Olivia had barely set her bag down when a warm, doughy-faced woman came hurrying out of the house to greet her.
‘Hello!’ she cried, her jewellery jangling and her smile beaming. ‘You must be Olivia. I’m Suki – welcome, welcome!’
Olivia’s reply was lost amongst the folds of Suki’s skin, as she was unexpectedly engulfed in a firm hug.
‘You look so tired! Come, let’s get this big lump of a bag of yours up those stairs and I’ll show you to your room.’
‘Oh no, please don’t,’ Olivia cried, as Suki hoisted the backpack off the ground in one fell swoop. ‘It’s really heavy!’
‘Heavy?’ She let out a deep, rumbling laugh. ‘You want to try raising three children and carrying their chubby butts around all day, then you’ll know heavy! Come, let’s get you settled in.’
Without waiting for a response, Suki turned and strode off inside the house. Olivia trotted behind, noticing how the scent of spices seemed to strengthen with every step they took.
‘Was your journey OK? Where did you travel from?’ Suki chattered, as she led Olivia down an egg-yolk-yellow corridor.
‘I came from Delhi, and if I’m honest, the journey was awful.’
‘Let me guess, train delays?’
‘Delays, cancellations, traffic jams … I was meant to be here with the whole afternoon to spare and now it’s practically evening.’ Olivia’s bitterness felt out of place in the sunny interior of the house.
‘Ah, but at least you’re here now, hey?’ Suki’s commentwas as bright and breezy as the violet-coloured staircase they had begun to climb.
‘Yes, but I’ve wasted a whole day travelling and I have to replaneverything.’
‘Now, see, that’s the problem.’
‘What is?’
‘Trying to plan!’ Suki turned to her as they stopped outside a lurid green door. ‘In this country, you can plan and plan all you like, but things will happen as and when they want to. All we can do is relax and go with it.’
Suki’s laissez-faire attitude reminded Olivia instantly of Jacob and his tales of universal powers. Her frustration doubled on the spot.
‘I see. Well, unfortunately I don’t have time to relax. I need to adjust my schedule and do some prioritizing.’
Suki looked Olivia up and down, a smile dancing at the edges of her lips. Without saying another word, she unlocked the door and pushed it open to reveal a charmingly decorated and wonderfully clean-looking bedroom.
Olivia’s entire body melted in relief at the sight.
‘Hopefully this will be a comfortable enough place for you to do all your planning?’
‘This isperfect, thank you!’
‘My pleasure. Now, why don’t I bring you up some tea whilst you sort yourself out. And then you can come and have some dinner with us all.’
‘Thank you, but I don’t have time.’
‘To eat? Or for tea?’ Suki chuckled. ‘Because in this country, they are the most important activities in life. So, you’d better get used to that!’ She put the bag on the floor and gave Olivia’s shoulder a squeeze. ‘I’ll leave the tray outside so I don’t disturb you, and I’ll call when dinner is ready, OK?’
Olivia didn’t even wait for Suki to close the door before diving into her bag and digging out her thick, bound itinerary. Suki could bring her all the tea she wanted, she thought, but there was no way she was going to give up on her plan yet. She had to regain some semblance of control. Too many things had gone wrong so far, and she was barely a week in.
She needed to organize herself.
And … she looked down at her hand, the black ink almost illegible in the dying light. She needed to stop thinking about Jacob. Life out here was hard enough without anything more to distract her, especially when it came to an idiot boy with no sense of responsibility.
Press on, push forward.
We have a job to do.
