Cross Roads: Pick a Path (2 page)

Rolling around in my bed I turned towards
the right lamp desk where my sunglasses were sitting. Everything
that happened last night is still a blur, but looking out my resort
window at the view of the beautiful blue sea, I knew it must have
been a crazy night. Although the wedding came soon, I am extremely
glad that Rohini and Akil came to the decision of having it in the
Dominican Republic. I could probably stick around the hotel room in
my boxers for the rest of the day with this headache, but I am not
prepared to waste a day in paradise. You would think being
twenty-five years old would make me a more organized individual,
but I like keeping things a mess; my kind of neat.

My hangover is definitely getting the best
of me; at this point I don’t give a single care of what I wear. I
saw my black basketball shorts and a black t-shirt lying on my bed
from yesterday, so I think it is best just wearing those for now.
After all, the cute girls are not going to be up at seven in the
morning. Honestly, I don’t even know what I was doing awake right
now. Heading over to the washroom, I needed some urgent attention.
My body was asking me to take care of my mandatory human needs as
soon as possible; and when I did, my word, it was heavenly. After
washing my hands, it felt great brushing my teeth, getting rid of
that nasty morning taste after a night of drinking.

A lot of people I have drank with in the
past have told me that a shot of alcohol helps cure hangovers in
the morning, so hey why not drink down the sample of whisky in the
mini fridge. I wasn’t an alcoholic or anything, but when I drank, I
drank! It only took me a few minutes to get back on my feet again.
My immediate reaction was to call, and check where my three idiot
brothers were. Asha was probably asleep, and Rohini is most likely
dealing with wedding stress. Getting those goofs to pick up their
phone is probably going to be extremely hard. They were probably in
their rooms asleep, or in the beds of some random girls. Either way
I probably should not disturb them; heading over to get some
breakfast seemed like a more reasonable plan.

Grabbing my pack of Belmont cigarettes and
zippo lighter I made my way out the door. Right outside the door
was a maid; I smiled and warned her, “Good luck in there.” I could
tell she was not looking forward to what she was about to see. To
ease her pain I slipped her a twenty-dollar bill. Her reaction made
it seem as if she can face the biggest army if they were all
crowded in that one room.

Walking out the elevator I can see the
heavenly enlarged glass doors leading to paradise. Making my way
through the doors I was welcomed by the tall palm trees, morning
risers, and the glorifying sun sitting over the horizon of the
beautiful water.

Wandering through the courtyard I came
across many friendly faces, smiles and morning compliments from
everyone. Continuing along the path and over the small bridge I can
see Mahat sleeping near the pool. We must have been around here
sometime last night; at least I was able to make it to my bed. I
was struck with an amusing thought. What if I were to push him into
the pool? He would probably be upset, but I could care less because
it would be hilarious. As I walked quietly towards him I start to
wonder why I’m even trying to be quiet, the guy is out cold. So
instead of walking quietly towards him, I rushed to him, and
smashed Mahat with a dynamic kick to his ass. His reaction was
priceless, he was not pleased, and that was clearly visible by the
look on his face. He got out the pool, and walked by me with a
dirty look; he grumbled. “Not cool bro, not cool at all.”

To me it was hilarious, and as I watched him
walking back towards to the hotel doors I got the remaining laughs
out of my system. Placing a smoke between my lips I used my zippo
to light it up, and continued making my way towards the outdoor
breakfast buffet.

There were already a few families sitting at
the tables eating breakfast over conversation. I wasn’t all that
hungry, but some coffee would be extremely helpful right now. After
grabbing my cup of coffee I decided to take a seat at the nearby
bar. Throwing my smoke in the distance, I took a seat on the bar
stool; making a concerted effort to remember the events of last
night as I took steady sips from my cup. I should have probably
asked Mahat if he remembered anything instead of pushing him into
the pool, it was completely worth it though. After a fifteen-minute
interval a gorgeous woman came and sat next to me, she seemed a tad
bit familiar. I don’t think she even acknowledged the fact that I
was sitting next to her; either that or she didn’t even care.

