Chapter 11
Sianchen Brigade, Welcomes You at Khardung La Pass (18380 ft/ 5602 m)
Sharon caught a brief glimpse of the board before she parked her bike and ran into the very much welcome shelter, with her hands stuffed in her jacket. Downhill in the rental she had no idea why that guy gave all the jackets, mufflers and monkey caps to everyone. Now, she would kill anyone who would try to take it away from her, pretty sure the temperature was in negative. There was a freaking snowfall going on there. The weather just in the valley was more than pleasant and here, it was enough to freeze her eyeballs. Even while driving the bike, whatever little bit of skin was exposed, she could feel the wind biting into her skin. Initially she enjoyed it, but half an hour later, it was just plain painful.
Warm air hit her body as soon as she entered the makeshift cafe on the side of the road. She looked around the hustle of people pouring in and moving around, in the dimly lit caf and found her group. She joined them and noticed that there were still people left to join. Shikhar and Sameera were sitting in the corner enjoying their tea, Swayam and Tani were present, and Rey had come in with her. Raghav and Govind were yet to join. She slid in beside Rey when Govind and Raghav entered, looking frostbitten. Raghav had pouches beneath his eyes and looked like he could pass out.
"What happened to you?" Sameera questioned, looking concerned.
"Halfway here, Raghav was pouring out semi-digested food and bile out of his mouth," Govind remarked, crinkling his nose. "I felt like I would start puking too."
"I hadn't expected so many bumps," Raghav scoffed indignantly, his voice hoarse and pitiful. He seated himself next to Sharon, who massaged his arm sympathetically.
"Oh, you poor thing," Sameera remarked before rummaging in her bag and taking out a strip of tablets. "Here, take this, you'll feel better."
"What's this?" Raghav asked, accepting the tablet from her.
"It's for the vomiting," she replied, "Just one thing, it might make you feel drowsy and being drowsy on a bike is not a very safe idea."
"Then why're you giving me this? I can puke again, but I don't wish to fall off a bike and die because I was too sleepy."
"Honey, it will make you feel better. It may or may not make you drowsy."
"I'll keep it," he said pocketing the strip, "but I'm not having it right now."
"As you wish," Sameera shrugged her shoulders.
"I'll go get some coffee," Tani said, getting up and going to the counter, pushing her muffler back over her mouth.
Tani requested for some coffee when she saw a man beside her gawking at her. She turned to him and haughtily asked, "May I help you?"
The man blinked up in surprise before saying, "No, no... it's just... I can't see the rest of the face but you have really beautiful eyes," with a thick accent she couldn't quite place.
Tani raised her eyebrows, "Nice to know that," she replied with a hint of smile.
"Really," the man insisted, "no kidding. I have seen some pretty women, but wow! If those eyes are so gorgeous what would the rest of you look like?"
Tani smile back, not really sure he could see her smile with the muffler on, "I guess that's something you'll never find out." She grabbed her coffee and sauntered off the counter.
"What was that?" Govind whispered in her ear the moment she sat down. Tani looked around seeing everyone busy chatting.
"What was what?" she asked breezily.
"That guy, you," he hinted, "I saw that look. That was your flirty look."
"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied coolly sipping on her coffee, mischief playing in her eyes.
"Yeah, how would you," Govind taunted, "I bet you don't even know how to flirt."
Tani raised her eyebrows at him, "Excuse me? You don't know anything about that."
"Really?" he stretched the word in a mocking way. "Well then, I will bet you five hundred bucks. Flirt with me, impress me."
Tani laughed shaking her head, "Oh no no no... I'm not doing that."
"Why? You scared?"
She snapped her head at him, challenge in her eyes, "Fine, the bet is on."
"So, everyone done? Shall we leave?" Shikhar asked over the chattering. Getting noises of approval in response, everyone started getting up and streaming out of the cafe.
"Can anyone switch with me?" Govind groaned out loudly, "I don't want to go with Stinky Stinkerson."
"I am your brother," he snapped at Govind shooting daggers at him.
"I have never been more ashamed of that fact. I mean dude, none of the girls got motion sickness and you did," he completed and jumped when he received three indignant "Hey!"s from the girls. "Not saying you guys are weak. Just saying my brother is weaker than you guys."
"Buddy, you really need to stop talking," Sameera told him, "you're this close to getting punched in the face," she indicated using the distance between her thumb and forefinger, "and this is not the best time for any bleeding."
