Boxset: Destiny Decides.. & Destiny Embraces.. Read online

  Destiny decides..

  A tale of two hearts in search of true love

  By

  P.G.Van

  © 2015 P.G.Van

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without prior written permission of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.

  Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Re-edited May 2016

  www.booktiqueediting.com

  Chapter One

  My phone was ringing at a distance. It was New Year’s Eve, and I had the day off. The phone continued to ring a few more times, and I finally confirmed it wasn’t an alarm but someone was actually calling me.

  “Hello, this is Sameera.” Partially awake, I spoke into the phone, and I heard a shaky male voice on the other end. “Good morning Sameera, this is Mark from the support team. I am calling because of the error reports from the east coast team about the missing data.”

  I wondered why a process that ran daily was unexpectedly failing.

  “I will check the system and get back to you,” I said to the support team member on the phone and turned to look at the time.

  The clock on my bed stand showed half past five. Aargh, Seriously?

  As I reached for my laptop, I heard footsteps outside my bedroom door. The phone call had woken up Nate.

  “Meera, what’s going on?” Nate asked, as she opened my bedroom door.

  “Sorry to wake you Nate. I got a call from work, and I just need to check it out,” I said looking at my older sister, Nethra. I had called her Nate as a toddler for the first time, and I have called her by that name ever since.

  “Anything I can do to help?” she asked rubbing her eye, as she sat down on the edge of my bed.

  “I am good, Nate. I am sure it’s something very silly,” I said smiling at the best roommate anyone could have.

  “Okay, I am going to go back to bed,” she said yawning and started to sleep walk back to her room.

  She stopped at my bedroom door and asked, “Are you done packing, Meera?”

  “Yes,” I said with a wide grin.

  Nate and I were to spend a week with our mom and stepdad in Dallas, Texas. I was so excited about the trip, and I knew I had to make sure I didn’t get another call during the rest of my vacation.

  I checked the system and everything seemed to be running as expected. I tried a few things and finally confirmed the root cause of the issue. I called the support team back.

  “Hi Mark, this is Sameera calling back regarding the data issue. It looks like the planning process was still running and was not complete before the other systems started. I have restarted the process and everything looks good now.”

  “Thanks, Sameera. I do see the data on the report now,” Mark confirmed.

  “Your team should have the instructions to troubleshoot these incidents. Do you have access to the documentation?” I asked, puzzled that they had missed a basic troubleshooting step.

  “We do but more than half our team is out on vacation, and the temps are having trouble connecting the dots,” Mark said apologetically.

  “Got it. Would it help if I briefed your team about the sequence this morning?” I offered hoping I wouldn’t have to deal with the issues again.

  “That would be wonderful. I hope it’s not too much trouble for you,” Mark said eagerly.

  “I can come in around seven thirty. Does that work for you?” I asked.

  “Yes, that will be awesome!!” Mark said gratefully.

  “Great!! See you soon,” I confirmed and hung up the phone. I shook my head when I realized that I had signed up to go to work on my day off. It wasn’t the first time I had done that and smiled as I walked into the bathroom, knowing that it wouldn’t be the last time.

  Thirty minutes later, I was all set to go. I took one final look at myself in the mirror. For someone who was shaken awake at five thirty in the morning, I looked pretty decent.

  The mirror showed me my happy, well-moisturized face. I decided to skip the one-step make up routine of putting on eyeliner. My dark hair was slightly damp from the shower and hanging straight to my waist. I pulled on my comfy San Francisco Giants hoodie and paired it with dark wash skinny jeans.

  I hoped that I wouldn’t look pale when my mom saw me later that day, as she would confirm her theory that I didn’t eat enough. At five foot eight, I was happy with the number on the scale, but my mom always felt I needed to gain more weight. I grabbed my favorite pair of UGGs on my way out to keep my feet warm on the chilly northern California December morning.

  I knocked on Nate’s bedroom door to tell her that I was going to work.

  “What? Now?” she asked surprised.

  “Yes, I need to be there for an hour. I should be back before ten,” I said and closed her bedroom door.

  “Srini will be here at eleven to take us to the airport,” Nate yelled through the closed bedroom door.

  “Got it,” I yelled back giggling.

  Srini, my sister’s boyfriend, had offered to take us to the airport that day. I was so happy that Srini and Nate met again a few months ago at a reunion after almost a decade. My mom and stepdad were going to hear about him for the very first time during our visit to Dallas.

  Driving to work was something that I did very rarely, as it took a lot of patience to inch through the heavy traffic on a daily basis. It was a piece of cake on that day as half the world was on vacation and the rest of the regular commuters were still asleep at that hour. I knew I would be able to get to work in no time and be back with lots of time to spare before we needed to go to the airport.

  As I merged onto the scenic I-280, I saw a few cars on the highway. I was enjoying the beautiful views of the hills and was about to pass the Half Moon Bay exit when I noticed a sports bike in my rear view in the early morning light. The bike was traveling towards me at a very high speed. My love and admiration for bikes started when my dad took me on a ride in his Royal Enfield motorbike when I was five.

