What kind of a question is that? "Who doesn't like champagne?"
Well, in Soulmates Never Part, Sheila doesn't!
Following is a little peek at their first meeting.
“What
can I offer you?” Abel asked her after a while, “I have champagne. Would you
like to celebrate our union?”
“I
don’t take champagne,” Sheila said, knowing nevertheless, that she would like
to today, if he really wanted her to.
But he did not propose champagne again.
“Some
Coke perhaps?” he offered instead. He
had seated her on one of the elegant, fluffy sofas. It was a tastefully furnished room that he
had booked in advance for his stay in Kolkata. He walked over to the
refrigerator which was carefully concealed in a stylish wall-to-wall cabinet.
Sheila had regained her composure by now, and she tried to hide the
disappointment and emptiness she sensed as soon as he had left her side.
“That
will be perfect,” she smiled, taking her eyes off him to inspect the room
properly. It was bathed in luxury, she
noted for the first time, and somehow, it contradicted with the image she had
in her mind of Abel Freeman. She wouldn’t have thought he cared a lot for or
even could afford such lavishness. But
then, this was only their first meeting.
She would, of course, learn more about him gradually.
“Here
it is,” Abel said, holding out a glass of Coke towards her, not taking his eyes
away from her face for a moment. She
eyed his glass mutely as he sipped his own Coke and wondered why he hadn’t
poured out the champagne for himself.
“I
don’t need champagne,” he explained to her casually, apparently reading her
mind. “You are an intoxicating woman as it is.”
Sheila was self-conscious and had nothing to say as he ran his eyes over
her appreciatively. He laughed good-naturedly at her, “It’s a compliment,
Sheila.”
