Frozen Desire - Part 1
To introduce, my name is Rohit, and I work in an IT company in Bangalore. My manager’s name is Shirley; she’s middle-aged, married, and a dynamic, bold person in the office. Always straightforward, she never had bad intentions. I looked up to her. She appreciates my good work and respects me for it. To move ahead, we have frequent outings planned, usually to nearby resorts or theme parks. But this time, my team planned a vacation outing during the year-end. We will not have any work due to the holiday season in the US. The The Trip was planned to Himachal, and it was in the month of November. The itinerary was simple: stay in a resort on the outskirts of Manali and enjoy the snowfall. We landed in Kulu and traveled by bus to the resort. We were a team of 20+ people. Shirley, my manager, sat next to me on the bus. We hadn’t spoken much outside the office, but we had a pretty good conversation on our journey to the resort. She was in the window seat and fell asleep sometime over my shoulders. I’m not sure if she was aware, but I didn’t mind and didn’t think too much about it. Nothing happened on the bus, but after that journey, we felt like we had Gotten closer. I’m not a very social person, and Shirley knew about it. She always takes the effort to make me comfortable. In team gatherings while playing games, she would always pick me for her team. The next evening, we decided to go to the nearby marketplace, but most of the team were lazy, and no one wanted to join. So, Shirley and I decided to go by ourselves on foot. It was a good 5-6 km walk, and it was the outskirts, not a very populated area. On our walk to the market, she said she missed the warmth in Bangalore. This cold was new to her and hard to adapt to. We spoke a lot about how she missed being with her son and home, but she never brought up her husband in any of the topics. She talked about how much she loves traveling, cricket, photography, and movies. But not a word about her husband. There wasn’t any serious issue; I knew that because I had seen her Instagram. Mostly, it’s her family pictures with her husband. I think maybe she wanted to be like the single girl she was before her marriage, at least on this trip, with responsibility and stress. Of all topics, I did ask her that, probably the most personal thing I asked her at that point. Me: Do you miss being single? She: Why do you ask? Me: You seem more relaxed and calmer on this trip, and seem like a different person. She: To be honest, as much as I love my life now, yes, I do miss being single. Me: Why so? She: (with amusement) Why so? You will understand one day. Me: Come on, explain it. She: For starters, I can date anyone, at least I can stalk boys. Me: Wow (I was totally surprised), so who do you find attractive on this trip now? She: Shut up (she was very shy and laughed off). Me: Tell me, please. It will be our secret. At least one or two from the team should have looked hot to you, na? She: Not saying it. After lots of insistence from my side, she did tell. She: Manish looks good. Vivek too from the COE team. (She giggled). Me: Haha. Nice ma’am. Lucky fellas to be liked by you. She was blushing continuously. Her: Stop teasing Rohit. Me: Really, you are too gorgeous for those guys, though. I don’t know why I said that. I thought that was flirty, but she said something else that baffled me. Her: You too, Rohit. You look handsome, man. Me: Come on, ma’am, you are just saying to make me feel good. Her: It’s true, Rohit. Why would I lie? Now I was gushing and just said a soft thanks. Just in a funny way, I said “Unlucky me” and we had reached the market. We spent a lot of time in the market with purchases, and it was getting dark already. We started walking back around 7 PM. It started to snow, and locals in that area warned us about heavy snowfall. Our team at the resort was worried about us, too. Within 2 minutes of the walk, the snowfall was heavy. We couldn’t walk anymore and see anything. We took shelter in the entrance of a nearby hotel and waited for 30-45 minutes. But the snowfall didn’t seem to slow. It was almost 8, and the hotel receptionist told us there was a blizzard expected that night, and it wasn’t safe to move. The roads were blocked, too. We were so worried, our team from the resort called us and asked us not to head out and find a room for the night. Unfortunately, the hotel staff informed us there were no rooms available. We thought we were so dead with this cold. But the kind hotel staff, after realizing our situation, asked us if we were okay to stay in an outdoor cabin. The hotel manager usually occupies it, but he was not in the property that night. Although we both hesitated to share the cabin, we had no option. Shirley just mouthed the words if it was okay for me to share. I agreed. It was a small cabin designed for one person’s accommodation, with a single bed, a glass window with curtains, a single sofa, and a small cooking area, wooden floored. It looked quaint and cozy. There was an electric heater to warm the place, but with the weather out, I was worried it was not much of a help. Once we entered, Shirley was trembling, rubbing her hands together, and hugging herself. Me: You okay, ma’am? Her: Yes, better now (still shaky). Me: Let me make some tea for you. Shirley sat on the only sofa that was in the room. I made tea and offered it to her. Her: Thanks, Rohit. (With a relieved smile). Me: That will warm you up a bit. Her: Hope so. It was 8 PM. After tea, she stood up and removed her jacket, and I did the same. It wasn’t helping with the dampness from the snow. She was in her kurti and leggings with a sweater on top. Not the ideal outfit for this freezing place, she was still cold. I was in my full-sleeved sweatshirt and jeans. I took the only blanket in the room and asked her to cover herself to warm up, and I sat on the bed.