K had, despite everything planned the trip very well as well. Just to add to the work, house build, shenanigans of R and I and the planning of the trip and taking care of Coco who had decided to do middle of the night outings, he had also attended and cleared his interview for the next contract and had an offer on hand.
We had planned to spend a day extra in Dubai as I wanted to visit the gold souk though we have holidayed extensively in Dubai. To be fair, R helped us with the luggages, the transit etc and was not being a spoilt brat. The airlines had organised a stay for us in a hotel (Coptho**rne)and had given us 2 rooms. To maintain peace I took a room and K and R the other. We had not told R, so when I turned away to another room, she was mildly shocked and came immediately over to hug me and ask if I would not be lonely alone. She and I were not on talking terms just for a couple of hours before then. It is moments like this that reassure me how intrinsically sweet she is, despite everything. We slept well
The room was, clean, ample space and all three meals were provided. I really liked the buffet spread that was on offer, all three times. We went to the souk, did some shopping and walked back the marina where K had spent time as an youngster fresh out of his engineering as his first job from campus was in the UAE
We also purchased gifts for C and V and also Addu at the airport. Even at the souk, R was very friendly to strangers and generally polite to everybody. There was a Saudi lady sat next to her, fully covered and she piped up’ I like your eye make up’. They all immediately smiled and complimented me on my friendly teen. If only they knew!
We landed around 8 am in Chennai. The flights were ok but the food was terrible. K’s dear friend SKN was a big shot in Chennai, so had arranged for a special attendant to usher us through the airport formalities on a priority basis and also for the golf cart to collect us straight out of the flight. R was mighty embarrassed as none of us were expecting this and were stunned.
An innova car was waiting for us but getting out of the parking from the airport was chaotic. We reached our West**n Vela**chery hotel. SKN had arranged an early check in for us, so it was a relief to check in and relax. We did not opt for the hotel breakfast but ordered healthy fare from sw**ggy and loved it. Our friend V had already arranged for local sims and phones, so K immediately called his parents and they were delighted to talk to R and could not wait to see her.
..continued
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