Olivia
‘How far away is this place?’ she asked, trying to match Jacob’s long strides as best she could, whilst swerving through the crowded streets.
‘Not far now, why?’ He turned to look at her, his face suddenly dropping in realization. ‘Wait, it’s not painful to walk, is it? Do you want me to slow down? Do you need to rest?’
‘No, I’m fine!’ she barked back. ‘I was just curious, that’s all.’
‘Well then, it’s about ten minutes this way.’ He nodded ahead.
‘Good.’
She had no idea why she was being so unbelievably horrid to this man. Maybe it was the throbbing in her legs, the
stinging of her palms, the intensifying heat that seemed to bore down through her skull into the very centre of her brain.
Or maybe you’re embarrassed at being so useless.
The thought made her body tense instinctively in defence. It was bad enough feeling inadequate by herself, but in the presence of another person … well, that was her idea of hell.
‘How long are you staying in Delhi for?’ Jacob pressed on, apparently undeterred by her impoliteness.
‘Three days.’
‘Not too long, then. Where are you staying?’
‘In a hotel.’
‘Didn’t fancy the full traveller experience, then?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘A cheap and cheerful hostel. Sharing a dorm with ten other people?’
‘God, no.’
The image of her depressing room appeared before Olivia’s eyes. Maybe a hostel would have been preferable.
‘Which hotel are you in?’
‘It’s not far from the centre. You probably won’t know it.’
‘Try me.’
‘Really?’ She was exasperated enough as it was, without indulging in his silly game.
‘Yeah.’
‘Fine, it’s called the Evergreen.’
‘You’re joking?’ He winced.
‘Why would I joke about that?’
‘Because that place is a shithole.’
‘Great. Say what you really think, why don’t you?’ Olivia snapped.
‘Sorry, but it’s the truth. Come on, you have to admit it’s a dump.’
Olivia could feel her sense of inadequacy rearing its ugly head again.
‘OK, I’ll admit it’s not the height of luxury, but how was I supposed to know that? I used a travel guide, and it came up as one of their recommendations.’
‘A travel guide that was probably written about twenty years ago by someone who came to India once, for about two days. Things change around here by the minute. Sometimes it’s better to turn up somewhere and feel out an area before booking anything,’ he replied casually, his blasé attitude grating on Olivia’s already wearing patience.
‘And that’s your expert advice, is it? Just turn up somewhere and “feel it out”,’ she scoffed, adopting a terrible impersonation of his cool nonchalance.
He steered them around another corner.
‘Yeah, it is. It’s always better to get to know a place through experience.
’ He raised his sunglasses and fixed his eyes on to hers.
They were so dark, like pools of liquid liquorice.
Olivia felt unnerved looking straight into them.
‘Nice impression of me, by the way. Although I like to think I sound slightly
less arrogant than that.’
Olivia’s cheeks coloured with embarrassment.
‘But in all seriousness, I wouldn’t leave the hotel after dark, if I were you. You’re not staying in the best part of town.’
‘Thank you. Any other pearls of wisdom you’d like to bestow on this clearly inadequate traveller?’
‘Erm …’ He tapped his chin. ‘Always look where you’re going when running down the street. Stops you banging into people and hurting yourself.’
Olivia felt her blood boil under her already overheated skin.
‘Come on, I’m only messing around.’
‘Well, I’m not in the mood for jokes right now.
I’m tired and hot and I want my phone sorted so I can get back to my shithole hotel, call my best friend who I haven’t spoken to since I landed, clean up my open wounds, which are probably already a bacterial breeding ground, and not be judged by some random stranger who keeps taking the piss out of me. ’
‘Wow.’ Jacob stopped and held his hands out in apology. ‘Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to annoy you.’
Olivia wiped the sweaty strands of hair away from her face and gave a disdainful sort of sniff, desperately trying to calm her racing heart.
‘It’s fine, just get me to the phone shop in one piece and I won’t care.’
‘We’re nearly there, I promise.’
Jacob started to walk again, falling in step with Olivia, who was feeling a lot better after her little outburst.
‘How come you know India so well, then?’
Jacob looked a little startled at her attempt at conversation but quickly recovered. ‘It’s not my first time taming the beast.’
‘You’ve been here before?’
‘This will be visit number three.’
‘No!’
‘Yes.’
‘You’re telling me that after being here twice before, you decided to come back again
? What for?’
‘Oh well, you know.’ He shrugged. ‘The slow pace and tranquillity mainly.’
A small smile tugged at the corner of Jacob’s lips, and Olivia couldn’t help but return it.
