Meant To Be

Chapter 11. The news of relief

    Sam still stood thinking, about the conversation which they had the night before, under the warm shower. If she wouldn't have been thinking anything, she would have surely appreciated the warm shower and the beautifully furnished bathroom. But she hardly took notice of any of it. She was still busy thinking about their "surreal" trip and the journey back home which lay ahead of them.
    Sam put on her yellow coloured top which she had worn when she had arrived at Boby's aunt's house, stepped out of the bathroom and stood there on the carpet to dry her feet. "Yes.....we never expected this..........yeah............yes we will be leaving for Khimsar in sometime......." Boby glanced at his watch. He was talking on his phone. "..........yes I will take care of her..........okay." Boby hung up the call. He looked up and saw Sam staring at him.
    "I assume you've finished taking bath." he asked, checking her from top to bottom. "Er....yes, right." said Sam, shuffling her legs uncomfortably, looking at the soft bathroom mat and rubbing her palm with her thumb. Boby stood there for a minute, staring intently at her, then said finally, "Well then, let's eat our breakfast." He pointed at the two plates, in which lay two sandwiches each, which were beautifully cut in a triangular shape.
    They plopped down on their respective beds to eat the breakfast. Sam took her plate and began to eat quietly. Her mind was racing, full of thoughts. She didn't feel like eating her breakfast. Somewhere, she wasn't feeling excited about going back home. It had been such a wonderful time with Boby. She didn't want the time to pass.
    "How was the breakfast, then?" Boby asked, bringing her out of her thoughts. For a moment, Sam had forgotten what she was doing.  Realising, she looked down at her plate, which was now empty, with only crumbs of breads. She nodded, smiling slightly. Boby smiled back at her but Sam noticed that it wasn't the usual bright smile which he always had on his face.
    As he was about to get up, Sam asked instantly as if she had wanted to ask that question for a long time. "Is...is...everything okay? Er..I mean.. you look tired." Indeed, Boby was looking tired. He took a deep breath, then said, "You know, I didn't sleep the whole night. I was thinking about you." At this, Sam's stomach gave an excited jump and she sat bolt upright, listening intently, with wide eyes. "I don't feel like leaving you. I'm having so much fun with you." he continued. "Fun?" Sam thought to herself. "I seriously don't want to leave you. I..I.. want to spend more time with you." Sam was way beyond shocked. "Am I dreaming? Is this really happening?" She recounted it once again and blushed hard. She felt as if someone had granted her a new life. But at that moment, she saw that Boby was trying to control his laughter.
   "What?" she asked, her voice unknowingly loud. Boby snorted with laughter. "Just pulling your leg, Sam." he said, as he stopped laughing. His face had a mild expression now.
    "Actually, yes I didn't sleep the entire night. Kept thinking about aunt. So that's why I called Shammi. She said that aunt is feeling much better now and might be discharged in a week or so." he said, looking at Sam with his dark eyes. "Thats great! Glad to hear that." Sam whispered. "Yeah, the doctors said that we brought her to the hospital at the right time. Any minute late and she might have been...." said Boby, his voice trailing away. Sam kept a reassuring hand on his muscular shoulder and patted him slightly. To Sam's great surprise, Boby took her hand in his, held it tightly for a few minutes and kept staring at it. Sam's heart started beating faster. She too held his hands tightly.
    "By God's grace, she's alive. And..." he said, now looking at her again. ".... I  am really grateful to you for co-operating with us. I know you might've never faced such a situation before, but I must say...you handled it very bravely. Indeed you had the presence of mind." he said squeezing her hand lightly. Sam couldn't help but smile brightly. Her cheeks went slightly pink. They sat there for a few minutes and then got up to leave.
    As Sam, sat waiting in the front seat of Boby's SUV, waiting for Boby to arrive (he was checking out of the hotel and thanking the receptionist) she no more felt sad and gloomy. Instead she felt a lot better, now that Boby had praised her for her presence of mind. Boby came back with his backpack. He threw his bag in the backseat of his car and started the engine of the car. The car gave a small noise, indicating that it had started. Boby smiled brightly, looking at Sam and then at the car. It was as if the car was a part of his family.
     They reached Khimsar in almost an hour. Sam enjoyed the drive like never before. They conversed about a pile of things, listened to music and all the same, enjoyed the beauty of nature, which was moving at a normal speed outside their windows. Sam could feel sometimes, Boby looking at her. She pretended to look away from him.
    Boby stopped the car in front of his house and told Sam that he'd leave her till her house.
   As they walked towards Sam's house, Sam felt Boby's hand brushing with hers. Before Sam could crane her neck up to look him in the face, she noticed from the corner of her eyes, Boby looking at her with a smile on his face.
    Sam knocked on the door of her house, her mouth going dry with every millisecond passing by. She didn't know how her parents would react. She could hear the faint sounds and the sound of the footsteps drawing nearer. At last the door opened and Sam could feel her stomach falling down from its place.
   "Sam!" her mother cried out as she opened the door. Sam forced a smile and stepped inside her house, turning towards her mother.  Her mother instantly pulled her into a tight hug and Sam gave an expression of being chocked by her. Boby noticed this and chuckled.
    "Where were you, dear? Y'all were to arrive yesterday." Sam's mother asked, placing a hand on her cheek. Before she could answer, her mother turned to face Boby and said in a consoling tone, "I hope your aunt's alright. Sam told me about her. We were so worried." At that moment, Sam's father came hurrying towards the door, wearing his spectacles, with a concerned look on his face. "Yes, she's better now, touchwood. Actually....." and Boby narrated the entire incident to them. Sam noticed, that as Boby kept continuing the incident, her parent's expression kept hardening. When he had finished saying, her parent's no longer had the happy smile on their faces, which they had a few minutes back, to see their daughter come home after almost two days. Sam could have bet anything to tell that she had noticed her parents exchanging looks that told that they weren't happy with Boby at all. There was a look of immense hatred on their faces all of a sudden. "Oh, we didn't know that y'all had so much trouble." said Sam's mother in a surprisingly false tone. "Y'all could've called us." said Sam's father. Sam went scarlet for she clearly remembered asking Boby to call her parents when they were stuck on that deserted road. But she never reminded him again to call them. "Er..." Boby looked embarrassed and at a loss for words.
   Sam's parents decided not to extend the conversation further and bade him goodbye.
   As Boby turned to leave, Sam's heart started pounding in her chest. "Stop him. Say something."
   "WAIT!" she called out suddenly. Boby instantly turned to look at her. Her parents too turned to look at her, a mixture of curiousness and anger on their faces. It was difficult to tell who was more angry from the two of them. Sam didn't know what to say. It had just come out of her mouth. The curious looks on all three's faces made her more nervous.
    "Er...I ...thanks." she said, looking at Boby, clenching her hands into fists. Boby looked flabbergasted for a second and looked as if he was going to ask the reason. But then he gave the most charming smile Sam had ever received from him. She thought that anyone- literally anyone can fall in love with this man. Including her. She went a deep shade of scarlet on the face and wished her parents didn't see her reaction.
   Sam saw Boby turning back towards his house and she felt her parents staring at her with anger filled in their eyes. She didn't feel scared about it for a moment for she had got lost in her thoughts.

Sam is finally back home! But her parents aren't happy with Boby. Will they start hating him? What will happen now?

                    To be continued.......