"So I guess no one's switching," Govind looked around, "I mean shame on you guys. Such friends."
"I should have dissolved you in Mom's womb," Raghav muttered walking away. "Ungrateful piece of shit."
***
It was almost four in afternoon when they reached Pangong Lake and lodged in the hotel. It was probably couple of degrees warmer than Khardung La pass but that was saying nothing. The only difference was it wasn't snowing but the wind was so hard, it could kill a human without woollens. They had their lunch at four and strolled out to the lake. At six, when it got dark and it felt like there was no doubt they would freeze to death if they stayed for one more minute, they called it a day.
Back in the hotel room, Sharon took out her cell phone and swiped through the pictures she had taken on the way. Breathtaking, didn't even begin to explain how the view looked. The naked mountains, the green meadows had made her stop and just sit for a minute trying to take the beauty in. The sight of horses galloping in the meadow had almost made her lose her mind. She knew no one was hearing and so she couldn't help but scream out at the beauty. Even the lake, she had never seen a more beautiful sight. The clear blue liquid, a reflection of the sky above and the brown-headed gulls swimming in the lake and flying. She swiped through the screen and relived every moment of the day that had passed.
The door opened and Rey's head peeked in, "Sharon, come on, we're all meeting in Raghav's room."
Sharon really didn't want to move. She was so very comfortable, wrapped up in a thick blanket, warmed by her body heat. She reluctantly let it go and felt the cold air, making her shiver. The room heater hadn't quite kicked in yet. The room was too cold and heater was taking too long to heat it up. She put the blanket over the room heater, hoping it stayed warm when she returned.
She sprinted to Raghav's room and found the two girls sitting on the bed with a blanket wrapped around each of them. She scrambled up onto the bed and Tani opened her blanket. She gratefully accepted it, wrapping it around her shoulders.
Now that she was back in the comfortable warmth of the blanket, she looked around to find Govind, Raghav and Shikhar on the ground playing cards. Rey and Swayam were not there in the room. They had divided the rooms in that order. Tani, Sameera and Sharon were in one room while Govind, Shikhar and Raghav were in one room and Rey and Swayam shared one. Initially they had thought of taking two rooms with five boys and three girls but the rooms were not so big as to let five boys sleep in a single room. "Well I don't mind sleeping in the girls' room," Govind had remarked smirking, making everyone roll their eyes, "but the decent guy I am, I respect their privacy."
"That blanket's going to smell so nice when I sleep in it," Govind commented, raising his head and watching the three girls wrapped in it. "Might as well take it home with me."
"Just so you know, mine will be the one that smells like Chanel N5," Tani replied cheekily. Sharon ogled at her surprised.
"Ooh... sound so nice. Too bad I don't know what that smells like," Govind snorted, his hands absentmindedly shuffling the cards.
"If you want, I may let you catch a whiff off me before I leave," Tani remarked, making everyone snap their heads at her. Tani complimented it with a wink. Without doubt awkward silence ensued.
Shikhar laughed nervously, "Okay... that was weird. Cards, please?"
Govind turned his head back at him, "Yeah sure," and he distributed the cards.
Two hours later, Swayam and Rey had returned with some takeout from a nearby restaurant, they had all been fed and full and Sameera had fallen asleep, the anti-vomiting meds kicking in. It was when they were still wrapped in the blankets that Sharon wondered aloud, "How are you not cold?"
Raghav looked up and smirking said, "It's our natural masculinity," flexing his bicep.
"Or maybe the bottles of brandy at work," Tani retorted.
"You got brandy?" Sharon asked.
"Yeah, three bottles left. They are pretty damned small for their price," Raghav replied, turning one in his hand. "One sip is enough to keep you warm for at least a couple of hours. You guys want some?"
"Nah... I'm good," Tani replied, and Sharon, "me too."
"Wait, you hadn't had brandy while driving bikes right?" Sharon inquired.
"No, of course not," Shikhar replied, "we don't advertise drink and drive."
"Good," Sharon nodded in agreement. "Now let's get back to cards."
As the night proceeded, Sharon thought, if this could be her life after the trip, she would probably consider herself the luckiest person in the world. Chances were close to nil that her life would be this ideal, but for now, she was happy in the bubble she was in and no one could break that.
A/N: I couldn't wait for friday... This is like a filler chapter but I hope you like it anyway, but there will be another update on weekend mostly... Like, reply, share and while you're at it, look back at the first page. I GOT A BANNER!!!!!! And i love it!
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