Nimita stepped in and put her hands out as if she were calming down children. Or wild animals. “We all have a long flight ahead of us, let’s just sit and calm down—”
“After you ignored me? And then pushed this sweet young thing when she tried to help me?” Track Suit was near shouting. “I’m soaked through.”
“Allow me to get you a change of clothes—” Nimita started.
“I most certainly will not! You’ve ignored me since I boarded the plane. You’ve been—”
“That is a lie.” Mrs. Ryan stood up. “She has been nothing but wonderful.”
“She’s a bully,” shouted Shelly. “Just because she’s older. She tells me what to do—”
“I’m the senior attendant. That’s my job!” Nimita defended herself.
“But you’re mean about it,” Shelly insisted, fake tears making their appearance again. “Just because you’re so old that you shouldn’t even be flying anymore! Anyone else would have been promoted to some desk job, but you’re stuck here and you’re bitter.”
Nimita just stared at Shelly. The young woman had no idea what she was talking about.
Passengers were yelling at each other. Nimita could not calm them down. Videos were posted by the time they landed. Multiple videos. Turned out that Track Suit was the daughter of some big-wig in the company.
Nimita was jobless by the time she hit baggage claim.
* * *
“Is that why you didn’t have a room?” Roshan asked. His voice was low, but it carried some tightness.
She nodded. “Well, all the rooms for the airlines were booked. I raced around the island trying to find something open, but they book up quite fast. Especially Hawaii.” She shrugged. “This hotel was my last hope. So now I have no job, and I didn’t have a flight home arranged,” she admitted to him.
“That is…scary.”
She nodded. It certainly was. She should be more panicked. But it was hard to feel the panic out here. Clear blue skies and perfect water and sand… She sighed, content, at least for the moment. The panic would come soon enough. Probably as soon as she saw her sister.
“You look like you’re too relaxed to panic at the moment,” Roshan said.
She snapped her gaze to him. Was he reading her mind?
“Sorry, but the look on your face. I can tell you’re not that concerned right now.”
She pressed her lips together.
“Don’t worry. Not everyone can read you. And that was just a guess.” He paused. “Why did you quit BME to be a flight attendant anyway?”
“And you’ve reached your quota of questions for the day,” she said as she stood and started to walk away. She paddled until it was shallow enough to walk. She moved too fast in an effort to get away from Roshan and some of the truths she had just shared. She was feeling vulnerable and did not want to be in his presence. And she most certainly was not going to acknowledge, let alone answer, his question. Though she felt his gaze on her.
So focused was she on putting real physical space between her and Roshan and his questions and smile, she failed to navigate the rocks properly. As a result, she stubbed her toe on one and slipped. Pain shot up her other foot as it came down hard and twisted, putting her off balance. She flailed her arms and went down backward, landing with a splash, her bottom hitting the sand beneath the shallow waves. She fell back and bumped her head.
Great.
Chapter Seven
“Nimi! Nimi!” he called out, automatically using the nickname he had given her during their tutoring sessions. Roshan reached her just as she landed in the water. Luckily the water was quite shallow. He had started toward her as soon as she cried out in pain, her arms flailing.
“You okay?” he asked as he approached her.
She seemed dazed.
“Did you hit your head?”
“My head is not on my ass,” she quipped.