‘I thought London was bad, but this …’ She waved at the long line of honking vehicles that rolled past them. ‘This is another level.’ A sudden longing gripped Olivia’s chest as she let her mind wander to the damp, grey streets of her home city.
‘London is child’s play compared to this.’
‘Is that where you’re from?’
‘Just outside. Although I’m not sure I would call it home any more.’
‘Why, how often do you go back?’
‘I don’t.’
‘Don’t what?’
‘Go home,’ he replied indifferently, steering them round a corner.
‘Wait a second.’ Olivia recoiled. ‘How long have you been travelling for?’
‘About five years.’ A flicker of emotion passed over his face, and before Olivia could try to decipher its meaning, Jacob grabbed her arm and jerked her sideways. ‘We need to swing a left here.’
She just about managed to steady herself as they turned down a densely packed side street, questions firing like popping candy inside her brain. Before she had a moment to grasp one and ask it, Jacob stopped suddenly.
‘Here we are!’ He clapped his hands together in satisfaction. ‘I told you we weren’t far.’
Olivia looked up. They were standing outside a large white building with a gigantic red Airtel sign above the door.
‘Safely delivered to the doorstep, madam. Now, is there anything else I can help you with? Half-decent hotel recommendations?’
‘No, thank you.’
‘Are you sure? I know some good ones.’ He leant back against the white wall.
‘As will Google, when I get my phone sorted.’
‘Touché.’ He ruffled his mop of hair and smiled. ‘Well, Olivia, it was a pleasure to meet you.’
If only she could say the same.
‘Just think,’ he continued, ‘who knows where you would have ended up if I hadn’t bumped into you? Destiny is a funny thing at times.’
‘Oh yeah, thank you, Destiny, for throwing me to the ground and leaving me battered and bruised.’
Jacob gave a deep laugh. ‘The universe works in mysterious ways, Olivia. Sometimes you just have to trust it.’
‘Sure, whatever you say.’ She pushed open the door to the shop, releasing a blast of cold air on to the streets. ‘Thank you for the help though.’
‘Like I said, it was a pleasure. And hey’ – he began to walk away, a look of childish mischief on his face – ‘you never know. I might see you around some time.’
‘I doubt it!’ she called after him. ‘India’s a big place.’
‘I know …’ He was far enough away now that he had to shout to be heard, his sun-kissed figure slowly being swallowed up by the crowd. ‘But who knows what fate has in store for us, hey?’
And before she had a chance to counter his stupidity, he was gone.
*
‘Can you hear me?’ Olivia shouted at the phone screen. Kate’s face remained frozen; a blurred snapshot of familiarity.
‘Kate?’ She tried again, lifting the phone higher up into the air and swinging it from side to side. ‘Are you still there?’
A small flicker of movement. ‘I can h-he-hear you. Can y-yo-y-you hear m-m-me?’ Her friend’s voice crackled through the speaker.
‘Kind of.’ Olivia scowled, trying to keep her frustration at bay and resisting the urge to throw the stupid phone across the stupid, stuffy hotel room.
‘How is it?’ Kate asked, her face finally unfreezing.
‘It’s fine.’
‘Just fine?’
‘I won’t say Delhi is my favourite
place in the world.’
‘How come? You’ve only been there a day.’
A day too long, in her opinion.
‘It’s pretty intense and quite overwhelming.’ Olivia tried to keep her voice light. ‘And you know how much I hate chaos.’
‘True, that is very true.’ Kate sighed, brushing a strand of her ginger hair out of her eyes. ‘But I’m sure you’ll get used to it soon.’
Olivia highly doubted that.
‘By the way, where are
you?’ Kate’s eyes squinted. ‘It looks like some sort of prison cell in there.’
Jacob’s arrogant voice rang out in her head.
That place is a shithole.
She felt the tension build in her body, as she tried to shake the thoughts of the smug stranger from her mind and concentrate fully on the screen in front of her.
‘Not far off it.’ The contempt in Olivia’s voice was blatant. ‘Turns out my hotel isn’t quite the four-star accommodation I was promised.’
‘Jesus Christ! That’s
supposed to be four-star? You should sue.’
‘You think this is bad? You want to see the bathroom.’
‘Ew, no!’ Kate scrunched her nose. ‘Why don’t you leave and find somewhere else?’
‘I don’t know … it’s a lot of hassle to move all my stuff, and I’ve already paid for the room. I’m sure I can survive a couple of nights here.’
