Chapter 44: I Never Did
To Arianna, traveling was usually a process of disappointment rather than amazement and relaxation – especially on this trip. When she was in close contact with the ancient and mysterious country of her dreams, it felt like watching the defects of the moon through an astronomical telescope. The city was crowded, messy, and disorderly. It was far from her beautiful expectations.
Maybe because Travis was by her side, she was in a bad mood. If she had traveled alone, she might have actually enjoyed it.
Travis was there for business, and he often disappeared for hours. When there were no official duties, he tried to play the part of a good companion. He took her to a few places that he thought Arianna might have wanted to see.
Arianna didn’t mind his disappearances. She would rather watch TV in the hotel room every day than be close to him in crowds and be hugged by his arms as if they were true lovers.
She also assumed that Travis questioned the safety of the country. Whenever he was away, Ryan Cooper followed her closely. He usually kept at least a meter between them but was ordered to stay with Arianna instead of being with Travis. However, this added to Arianna’s bad mood. She couldn’t help but feel like she was being babysat.
On the day they went to the Holy River, Arianna was having a really hard time. The sacred river water was said to be able to grant people’s wishes. All kinds of people came here to make their dreams come true.
But all Arianna saw were dying people by the riverside and floating garbage and animal carcasses in the water. Out of respect for the exotic culture, she endured her discomfort and touched the river water like others. And after returning to the hotel, she was so sick that she vomited all night.
No wonder she was unlucky. Even the river that was supposed to help people had rejected her. Maybe she was too lacking in faith and was not respectable.
Travis Cooper, however, remained healthy because he immediately sanitized his hands after shaking hands or touching things. He was such a neat freak, Arianna thought.
He commented to her, “This would not be a good place for you to live.”
Arianna had a few pimples the next morning. They were swollen and painful. She sat before the makeup mirror and squeezed the pimples to try to flatten them out. But she would rather have had more of them to make her look uglier. Maybe Travis would lose interest in her then.
She used a tissue to wipe away her blood carefully. Travis left the bathroom for a moment and returned, pressing a cotton swab on Arianna’s face. She immediately cried, “What are you doing?”
“Alcohol, to disinfect it.” He replied.
On the following day, Arianna put on the traditional clothes of the local women. She didn’t mind if other people saw her pimples, but Travis seemed to have a special interest in them. He looked at them from time to time, making her feel queasy. She decided to put makeup on to help hide her bumps from him.
She thought she could easily blend in with the locals when she looked at herself in the mirror. This way, she could escape from the crowds. However, most of the women in traditional dresses were plump, and she was thin. So her plan would not work.
Arianna noticed that everywhere they went was clean that day, but it was very windy. The strong gusts constantly lifted the hemline of her clothes. Travis handed her over to Ryan again and said, “Watch Miss Jenkins. Make sure the wind doesn’t blow her away.”
They went to a movie production company in the morning. When Travis left for the business meeting, Arianna and Ryan were allowed to watch the filming of a movie scene. They sat for an hour in VIP chairs and were allowed to eat off the gourmet refreshment table.Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.
The exquisite music and dance scenes were much more eye-catching than the so-called tourist attractions in the city. Arianna even recognized two of the movie stars. Between takes, she leaned sideways to talk to Ryan. She said, “The lead actress is one of the best three dancers in the world. But the male lead is still a rookie.”
Ryan’s attention was not on the actors but rather was on the surroundings. Upon hearing the sound of Arianna’s voice, he caught the end of her sentence and replied honestly, “I haven’t seen many movies from here.”
Travis approached the two of them, followed by an older-looking man. The other man was the production company owner and smiled at them. He greeted Travis’s acquaintances and kept referring to Arianna as his ‘honorable lady’ in a strange English accent.
The day’s trip was not so distasteful, but the journey was long. Finally, Arianna asked Travis in a humble tone, “Are you investing in movies here?”
She thought he was probably doing it to score female stars if he really was investing here. Movies didn’t make extreme amounts of money anymore.
He glanced at her and read her mind. Then, he slowly said, “Didn’t you ask a movie star for an autograph just now?”
Arianna wanted to simply answer ‘no,’ but she felt like Travis was trying to discredit her intelligence. So she attacked him. “Didn’t you do such a thing when you were young?”
“I never did. And I am still very young now.”
After answering her in a strange tone, Travis lowered his head and began reading the local newspaper. Arianna was surprised he was able to keep his eyes steady on the words in such a shaky car.
****
In the afternoon, they went to a quiet temple.
Arianna was surprised and asked, “Why aren’t we going to the famous places like we’ve been doing?”
“There are too many people there. I’m sure you noticed. Like at the river – how can the gods remember and grant the wishes of so many people. They must have constant headaches.”
She did not expect Travis to pay tribute to local gods and be up to speed with the culture. And she remembered him distinctly telling her that he did not believe in gods or heaven, so what was he doing at a temple?