Chapter 4 #2
‘Yes, she does. She always has done; even as a baby, she was almost always smiling. Almost.’ I gave him a meaningful look. ‘I’ve been so lucky.’
‘From what I see, she feels the same.’
‘Do you have children?’
He shook his head. ‘Much to my mother’s disgust, I’m afraid. Luckily, I’m still her favourite son.’
‘Ah!’ I grinned. ‘How many brothers do you have?’
‘None.’ His laugh was warm and infectious. ‘But three sisters so I have enough nieces and nephews to make up for it.’
I took another sip from the delicious cocktail and placed it down on a coaster on the glass side table next to me.
‘Do you live here? I mean, in the hotel? Or are you just visiting?’
‘Visiting. I’m very hands on with my businesses. I find that’s important so I like to drop in and meet with the staff, listen to any concerns or ideas they have, etc.’
‘How long have you been in the hotel industry?’
‘About twenty years now.’
‘You obviously enjoy it.’
‘I enjoy seeing other people enjoy it. But I also want the people I employ to be happy. I’m sure that sounds like a cheesy line but I really do believe that if your staff are happy, then most of your problems are already solved.’
‘That’s very enlightened.’
‘It makes sense to me.’
‘So what did you do before you built your hotel empire?’
Ashok laughed. ‘Hardly an empire.’
‘Yet,’ I teased.
He paused. ‘Yet,’ he replied with a broad smile. ‘I was a corporate lawyer before this.’
‘Ah. Not too much opportunity for dinner with your feet in the water there.’
‘Not much opportunity for dinner full stop unless it was billable.’ The handsome features momentarily took on a look of strain. ‘I hated it but my parents worked hard to pay for me to get a good education; I owed them.’
‘But surely if you were unhappy…’
‘I didn’t tell them. As far as they were concerned, I was living the dream.
I graduated in the top 1 per cent of my class at Cambridge, was scooped up by one of the top law firms in the city and then two years later was headhunted by a firm in New York.
My apartment had a view of Central Park and I wore four thousand dollar suits every day. ’
‘Wow. The shiny, polished surface was perfect…’
‘Exactly. But beneath all that, I was miserable. I barely slept, my diet was appalling and exercise was almost non-existent.’
It was hard not to notice that something must have changed as the impeccably tailored clothes he wore now only enhanced that Ashok apparently kept himself in pretty good shape.
‘So what happened?’
‘My parents came to visit. I’d planned a couple of days off but at the last minute, my leave got cancelled.
I was so mad.’ A shadow dimmed the smile behind his eyes.
‘I’d barely seen my family since I’d started work and then that happened.
I tried to keep it together, brush it off, but they weren’t buying for a moment. ’
‘It’s hard to hide things from people who know you well and care about you.’
‘Exactly. They didn’t say much but I think the fact that they were finally there after such a long time of not seeing them and me feeling so frustrated that I couldn’t spend time with them put it all into perspective.
Yes, I was earning a fortune, I had a great apartment and, from the outside, a fabulous lifestyle but I wasn’t actually getting to enjoy any of it and certainly not with the people that meant the most to me.
There was no balance. It was all work and no life.
’ He lifted his hands. ‘What was the point?’
‘So what happened?’
‘I handed in my notice, sold my apartment and moved back to India.’ He smiled ruefully. ‘Some would say that was rather a backward step.’
‘Some should mind their own business.’
Ashok laughed. ‘That is very true.’
‘So how did you go from being a lawyer to being a hotel mogul?’
There it was again, that deep, velvety laugh.
I was far from ready for any relationship, especially with a man who lived thousands of miles away, although…
I looked around. There were definitely worse places to live, especially when I thought of the cold, grubby slush that was apparently still adorning the pavements of home right now.
But something in his easy laugh, the relaxed body language, the simple enjoyment of a meal and easy connection sparked something deep in my soul.
Something I’d thought had long since shrivelled and crumbled away into dust. The woman I used to be.
My phone pinged and I checked the message as Ashok called over a waitress and ordered some coffees and then checked his own phone.
Met some people at the bar and chatting. You OK? Xx
Sasha’s text made me smile. How the tables turn as you get older. Now it was the child checking on the parent.
I’m fine. You carry on xx
She sent me a kissy face and I turned back to Ashok.
‘Let’s hear it then,’ I said, smiling at the waitress as she brought a large cafetière and placed it, along with two fine bone china cups and saucers, on the table in front of us.
‘Would you like me to prepare the coffee?’ she asked, a little shyly. Clearly, she knew who he was.
‘I’ll do it, thanks,’ he said.
She gave a little nod and hurried off. He leant forward and slowly pressed the plunger down before pouring the coffees and launching into his tale.