chapter 13: A trip of emotions-part 2

Late at night, everyone was already asleep. Almost everyone. Nandini had a hard time falling asleep. Not only because she had a lot of things on her mind, but also because she was all alone in the bedroom. Simran was nowhere to be seen. Where was she?

Not wanting to be alone in her room anymore, Nandini got out of bed to look for her sister. She was not used sleeping alone. Even when she was sick, she had her father sleeping in the bed with her.

Nandini looked everywhere in the mansion. The kitchen, the bathrooms, the dining room, the living room. Everywhere, except for one room-their father's office. "It is the only place I have not checked." she thought, "She must be there."

After not very long searching, Nandini finally arrived in front of the office and was now facing the door. Although, she knew why was she there, she did not feel very confident about entering that room. Who knew what was behind that door. Maybe her father was there working in the middle of the night again. Or maybe, due being tired of so much work, he has already fallen asleep on his desk. There was only one way to find out.

She slowly and quietly opened the door, making a gap, small enough for her not to be seen, but still wide enough so she can see. What she saw was not disturbing, but it still made her feel weird.

She saw Kyoya and Simran both looking at the computer, like they were looking for something on the Internet. From time to time, they were making small comments about what they had found. Common phrases, such as "How about this?", "What do you think?", "I do not agree", etc.

It was a pretty normal father-daughter moment, but it still aroused tons of questions inside Nandini's mind: "What were they doing?, "Why were they doing it now?, "Why wasn't she told anything?", "Why did not they asked her to join?".

The young girl did not sleep well that night. She could not stop asking herself those questions. Part of her knew that she was just making rushed conclusions, but other part was telling her otherwise. She was confused. Why was she feeling that way? Why did she care? Why was she feeling left out? This did not make any sense. She was not jealous. She could not be. No. She should just forget about this. Big deal. Her father and her sister were awake in the middle of the night. It was nothing.

It was morning now. Nandini woke up happily, thinking that Simran probably was sleeping in her bed right now. But her twin was not there. Didn't she came here at all? Was she up all night? No. Nonsense. Nandini was doing it again. Her imagination was getting the best of her. She just needed some distraction. Breakfast would be a good idea.

She went to the kitchen, where she saw that Ms. Priti has already cooked breakfast-Beavertails:

-"This is new."-Nandini said in a charismatic tone.-"You sure love to experiment, Ms. Priti.

-"Thank you, Ms. Ootori! And yes, I do. I find something new every single day in the cook book with recipes from all over the world or just on the Internet. This one is of Canadian origin. And no, it is not made of beaver meat if that's what you think.- Ms. Priti teased.

-"No."-Nandini chuckled.-"I was not, but good to know."

Nandini started eating, while Ms. Priti was washing up the plates. The girl was wondering if she should ask the maid about her twin sister:

-"Ms. Priti?"

-"Yes."-the maid responded politely.

-"Is there any chance that you know where Simran might be?"

-"Simran? Well..."- the maid gave herself a little time to think before answering.-"No. I don't. After waking up, I immediately came here to prepare breakfast for the Ootori family. I did not came across neither your sister, nor your father. I am sorry!"

Although slightly disappointed, Nandini was not mad. She could not blame the maid at all:

-"Okay! Even though, thank you!"

-"You are welcome, Miss!"- Ms. Priti gave Nandini a bow, before continuing with work.

While washing up, Priti noticed that something was off about Nandini, but what? Yesterday everything was okay. Simran and Nandini were together like always. Why are they not together now? Did something happen? Was that the reason why the young lady was upset? Priti wanted to do something to make her feel better. Maybe she should start with small talk:

-"So, young Miss..."-it seemed that she attracted Nandini's attention-"The Ootoris' first family vacation, right?"

-"Yes"-Nandini's answer was very quiet and in an unamused tone, but not rude.

-"And to Greece, of all places. You are definetely going to see some new things. Which you can add to your game of Trivia empire."

-"Well, yeah. That's a good idea."-the black-haired girl responded, this time with a little bit more enthusiasm.

-"Speaking of vacations, do you wanna hear a joke?"

-"Yes. Why not."

-"Okay. Listen!"-Ms. Priti stopped working and faced the child-"A tour guide is counting the tourists in a bus. She asks "Is anyone missing?" and they all say "No." all at once. She tells the driver that they can go now. While driving, they see a woman running towards the bus and waving. The guide asks one of the tourists "Is that your wife? You didn't you say that she was missing?" and he says "Because I don't miss her."

The maid's joke caused Nandini to laugh:

-"That was a good one, Ms. Priti."

-"Thank you, Miss!"

-"Okay, now it's my turn. Listen to this!"

After the conversation with the maid, Nandini was feeling a little bit better now, but something was still missing. "Uff, we are leaving soon", she thought. "What is the point of these unnecessary "conspiracies". This is immature. I should just forget about all of this. This is the right thing to do. We are all going to have a lot of fun in Greece. We will."

Meanwhile, Kyoya was helping Simran with the luggage in the girls' bedroom. Suddenly, Nandini entered the room and saw them packing. This caught Kyoya and Simran' s attention:

-"Ah! Hello, Nandini!"-Kyoya greeted her politely.-"Could you, please come here to pack? We will be staying in Greece for a week, so we need to take a lot of things."

-"Yes, of course."- Nandini responded casually and she joined in the packing.

Sunday, 5:30 AM. The Ootoris were at the airport, preparing to get on the plane, which will take them to Greece. Everything went fine. They got on the plane with no problems. The flight was going pretty well. Without stress or headaches. After almost 14 hours of flight, they finally arrived at their destination. The arrived to the hotel. They checked-in and went to their apartment. The interesting thing was that all the employees in the hotel knew who Kyoya was. Not because of his social status, but because the hotel belonged to the same chain he owned.

Back in their apartment, Kyoya and his daughter were unpacking. Kyoya interrupted to silence:

-"Remember, girls! Dinner is at 8 PM. The restaurant is a la carte, so you are you have to order."

-"Okay, father!"-Simran said, while Nandini was looking at the sea. Their apartment had an amazing view towards the sea. She could hear the waves from there.

The Ootoris finally got out of the apartment and went to the restaurant for dinner. While walking, Kyoya noticed something peculiar. Something about one of the guest. He saw him for only half a second, but he looked very familiar. Kyoya ignored it, and just kept walking, until he and his daughters finally reached the restaurant. He opened the door and hand gestured to his daughters to enter first.

They picked a table and sat. The waiter came to give them menus. After looking at the food the restaurant was offering, the father asked:

-"Have you decided already, girls?"

-"Actually, yes!"-Simran spoke first-"I want tzatziki and a pastitsio."

-"Nandini?"- his attention turned to his other daughter.

-"Tabbouleh and mousakka."- she said quietly.

-"Okay. I want a Greek salad and a Fasolada."

After the waiter took their orders, they sat on the table, waiting for their meals. Kyoya came up with an idea for a conversation and asked:

-"So, how would you like us to spend the holiday? Wehre would you like to go? Meteora, Thessaloniki, or somewhere else?"

-"I don't know."- Simran responded.

-"Nandini?"

-"I don't know either."

-"Okay, do you want to discuss it tomorrow?"

-"Yes."

To be continued...