Silently Falling in Love: Lucky Charm

Chapter 12 - Salma and Ali's wedding

Present Day - Anjali’s husband’s POV

He was glad he listened to his dad’s advice and called the credit card company.  His dad was right, she had checked into a hotel.  She was staying at the Ritz at Half Moon Bay.  Finding this out only made him feel shittier than he did before.  She had been asking him for a while to take her there and he kept saying he would, but he had never followed up.

He pulled his car up to the entrance and had the valet park it.  He normally liked to park his own car, but he didn’t want to waste a minute looking for Anjali.  Now he just had to sweet talk one of the receptionists into giving him a key to his wife’s room.

He lined up behind the female receptionist so that he had a better chance of flirting his way into success.  It was his turn quickly – that’s service for you at the Ritz.

“Good afternoon and welcome to the Ritz sir, how can I help you?” the receptionist asked.

“Good afternoon, Debbie.  My wife has already checked into the hotel for our anniversary celebration and I just need a key to our room.  We’re just so delighted to have this weekend to ourselves while the grandparents take care of the kids.  Do you have kids?” he said.

“I have a two year old son, so yes I can understand how special it is to have a weekend to yourselves.  What room is your wife in?” she asked.

“I’m not sure what room she said.  Sorry, it’s a guy thing to forget all of the details.  I’m sure she told me and she’d probably scold me if you ever told her I forgot.” He sweetly gave Anjali's name as he looked at the receptionist with his sexy blue eyes.

“Give me one moment to look that up.”

“Hhhmm, what is your name sir? Can I see your driver’s license?” she asked.

“Here’s my license.”

“I’m sorry sir but your name is not on the room reservation.  I can call your wife to confirm.”

“I can’t believe my secretary didn’t add both of our names.  As you can see we have the same last name.  Here’s a picture of her in my wallet.  Please don’t call Anjali, she’s not expecting me until dinner this evening and I thought I’d surprise her by showing up early.  I’d really appreciate it if you could make this exception.” he asked.

“Alright.  You seem like an honest guy and I’m sure your wife will love being surprised.  I do hope you both enjoy your weekend with us.  Here is your room key.  The room number is written on the envelope.  Just go down the hall and take a left and you’ll see the elevators.  Let us know if you need anything.” She smiled.

“Thank you!” he said as he grabbed the key before she changed her mind and raced towards the elevator.  He silently said a prayer that the receptionist hadn’t actually called Anjali to verify if he was her husband.

He quickly found the room and opened the door.  He walked in but he noticed that she wasn’t there.  Her purse was there so he knew he had the right room.  The hotel was large plus it was on the beach so there was no telling where she was.  So he decided to just wait until she came back to the room.  He settled into a chair and took a deep breath. 

His phone rang and he looked to see that it was Ali.  He just couldn’t talk to him right now knowing that he was looking for Anjali and this was her brother calling so he let the call go into voicemail.  He waited until his phone beeped indicating there was a voicemail and then he hit listen.

“Hello, I hope you’re doing well.  Salma, the kids, and I are all really missing you guys.  Our monthly get together just don’t seem right without you guys so we’ve decided we’d like to come out and visit you this summer.  I’m starting to look into tickets and I want to make sure you’ll be in town when we come to California.  Call me back when you have a chance so we can coordinate.  Looking forward to catching up.  Give our love to Anjali and the kids.”