‘I was hoping to go to Chandni Chowk. Is it far?’
‘Maybe fifteen minutes that way.’ He pointed ahead into a mass of crowds and vehicles.
Anxiety licked the inside of Olivia’s stomach. How had her last attempt at navigating on foot gone? The cuts on her knees twinged in memory.
‘I don’t know … it looks a bit bus—’ Suddenly, Olivia felt the ground pull beneath her feet. The world swam ominously in front of her, as flashes of light and streaks of colour danced across her field of vision. Her blood ran cold, and her stomach rolled with nausea. She closed her eyes and tried to steady herself. For a second, it was as though she was back in the boardroom, with Phil and his putrid breath.
‘Miss?’ The man’s voice sounded like it was coming from deep underwater. ‘Are you OK? Is everything all right?’
A hand on her shoulder grounded her instantly, and she opened her eyes to see the face of the stranger peering into hers. Thankfully, she was still upright.
‘Yes, yes, I’m fine!’ She tried to laugh, taking a small step backwards to create some distance between them. ‘Just a bit too hot maybe.’
But the man was not convinced. ‘I think a tuk-tuk might be best. And not to the market … straight home!’
‘Yes’ – she tried to bat away his help – ‘good idea. Thank you.’
Olivia went to walk but the man stopped her, placing his fingers in his mouth and giving a piercing whistle. As if by magic, an empty rickshaw appeared at the kerbside.
‘Where do you want to go?’ the driver grunted.
‘Take this lady home, please, and pronto,’ the kind stranger instructed firmly, helping Olivia into the back and giving her arm a squeeze. ‘Take care, and remember, rest. The sun takes no prisoners on a day like today.’
‘Thank you so much.’ She smiled, gripping on for dear life as the small vehicle pulled away abruptly.
‘So, miss, what hotel am I going to?’
‘No hotel,’ she replied, trying to erase the concerned face of the generous stranger who had helped her. She felt fine now,and besides, she had no time to rest. Her twenty-two-page itinerary hadn’t been created for nothing, after all. If there was a plan to complete, Olivia Jackson was going to complete it, come hell or high water. ‘I’m going to Chandni Chowk, please.’
*
Twenty minutes in and Olivia was regretting her decision enormously. This wasn’t a market. This was the centre of hell. People were everywhere, rushing this way and that, bags filled with treats and eyes scouting for more. Market sellers were shouting over one another, louder and louder with each new price they offered. Goods spilled out on to the street, the jewels and patterned fabrics sparkling in the sunlight. Scarves, each a different colour and ornately patterned in golds and silvers, were piled so high the stacks created small skyscrapers around the stalls. Barrels of spices stood like barricades, full to the brim with deep earth-coloured powders. The smell alone was enough to make Olivia’s nose tickle. Her eyes had not been able to settle for a second, darting back and forth trying to take in as much as possible. The second she’d stepped inside the market, every single one of her senses had been kicked into overdrive. She was overstimulated, overwhelmed and overtired. And she needed to find a way out this very second.
‘Excuse me.’ She turned on the spot, trying her best to push against the tide of people dragging her in the opposite direction. ‘Excuse me, I’m trying to get through.’
But her flustered cries were inaudible over the din of the market. Feebly she tried again, the panic making her voice even harder to hear.
‘Please, can someone get me out of here?’
But Olivia, who in an act of self-protection had attemptedto make herself as small as possible, hunching her shoulders and folding her arms across her chest, seemed to be carried along with the crowd. A human pinball, she was shunted from side to side as the swell of people surged along the narrow lanes.
This was it, she thought. This was how she went. Too tired to fight the tide, she would be swept away, never to be seen again. Lost in the middle of Delhi without a clue how to find her way home. A single tear rolled down her cheek as her legs began to buckle. Her breath was growing shallower and her chest constricting, each rib folding in on itself, leaving no room for air. The surrounding sounds all blended into one, and her vision began to blur as the now all too familiar feeling of light-headedness kicked in.
I can’t …
I don’t know how to make it stop …
She tried to take a step, but her legs were too heavy, too full of tingling pins and needles. Panic began to thrum in her chest, the anxiety multiplying rapidly until it felt fit to burst from her.
‘Help,’ she whimpered. ‘Somebody, help.’
But even her thoughts were getting lost, the endless roar of noise making it hard to distinguish what was coming from inside her and what belonged on the outside. Her name was being repeated over and over, louder and louder.
‘Olivia?’
There it was again. But from where?
‘Olivia!’
