Life, as it goes.

This was the big day. I had some important meetings in the morning R also had some work at his office and was busy till lunch so R and his colleague dropped me off near the area where the offices were located and I was on my own. Singapore has one main business district. It is located on the banks of the only river of Singapore.

By 1:30 we had to reach a place called the Harbour Front to board the Super Star Virgo cruise. This was the highlight of our holiday so I was very excited. By 1:00 I was done with the meetings and rushed back to the apartment so collect the bags because R was still busy, we had talked, he was to meet me at the Harbour Front. I reached the Harbour Front in time and stood in the line for check-in into the ship but R hadn't got there. I was beginning to worry. Behind me the crowd started thinning as people moved into the ship. Then my turn came at the counter, I let a large family of Marwadis go instead.

After some time of waiting and letting others pass, I was alarmed to notice that the counters were beginning to close. Still there was no sight of R. I looked around for a payphone, there was one in the corner. Risking the possibility of having to restart in a new line, I pushed the trolley to the payphone. It was free for local calls so I called his office, no one picked up.

I was bordering on panic. Suddenly a voice blared out from somewhere.

"Calling for Mr. Desai and Ms. Mehta to please check-in immediately."
"Shit. Where the hell is this man?" I mumbled and pushed back to the check-in counter. Panic had given way to anger. "I don't give a damn, he can stay here, I am going to enjoy my holiday."

"Ms. Mehta?" The girl at the counter asked. "Are you checking in alone?"
"Yes." I said, still on the lookout for R's figure hurrying through the crowd.
"You have been booked together with Mr. Desai." she said.
"I know."
"Is he not coming?" her voice was incredulous.
"I have no freaking idea dear." I said in a sweet, sarcastic voice.
"You have two single cabins, can I cancel his?" she asked.
"No, wait for him but check me in"
"Ok, please give me your passport and confirmation please." She did some stamping and checking for a couple of minutes. "Here you go. Please proceed to board the ship immediately."

I pushed the trolley towards the boarding line which consisted of only a couple of people, still looking behind my back. The speakers blared, "Calling for Mr. Desai, please proceed to check-in immediately." The sound faded slowly as I walked at the snails pace, avoiding the travellator. Still waiting. At next counter they asked for my passport and replaced it with an access card to the cabin.

"Ms. Mehta, welcome. There is a message for you. Your companion is sorry for the delay. He has just reached the check-in counter and requested you to wait if ..." The man at the counter paused, there was a twinkle of humour in his eye. "If you still want to marry him." He completed with a chuckle.

I did not know how to react. I was furious enough to push the trolley and run into the ship without waiting for him but his very simple and matter-of-fact request made me smile and, wait. It took only a few seconds for R to appear, running for his dear life on the travellator.

"Sorry." He spoke between breaths.
"Whatever it is tell me later, lets go."

He took the trolley from me and we trotted towards the boarding gate. The staff of the cruise seemed to know the problem, they were laughing at us. We stepped into the ship, our baggage in hand and the gate closed behind us. We were the last to board the ship.

The rest of the day went in asserting my anger and demanding compensation. That was really fun. The fool had forgotten his passport and ticket confirmation at a client's office where he had gone for the meeting. The office was closed after the meeting because it was a Sunday. He had to return to their office from half-way to Harbout Front, get them to reopen it and retrieve his passport and documents. He had tried to call me but there was no way I was reachable except by calling the cruise offlice which was constantly engaged. I had happily declined to get international roaming inspite of his insistance to avoid the extra expenses. He gave me a "I-told-you-so" a couple of time to aussage his own guilt.

After this initial shocker, things went smooth. The ship was awesome. Our cabins had small balconies. It was a tremendous kick to step out into the balcony and face the endlessness of the sea. We had three days of this bliss and I wanted to make the most of it so I forgave him and went back to having fun.