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When the world's largest delta of Sundarbans is on the threshold of climatic degradation, the forest officer Vedhant Singha Roy, sets out on a challenging mission not only to rescue the isla...
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1.8. The Romantic Tension
When the first light of day broke through the wooden shutters the following morning, I was already awake in my bed. Though I was still troubled by what had happened the night before, my worries had been temporarily superseded by relief that Ruhika was safe.
I quickly dressed and stepped outside, finding Ruhika already up, waiting for me in the courtyard. Her face took on a warm glow from the dawn's subtle pink blush, giving her an almost ethereal appearance. She smiled at me with confidence and widened her smile as she adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder.
"Ready for another adventure?" I asked, trying to infuse my voice with light-heartedness.
"Absolutely." She nodded, the corners of her lips twitching upward. "So where are the bells?"
With an involuntary smirk, my eyebrows shot upward. "You did buy my jokes already, did not you?"
"Clearly, throughout the entire second part of the evening, my thoughts were consumed with that charming little joke, Vedhant." Her voice was usually funny, but I sensed a slight hardening in it. "Like you said, I think we can definitely make a good pair in the waterways together."
Her fingers were moving crookedly along the length of the strips in her bag, and her eyes were slightly lowered, but I did not miss the faint blush that was starting to appear on her cheeks. "Is she feeling the same way I do about her, or is she falling for me?"
I rolled up the sleeves of my brown shirt and adjusted my watch on my wrist. "There is something I must warn you about before we set out on our journey today."
"What is that?"
I pointed to the distant lands across the river, which were mostly shaded by thick canopies and had little to no sunlight. "The vast stretch of land that you could see from this place is very unsafe— Once a person departs Gosaba and crosses the river, they will undoubtedly enter the deeper, as of yet uninhabited jungle."
Her gaze followed the path of my finger, and she gradually raised her binoculars to get a closer look at the same. "That makes sense."
"So, Ruhika..." I lowered my voice and gave her a gentle squeeze on the shoulder before turning her to face me completely. "Do you understand that you should never, ever consider setting out on an adventure by yourself, particularly in those places where there is essentially no life at all?"
Her safety was my top priority, and I did not care if I sounded overly protective. I had progressively moved from being just a tour guide to becoming both her caregiver and her savior.
She blinked her eyelashes, presumably letting me know that she understood my worries about her. "Did not I promise the last night that while I am here, I would not go anywhere around the jungle without you?" she asked, reaching up to grab my forearm and holding my palm between hers.
