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“I… I’m traveling through the region visiting places.” An idea flashed in her mind as her heart raced as if in response to the man’s intense eyes. “Is there a hotel nearby? A good one? And a way for me to get there?”
He looked around as if thinking and then said, “Not close by. About an hour and a half away there is a new resort. I heard it’s nice.”
Are they going to charge an arm and a leg for a night’s stay?
She had no other choice. “Oh, I’ve not heard about it. I should check it out while on my trip.” She tried to pull off the persona of a tourist, her favorite role to play as she loved to travel and hadn’t done enough of it.
“You should when you get a chance. In fact, I’m headed over there for the weekend.” He looked away as he took a sip of water, and another idea flashed in her mind.
Should she ask the handsome stranger for a ride?
The resort sounded like a safe place to while away the time. “I’m intrigued,” she said with a calm tone. “Would you be able to give me a ride to the resort?”
The extra-long moment of silence worried her. “Sure.” He shrugged, making her beam at him.
“Great. I appreciate it very much,” she insisted.
“Are you here on holiday?” he asked, standing up and gesturing for her to walk to the right toward his car.
“Yes,” she managed as he held open the door of his Jeep.Sweet guy.But she needed a good story for the next few days. Thank goodness she had her identification and cash in her backpack.
Just as she was thinking of a good cover story, he asked, “What have you seen so far in this area? I didn’t think there was much of a tourist attraction around here.”
Oh shit! He was right.
For centuries, the entire province was cut off from the rest of the country due to its geographic location. It was a shame the rest of the country, let alone the world, had no idea about the culture or the rich heritage of the princely state.
She bit her lip, suppressing the sadness that the place she grew up in was not on the map despite what the region had to offer. “That’s the unfortunate part. The rest of the country has no idea of the amazing things around here.” She looked out the window, not wanting to show her emotions to a stranger.
“I still don’t get why you’re wasting your time in such a remote place,” he said, a bit of sarcasm in his voice.
She didn’t want to pick a fight with him, not when he was her only way to get away from the mess she had created for herself. Would it have been easier to trust her parents and go with what they had decided for her?
The rebellious side of her warned,don’t do anything crazy. You can’t give up on your dream when you are so close.
“So, where are you from?” he asked as she kept looking out the window.
She had no energy to make up a story for a random stranger. “I’m from around here but haven’t been back for the past few years.”
“Oh, so you’re visiting family?” His question made a lump form in her throat. She fought back tears when the smiling faces of her mom, dad, and sister flashed in front of her.
Big mistake! You should go back and beg them to not force you to get married, but don’t do this to them.
You can’t go yet,another voice chimed in.This is not the time for weakness.
Torn by the conflicting thoughts and overwhelming emotions, a sob escaped her inadvertently.
“Hey, you okay?” She heard the man ask, but she did not respond.
She nodded as she fought back tears, still looking out the window. Shortly after, the man pulled the car to the side of the road and let the engine idle. She suppressed her sobs, embarrassed by losing control of her emotions.
Sanjana took a couple of minutes to gather herself before slowly turning to the guy silently looking ahead at the road. “I… I’m okay. I was just reminded of my family.” She thought it was nice of him to not look her way because that would have been awkward.
He nodded and without another word, he steered the car back on the road. Sanjana was glad the man didn’t probe for more details. He seemed like a decent guy and knew not to pry into others’ private lives.
She took the time to settle her internal conflict. She told herself she wasn’t going to steal her sister’s wedding day with her impromptu marriage to a royal—a random one at that.
Her parents were overjoyed by the fact that the royal family reached out for her hand in marriage and agreed to every will and wish of theirs. Granted, every one of her sister’s wedding wishes were fulfilled because the royals were paying for both weddings, but Sanjana didn’t care.