  The bike got close enough to my true-blue metallic Mini Cooper, and I realized the bike had the same color combinations as my car. I knew from my Internet reading the bike was one of the latest BMW sports bikes released into the market in the past few years. It was no wonder the bike had caught my eye.

  The bike was designed to be lightweight with massive power and was the street-legal cousin of a racing bike. I cautiously kept an eye on the cool-looking bike in my side mirror and expected the biker to zoom past me at lightning speed.

  To my surprise, the biker suddenly slowed down and started riding in parallel to my car in the next lane. I looked around wondering why the bike suddenly slowed down. I wondered if something was wrong with my car because the biker had slowed down right as he was going to pass me. I looked at the display on my car to see if I had any warning notifications, and I did not see any.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw that the biker was still riding right next to me. At one point, the bike was a few feet ahead of me in the next lane, and I was able to get a look at the biker. The person on the bike seemed to be tall and based on the athletic build, I was sure it was a guy. The biker slowed down again so he was riding parallel to me again.

  I cautiously turned to look at the biker through the passenger window and realized that he was staring right at me. My eyes met his for a brief moment, and I suddenl
y felt a twist forming in the pit of my stomach. I took a deep breath fighting back the anxiety that was building up as I realized the eyes were very familiar, yet so unfamiliar. I looked away to look ahead at the road and drove with caution.

  I turned to look at the biker again fully aware that there were no other vehicles on the road. The biker turned to look at me at the same time, and I held the gaze for just a few seconds. I took in the dark brown eyes lined by thick dark lashes and framed by full eyebrows through his helmet visor. I was surprised when I realized that the dark brown eyes were smiling at me.

  The biker held the gaze for just one more second before he turned away to look at the road. He pulled away to be a few feet ahead of my car. He turned to look back at me briefly and made a gesture that looked like he was blowing me a kiss. I looked at the biker in shock unable to react.

  I turned to look at him and shook my head as I glowered at him when he was riding next to me again. I hoped he understood I was unhappy with his inappropriate behavior.

  I touched my brakes gently so I fell back slightly and avoided riding next to a seemingly crazy biker. He turned and looked back at me one more time and waved gently before he zoomed away.

  I took a deep breath and wondered if this was someone I knew, as they seemed to recognize my car and had slowed down. I tried to remember if I knew anyone that rode a fancy bike wearing a designer motorcycle jacket. I kept an eye out for a might-be maniac on a bike the rest of the way but thankfully, I did not spot the biker again.

  I reached work a few minutes before seven thirty and headed directly to where the support team was located. They seemed to be the only ones working that day. I spent an hour walking them through the high-level data flow, what to look for, and tips about troubleshooting.

  “Any questions?” I asked and waited for a few seconds.

  A few of the heads were down as they reviewed their notes to make sure they could read what they had written down as I walked them through the flow.

  I waited for a few more seconds and said, “If you do not have any further questions, I will take it that no one will be calling be while I am on vacation,” and added cheerfully, “Hope you all have a happy and safe New Year!!”

  The traffic on my way back home wasn’t too bad. As I passed the exit where I had seen the biker earlier that morning, I made a mental note to ask Nate if she knew anyone that owned a super bike.

  I was back in Sunnyvale around nine thirty. As I drove through the Heritage District, I saw the preparations coming together for the New Year celebrations that were happening later that night.

  Nate and I had been in that area for a few years. Our apartment’s proximity to public transportation was immensely helpful for both of us to get to work. The location was perfect for me when I was attending grad school at the local state university. We relied on public transportation up until my graduation. Our stepdad bought me my metallic blue Mini Cooper as my graduation gift.

  I smiled thinking about my stepdad and just could not wait to see him and my mom later that day. We were very fortunate to have him in our lives. I was fourteen when my dad passed away. As the youngest member of the family, it took all the strength I had to take care of my mom and Nate. Thankfully, I had the support of my grandparents who were a lot more composed than my mom and Nate in spite of losing their only child.

  I could never forget the day I answered the life-changing phone call about my dad’s accident. Cold sweat burst on my skin, my palms, under my arms, and across the nape of my neck at the memory of the worst day in my life. A chill ran through my spine, and I gripped the steering wheel to stop myself from shaking.

  The pain from the memory tore through my body every time I thought about it, as it magnified the sadness that I had kept pent up in me for all these years. I took a deep breath and smiled remembering my dad and the memories that always helped me get through my tough moments.

  I spotted Srini’s car in the guest parking as I pulled into the underground parking garage of the upscale apartment community. The apartments in our community were well designed with private entrances and curved staircases leading up to the main entrance. The designers were thoughtful enough to include double pane windows that filtered out the noise from the train tracks that are very close to the apartment complex. I parked my car and went upstairs from the side door towards the entrance to our apartment.

