To Love or Not To Love

Chapter 46

Autumn was beautiful in Milan. The weather was mild, requiring a mere light jacket. Pink, orange, red and burgundy leaves were floating towards Mother Earth forming beautiful wave patterns. Khushi checked into her room at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Milan. The hotel was breathtaking. Made from four adjoining 18th-century buildings that were completely designed in Cathedral style, one could easily mistake it for an ancient relic. But one look inside and you could be pleasantly surprised. It had all of the modern amenities - luxurious rooms, wifi, an indoor swimming pool, and a fine dining restaurant. It was personal, unlike the 5-star franchises, all of which tended to be the same.

Khushi liked it. While she was checking in at the reception, she spotted a huge bouquet of the most exquisite Orange Ton and Forever Susan Asiatic lilies. She sauntered over to the bouquet while the receptionist finished checking her in and gently caressed a petal.

"Isn't it beautiful?", a familiar voice stated in the background?

"Aman", squealed Khushi, reaching out to bear hug him. "It's so nice to see you!"

"Whoa, Khushi, relax", chimed Aman, although his face sported a huge smile. "It's only been three weeks and you're acting like we're meeting after three years!"

"I know, but it does feel like three years..."

The mere mention of time brought back memories of a certain someone who had turned elusive. Not wanting to dampen her spirit with futile thoughts, she turned her attention to the bouquet. The entire revue had not gone unnoticed by one particular person who was looking over it from the balcony.

"Damn...," he muttered under his breath to no one in particular. Then he put on his aviators and strode down to the reception to instruct them to give Khushi the room adjoining his.

****

If there was any country that ASR should consider migrating to, it should be Italy, concluded Khushi Kumari Gupta, merely three hours after checking into her hotel suite. The room was luxurious, with a window that overlooked a lush green garden, randomly strewn with tables and chairs where people sipped their beverage and enjoyed their book or pleasant conversation. Her room had a sleek modern desk fitted with a lamp. The bathroom was luxurious with double sinks and a large walk-in shower. The floor of the entire bathroom was laid with black granite with beautiful silver veining.

Khushi promptly opened the curtains in her room to let sunlight in, organized her wardrobe and drawing materials on the desk, unpacked and took a long hot shower. She then called room service to order a nice cup of tea before she rested a bit. They had their first face to face meeting with their partners in the evening and Khushi wanted to bring her A-game to it.

"What?" mumbled Khushi, mere minutes after she had carefully explained to room service what she wanted. The attendant on the other end of the phone understood very little English and Khushi spoke practically no Italian.

She tried again. "I want tea, black with milk and herbs."

"Non senora, niente te, solo caffe", he said, his voice laced with the thick Italian accent that made it difficult for Khushi to comprehend the true essence of his statement.

"I don't want to go to cafe, I want to order tea in-room service," she tried again.

"Niente te, solo caffe," he repeated, his voice getting agitated.

"Okay, I will go to cafe. Grazie" said Khushi and hung up.

10 minutes later, as she was getting ready to leave her room in search of a cafe, she heard a knock.

"Room service senora", said the man who was wheeling a cart.

"Grazie," replied Khushi, beaming.