sunset. He arrived twenty minutes later.

‘Sorry I am late. I ran extra rounds,’ Neel said.

He wore a linen T-shirt and beige shorts.

‘It’s okay,’ I said. He pulled out a chair and sat in front of me.

‘Wow,’ he said, his gaze on me.

‘What?’ I said.

‘You look. . .well, different,’ he said.

‘Good different or bad different?’ I said.

‘You look stunning, actually. This dress really suits you.’

He had given me his first direct compliment about my looks. While working on El Casa we had become freer in terms of talking to each other. However, we still maintained propriety. We didn’t discuss feelings, for instance. We didn’t make personal comments. In fact, we never even called each other a friend.

And yet, today his compliment didn’t feel out of place.

‘Thank you, Neel. That’s sweet of you,’ I said. There, I had become so much better at taking a compliment.

He removed his Birkenstock sandals so his feet could touch the sand. I kicked off my heels too.

‘Where’s my drink?’ Neel said and signalled the waiter. The waiter poured champagne for him.

‘So how do you feel after the run?’ Neel said.

‘Good,’ I said, ‘but I need to build my stamina. People older than me are whipping me and doing extra rounds.’

Neel grinned. The waiter brought us the set menu choices. I chose the vegetarian option. It consisted of an avocado and rocket leaf salad, followed by mushroom truffle pasta. Neel chose a seafood chowder soup and pan-seared salmon cooked in a mango salsa.