Page 37 of Maximum
“Would it be different if I was a woman?” I teased to lighten the mood and it made her do a cute eye-roll.
“Look, I don’t know how long it’s going to take you to realize that we’re meant to be together. I feel it in my body. Don’t you?”
She looked away.
“At least think about it, will you?”
Fleur gave me a small nod and accepted my kiss when I leaned over her and softly planted my lips on hers.
A loud yawn made us look outside, to see some of the lions now drinking from the waterhole. I counted seven lions in total. Five looked female and two looked male.
“I wish we could bathe too. I’m sticky,” I muttered.
“There are wet tissues over there for now.”
We both took time to rinse off a bit before we got dressed.
“Let’s go meet our new friends,” Fleur said, looking exceptionally chirpy.
“Wait, you’re not really going out there, are you?”
“Yes, I am. They know I’m no danger to them. I suggest you stay in the car though. You’re nervous and fearful and that could give the impression that you’re prey.”
“Like with the sharks?”
“Yes. I’m going to do a peace meditation to break the ice.”
“Fleur, please don’t do anything foolish.”
“Relax, Maximum. I’ve been around hundreds of lions and other predators over the years. I’m not stupid enough to go out and pet them, but you forget that I’m not only reading their body language and sounds, I’m also communicating with them and they know we come in peace.”
I watched her sit up and dress, and then she crawled down through the hatch in the roof of the car. When she was downstairs, I followed her example. I’d only just made it down when Fleur opened the door and stepped outside. I watched in awe as she took a single step away from the car and squatted down to place her hand on the ground. Two of the lions lifted their heads from their position on the ground, but otherwise didn’t move. Their lack of manes suggested they were females or very young males. My heart was in my throat when the large alpha male got up from his resting position and strode toward Fleur at a slow pace. She kept rooted to her spot and showed no sign of fear when he stopped no more than fifteen meters from her and made guttural sounds.
I stayed in the car, taking video of the strange encounter while Fleur sat with absolute peace on her face and did nothing. Lying down on all fours, the alpha looked around and yawned like he was already bored with us. Soon, all seven lions were either sitting or lying in a relaxed manner outside our car, and just as I thought things couldn’t be stranger, four elephants showed up on the other side of the water.
Fleur turned her head in their direction, so I knew she’d seen them. The lions raised their heads as well but otherwise didn’t react much to what had to be a normal sight for them.
My fascination with Fleur just quadrupled.
“Fleur,” I called from the rolled-down window.
She turned and looked at me. “Yes?”
“I’m sorry, but I really have to pee.”
“Okay, just give me a minute.”
Five minutes later she came back into the car and together we packed away the tent and got into the front seats. Pointed away from our campsite, she instructed, “Roll down the road a bit. We’ll find some bushes away from the lions.”
“Does that mean I’ll have to get out of the car?”
“Yes, but first, you need to calm your nerves and accept that you’re not their natural food source. Unless you attack them, they won’t harm you. These lions are well fed and they’re used to seeing people in cars looking at them every day. Unless they feel threatened by us, they have no reason to attack. They prefer zebra, antelope, or gazelle over human flesh any day.”
When we stopped and got out, she took my hand as we walked to a nearby bush.
“Turn around,” she said and while I faced the bush to empty my bladder, Fleur squatted down behind me and did the same.
We were driving back when one of the lionesses from the lion pride came leisurely walking toward us. I stopped the car while Fleur rolled down the window. “Isn’t she beautiful?”
