Maybe It Was Love

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"I thought you'd be scared to treat me?" Anna asked the cute gypsy healer as he mixed his herbs. She watched as every muscle in his arms moved as he stirred around the greenish mixture he had on a tiny plate. He was without a t-shirt, revealing how heavily built he was. Only a few beads dangled from his neck.

"And why should I?" He asked, undisturbed. His hands sway in a rhythmic sequence.

"Because my father never liked you"

He stopped and turned to meet her white eyes, scavenging his body. She quickly looked away. He didn't care, he gets that a lot.

All he cared for was looking more at the face he spoke to. He hadn't noticed her well ever since she arrived until now. Her skin was white like milk, and her lips as though she had rubbed the costliest lipstick in town, but on a closer look, that was just her natural lips. She had her hair flowing down her shoulders, and her palms as if it had never done any hard work.

"Costly clothes and a cologne that smells of wealth. Beautiful skin and rich healthy hair. You must be the mayor's daughter? Because that's the only man that has never liked me since my arrival to this town. " he asked, turning back to continue what he was doing.

"Are you trying to say you didn't recognise me at first? Who in this town doesn't know me at first sight" she bragged from her seated position. Disbelief in the eyes.

"And now she has the pride of her father. Well, 'Miss Mayor's daughter', I don't recognise you at first sight, and I don't care." He replied standing up and walking towards her. He was a mountain of a man, with biceps most girls craved to draw their fingers on. "And you want to know why?"

Anna nearly drooled at the sight of him standing tall in all his glory. She had been holding back from the crazy thoughts in her head ever since she got to his caravan. But now, as he stood so close to her, she couldn't help it. She quickly looked away from the bare-bodied man standing before her and nodded. She was sure going to stammer if she had pronounced the words 'yes'.

"That's because there is no difference between you and your father and family. You all are the same, proud, spoilt privileged kids who rely on the wealth of their father gotten from his dirty work and intimidation of his people"

Anna's eyes lit up; she looked up at the man with anger and disappointment in her eyes. She knew her father to be a mean man; she knew herself to enjoy the privileges she got from being a mayor's daughter, but she never knew people saw them in such light.

"Wow!" She said, almost losing her voice. "Never knew people think so low about us to this extent." She stood up "I guess it's a mutual feeling. My father doesn't like you and has tried to get you off our town several times. You, on the other hand, don't feel good about my father. Now you know who I am and with what you think about us and my father, I'm sure you wouldn't want to heal me. I had better find my way home" she said and turned to run out of his caravan.

But was held back by his strong but rough palm which brushed hard on her smooth skin. She winced wondering why such rough palms felt so good on her skin.

"Stay. I'll heal you. My dislike for your father doesn't stop me from helping" he pleaded, walking back to pick up the mixture. He added some alcohol to it and mixed it. Then he poured it into a tiny bottle. He walked back to her and handed it over to her "One teaspoon before every meal. You'll be fine by the next moon", he instructed.

Anna picked up the bottle, thanked him and walked out of his caravan. Outside the caravan, she took a deep breath and wondered how she could feel two contradicting emotions about a human at once. Sometimes, she felt like strangling him, but another minute, she felt like licking the sweat of his skin.

She had heard several stories about the gypsy boy who lived in the outskirts of the town. Some said he was a cute man, others said he was the best healer in town. But she wasn't after the latter. She was more interested in how good a healer he was, or so she thought.

Not until now has she sneaked out of the house to seek a solution for her persistent sickness from him without the knowledge of her father or family. That she had realised that the rumours were true. He was the cutest thing she had ever seen in a while.

As for being the best healer in town, she was about to find out with the herb in her hands.

Just as the gypsy had said, Anna was healed before the next moon, and she was returning to thank him. At least that was what she tried convincing herself with as the reason she was on her way back to his caravan.

But as she got to the spot the gypsy healer had camped outside their town, his caravan wasn't there anymore. She asked people around who camped in the same spot with their caravans and was told that he had moved a few days back to a new destination he wouldn't tell anyone about.

She groaned. She never knew that the departure of a man she claimed to dislike would hurt her so much. She wondered why.

Maybe she wasn't telling herself the whole truth. Maybe she didn't dislike him so much. Maybe she didn't dislike him at all. Maybe it was love. She was gradually falling for the gypsy boy and couldn't get him off her mind after their first encounter.

She looked up in the sky and prayed that the universe would bring them together again if truly it was love she felt.