I am the worst when it comes to speaking to
women; I never knew how to start a conversation with them. It
caught my attention that she was eating breakfast over at the bar
and not at the table like the other folks, but she did not seem
like much of a morning drinker. Building some courage I managed to
ask her why she was eating breakfast alone at the bar, though her
facial expression clearly asked me to mind my own business. I
became increasingly curious, and it must be the remaining alcohol
in my system but I managed to ask her if we’ve met before.

“
You mean to say that you don’t remember
me? You don’t remember bumping into me last night, knocking down
not only my luggage, but me too! How does one not remember being
shirtless running down the hallway dancing, and yelling to Tamil
songs at 2am? Clearly you were drunk, but you could have had the
courtesy to help me up! Asshole.”

I just gazed at her with a blank look; I did
not recall anything she said, but it was starting to come back to
me. I love the music I’ve grown listening to, the ones popular
among Western society, but I loved Tamil music to another extent. I
used it as a way of staying connected to my inherited culture. To
be honest, all I really took from what she said was that she knew
whatever I was singing was Tamil, so she must be of similar
background! Without thinking twice, I asked. “Are you Tamil?”

“Seriously all that and that’s what you
think of saying to me?” she asked, as her anger began to build
up.

“What else were you expecting for me to
say.” I questioned; I actually wanted to be nice, but I did not
know what she was expecting from me.

“Uhm how about an apology!” She shouted.

“Right, I am extremely sorry for whatever I
did last night.” I replied; hoping it was enough to ease her upset
state of mind.

“Apology not accepted, now would you let me
eat my breakfast peacefully?” She continued.

She didn’t seem excited to have me around;
she was pretty obnoxious though. Well taking into account the fact
that I actually did apologize, and she couldn’t accept it. It was
probably my queue to leave, but I still wanted to know if she was
Tamil. She seemed a bit too fair skinned to be Tamil, but she knew
the language of the song I was supposedly dancing to last night.
Giving it another shot can’t really do much more damage, so once
again I asked if she were Tamil.

“
Seriously, who are you man? Can’t you
just leave me alone? If it actually matters that much to you yes,
yes I am Tamil! Are you satisfied now? I’m expecting my friend
soon, and I’d really appreciate it if your hideous face wasn’t
around when she gets here.”

I turned to the mirror sitting under the
shelves of alcohol and took a look at myself. I always thought I
was a handsome guy, and the guy in the mirror thought the same.
Silly girl, she probably doesn’t have any taste.

“Bitch,” I whispered.

“Excuse me, did you say something?” She
asked; I’m pretty sure she caught me mumbling.

“Nope, not a word ma’am! I’ll be on my way
now.” I replied; I should probably get going. Wouldn’t want to end
up leaving the bar with a slap.

Just as I was looking to get up from my seat
I saw Rohini walking towards me, waving her hand. So I waved back
and remained seated while the gorgeous, but horrifying girl sat
next to me, giving me the look of death. With much excitement,
Rohini looks towards me and says. “So you’ve already met my
friend?” It took a moment for it to sink in, but it seems that the
girls’ friend is none other than my very own sister; oh the
coincidence is amusing.

“Hasini, meet my brother Arrun.” Introduced
Rohini.

“This is your brother?” She asked
gently.

“Yeah, Arrun is the really quiet, reserved
one out of the six of us. Also my favorite,” continued Rohini.

“Arrun, this is my best friend; I roomed
with her throughout my time at university.” said Rohini. Rohini had
mentioned the name Hasini a few times, but I’ve never even seen a
picture of her. I wanted to turn to Hasini, and laugh, but I have
already started off with a bad impression.

“Ahh I see, I see. She seems to be a very
kind person.” I said, trying my best to hold in the burst of
laughter.

This time around I was not the one with the
blank look on my face, Hasini was completely left in shock. She
could not believe that she sat there insulting her best friend’s
brother the entire time. With a smirk on my face, I looked at
Rohini and said, “You probably have lots to catch up on, so I’ll
leave you to it.” Walking towards the hotel doors I turned to take
a glance at Hasini, she still stared at me from a distance with an
embarrassed face. She was a beautiful girl, and there is no denying
that, but there was something more to her. Something I could not
figure out, and I liked the urge from within, wanting to know
more.

