Ch 29: Amnesia

                                    

                                          
Once Shivani's texts had finally all come through, she started to piece together what exactly had happened. 
                          
So it turned the incident wasn't so much an incident as it was dramatic miscommunication turned dumpster fire. Basically it all started after Shivani and Noah left Bailey's room. Apparently Ashlee lived below Bailey's hotel room and she heard a lot of stomping from the room above hers. Like the Karen she was, Ashlee went to the front desk to complain and when that didn't work she marched over to Bailey's room to complain.
                          
Then once the door opened and Bailey greeted her, she apparently marched straight past him and was surprised to find that everyone was there without her. Apparently she thought this was some weird form of "discrimination" so naturally, even though it was the middle of the night, she went over to Simon's room to lodge an official complaint. But Simon obviously isn't staying at the hotel so Ashlee yelled at the poor front desk clerk until he gave in and called Simon. Simon wasn't sure what was happening, just that there was an emergency and he rushed to the hotel, calling Edward as well.
                          
Apparently Ashlee thought Shivani wasn't invited either and texted her about the incident and saying they would have to get through this competition together and if Shivani had experienced any microaggressions. Ironically the only time she'd felt weird about being Indian was when Ashlee had asked her all those weird questions before the interview...
                          
Anyways, according to Hina, Simon had gotten to the hotel and he was extremely upset at the fact that Ashlee's high school drama had dragged him to the hotel at 12am, but now he was sitting in the lobby talking to her. The rumors were going around that she would be kicked out soon, and...people were talking about all the racist things Ashlee had told them. They were planning on going to talk to Simon about it afterwards.
                          
"Hey you should talk to Simon too."
                          
"I should?"
                          
Noah nodded. "Definitely. Ashlee made you feel uncomfortable before the interview and those questions were not appropriate. Besides, someone like that doesn't change overnight and is not a good representative of unity in any way."
                          
"I just- are you sure what she said wasn't alright? I don't want to get her in trouble and...maybe she didn't know she shouldn't ask me that?"
                          
"No she definitely knew what she was saying. And even if she didn't, when I tried to correct her, she didn't listen. And she definitely didn't stop when she noticed how uncomfortable you were. But at the end of the day, it's your decision not mine."
                          
Shivani shrugged. "Maybe I will... I don't know? I've never had to deal with something like this before because back home racism isn't really a thing. I guess colorism is and discrimination based on your religion is, but back home, I'm part of the majority."
                          
"Yeah well I guess every country is different, but discrimination is everywhere."
                          
Shivani nodded sadly. "Yeah I guess you're right."
                          
"But the point is that if you ever feel uncomfortable about anything, don't discount that feeling. The other person is definitely in the wrong. But also I'm a privileged straight white male. What do I know?"
                          
He really emphasized the straight. Like he said privileged STRAIGHT white male. Shivani decided she should probably stop ignoring all of the hints being dropped. Her mind had subconsciously made a note of every subtle reference Noah had thrown out there, but it was so much easier to push it to the back of her mind. He was the one uncomplicated relationship she had here. Back home she had Kinjal, but...Kinjal! Shivani needed to talk to her too. This was shaping up to be the longest week of her life. 
                          
The thing is Noah was a highlight of her life and the last thing Shivani wanted to do was to blow up a good thing. But...some part of her wanted to go there with Noah. She wanted to know what it was like to be with someone so respectful. But none of that could happen until she talked to Bailey.