It spoke to how much Olivia hated admitting defeat that she was willing to submit herself to two more nights sleeping in this hellhole.
‘Hmm, rather you than me! But as long as you’re safe, that’s all I care about.’
Jacob’s advice not to leave after dark reverberated around her brain.
‘Eugh, stupid know-it-all,’ she hissed out loud.
‘Excuse me?’
Olivia’s hand flew to her mouth. ‘No, no, sorry. I wasn’t talking to you; I was thinking about someone else.’
‘Really?’ Kate’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. ‘Who?’
Olivia knew that any mention of the opposite sex would throw her friend into a spin. Did she have the energy for this?
‘Oi, Olivia. Can you hear me?’ Kate’s frowning face zoomed closer to the screen.
‘Sorry, the signal went for a minute,’ she lied.
‘Well, don’t leave me hanging. Who is the stupid know-it-all?’
Olivia steeled herself. ‘Some guy I met today.’
‘Olivia Jackson
, you dark horse.’
‘Trust me, it was nothing
like that. I got lost on my way to the phone shop and he gave me directions. Turned out to be infuriatingly smug and rather annoying.’
‘The best ones often are.’ Kate sighed dreamily.
‘In your opinion, yes. But in mine, they are exactly the kind of people who should be left well alone.’
‘Well, I don’t think you should write him off so quickly. It might be a good idea to make a friend or two out there. He clearly knows his way around.’
‘And likes to show off about it! I have Google and guidebooks for all my travelling needs.’
‘Yeah, that guidebook has done you a solid so far, hasn’t it?’ Kate teased.
‘All right! Enough about me, how are you? And more importantly, how are the attempts at making out with the guy at work going?’
‘Terribly. Nothing’s happened,’ Kate grumbled.
‘Well, have you tried my suggestion of asking him for coffee?’
‘No, don’t be stupid. I can’t do that.’
Olivia rolled her eyes. For someone who took no prisoners in nearly all aspects of her life, Kate was painfully shy when it came to men.
The number of hours they’d spent discussing the trials and tribulations of Kate’s dating life didn’t bear thinking about.
Olivia was suddenly struck with an overwhelming wave of homesickness.
What she wouldn’t give to be in her flat, cup of tea in hand and her friend by her side.
‘I miss you,’ she whispered.
‘Oh, my love.’ Kate’s face softened. ‘I miss you too.’
Olivia could feel her bottom lip wobbling and the urge to cry rising up strongly inside her.
Don’t do it. Don’t let her see you break.
‘I’m worried about you; you are having a good time, aren’t you?’
She forced back the tears.
‘I think it’s going to take me some time to adjust, that’s all.’
‘And you know what the good thing about that is?’
‘What?’
‘If anyone can adapt to difficult situations, it’s you. Nobody deals with that stuff better than Olivia Jackson.’ Kate punched the air in triumph.
‘Yeah … maybe.’
Olivia wrangled her self-pity back in the box where it lived and tried her best to muster a convincing smile. ‘Anyway, I have loads to see and do tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll be too distracted by all the wonderful tourist attractions to feel homesick.’
‘You’ll be what t-t-tomo-rr-ow?’ Kate’s voice began to cut out again.
‘Distracted,’ Olivia repeated loudly.
‘W-w-hat?’ The screen jarred once more. ‘You’ve f-fro-fr-frozen.’
‘For God’s sake. This stupid room.’ Olivia sprang up from the bed and began to wave the phone optimistically in the air. ‘Can you hear me now?’
‘O-liv-ia.’ Kate’s voice was getting harder and harder to understand. ‘I-t’s t-too crack-crackly.’
All at once, the screen went black and the call disconnected.
‘I hate this. I hate
this.’
Olivia threw herself on top of her bed and closed her eyes. She’d only been in the country for a day and already she felt exhausted.
Probably because you haven’t eaten since the plane.
Right on cue, her stomach gave an almighty growl. She peered down at her scraped legs and grazed hands; there was no way she was going to risk venturing outside to find food. It was a bloody deathtrap out there, and she’d much
rather stay cooped up in her miserable hotel room than put herself at the mercy of the Delhi nightlife.
‘In that case …’ She began rifling through her bag and pulled out three squashed granola bars. ‘Emergency cereal bars it is!’
She took a bite and felt the dry grains stick to the roof of her mouth. She was a world away from her old life; her, usually, clean, organized flat with its fridge full of nutritious, safe food and Brita filtered water.
‘Tomorrow is another day’ – she held her crumbling bar aloft – ‘and hopefully a much better one.’