Adultery CORRUPTION OF MINDS

[N D]

STORY 2

THANKS JASMINE

Jasmine stared out at the vast expanse of the snow decked valley before her, a single tear froze in her eyes, the glass of martini didn’t make it any better.

How could it?
It was her honey moon suite and she had landed alone. Having payed for it herself, a dream honey moon, was something she had desired as the culmination of her four year long romance with Tom.
It didn’t materialise.
He called off the wedding with just days left behind, he didn’t love her, an excuse all men made. That wasn’t the truth, she should have put her foot down the first time she caught him cheating on her. Once a cheater always a cheater, she would remember that. Softly caressing the fur jacket, Jasmine turned around. It was still dusk and the thick fog settled down in the mountain resort. She hadn’t stepped out of the suite since she arrived that morning, not even for food. She had asked it to be delivered in her room.
The shame of staying alone in a honey moon suite. That itself told the story. No one needed to hear anything more. All she wanted to do was bury herself in the warm blanket and hope that she’d wake up in the morning realising it was her wedding day and the whole thing was a night mare.
The cold gust of wind reminded her that it wasn’t a night mare. She had turned off her mobile for the whole week. Hundred of calls, her friends, classmates, loved ones all enquiring about her. She didn’t have the ear to hear the same words all over again and again. She could not be bothered by it. She was the woman who had chosen her man and got dumped at the altar. She had to live with that.
The ring on the door drew her out of her reverie. Wiping her face, she stepped back into the room. With the balcony door left wide open, the room was cold, chilling in fact. She walked up to the door and pulled open the latch.
“Good evening mam!” it was an elderly gentleman, short and stout with a pleasant smile, a professional smile. Of course he was the manager.
“Your parents have been trying to reach you for a while.” He stared behind her, saw the balcony door open, “It gets cold as it gets dark mam, would you want me to send someone to make the fire.”
She turned around and looked, nodding her head.
“Could you please leave the receiver back in it’s place.”
“Just tell them I’m fine and I’m not foolish enough to do stupid things.”
The manager smiled, “But of course mam. May I offer you a complimentary bottle of rare wine on your arrival.”
“Nothing for free please.” Jasmine returned the smile politely.
“Of course mam. I’ll send someone to light the fire.”
Jasmine nodded her head and walked outside, the stout man had already turned around when she called him back. “Could you send me a packet of cigarette too.”
“Sure mam, which would that be.”
“Anything light, Marlboro, Dunhill.”
“Sure.” He nodded and politely retreated. She left the door open and walked back to the balcony and stood at the exact same place. He was right, as the night crept in the breeze got stronger and colder. The attendent knocked and she waved him in. He walked to the fire place and fixed the fire, piling logs of woods into the electric furnace. She was in no mood to go back into the room.
“Is that all mam?” he asked as he was about to leave.
“Could you change the sheets and get a fresh warm blanket.” Jasmine added pointing at her huge bed.
“Sure mam.” He walked away only to return in few minutes with her pack of smokes and change of sheets. She watched as he very carefully replaced the cold sheets and spread the bed with fresh ones. She thanked him tipping him a generous fifty as she walked back into the room shutting the balcony door. She sat on the comfortable couch and turned the television on, an old western movie. She was not particularly fond of old westerns, but Client Eastwood, his movies were a league apart as she increased the volume of the television her telephone rang. She hadn’t noticed it but the attendant had replaced the receiver back on the cradle. She walked over and picked the call. It was from her home, her sister-in-law, she sounded worried.
“Jesus, chill, I just want to spend a week away from all the noise and return, how difficult is it to understand.”
“Leave your mobile on atleast.” Her sister in law screamed back.
“Why, so it can buzz every few minutes, one stupid message or the other.”
“Jesus, okay, only we know this number, can you at least answer once a day.”
“Call around this time.”
“Sure.”
“I don’t want to hear anyone else, you will make the call.”
“Sure I will.”
“You know me, I won’t do stupid shit, if that is what you are worried about.”
There was a nervous laugh at the other end, “I know dear.”
“Sure thanks good night.” Jasmine disconnected the call, she walked back to the couch and turned the volume up on her television.
It was understandable. Who went to their honey moon alone. Of course they were worried. Some would think she was not in the right mind set. Maybe she wasn’t. But it was a weekend she wanted it was important for her. She had booked a year in advance and had gone through hours of research and travelogue before settling on the one place she found beautiful. If marriages were made in heaven, this was the window to it. She had remarked when she booked the place. It didn’t come cheat, cost per day was in few thousand dollars and they only provided free breakfast and a buffet dinner. Nothing else. It didn’t matter, she needed the suite and she had it. She could have cancelled and saved a ton of money, but that was not her. It was her vacation.
Shrivelled under a blanket the heat radiated into the room from the furnace and she stared at the television screen as sleep took over. She hadn’t even peeled open her pack of smokes.

