Moments That Change Lives

“Can I ask you something?” He uttered.

“Sure. It’s what I get paid for. Shoot!”

“Were you at some point offered a modeling career, because you certainly look like someone who would be really good at it?” A sneer graced his face.

“Oh, no. Not again with the flirting. Is that one of the basic pickup lines they teach you at Womanizer School?” She chuckled. Right then she didn’t want to admit that it felt nice to be complimented by a gentleman such as Henry. Very nice indeed.

After all the time she had spent together with Raoul, he had always failed at saying the right things and making her feel special and unique. But what were those thoughts flying inside her head? She scolded herself. She was in a relationship with a guy who loved her to the moon and back. That was it. End of story. No Henry Masters. No flirting. No smiling. The guys like Henry were just simple hypocrites who only wanted to get inside her pants. Mira had met hundreds of them during her twenty-eight years of life and she wasn’t apt to fall for this one.

Henry laughed. “No, no, baby. That’s purely Henry Masters’s school. Jokes aside, I really mean that. I truly do.” He went to catch her hands, but she saw that happening and quickly put them away.

She started to walk to where they had come from until her body collided into his. Mira couldn’t evade him now, so it was unavoidable for him to put his hands on her biceps. As she brushed past him, she felt his firm body soaking in sweat against hers. That made her heart wild.

“Okay, so follow me. I’ll show you something awesome like that. I’m sure you’ll like it,” she said desperately trying to hide the battle within her. It seemed to her that every time she resisted his charms, there was something in him that told him to push forward and harder the next time. That man couldn’t stop himself from flirting, could he?

Silence again fell on them as they threaded through the rain forest buzzing with life. Someone who didn’t know their way or the ‘behavior of the rainforest’ as Mira liked to say, could easily be lost and possibly never found. Every path was as similar as the previous one, every brush the same as the one next to it, every tree as tall as any tree in the forest. A labyrinth created by the hands of nature.

Mira put aside low-hanging branches and hopped over fallen trunks while always sparing a look on the ground. Her gut feeling told her that this was an unpredictable terrain.

“You know, Mira,” Henry was speaking from behind her, “I really don’t get it why you suddenly change the subject or turn my words into a joke when I compliment you… I… I honestly am speaking my mind here –“

“Watch out!” Mira shouted putting a hand across his stomach. There was a huge hole in front of them that seemed to have no end and once they looked at it, they immediately understood what was going to happen if she didn’t stop him from going. She could see his eyes popping out in surprise obviously not expecting that. “Stop blabbering and focus on the road and we’ll get out alive after the end of the expedition.”

Those words touched Henry and he stayed silent for a great portion of the time while Mira didn’t let the almost-happening accident to get in her way of doing business. She was talking about the bushes, their Latin names, origin and usage. Henry would nod here and there only to indicate that he was listening. After all, she was doing all of this for him. But seeing his ego broken, saddened Mira a bit. Her client was a talkative guy who lived his life with flirting and seducing and now one simple action turned the tables around. She presumed that he had always looked at himself as a macho man and the alpha male of the pack and actually realizing that it wasn’t the same in the rainforest probably hurt his feelings and his male pride. Yes. It was how males were built.

“… That up there is a banana tree. And I guess you know a lot about bananas already. However, the process of collecting bananas to their place on the fruit stand in the supermarkets is not as easy. Hundreds of laborers arrive throughout the year to earn their salary and a loaf of bread by climbing up and stuffing their hands with bananas. Yes. Life is not quite easy as…” She didn’t finish the sentence, shutting up.

“What’s up?” Henry’s voice was rusty from not using it. There was a fair deal of distress in his tone.

Oh, there was something up. At first Mira couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was – the change in light or the way the leaves moved or the smell of the air, damp and hard to breathe. She once again transformed into a being of the forest analyzing and over-thinking what could possibly be off to her. Her mind didn’t say it, but her instincts did. And relying on your instincts was far more useful here in the rainforest.

“Is something wrong?” Henry again voiced his horrible thoughts. This was a place he had never visited and he could only guess what could befall them any second now. It seemed to him that Mira didn’t hear him, yet she did alright. However, she couldn’t spare a second for a reply. There was something happening and she had to learn of that right now. There was no other option. No other choice.

Then came the deer. A huge herd of deer running toward them. They were followed by a lot of tapirs, desperately trying to find a shelter to hide. The terror in them was more than obvious. They were running for their lives. What the heck could they be running from? Mira was mentally listing the encyclopedias, guides and any book she could remember on animals. Every animal found its place in a chronological order into her brain. She quickly went through A, then B, C… Her mind was frantically searching for a possible cause and therefore a solution from this mess. H, then I and J… Mira put a hand across her mouth and the same flash the thought came she turned to Henry.

“Run!”

“What the hell!?”

“Just run!” Her feet started as if some kind of a magical force knew where to lead them. “Follow me!”

“What’s happening? Please tell me!” He was running beside her. Mira was glad that he was in great shape and thanked God this wasn’t taking place a few months back when there had been an extremely obese gentleman in her group.

“It’s a jaguar. He’s hunting. That’s what the deer and tapirs were escaping from. But we’ll get out of this.” She was almost out of breath, but stopping could mean only one thing… Death.

“Oh my God! This is not happening!” Henry shouted from the top of his lungs which were on fire just like Mira’s. “Now what? Do you have a plan?”

“Err… Probably… Yeah… I think I do,” Mira said between breaths.

“You better, because this is not the day I’m dying. Although I would gladly die with you.” He couldn’t contain himself from uttering a charming phrase or two together with his trademark smile. Oh, that man was indeed going to be the death of her.

They were skidding past the same trees, one could think they were going in circles, but Mira was sure of herself. She didn’t even stop once to see where they were going. There was just something. The call of the wild, experience or pure survival instinct, that drove her on the right paths, going between the right bushes, skipping the right veers.

Suddenly it loomed before them. The cave she was looking for.

“We’re going to be safe.” It was excitement, thrill and relief all blended into one mixture that was sensed in her voice and Henry smiled at her. She had really saved them.

As they came closer, they slowed down their pace, admiring the wonderful work of nature and the shelter they had found against all odds.

“It’s beautiful,” Henry mumbled.

“Yeah. C’mon let’s get in there,” Mira said, stepping inside the cave. Everything was pitch black. She couldn’t even make out the end of it nor the walls surrounding them. It could be as big as a cottage or as a palace. Yes. She had known of its existence, but frankly she had never gone in there.