We had finally completed our graduation and had planned to go on a vacation the following summers. So I and five friends of mine gathered at the Ahmedabad Railway station on the decided day. It was unusual for our families to see us off with
Bon Voyage
when we were actually going on a voyage! We had planned a fifteen-day cruise trip to Malaysia via Mumbai.
Having reached Mumbai, we boarded our cruise, checked into our rooms and then went to the restaurant to fill our bellies. Although it is advised not to eat much while traveling through the seas, we were young enough to digest anything and everything that passed our mouth. It was in that restaurant that my adventure began (I did not know it then obviously).
A group of girls -- seemingly similar in age as us, and sexy of course -- entered. They sat at the table opposite to us across the room. All my friends and I shared the same thought instantaneously -- we single guys, they hopefully single girls; the trip ought to be awesome! As they sat on that table, few girls faced us, few the other way. Keeping all apart, there was this girl -- black and white striped one piece, black frames (F.Y.I frames -- my biggest weakness), long black hair and a seemingly charming personality -- who caught my eye. It was unusual for me what followed next, but during those 30 mins or so while we were there, I and that girl shared an eye contact nearly 20 times. To this day I cannot fathom if she was expecting me to make a move or not. Apparently they ordered very less food, so they finished before us and were leaving. As they went past us, that girl walked just behind my chair, and maybe she slightly tapped it, and then she left. I simply could not have realized that she was going to be 'my only companion' for the adventure.
That night, while we were at the bar, we saw that group again. I had made up my mind to approach her, although my heart and soul were filled with trepidation. I picked up two bottles of Tuborg and was walking towards her when out of the blues she slapped a guy. Maybe that guy made an amorous advance at her or maybe he was just flirting and she took it for lechery. You are about to approach a girl and you see that happen -- it is possibly the biggest setback for your morale. So yes, I dropped the idea and went outside the bar with both the bottles, planning to drink them alone (#forever_alone). I had walked a few distance when I heard a feminine voice calling out to me
"Care to share one?"
I turned around to find that girl sitting on a lifeboat hooked tightly to the ship.
"Sure!" I stepped into the boat as well.
"That was pretty bold for you to slap that guy there."
"Yeah that guy -- he was getting too much comfortable with me. He deserved that."
"Probably. So hi! I'm Sparsh."
She shook my hand, "Apoorva."
"Saw you earlier today at the restaurant. I'm also here with my friends just like.."
"Yeah saw you too. My friends call you the 'eye contact guy' since noon."
"So it was an eye contact!"
"Hehe... so tell me about yourself..."
And we engaged in a long conversation, drinking beer and gazing at the beautiful starlit sky. We had no idea of how and when the time passed and we fell asleep in the boat. It felt nice.
The next morning I woke up with the sun staring directly at me and a beautiful girl sleeping in my arms. We were under the deep blue sky with almost no trace of clouds, no chattering of people, just calmness. It seemed to be a beautiful morning until I realized that calmness in this case meant something wrong -- we were on a boat in the middle of nowhere with no trace of the cruise! I woke her up to share the shock in which I was for a few minutes. But to my surprise, she seemed all the more delighted!
"I have always dreamed of such a day! Stranded like this in a peaceful world!"
I looked at her in both anger and awe -- anger because how could she say such a thing! And awe because her face glowed bright in the sunlight, the wind playing softly with her hair and to crown the moment, the way she lifter that lock of hair off her face and placed it behind her ear; in short, she looked like the epitome of Helen, Andromeda and Aphrodite. But that moment my mind took over my heart and hence I was more surprised than awed to see her say that statement. The boat was not in a good condition, still we could need it, and so we swam to the shore, dragging the boat with us.
We were completely drenched but had no change of clothes, so we had to stay there like that until some generous soul passed by with a chopper or a yacht and helped us out. We were on a beach locked by dense forest and hills in the background and the vast blue ocean in the front. We could do nothing but wait. Apoorva started going into the forest when I saw her and immediately intervened. Agreed that an adventure would be to explore the forest like Indiana Jones and his team, but I would rather stay on the beach and die than to be the supper for cannibal tribes or carnivorous giants or even orcs or trolls for that matter. But she wouldn't listen and preferred to be Princess Leia exploring the forest of Endor!
A few minutes later, I heard her scream in a distance. I ran towards the direction of the sound, constantly worried for her safety. I had ran almost half a mile when I saw her in the distance staying tight and close to a tree whilst a dire wolf circumscribed her and the tree as if mentally savoring its meal. That moment I wished I were a warg so that I could control the dire wolf to calm down. I'd read somewhere that one can pet even a lion by looking in this eyes, dropping all the weapons, extending the arm as if to pat the beast. But obviously that skill required a great consummation and I was nothing but a naΓ―ve guy. Still I jumped into 'the battlefield' and tried to follow the petting procedure. But there was no placating that monster (although it was nothing before an actual monster but even a deadly hound appears to be a monster if you are its prey). From the tree I broke one branch, luckily it was a bit pointed at the end, and pointed it at the wolf. It seemed to anger him more. So we did what we could do the best that moment -- run. We ran for the beach hoping to jump into the water and swim as fast and far as we could before either the wolf pitied us and let us go or a giant wave would drown it into the depths of the ocean. To our fate, the wolf preferred the former alternative.
When we were assured that it would not return, we swam back to the shore. The weather had worsened -- we could see dark clouds gathering at a distance and consequently a heavy downpour would definitely hit us in 5-6 hours; and then there was the risk of an encounter with another beast too. So we decided to stay low and close. Apoorva shrugged close to me in my arms as I patted her back hoping to ease her trauma of the day. Princess Leia was finally safe with Han Solo, at least for a while -- that thought crossed my mind. I smirked, and quickly changed my expressions lest she should see it and take me for yet another Sand or Snow (bastard) trying to take advantage of the situation.
It actually was a bit awkward situation -- it had been less than 24 hours when we met and now we were sitting that way -- completely drenched and close to each other with her head on my shoulders and I could hear her breather hard. We talked a bit about our past. But it was hard for me to concentrate seeing her wet lips moving that close to my cheek. We could practically kiss if I just turned my face towards her. I tried to push those thoughts away from my mind when I started feeling their effect in my pants. But it was hard not to think of her that way. It had been a few minutes when she started sneezing. I thought it might be because of the winds and nothing else. But that sneezing turned bad and she started to shiver a bit. I did not know what thought crossed my mind, but I immediately unbuttoned my shirt and wrapped it around her so that she could feel a bit warm -- but a wet shirt would not do much good.