It wasn’t till late morning she finally woke up the next day. Night on the couch, it was not unusual for her during college days, but in the honey moon suite, it felt worse. She sat up, grabbed her pack of smokes and ordered a cup of coffee. If she had landed here, she was going to go around and visit some places. She called the reception and hired a vehicle, she needed a good all wheel drive and the rental provided her a Subaru Forester, she was comfortable with stick shifts and preferred it to automatic transmission, she then ordered a cup of tea and walked out to sit in the balcony. There were only four honey moon suites in the resort and each one faced a direction. Being at the very top of the resort it had a comfortable bedroom with a beautiful view and a washroom and small kitchen just in case they wanted to make anything though she wasn’t sure she could cook anything more than just tea or coffee, maybe a hot soup or two. The drinks bar too was filled with wine and whiskey and she didn’t like either of them. She’d have preferred some strong rum, maybe spiced rum, that was more of her drink. Single malts were for pompous old men who wanted to show of their knowledge of alcohol, rum was the more manly of drinks, bitter and burning at the same time. An odd concoction. Easing back with her morning cup of tea, she lit her cigarette as she scanned through her laptop remembering the notes she had kept months ago about the places she wanted to visit.
There were four of them planned for the first day, first was a suicide point, followed by a peaceful lake and then pine wood mountains and last the horse meadow farms were they bred race stallions. She had learnt horse riding in her boarding college and she wondered if she still remembered any of it. It was like cycling she had read, once learnt it was difficult to follow. The next two days she was going on a wine tour of the local wine yard and take the rope way to the highest point of the southern ranges. The view from there was supposed to be magnificent. She had seen it in a 360 degree panoramic view in some youtube video. She walked down to the breakfast hall just as it was being shut. She was not the only one, there were few couples, young and old, families with kids. Taking few pieces of toast and sausages along with a bowl of fresh cut fruits and vegetables she made her way to the very corner of the dinning hall, table for two and she made herself comfortable. The bearer brought her a cup of steaming hot chocolate it was supposed to keep her carbs high on a cold day when one rarely got tired or built a sweat. Downing it in a hurry she brushed past an elder pair walking down to the car she had rented. A dark blue Subaru.
The whole morning she had just driven down, the queue at suicide point was a put down and she didn’t want her day to start standing for hours to get a five minute view. A local trinket shop owner said the place was empty in the evening since it was very cold. She didn’t mind cold, quickly reversing her plan she left to the horse meadows. It was true riding a horse was something that never left one, though the owner had said he was a well behaved horse and loved posing for pictures, she took a few rounds in the huge estate, trotting and on few stretches, letting the horse gain speed. It did a ton of good for her as she hugged the tall horse and kissed him on the forehead before feeding him fresh carrots and jaggery. She spent good few hours getting to know about the horses and then headed off to the pine forest with her trusted GPS guiding her. A good few hours of trekking in heavy woollen jacket and boots made her sweat like a pig and she had to pull them off as she sat down for a late lunch of beef stew and garlic bread. She wasted few more hours driving before finally heading off to the suicide point. The place was still crowded, but not like morning and the queue was smaller. She stood for the ticket and then followed the group all the way up, the view was better than what she had seen in the picture and she took quiet few pictures of her own. She watched as the sun set in horizon and the tour guide instructed everyone to follow before the fog caught up and it turned really dark. Driving back it drizzled and she slowed down the vehicle, the traffic from the point was maddening and most were slow. She turned the radio on and the heater keeping herself warm and comfortable as she snaked down the steep mountain driving up again to her resort. Few kilometres away from her resort she saw two men standing by the road and waving. They were clearly wet and had been walking for a while. The route ended up at the resort so they had to be headed the same way. She pulled up right next to the two and stopped.
“Jump in.”
“She’s the lady from the resort.”
The elder man stared at his friend.
Jasmine smiled as he pulled off his wet jacket and dumped it in the trunk and joined her in the front seat.
“Dillon” he introduced himself in a thick accent, “From the Carribeans” he added.
“Boris…” his friend replied from the rear seat, “Uzbek.”
“Jasmine.” She introduced herself.
“You are the single woman in the honey moon suite.” Boris spoke with a thick Russian accent.
“I’m …” Jasmine replied smiling.
“Fucking idiot.” He quipped.
“Boris is a former Chechen special ops have worked with some mobs, you want someone taken care off he is the go to guy.” Dillon added.
Boris laughed out aloud, “Sore knee, I’m good for nothing.”
Jasmine grinned. She sped down the road as the rain intensified. The resort was top of a small hill and the roads were curvy and since the rain had turned heavy, the visibility also dwindled. Boris offered to take the wheel few times but Dillon noted she was doing an excellent job given the circumstances. Jasmine was indeed a good driver, she had learnt driving when she was fourteen in an old Jeep and she had been driving through slush mud and lakes of her uncle’s estate ever since she was a teenager. Bad visibility didn’t impose a big problem for her, she knew the roads well and since the GPS showed the turns before hand she knew what to expect too.
They reached safely around eight and she handed the keys to the valet. They hugged and thanked her for the lift and the three parted.