Zia Talks to Luke

Zia wanted to speak to Luke. It was nothing special. She had this strange feeling that she should speak to him before all the group members assembled in the Canteen for breakfast.

She and Zoya had got up early and got ready in the ensemble of the people here. She was wearing an Orange printed cotton midi with a matching plain orange top along with a scarf. Zoya was wearing a green printed cotton midi with plain green top and a matching scarf.

Mono and Luke were also dressed in the local attire which comprised of cotton kaftans type tops and loose trousers like track pants with matching shoes and a multicolored cap. The clothes were of similar color as the trees and shrubs and the grass etc so that the wearer could blend with the surroundings to make him or her inconspicuous to the outside world. All the males had similar ensembles with varied colors and similar track pant like trousers. The rest of the girls had similar ensembles as Zia and Zoya but in different colors of leaves and plants.

Zia had asked Zoya if she wanted to accompany them to the canteen or she would like to come down later with the rest of the group and the Orbs. But she wanted to go down and not wait for others. She thought she would help out with the breakfast as it was probably no one had started making it yet. In addition she had seen the admiring glance that Luke Sir had given Zia ma'am.

At night when Zia had got up upon hearing Luke Sir singing, Zoya had also woken up and had heard Luke Sir singing that beautiful song. She knew that Zia Ma'am had not liked Luke Sir in the beginning when Luke Sir had tagged along with them for the camping trip. But she was sure that now Zia Ma'am had started liking him. Zia Ma'am was quite agitated last night and went to sleep with a smile on her face. This had confirmed Zoya's speculation.

"Do we pack our clothes to take along with us?" Zoya asked as she did not want to leave her clothes behind.

"Of course you can take them along," replied Mono with a smile

"You do not have to return the clothes etc that you are wearing. But kindly wear your own clothes when you are about to leave for your city. I would not like that the clothes of our area to give ideas to your people that they can come down here to study us as guinea pigs." Mono added.

"Understood, Mono Sir."

They descended the stairs with the Orbs surrounding them and entered the Canteen. There was no warmth in the Canteen. It seemed that breakfast had not been commenced as everyone was a statue. They would only wake up when the group left for the city. Hence, they needed to gather the stuff for breakfast and then make it. So, Zia and Luke got busy extracting Orange juice, getting the porridge made for everyone, then making toasts as well as eggs of the non vegetarians and toasts and beans for the vegetarians. A pot of coffee and another pot of tea was set to brew.

Zoya was just a teenager. At the age of 18 years she did not have any experience in the matter of the heart. But she knew that most couples made a lot of mistakes and lost each other. Their ego or pride or shyness got in the way. In love you had to forget these things. She wanted to ensure that there was no such issue between these two persons.

After all, she was always helping her friends with their problems. Teenagers had a lot of adjustment problems. They were neither children nor adults. The rest of the children did not want to be with teenagers and the adults treated them as kids. The age from thirteen to nineteen was indeed a long period of misunderstandings, depression and adjusting to hormonal changes which affected their moods especially the girls who had to adjust with their monthly periods. It was not an easy thing to adjust with every month. Some girls had awful pain, others felt depressed and still others would start crying for no reason. Still others who were 17 years or so would have a crush on some boy in the class. These relations were rarely a permanent feature. All of them, whether boys or girls, were interested in going ahead in their respective fields and no one wanted to be entrapped within families at such a small age.

So, she was of the view that she was the best to gently guide these two persons.

Soon most of the work was done. Luke and Zia wanted a break as it was too hot in the cooking area. Luke asked Mono and Zia to manage stirring the porridge and make the tea while Zia and he took a breather.

Luke asked Zia to sit at the table in the canteen besides which was a pedestal fan. He pulled out a chair and sat right opposite her at the same table.

He had been looking for an opportunity to let her get to know him.

Zia thought she should say something first.

Turning towards Luke she called his name, "Luke, I need to talk to you." She said.

"What do you want to talk to me about," he inquired.

"You singing is very good, ever tried becoming a singer?"

"Thank you and no I did not think to take singing as a profession. If I had, we would not be sitting and discussing the song I sang," he replied with a smile.

There is another thing that I must tell you, "When you had come to join us when we began the trek, I did not like you jumping into my area."

"But you then proved yourself at the camp by helping the children in pitching their tents and later shooting at the bear, soothing the fears of the frightened children."

"You also helped us all to descend the cliff."

"Then you even tried to call through satellite phone and looking for places where we could be located from above."

"Then there was the matter of trying to get us to the base camp via a different route."

"Finally and unintentionally you gave us all an opportunity to experience an adventure of a lifetime, to share with our children and grandchildren."

"Wow! I never thought I would get so much praise from you," Luke added.

"I am not praising you but I am just stating facts. If you think I am praising you then so be it."

"Zia, I have a question, what did you mean by saying, 'Finally, giving us all an adventure of a lifetime, to share with our grandchildren' ,I want to know. It is important for me to know."

"Are you are planning to get married real soon to have children and grandchildren to tell the adventure story?"

Zia looked shocked, This guy has a very fertile imagination. "Nothing like that, I just thought so," she replied.

"How can you even think of getting married to any other person when I am here and love you, I want to be with you always." He added.

Zia was zapped, she did not know where to look. He was confessing to her about who much he loved her. "How can you say that, you don't even know me?"

"Of course I know you. I have known you for ages. But I met you face to face when you had got off the bus." Luke replied. "Ever heard of 'Love at first sight!' that is what happened to me when I saw you first time. Sherpa knows."

Ahha.. Sherpa, now she must find him and talk to him, Zia thought.

"I think we will need to carry out this conversation later. The Orbs are accompanying your students while they are coming down all well dressed in the local ensembles.