“I’m lucky, I guess,” Neil responded. He had spoken with the gentleman for the first hour, learning that the man sold Viking kitchen appliances in northwestern India. Neil had found the man interesting, since their conversation made him realize, as an emergency-room doctor, how little he knew about the world in general.

“Where are you staying in Delhi?” the stranger asked.

“Amal Palace Hotel,” Neil said.

“Would you like to share a cab? I live in the neighborhood.”

“I have a hotel car picking me up. You’re welcome to join, provided you don’t have to wait for luggage. I just have carry-on.”

“Same with me.” He stuck out his hand. “The name’s Stuart. I should have introduced myself earlier.”

“Neil. Nice to meet you,” Neil said, giving the man’s hand a quick shake.

Neil leaned forward and tried to look out the window.

“Nothing yet to see,” said Stuart, who was sitting at the window.

“No lights or anything?”

“Not this time of year, not with the haze. You’ll see what I mean on our drive into town. It’s like a dense fog but is mostly pollution.”

“That sounds nice,” Neil said sarcastically.

Neil leaned back against the headrest and closed his eyes. Now that he was nearing his journey’s destination, he started to think about how he should meet up with Jennifer. During the two stops he’d had to make en route, he’d debated calling her. What he couldn’t decide was whether it was best to surprise her in person or by phone. The benefit of the phone call would be to give her some time to adapt to the idea. The problem with it was that there was a good chance that she might simply tell him to turn around and go home. Ultimately, it was such a fear that made him opt not to call.

The huge plane’s wheels touched down with a thump that caused Neil’s eyes to pop open in surprise. He gripped the armrests to keep himself back in the seat as the plane braked.

“How long are you staying in Delhi?” Stuart questioned.

“Not long,” Neil said evasively. He wondered briefly if he should disinvite the gentleman from sharing his ride. He was in no mood to get into any kind of personal conversation.

Apparently taking the hint, Stuart didn’t ask any more questions until they’d passed through both passport control and customs. “Are you here on business?” Stuart asked, as they waited for the hotel car to be brought around.

“A little bit of both,” Neil lied while being less than receptive. “And yourself?”

“The same,” the man said. “I’m here often and keep an apartment. It’s quite a city, but for my purposes, I prefer Bangkok.”

“Really,” Neil said with little interest, although he vaguely wondered what the man’s “purposes” were.