Meeting Max by Richard Brumer Read Free Book Online

in French, Spanish, and some Hungarian.
    “You are good, Mr. Rick. You are speaking Hindi very good, sir.”
    Within an hour, Rick was bouncing the recently learned phrases back at him. One word he planned to use often was chalo. It meant ‘let’s go,’ and Rick repeated it many times with gusto, practicing it while Permanand laughed and slapped his hands on his thighs. Rick believed his guide to be a one of a kind human being and felt lucky to have found him.
    “Permanand, I would like you to be my personal driver and my only driver while I’m in Delhi. If you agree, you would have to be available when I need your service.”
    “Yes, boss, it would be my pleasure to serve you!” Permanand exclaimed, beaming. “I am very desperate and enthusiastic to help you. I am glad you are needing me.”
    “ Shukriya , Permanand.” Rick thought that desperate was a little dramatic, but this was India. “The boss part is unnecessary. We’re friends now.”
    “Thank you. You are a kind fellow, Mr. Rick. I will stay with you as long you are needing me, and you pay me what you think is right and no baksheesh .
    “I know you are an honorable man. It is good that we are meeting today, because yesterday I took a chance and ate some bad food. I suffered from loose motion, and it would not be a good thing for you to see me that way. But today, I am very fine.”
    “I have an idea of what you mean, but I would think that your body is used to spicy Indian food.”
    “Maybe I am being punished,” he mumbled, wobbling his head from side to side. “I always eat vegan, but I had mutton for the first time.”
    “Mutton comes from older sheep. Maybe your body is not used to it.”
    “It may be, but the loose motion was very bad. My wife stayed home to nurse me, and her sister took Shyama’s place to sell the flowers. My wife is a very good person. She told me that the meat from the goat was not good for me.”
    “A goat?” Rick asked incredulously.
    “Yes, Mr. Rick. In India, our mutton is from bakra, or you say ‘goat.’”
    “Oh, I see. Well, you had better stick to vegan. I’m not a vegan, but I always eat close to vegetarian,” Rick added as he mentally filed the word bakra in his mind.
     
    ***
     
    Rick called Elena’s hotel using his new Nokia and was told there was no Elena Weisz registered.
    Was she not staying there?
    He left his number anyway and called again later, hoping he would have more luck talking to someone else, but the response was the same.
    Was the contact information wrong? Did she change her mind and go somewhere else? Was she playing some sort of game on the plane, leading me on?
    Rick felt helpless. His mind was filled with questions, and the questions didn’t bring answers, only more questions.
    Everything she talked about pointed to her desire for them to meet in Delhi. Sixteen hours in a plane brought them together, or at least that’s what he thought. She’d been so convincing.
    Rick called several times the next day. The answer was always the same. There was no Elena Weisz registered.
    What happened to her?
    He went to the hotel and spoke to the manager, asking if the hotel was part of a chain and if there was more than one in Delhi. The manager assured him there was no other place with that name and the number he called was correct.
    Is she in a hospital?
    His imagination was drunk with scenarios . He went home to Rohit’s house and fell into a deep sleep, then awoke an hour later, startled.
    Who was Sudar, the man who had driven her away from the airport? Why didn’t a hotel driver pick her up?
    There were no calls for him on his mobile and none the next day. Finding Eric was his reason for being in India. He had to let thoughts of her go. Elena would remain a mystery.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 5
     
     
    When Elena expressed her feelings about her first love, it reminded Rick of his bittersweet love for Julie and the reason he was in India. Perhaps Elena was clinging to