  “I am here and entering the apartment,” I said loudly in a teasing tone to alert Nate and Srini, as I opened the door and walked into our two bedrooms and two-bath apartment. The combination of high ceilings and windows running along the walls brought in a lot of light and made the apartment seem much bigger than it really was. Lucky for us, Nate and I had very similar modern taste in furniture and décor and that just made it so much easier to set up a place to call home.

  “Aren’t you a bit too early for an afternoon flight, Srini?” I asked as I gave him a brotherly hug.

  “I won’t see you guys for a week so I wanted to spend some time with you guys,” Srini said smiling.

  “I understand. You will miss Nate.” I teased him looking at Nate and as expected, she turned tomato red.

  We arrived at the San Jose International Airport a couple of hours before the flight and as expected, everyone at the airport were in a mad rush to get to wherever they were headed. After successfully peeling Nate away from Srini, we headed to the terminal to grab some lunch before we boarded the three-and-half hour flight to Dallas. Nate and I grabbed sandwiches and drinks and sat down to eat. I suddenly realized that I had completely forgotten about mentioning the biker incident from earlier that day to Nate. I told Nate about how the biker on his awesomely cool bike kept staring at me, and that he blew me a kiss and rode off into the winding highway.

  “Seriously? He blew you a kiss?” Nate asked mocking me.

  “I am not kidding, Nate,” I said and showed her how he touched the tip of his glove to the lower part of his helmet and then pointed the tip of his glove to me.

  “Ohh c’mon, Meera. That could mean anything,” she said half-annoyed. I got the feeling that Nate was convinced I was driving half asleep, and that I was imagining people doing weird things. I wondered if I had imagined those eyes and shook my head to clear out the memory of the familiar eyes.

  At the slightest memory of those penetrating eyes that were smiling at me, my heart started to race and my stomach went back to being its knotty self. I was frustrated by the fact that I could not place those eyes. I decided that it was best to let it go, assume that it was just some lunatic having fun at my expense, and to think about my upcoming vacation with the people I loved most.

  Nate and I finished lunch and headed to the gate. After a few minutes of waiting, we boarded the plane without a hitch. We sat down in the plane next to each other, and I looked out of the window as the crew loaded the luggage into the planes and went about their work. I stared blankly outside the window as Nate talked to Srini on the phone.

  I heard her mentioning the biker incident to him, and I remembered those eyes again. My mouth went dry, and my heart started to race again. I took a deep breath to calm the rapid beating in my chest. It was a bit beyond ridiculous that I was disturbed at how a random person looked at me, and I wondered if it was because he blew me a kiss.

  “I know, Srini. I will miss you too,” Nate said on the phone smiling.

  “Nate, hang up now.” I urged when I saw the airhostess walk towards us.

  “Okay. Bye,” Nate said as she hung up and smiled at me.

  “I know you can talk to him for hours, but the airhostess was getting ready to throw you out of the flight,” I teased.

  “I like him so much, Meera,” Nate said smiling.

  “I am very happy you found each other after so many years. Did you know Srini well when you were in school?” I asked curiously.

  “Not really. Srini was the studious and reserved kind, so I barely talked to him,” Nate said giggling.

  I laughed and said, “Now you
can’t stop talking to him.”

  “Yes, I know,” she said smiling and added softly, “I am a bit nervous about telling mom and dad about Srini.”

  “What are you nervous about Nate?” I asked surprisingly.

  “Well, Srini and I met very recently but everything about what we have feels so right. I don’t know if I will be able to tell mom and dad how strongly I feel about him,” she said starting to sound nervous.

  “Nate, don’t worry. I am sure mom and dad will be totally fine,” I said comforting her as the flight took off and left the runway.

  *****

  My stepdad and mom were waiting for us at the baggage claim area.

  “Dad!” I called out as I ran to hug my stepdad like a little girl. Nate followed suit and put her arms around him.

  My stepdad planted affectionate kisses on both our foreheads and said to us smiling, “I have missed you guys so much. I am so glad to see you both.”

  “Girls, hello. If you are done ignoring me, I would like to hug too,” my mom said, teasing Nate and me with a hint of jealousy in her voice.

  “Ma, don’t be jealous. You need to accept that we love daddy more,” I said to my mom and hugged her.

  “I know you girls love your daddy more but that doesn’t mean you ignore me,” she teased back smiling.

  “Are you girls ready for dinner?” my stepdad asked as we walked towards the car.

  I laughed and said, “It's funny how we ate lunch before we boarded the plane, and we are talking about food already.” We headed to our parents’ place in Frisco from the airport shortly after landing.

  Frisco is a few miles north of Dallas and my parents’ neighborhood was the nicest one in the entire city. As cardiologists, they totally earned their lifestyle. The custom home they built a few years ago had rooms designed to Nate’s and my specific taste and choice. We barely spent a month a year in the house, but my stepdad wanted us to have everything we needed for however long we stayed in the house.