Incandescence

Chapter 24

It was evening by the time we were done with our shopping spree. We had just stepped on the highway when Anis's cell phone rang. He parked the car on the side and attended the call.

"Hello?" He spoke in the phone and then listened to whoever was on the other end.

"Okay! Okay! I'll be there in thirty minutes." He said in response to whatever the person on the other end was saying.

"Don't freak out! I'm coming." He said and placed his phone on the car's dashboard. Looking at me apologetically, he said.

"Alisha, we need to stop by at the hotel. There is some major problem that I need to sort out. Will it be alright if I take you along?"

"Sure. I have no issue." I said and gave him a small smile. He took the next exit from the highway and made his way towards the hotel.

"Alisha, did you call home?" He asked me suddenly. Oh shit! I hadn't called home since I had landed and my parents didn't have Anis's Canada number. I picked up his phone from the dashboard.

"Damn! I didn't!" How could I be so irresponsible? I should've called them the first thing I landed but last night I was so exhausted that the prospect of a warm bed made me forget that my parents must be waiting for me to call them in Pakistan.

"Let me call them now." I said as I dialed my home number. There were long rings but nobody attended from the other end.

"What time must it be in Pakistan?" I asked Anis, looking at the digital clock in the car. It was 7:00 PM in Toronto.

"It must be 4 am. Alisha. They must be asleep. Call them in a few hours." He said. I nodded and placed his phone back on the dashboard. I felt bad for making my parents wait all day long for me to talk to them and then I'd forgotten to call them.

"Yeah! I will call them in a few hours." I said.

Twenty minutes later, Anis stopped the car in front of a huge hotel, having at least thirty stories, all brightly lit. He tossed the keys to the valet as he moved towards my door and waited for me to step outside. People were coming and going out of the hotel as their vehicles picked them from the curb and dropped them off. Men in tuxedos and evening attire while females in dinner gowns and formal dresses. I looked down at my skirt and blouse and it look out of place but then I realized that I didn't belong to places like these anymore. For a second, I had forgotten that I was the ugly duckling now. Anis offered me his hand which I accepted and together we walked inside, hand in hand. The lobby was brightly lit with numerous lights glowing in the chandelier. The interior looked like I had stepped into a Edwardian Era. There were settees and couches like the old and even the oil paintings on the walls dated back to the nineteenth century. I loved the Edwardian Era theme that was implemented in the hotel. Even the different stories had arches and arched windows like the old.

I looked in wonder and awe around the hotel. I was definitely impressed by the grandeur and splendor of  it all.

"Would you like to roam around, Alisha?" Anis asked.

"Sure. I would love to." I replied. I really wanted to see the whole of it.

"Well, let me get the emergency sorted out then we will tour the place. There is the coffee shop, you can make yourself comfortable." He pointed towards the coffee shop.

"I'll wait for you, Anis. Don't take too long." I said.

"I wont." He said and then made his way towards the left. I roamed around the lobby, admiring the paintings and the decorations until I came near the coffee shop. It was called "Langbourn Coffee Shop" after the coffee shop in Lombard-street, London in the 1850s. The history of the coffee shop was printed on one side of the wall, behind the counter. The fresh smell of coffee beans tickled my nose and I inhaled deeply. I loved the fragrance of coffee beans and especially the smell surrounding the coffee shop.