I and Neil took permission from the teacher before starting our journey toward the village areas. The villages were two hours of motorcycle ride away from the city. Hence Neil brought his motorcycle.
And before we could start our journey, Neil asked,
"Would you be okay being on the motorcycle with me or should we take the subway?" That's why I considered him to be dangerous to me. He had the charm of a badboy. But in the disguise of a badboy, resided a good natured human which made my heart beat faster.
"Hello? Miss zones-out-a-lot? What are you thinking about?" He asked.
"Nothing." I said, "Motorcycle is fine with me." After all motorcycle was considered to be faster. I needed to come back on time so that no one could scold me in my family.
He offered me the helmet and I looked blankly at it. I had never been on a motorcycle before. Hence I had no idea how to put on the helmet. What should I do now?
"Don't know how to strap the helmet?" He asked as if sensing my hesitation. And I shook my head.
He then expressionlessly came towards me, took the helmet out of my hand, and put it on my head. Then he came little more closer to me, evading my personal space, he strapped the belt of helmet.
"There, it's done. Hope on now," He said as he himself got on the motorcycle so cooly that it gave me an urge to film him. I also sat on the motorcycle, and our journey started.
Our plan was simple. We would go to the village, and try getting the outmost information about the Sail-silk fabric which was becoming very rare to be found these days. Sail-silk was a traditional piece of fabric which was on the verge of disappearance nowadays. If we could make a business plan that can bring back our traditional fabric in trend, there were chances that we could win the competition.
Neil started with a slow pace that it made me think that he was a careful rider. But soon he increased the speed so much that I ended up holding onto his blazer and closing my eyes out of fear.
"That's not the way you enjoy the motorcycle ride, Raine," He commented. "Try thinking you are a bird who has been uncaged just now. And only then will you be able to enjoy it to the fullest."
Upon hearing what he said, I doubtfully let go of his blazer and opened my eyes. Then I widely spread my arms to feel the wind passing by me. It felt the whole universe had came to hold me into their embrace. It gave me an strong desire to do strange things which I had never done in my life. I wanted to scream on top of my lungs that I am free.
"It feels amazing, Neil!" I said loudly so that he could hear my voice in between of the heavy winds passing by us. I felt his body vibrating which must have been because he was laughing.
"Do you want this ride to never end?" He asked.
"Yes!" I responded.
"Can't hear you. Speak loudly!"
"Yess! I don't want this journey to end ever!" I almost screamed. And then we continued screaming, laughing, and being all crazy.
Suddenly Neil slowed down the motorcycle. Then I heard him calling my name, "Raine," and I hummed in response. "You can trust me." This made me straighten up unconsciously.
"W-what are you talking about?" I asked as I looked into his eyes through the mirror. He looked calm.
"I can see the changes in you." He stated. "For some reason, you are trying to distance away yourself from me. But you don't have to. I will never hurt or betray you, Raine. Never."
"So you noticed," I murmured and he nodded.
"Let's be friends. Friends in true sense." He said and I smiled for some reason.
"Okay then friends we are," I said and he flashed a charming smile. "You are quite observant though," I commented at the end.
"It's Derek effect," he said then he added, "Now buckle up, friend, we are going for some crazy drive here!" And he speed up the motor.
After reaching the village, we approached one of the man residing there and stated the cause of our visit. The man looked thoughtful for a while then he told us to meet 'granny Romia'. He showed us the direction of her home as well. We thanked the man and headed towards the house of granny Romia.
After knocking several times, the lady of the house came. She was an old woman in her early 80s. All her hairs had turned white and there were wrinkles on her face. The granny stood with the support of a bamboo stick, and looked at us with her twinkling eyes. She was expecting us to introduce ourselves, and we did so.
"Hello, granny Romia, I am Raine." Then I looked at Neil and said, "And he is my friend Neil." The granny nodded her head in acknowledgement. She had a constant smile on her lips. The smile which held the resemblance of a mischievous child. I bowed to the granny while Neil took liberty of charming the lady by planting a kiss on the back of her hand.
Granny Romia invited us in. She was very welcoming. Guests are like God, she claimed. Someone from the granny's family brought us the herbal tea. After drinking it, I felt very calm and relaxed.
"The tea, it was very...um... different in a good way." I said and granny smiled. Meanwhile Neil sang praise after praise for the tea.
Then Neil spoke, "Granny, we came here to get your wise insights on Sail-silk fabric. We heard it was your ancestors who discovered the fabric." The granny nodded. "It's not in the market nowadays. Why is that, granny?"
Granny smiled bitterly. "Things get old, dear. And not every old things are treasured. We stopped making the fabric since no one wanted to buy anymore. They said the type of clothes people wear these days, Sail-silk is not convenient anymore." Her voice held so much pain when she said these words.
Granny showed us the fabric. The fabric was extremely soft on touch. By the quality of fabric, it was true that it couldn't be used on daily basis, but it would do wonders in making wedding gowns. I was sure of this.
We got all the necessary information. And as a sample, granny gave us half meter Sail-silk fabric as well.
If our team would win the competition, there was high chance that some business tycoon would work on our project and make the fabric trend. It would put the granny at an ease. My eyes met with Neil's, and we both nodded at each other. It was as if we both were thinking the same thing.
With an unspoken promise that we will help the granny, we bid goodbye to her and headed back to our school.