Victory!Simon Hunter leaned against the trunk of the tree, breathing heavily. He had his hands placed neatly behind his back, his eyes were closed, his face turned towards the sky. Beads of sweat covered his forehead, and his body was almost limp with exhaustion.
His clothes were crumpled and ragged.
Miya stood a few steps away from him, watching the older man with bright eyes. Despite herself, she was smiling.
"You did it," she said to him happily. The man"s own lips curled into a half smirk at the words.
Impossible as the words were for someone like him, Simon didn"t mind saying them to the child.
"Thank you," he whispered.
The Chairman opened his eyes and looked sideways. Miya"s smile had broadened, almost reaching up to her ears when she nodded cheerfully. Simon chuckled.
It had taken him an hour and twenty four minutes exact to feat the task. Well… it had taken him only an hour, to be honest. He was pretty sure the twenty four minutes had been used up by the girl in trying to convince him to let her help directly. Initially, he had almost fallen off from ten feet of the tree"s height, and the girl… Miya, had nearly screamed her gut out in fear. She had then fallen into a relentless plea to let her show him how it was done.
Simon Hunter had taken that as the girl stepping on his pride.
And yet, when he dangled and missed his footing three times more, he had reluctantly agreed.
This, and the girl had looked like she would cry. Now that, he couldn"t handle.
Crying children.
He couldn"t even handle it when that brat Jimmy whimpered. It was too annoying.
"But, sir, you"ll fall down!" Miya had then shouted, looking up at him tearfully, while Simon Hunter had tried to step onto another frail branch, "Let me show you how it"s done, please!"
Too exhausted, the Chairman had agreed.
Once the kid had done it though, he had been able to follow suit in the next two tries too. In fact, he had been astounded by how agilely the girl herself had leapt and bound, and then disappeared amongst the leaves.
He had been left stunned.
Climbing trees was such a useful talent to have!
Miya looked at Simon Hunter, the smile never leaving her face. Her expression did falter though, when her eyes fell on his feet. They were bleeding.
Rapidly looking up at the Chairman, she instructed again, "Sir, there"s a pond nearby. Come quick, wash your feet!"
She was still in her teaching mode.
Albeit Simon felt very strange taking further orders, but he was amused to no end. It was entertaining, how the girl seemed to have forgotten all her fear of him. She talked to him with familiarity now, ease even, and had zero hesitation in leading the way to the pond.
Even Jimmy didn"t adapt to him that soon.
Simon followed her steps, simply because he did think water would bring some relief to his aching feet. Not to mention, when the ground sc.r.a.ped against his soles, it made them bleed further. And now that the ordeal of the climbing was over, he could actually feel the sharp pain better. In fact, his mind concentrated only on it.
The pond was nearby.
It was deeper into the forest, and was surrounded by a bunch of majestic trees, so the intense sunlight hadn"t done much to heat up the water. Simon Hunter awkwardly stood near the water body, and begun to wash off the blood and dirt.
All the while, Miya was in deep contemplation.
When the Chairman was almost done, the girl was frowning.
"Where do you live, sir?" she asked.
The question surprised Senior Hunter, and while he washed his face, he gave the girl a sideward glance.
"Far away," he told her mechanically, "Why do you ask?"
"I haven"t seen you here before."
Of course.
The girl must be familiar with all the people from village Lang. How many could the small, non-existent village have anyway? He had never even seen the name of the place appear in the country"s map. And he knew the map by heart.
Simon smiled politely at the girl, but made no response.
She wasn"t done though.
"Why were you learning to climb, sir?" she asked again.
This time, Simon sighed.
"Girl," he told her in his most patient voice, "I am glad you helped. But don"t ask me so many questions."
Miya immediately shut up.
She did however notice the Chairman wince in pain when he had washed off his feet and tried to walk again. The pain must have been intense, because the older man looked at his legs angrily, and then resorted to leaning against the nearest tree once more.
Miya hesitated this time, but she asked nevertheless, "Sir… could you please sit down?"
Simon glanced at the girl wearily, his face steeling.
What had he just told her?
But he couldn"t be too hard on her, because right now, he owed her one. And she was just asking him to sit. Not to mention, his feet were killing him anyway.
Wordlessly, the Chairman sat under the tree, his head still leaning against the bark, his legs sprawled out.
Strangely, it felt relieving.
He closed his eyes and breathed heavily.
Just then though, he felt a poke. Instantly, he cried out, "Ow!"
His eyes shot open, and he looked at the girl with a frown. Miya was hugging her own knees while she sat near his left foot, and poked at a cut. The older man was ready to holler, when the child took him by surprise once again.
She ripped off the hem of her frock expertly, and then tore it into two.
Then without another word, she began to wrap one part of the cloth around his foot.
The Chairman felt like someone had knocked out his soul.
The man"s reaction was instant, as he withdrew his feet and rapidly stood up. His face was the expression of horror.
"What are you doing?!" he asked.
It was Miya"s turn to frown.
Wasn"t it obvious?
She looked at the piece of cloth, and then at Simon Hunter. Then c.o.c.king her head to one side, she said, "Wrapping up your feet. If you put a cloth around it, it hurts less. I got a thorn stuck in my leg once, and Granny Kai wrapped it too. I could walk."
Albeit the girl"s act and words were in perfect coherence, Simon Hunter looked at her doubtfully. When he saw the sincerity, and the utmost confusion in her eyes, he slid back to the ground again, feeling like a fool.
Listlessly, he stretched out his hand and asked her to hand over the cloth.
He wrapped it around his feet himself, as Miya watched him do it with hawk eyes.
Once it was done, Simon sized up the kid, feeling strangely tired and done. It was a rather impossible situation he was in, lying under a tree in the middle of nowhere, with a five year old staring at his legs in inspection.
