chapter 20

Chapter 20Communing soulsAn hour later, she sat down, laughing. She felt quite tired, unused as she was to all the climbing. “No more. I need a break.” She stretched her legs, curling and stretching her toes to relieve them of stress.He sat down next to her grinning. “Quite a softie we are! To hear you take my father on, one would think you were battle-hardened! You had me fooled there!”She blushed. Though he had been up earlier, had already put in some work in the fields and had walked the entire distance with her, he looked good to go for a few more kilometres. Nature had trained him well, and he seemed to have been a deserving student.“Absolutely! My job pays me to sit in front of a system, mister, not climb hills!” She lay down flat on her back, unmindful of the small pebbles that poked her, worried more about clearing her reputation. “You should have warned me. Would have toned up before coming.”“In one week?” he shook his head. “You need to do this day in and day out.” He lifted her feet, and placing them on his lap, started cracking her toes. She tried to pull back, blushing at this intimate gesture. He held her foot firmly and smiled, “It will help you relax.”She closed her eyes, to hide her confusion, to let his hands work wonders on her sore feet, to let his touch soothe her.His hands moved up her leg, over her jeans, massaging her calf muscle. She felt her skin tingling. Her eyes felt wet. He leaned over, resting her foot on his leg, touching a tear that ran down the side of her face. “I have made you cry, Anu… Again?” he asked gently.She sat up flustered. She opened her mouth to say something, then shut it. She fought to breathe normally. He took her hand in his, gently squeezing it. The tears broke out, rolling down her cheeks.“No,” she whispered. “You reminded me of my father. Even when I was eight or ten, my father would carry me on his shoulders whenever he could. He could never see me in pain. – And then…” She moved forward, slouching, her face averted. She shrugged lightly, shook her head.He put an arm around her and pulled her close to him. “How old were you then?”“Fifteen.” She was silent; he waited patiently. “My mother - everything changed after my father’s death. Something died in my mother too. She suffers from many ailments, some imagined. I am her mother, her father, everything. Sometimes it is overwhelming. Sometimes, she would emerge from that haze and I would be hopeful. These days, I don’t even hope.” She looked up at him, her eyes reflecting the loneliness deep inside her. He squeezed her arm and she rested her head against his strong shoulder. It was comforting, and she could get used to it easily. And then what, even more loneliness when he dropped her back on Monday and they went their ways? She wiped her eyes, and shrugging his hand away gently, tried to smile. “I have never left her and gone anywhere… But look what you have made me do, Mr. Chintan Arya!” she tried to joke. In her heart of hearts, she knew she had agreed to this trip only to be with Chintan.She pulled her knees to her chin, wrapping her arms around them; she shook her head and swallowed to calm herself. “I think we should get back. My mother may call.”He did not get up. “And I made you suffer more! My selfishness. I have much to apologise for, haven’t I?”Flustered, she said, “Oh no, Chintan! What are you saying! You have been so kind. This… ” She looked at the sky. “I will never forget this!”“The only way I could make it up to you was to bring you here where you can be. This is what you dreamed of, isn’t it Anu?” She got up abruptly, smoothing her hair and her clothes to cover up her disappointment. Setting right the earlier wrongs - that was what this was all about. Nothing more…“Thank you,” she said, dejection wrenching her heart. “Yes, you have more than made up for it.”