Destiny

Chapter 5

"Hey Sweta! That's what you get for bringing the bookworm with you." The small group that they came with laughed when Sweta's cousin Shruti joked.

Gauri closed her eyes and counted to five and opened her eyes just in time to hold Sweta's arm before she started arguing with her cousin. "Sweta leave it, she is not worth it."

Shruti smirked at Gauri. "Oh really Nightingale? I see the mouse has a mouth on her too."

Gauri smiled at her sweetly. "Hey thanks Shruti, that is the highest compliment you could have given me. You couldn't have given me a better nickname than that. By the way do you even know who Nightingale was or did one of your side kick just came across it somewhere?"

Shruti glared at her and started to walk away. "One more thing Shruti, if you ever need to be hospitalized someday be sure I am not working at that hospital just in case I end up being your Nurse Nightingale for that day."

Shruti stomped her foot and walked away in a huff and her sidekicks were quick to follow. She looked at the people around who had laughed at Shruti's joke but none of them were able to meet her eyes. Gauri's head snapped around when she heard a husky laugh behind her.

She met the twinkling dark brown eyes of a very tall and handsome man. He looked to be in his mid-twenties. He was about six feet tall, with dark hair that curled at the nape of his neck, he was clean shaven, with high cheekbones, his nose was straight and narrow, with strong jaw and chin. He had long lashes and a very sensual mouth. Gauri felt her heart race as she moved her eyes down to his broad shoulders and muscular chest and arms. She didn't have the nerve to move past his chest. He was wearing a well-fitting grey suit with a baby blue shirt.

Her gaze moved back up to his face and was startled and embarrassed when she realized he was staring at her just as intently. She broke the eye contact and turned away. She could feel his gaze burning a hole in her back. 

That was her first glimpse of Siddarth Desai. She hadn't dared look back at him. She had put the incident out of her mind until she met him again that night.

Siddarth walked until his legs gave out on him. He fell to his knees in the sand and bowed his head. He wanted to scream out in pain. How could he have been so wrong about someone? For three years he had wondered about her, loved her and felt guilty for abandoning her only to find out she hadn't loved him at all. He raised his head to the sky and closed his eyes. Please help me understand, how can something that felt so right be so wrong?

 Daytona Beach, Florida.

Siddarth glanced down at his watch impatiently. Why the heck is check-in taking so long? Thank god he had arrived a day ahead. Three more days and he could enjoy himself. He didn't know how he got talked into sponsoring the convention and also an educator and mentor for one of the Seminars.

He knew his parents had plotted to get him here in hopes of him finding someone suitable to marry. He had no interest in the spoiled brat Divas that were arriving in abundance at this convention.