The Chill Factor

Part of the Tribe

Alexandra's POV

I feel a thump against my forehead as buzzing fills my ears. I slap it away and roll over in hopes of getting more sleep. Before I know it, that stupid fly comes thumping against my head again. I sit up and look around the hut. The walls looked as if they were made out of a hide in some parts and clay in other parts. There were designs painted along the whole room. 

"Good morning sleepy head!" Anik comes into the hut with a smile that makes my stomach flip. 

"Morning," I groan before flopping down onto the bed. Suddenly a deep laughter sings like music to my ears. 

Anik's face comes into view and he bites his lip in order to keep from laughing, making warmth erupt throughout my entire body. My eyes melt into slits as I glare at the impossibly gorgeous man that stood above me. 

"What is so funny?" I ask in confusion. 

"Nothing, shik'is. The sea of your hair seems to flow in the ways of our trees: wrapped in each other." 

The way he described my rats nest of hair seemed to make me smile as if it were a compliment. I looked down momentarily as a blush over took my cheeks. He seemed to gleam from my reaction. 

"I will be right back, Nizhóní." He smiled and exited the hut. I looked down and I was still in my clothes from yesterday. My face got hot with embarrassment from looking like a mess. I started to grab my things, searching desperately for a brush to entangle the lion's mane of my hair but before I knew it, Anik was back, beaming with a smile that seemed to hide something. 

"No need to get dressed or brush the sea of life, come with me. I have something for you," He seemed to suck in a breath, almost nervous to my response as he held out his hand. 

I grabbed the hand that seemed to fit perfectly in mine. "Should I be worried?"

"No, Nizhóní. My mother and sisters have been wanting to meet you." 

"Wait!" I pulled him back momentarily. "I can't meet your family looking like this." 

His eyes seemed to trail down my nervous face. I noticed he never looked down to assess the rest of me, not even when we first met. Ashton was usually one of those guys I couldn't get to stop staring at my chest. 

Anik always looked me in the eye, or should I say down at my eyes since he was so much taller than me. He made me feel respected, like I was a woman who deserved his respect and I loved it. 

He grabbed both of my hands in his own as he looked at me seriously. "The sea of life is telling the story of how your ancestors lived: together with love. The cloth of another person has no story and seem to not be of use. They are made by a machine, not by the warmth of a hand. The cloths that seems to shield you are not meant to be the same for every person. They should tell a story."

The way he talked about my hair and clothes surprised me. I suddenly never wanted to brush my hair and I wanted to rip off the 'cloth of another person.'  I felt as if I needed to make my own and have my own story in the clothing I wore every day. 

He gave me a small smile and continued to walk with one of my hands in his. I loved the warmth that he gave off and the way that the sparks seemed to fly between that contact. It made me want to hold his hand forever and never let go. 

That seemed to attract the eyes of another man who I already let go. 

*~*

On our way to see his family, I asked Anik what Nizhóní means. 

"Nizhóní is similar to beautiful in your language. But it is not the looks of a person. You are beautiful, no doubt about that. But in our language, nizhóní is a way of saying good inside. This means you have harmony and balance from within. Your soul is good, one of the best that I have seen. That is why you are nizhóní."