Page 50 of A Lab Rat's Guide to Fated Love
Kochi?” Nori asked, looking up fromher boarding pass at the airport.
The small port city was located over twelve hundred miles away, way down south on the West Coast. Of course, she hadn’t specified a location when she’d asked Vir to book the earliest flight out, but she hadn’t thought he’d pick one nearly all the way across the country.
“The weather’s nice this time of year.” Vir replied with a shrug. Then a lopsided grin broke across his face. He seemed amused for some reason.
“Huh.” Nori nodded. Anywhere was fine as long as they weren’t followed.
So, that’s where they were headed. Kochi, Kerala.
She was used to her parents talking fondly of the green pastures and backwaters and beaches there from their travels a long time ago. And while her heart permanently belonged to the mountains, the idea of a brief affair with the sea had always held a certain pull for her, too.
But now, as she stood in the boarding queue with Vir by her side, Nori reminded herself she was on a mission, not a vacation.
Squaring her shoulders, she looked straight ahead to find random passers-by giving her strange—pitiful, some disgusted even—stares. And a wide berth. Confused, she glanced over at Vir, and to her horror, realized they were staring athim, not her. Him and his raccoon face.
She pursed her lips, trying to ignore the mixture of irritation and guilt rolling inside her gut. When she looked sideways at Vir again, she found his gaze already fixed on her.
He wasn’t going to stop doing that, was he?
Probably not.
But did shewanthim to stop?
No—YES.She mentally kicked herself.
“Will you please stop?”
“Stop what?” Had she let something slip—some dumb emotion she’d no business feeling?
“The unnecessary guilt.” Vir pointed towards his nose. “It was an accident. I’m perfectly fine.”
“Oh.” She ducked her head before offering him a sheepish smile.
Vir beamed in response. And there it was again—the rounded, kitten-eyed stare. Something warm and liquid slid down her ribcage, almost as if her organs were melting inside. Her fingers twitched as she resisted the urge to trace the contours of his smile.
STOP.Nori averted her gaze, her hands balled into fists inside her jacket pockets.
So quiet that she was sure she’d imagined it, she heard Vir sigh. When she glanced towards him again, he was staring off in the distance with a frown prominent on his brow.
The queue finally moved.
Vir
While Nori dozed on and offthrough the flight, Vir browsed online for places to stay in Kochi. It didn’t take him long to find one he liked, considering all he really had to do was pull from his bookmarked list of resorts that he’d shortlisted earlier for what was supposed to have been his last beach vacation only months ago.
Located on a thin strip of land, sandwiched between Kerala’s backwaters on one side and an endless stretch of the West Coast beach on the other, the place was exactly what he’d envisioned—a perfect paradise to rot away in.
In a way, he was getting his last beach vacation after all. Only slightly delayed and with company. Not that he minded the prospect of having a pissed-off Nori by his side, huffing and glaring and ordering him tostay alive or else.
Not a bad way to go. Not bad at all. He chuckled at the thought.
At the resort, once they were done with the check-in formalities, a concierge led them from the reception lobby into a landscaped semi-circular courtyard outside. There, an artfully snaking pathway fanned out before splitting into two diametrically opposite lanes on either side. They took a left, making their way to studio number four—their apartment sized suite for the stay.
“So, this is where I die,” Vir whispered under his breath once the concierge had left. Then louder, “Not bad.”
Nori elbowed him in the side. “I told you to keep that pessimistic stuff to yourself.”
“Uh, sorry. Didn’t realize I’d said it out loud.”