Who would believe he was the Chairman of Hunter Corporation, in this unsightly state?
He watched the too small girl tiredly, listened to the quietly rustling leaves, felt the immense heat of the sun. Then he said in a whisper
"I"m looking for my wife."
Miya looked up at him in confusion.
Simon sighed.
"You asked why I was learning to climb a tree."
Miya was frowning again.
"On a tree?" her words were queer, "How?"
The impossibility of the situation struck Simon Hunter once again, and despite himself, he ended up chuckling deeply.
"It"s complicated," he shrugged.
"What"s "complicated"? I don"t know what that means."
"Something difficult to understand."
"Why?"
"Because it is."
"I will understand if you explained."
"You"re too young."
"I"m five."
Yes, and that was big.
Simon chuckled at her response again, and then looked at the girl strangely.
"You are?" he asked.
Miya struggled for a reply. Then twiddling her thumbs for the umpteenth time, she mumbled, "I"ll turn five in September."
There.
"When in September?"
"Twenty six."
"And can you count up to twenty six?"
"I can count up to hundred!"
The older man chuckled again.
The girl sat before him, still hugging her knees and staring at him directly in the face. An odd emotion tucked at Simon"s chest. He looked at Miya"s small face, and noticed the sweat and tear stains that had dried up on her skin. Sighing, and feeling like an incredibly old man, he said, "Wash your face, child. You must be tired too."
Miya blinked at his words, then hurriedly rushed back to the pond to follow orders.
When she returned, she looked refreshed, and that made the Chairman relax too. Oddly enough, he wanted to make conversation. So when she seated herself before him again, he asked, "And why do you know how to climb trees? Aren"t you a bit too small?"
That warranted another indignant, "I am five!" from the girl.
Simon half laughed, and then rolled his eyes, muttering a "Yes, yes."
"I love apples," Miya then declared sincerely, "And I climb up to pluck them."
"Apples… hm. Really?"
"Yes."
"Well, at least someone likes them. Jimmy hates apples."
"Who?"
"My son."
"But Granny Kai says eating apples every day makes you strong!"
"Yeah… No wonder the boy is weak as h.e.l.l."
"h.e.l.l?"
"Nothing, dear."
The Chairman eyed the child as she nodded, a faint smile on his lips. He never liked talking. And he almost never voluntarily made conversation. He most definitely didn"t get along with kids, that was for sure. But this child"s company, he found engaging. Distracting, at the very least.
Silence pa.s.sed, before he remembered something and spoke up again.
"Miya?"
She looked up at him with a "Hm?"
"Why did you fight the village boys?"
At once, the girl"s face lost its expression. Her eyes flickered with fear, and brimmed with tears again. She trembled, and yet fixed her gaze on the Chairman"s cold, grey eyes.
Somehow, her body quivered.
Chairman Hunter"s own gaze turned sombre.
He looked at Miya sharply, willing her to speak. And even though his eyes were hard and seemed to pierce through, the child could somehow trust them. Simon too could read her face like the back of his hand, it had confusion, anger and dread written over it – all at once.
"T-They keep h-hitting me," she said after a long pause.
"Why?"
"T-They say I"m a witch."
"Why?"
"M-My mum hit me once, and said I was a witch. They saw it."
"Does n.o.body help you?"
"I don"t have friends."
Simon Hunter frowned.
Wild behaviour was common amongst rustics, and it was none of his business, but this particular child he couldn"t leave alone. He owed her one anyhow. So to dig just a little deeper, Simon Hunter asked,
"And why don"t you have friends?"
"n.o.body talks to me."
Before Simon could shoot a "Why" though, the girl was. .h.i.t with an idea. The tremble in her body lost its intensity, and she looked at the Chairman with huge, expectant eyes.
"Will you be my friend?" she blurted out.
Simon Hunter was taken by surprise.
He sized the small girl again, took in the utmost sincerity in her eyes. It hit him right then.
He had been talking with this girl for at least fifteen minutes now.
That was more time than he had ever spent with Jimmy!
Immediately, an idea flashed in his head. His wife"s face waltzed before his eyes, and her words, "It"s a girl," echoed in his brain. Without much thought, he blurted out,
"Call me father."
"What?"
"Try calling me "father", girl!"
Simon"s voice had urgency in it, and Miya though thoroughly confused, couldn"t help but blurt a meek "father", under the Chairman"s strong yet commanding glare.
Simon frowned.
"Be a bit more sincere, Miya!" he complained, at which Miya cried out a louder and firmer, "Father!" at him.
The Chairman was struck.
He looked at the girl, and then at his own hands. His face paled, and then somehow, he shivered.
His voice was in hysteria, when he mumbled, "I-It feels right."
Miya didn"t understand, but she was suddenly afraid. The older man was acting very weird!
Meanwhile Simon sprang up on his legs. He winced in pain, but it was nothing compared to the wild shiver that ran through him, making his entire body shudder.
He looked down at the crouching girl.
"Get up!" he called out at once. Then picking up a pebble from the ground, he hurled it at a nearby tree.
Miya, who had hurriedly got up, gasped.
The pebble had disappeared among the leaves, but from the same place, an apple fell.
The Chairman was still trembling, but his eyes gleamed with excitement now. He looked down at the small girl, and said, "I don"t know if we can be friends, kid. I don"t have friends too. But I will teach you how to deal with those boys."
With that, he picked up another pebble and flung it at the tree again.
Another apple hit the ground.
The Chairman made another perfect hit, and looked at Miya, who was rooted on the spot, her mouth open wide.
He smirked.
"My aim never misses its mark," he said proudly, "And from now on, yours won"t too."
With that, he handed over a pebble to the girl.
At least now, he wouldn"t be owing her a favour.