Meant To Be

Chapter 6. The Great Fall

Sam's stomach twitched, as she stood in front of that apple tree, with Boby's dark brown eyes looking straight through  her. She caught hold of the branch which was inches away from the ground and tried to climb the tree. She grunted a few times, trying her best to climb, at the same time, not showing any hint of tiredness on her face. "I think it's high time for me to lose weight." she thought to herself.

After a few attempts, she climbed the tree, stretched her hand and plucked the nearest apple. She threw the apple towards Boby and he caught it swiftly. Sam gave a slight smile but Boby ignored her. Immediately the smile faded from her face. She brushed off the thought and continued on.

After plucking two more apples with great difficulty, she started finding for apples that were on the lower branches as it was all over on the side from which she plucked. Suddenly she heard Boby voice, "Look" he said in a loud voice, pointing at an apple which was at a bit higher level from where she was "pluck those. Those apples on the top might be juicy." Sam looked at those apple for a while. She would have to climb more higher. "How am I supposed to climb that high? Does he think I'm a monkey? I'm already freaking out." Sam could feel her palms sweating. She carefully stood up, took a step towards the tree trunk and tried to climb higher. But as soon as she lifted her leg and placed it on the trunk to balance herself, her leg slipped. She tried to balance herself by taking the help of the tree trunk, but her hands were too sweaty. She fell straight to the ground and hurt her knees and elbow.

WHAM! Boby heard this noise and turned around to see what was wrong. He was looking at the beautiful flowers growing in a nearby garden. "Ow!" Sam cried in pain, clutching her elbow. "Well, Ms. Monkey, weren't you supposed to pluck that apple which I told you to?" he asked, taunting her. Sam opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't find the voice in throat. Tears started welling up in her eyes. Partly the reason that she couldn't complete her task of plucking apples and partly because of Boby's taunt. "I told you that I'd climb the tree, that I cannot see you hur- " at that moment he stopped. She looked at him, wide-eyed, mouth agape. Sam felt butterflies in her stomach for a moment. "Have I heard it correctly? Or is it just because I'm a guest in his aunt's house?" She couldn't see the expression on Boby's face as her eyes were welled up with tears. But she knew that Boby was not looking at her. After a few seconds, he said, taking a deep breath, "Forget it. Give me your hand." He extended his hand to her but as she was about to catch his hand, Boby realised that Sam had hurt her elbows and might be experiencing pain. "Wait, I'll pick you up." he said as he bent down to pick her up. Immediately, Sam shouted, "NO! DON'T PICK ME UP. I'M ALRIGHT. I CAN WALK, OKAY? Just- just give me your hand." she said backing a bit. "Whoa, girl! Calm down." Boby said raising both his hands as he surrendered. "Fine. I'll not pick you up." He extended his hand and in an instant, Sam caught it. Sam could feel that Boby's grip was tight on her hands, as if he'd never let her go. Boby wrapped his one arm around her shoulder and kept holding her hand to help her walk towards the aunt's house.

"Wait a minute." said Boby as he stopped before the tap, in his aunt's backyard. "Pour some water over the wounds." Sam turned on the tap and bent down to fold the bottom of her jeans so that she could wash her knees. Sam found it difficult to do it with one hand as Boby was still holding her hands. "Uh.. can you please help me fold the bottom of my jeans?" she asked in a polite tone. "I'll do one thing. You stand straight, keep your legs under the tap and I'll pour water over your wound." Boby said leaving Sam's hand. Sam's heart sank at that moment. "Why did you leave my hand?" she thought. Boby folded her jeans till her thighs and started pouring water on her wounds. Afterwards he poured water on her elbows. While he was pouring water to make the blood stop from flowing, Sam suddenly said in an apologetic tone, "I'm - I'm sorry for talking to you so rudely over there. I actually never meant to speak in that manner." "Well, you're young girl, with loads of energy inside you. Of course, you'll want to finish the job which is given to you. I understand." Boby said and threw a splash of water on her face. Sam looked shocked. Boby started laughing. "You got scared, didn't you?" asked Boby, still laughing. She didn't splash water back on his face. She didn't want to. Looking at his face, his happiness, Sam couldn't help but blush and gave a slight laugh.

"What happened to her?" asked Boby's aunt looking shocked. "Just fell from the apple tree and hurt her elbows and knees." Boby said as if nothing extraordinary had happened. The aunt looked briefly at the wounds and went off to the kitchen. Shammi and Boby made Sam sit on the couch. At that moment, aunt came out from the kitchen with a bowl in her hands. "This is turmeric paste. Apply it on your wounds and it will heal quickly." Sam smiled at her and thanked her profusely. Shammi took the bowl from her aunt's hand and started applying it on Sam's wounds. It burnt a little, but Shammi applied it very gently and cautiously.

After applying the paste completely on her wounds, Shammi got up. "Now, we're done. Don't touch your wounds and don't rest your elbows anywhere till the paste looks completely dried up. Okay?" she asked in a polite tone, smiling at Sam. Sam nodded her head and thanked her. As Shammi went inside the kitchen to keep the bowl and help her aunt, Sam looked at Boby from the corner of her eye. He was sitting on the couch opposite hers, lost in his thoughts.  Sam then looked at the apple tree in the farm. She then remembered the apples she had plucked. As she was about to get up, Boby looked at her. "Now where are you going? Want to get hurt again, Ms. Monkey?" he asked with a smirk on his face. Sam laughed at this and said, "No! I'm actually going to pick those apples." she pointed towards the fallen apples, which Boby had left under the tree. "You sit here. I'll go and get." he said, getting up and walking towards the door. "Wait!" Sam shouted. Boby turned back, a look of confusion on his face. "I wanted to ask you, what were you saying about you can't see me hurt?" she asked wriggling her brows. Boby's eyes widened for a minute, a look of shock on his face. The next moment, he frowned his brows and asked, with his hands on his hips, "What? When did I say this? You might be dreaming. And by the way.. why didn't you let me pick you up?" he asked, stressing on the word 'you'. "I-I-I didn't want you to...." she said her voice trailing away. "Forget it. You're ridiculous!" Boby exclaimed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. As Boby turned back towards the door, he gave one look at Sam, his lips twitching into a smile. He then walked away towards the tree.

"Am I imagining things?"

To be continued...