~

The wedding was tomorrow, and after a long
day of preparations all of us were able to sit at a table full of
family, and friends for dinner. Our seating was already
pre-arranged. It was actually quite weird, but I was assigned a
seat next to Hasini. I was preparing myself for some more boldness
to come my way, seeing how she doesn’t really like me. Once we sat
down for our meals I did not speak a word to Hasini, it was
actually a tad bit more awkward than expected. Sitting across from
me were the soon to be wed, to my right Hasini, and to my left was
Benny. Benny was the family “Playboy” he always managed to smooth
talk the ladies. Majority times he doesn’t even leave girls for the
rest of us to talk to. A brief moment after we sat down he began
nudging me, he wanted to sit next to Hasini after seeing how
beautiful she was. With a deadly cut eye look, I turned towards him
and let him know that I saw her first. While glancing up towards
Rohini, I was delivered a wink. I was getting a weird vibe that
Rohini may have sat me next to Hasini on purpose; she knows how
much difficulty I have talking to women on my own.

After some time the dinner was about to
commence, I felt a drop by my foot; looking down, I saw a note.
“Pick it up. Pick it up,” whispered Hasini. I picked it up, and
opened it curiously.

“
Meet me at the beach after dinner is
over.”

Looking over my shoulder was Benny, and as I
took a glance at him he grunts. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I
guess he was just surprised that it was me that was getting the
chance to speak with the pretty lady for a change.

As dinner concluded I saw Hasini making her
way towards the beach. Likewise I followed in her direction. With
the moonlight shining full, the water resting easy I saw her in the
distance with her hair let down as the wind blew gently through.
She seemed all the more beautiful with every moment that passed by,
and I am incapable of knowing why. This moment felt so filmy at the
back of my mind, but it wasn’t like I was in love. Though I did
know that cupid wasn’t going to warn me before shooting a damn
arrow. Walking towards her felt a lot more difficult than I
expected. This time around I didn’t have the alcohol steaming
bravery from within. Hasini kept her eyes steady in sight of the
silent sea. I walked next to her and accompanied her, and we both
shared a quiet moment; I was the one to break first.

“Is there something you wanted to talk
about? Why’d you ask me to meet you here?” I inquired.

She took a fleeting moment and then turned
towards me and replied, “I just wanted to apologize for how rudely
I behaved earlier today, maybe we can start fresh? As friends?” It
didn’t take me an ample amount of time to respond, I myself was
hoping for a fresh start. Her expression showed how pleased she was
to see my reaction. I stood there wondering what to say next, and
as I took my sweet time she smiled and paced way back towards the
hotel. I had a hard time letting her walk away, with every step she
moved further, and I was left hoping to see her smile for a few
more hours.

With the courage I was able to build I
called out to her, “Are you really going to go back to your hotel
room already?”

“Is there something you had in mind,” she
questioned with a laugh.

Turning to my left I took a look at the sea.
“Why don’t we learn more about one another,” I asked not knowing
whether she would even be interested. Her acceptance seemed
transparent as she made her way back towards me. With the dark
night consuming our surroundings her presence brought the moon to
life. The moon always shines bright, but after all these years I
actually noticed its magnificence. We spoke for hours; by the end
of it she seemed all the more beautiful. At first glance it was her
beauty that caught my eyes, her long wavy black hair, the way her
mesmerizing hazel eyes almost sealed shut as she laughed her heart
away, the way I just wanted to place my hands around her sharp
jawline, and her smile, a smile that makes me forget of everything
around me.

It was actually who she was that made me
feel some type of way. Just after a few hours of conversing I
didn’t expect to know someone like I understood Hasini. I saw the
sadness in joyful eyes when she spoke of her parents. Hasini lost
both her parents to a lethal car crash when she was thirteen,
leaving her in the care of her uncle. With brief happiness she
carried away, telling me of how her uncle treated her like his very
own daughter. Though like her parents, he too was taken away from
her life while she was away for her first year of university. With
all that was drawn from her she remained brave, stuck through and
followed her dreams of becoming a journalist. This maybe where she
got me. The amount of energy she had while talking about her plans
for the future. She carried on about how she wishes to travel
around the world and spread notice of stories to help the innocents
whom need a hand. How she looks forward to being in love with a man
she can consider a friend. Then she went on about how she would
like to adopt a child; Sarah came to my eyes.