Chapter 25
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Hey guys, here's your next part! I hope you like it, and that Raj isn't behaving too out of character!
Chapter 23:
Raj arrived back at the academy one day earlier than the cadets would, and could barely contain his glee that the holidays were about to end. He had missed Naina terribly ever since he had dropped her at Pooja's house, and finally the next day his torment was about to end. He was so cheerful that he gave Suriji a hug when he saw him.
"How were your holidays Suriji?" Raj asked him.
"They were fine, putar. Yours must have been good too, judging by how happy you are!"
"They certainly were, Suriji. Sometimes I think we all need a good holiday from KMA."
Raj spotted Major Nair, who had been staring at him with a suspicious look on his face and decided that he'd better tone down his behaviour. He left the mess rather quickly to get away from the Major, afraid that he might somehow figure out the truth.
Raj was strolling down the corridor towards his office whistling, when Dr Shalini came out of the infirmary.
"Hi Captain Shekawat!" she greeted him, then taking in his grin and the tune he had been whistling, she gave him a curious look. "It certainly seems like you had a good holiday."
"I did indeed, Dr Shalini." Raj replied smiling, "How was yours?"
"Well, mine was fine but I don't think it matched up to yours by the look of things." She knew something had to have happened, the change in Raj was remarkable. Before the holidays he had been wandering around sadly as if somebody had run over his pet dog, and now he looked like he was on top of the world. "So what did you do on your holidays?"
"Uh," Raj started, and couldn't think of anything to tell her. "I, uh, went to Delhi. Saw some friends, read some books, you know… I have to go, Doctor." He added rather hurriedly and left there quickly.
Dr Shalini's nose for gossip never failed her. Something was definitely up and she was going to figure it out.
However by the end of the day she was just about ready to scream at Raj. He had wandered into her infirmary five times since the morning, usually just to fiddle with some of her medical equipment, start a short conversation about something unimportant and then walk out again whenever she tried to ask about his holiday.
It was 4pm and he had just walked in for the sixth time. Raj was examining her BP monitoring machine with great fascination when Shalini lost her cool. "Captain!" she exclaimed rather loudly to get his attention, and Raj looked up surprised. "Is there a reason why you keep wandering into my room? Do you have some type of problem that you need help with, or do you want to tell me something?"
Raj was conflicted, he desperately wanted to tell Dr Shalini the truth. He knew that if there was one friend of his who would understand, it would be her. However he was also afraid to tell her the truth in case she disapproved or told him that he had made a mistake. He really didn't need to hear that right now when he was so unsure himself of what he was doing. This was the debate that he had been having with himself all day, to tell or not to tell. Raj sighed, realised it was a bad idea and decided that he should leave the room before he said anything.
"Halt!" Shalini called out just before he reached the door and Raj froze where he stood before turning around to face her with a quizzical look on his face. "If you walk out that door right now without telling me what's going on, then you are not to come back in it until you're ready to say something. You're driving me crazy!" Shalini told him, well and truly exasperated.
She could see the war of emotions on Raj's face as he tried to decide what he should do. Finally he sighed, closed the infirmary's door and then walked over to her desk, collapsing into one of her chairs.
"Dr Shalini, I'm in love." He announced somewhat melodramatically and then crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her, waiting for her response.
Shalini rolled her eyes at his behaviour. "Well thank goodness it isn't anything more serious than that."
"More serious than this? This is very serious, Shalini! I have no idea what I'm doing and quite frankly I'm scared of how this will turn out." He sighed, becoming more serious. He really did need advice, and Shalini was the only person he could trust to confide in.
"So how far has it gone?" she asked him.
Raj looked at her in surprise, "Aren't you going to at least check who it is I'm in love with?"
"Raj, I'm not an idiot." Shalini told him, sounding as though she was offended. "And I'd have to be one not to have figured out who you were in love with by now."
"So then who is it?" Raj asked her, wanting to double check that Shalini and he really were on the same wave length.
"Naina of course, who else?" Shalini told him, sitting down in the chair opposite his.
"So when did you figure it out?"
"If I'm honest, then after your solitary confinement. But I tried to convince myself that I was wrong, because I knew how disastrous it would be." She looks at him seriously, "Raj, it could still be disastrous for you."
"I know, Shalini." He looked downcast again, "And that's why I need advice from you, I need to figure out what I should do."
"Well then answer my earlier question, how far has it gone?"
"Quite far," Raj had wanted to leave it there but was shocked at the expression on Shalini's face, "Not that far! Please, Shalini, I'm not that type of guy."
"Thank god," Shalini muttered, "Or we really would have had something to worry about. In that case, can you please be a bit more specific about exactly how far it has gone?"
"She knows I love her, I know she loves me, we've made the decision that we want to be together." Raj summed it up briefly, under no circumstances was he going to mention anything about kissing…
"And this happened on the holidays?"
"Yes." No need to go into further detail…
"And how did Naina's parents take it?"
"They don't know." Raj pauses, and then decides that he might as well tell Shalini everything if he's going to receive meaningful advice. "And they can't know. They hate me."
"They hate you? Since when? I thought that they liked you, it seemed that way when they came to the academy."
"Are you ready to listen a long story?" Raj asked Shalini.
"Always," she replied, and he began to tell her the entire truth.
**
By the end, she was entirely speechless. Then she reached over and impulsively gave him a quick hug.
"I had no idea," she told him, tears in her eyes, "To have kept that inside you for so long… And for Naina to forgive you and be brave enough to accept that she loves her… and her parents…"
Raj held up a hand to stop Shalini going over the story once again. "So what's your advice?"
Shalini thought for a moment before she replied. "Don't do anything that you can be court-martialed for." She finally told him with a small grin on her face.
"That's it? I just poured out my entire story to you, for you to tell me something that I'd already figured out?" Raj sighed, this had been a mistake to begin with. He shouldn't have said anything.
"Sorry," Shalini told him "I'll try to be more serious. Look Raj, your relationship with Naina is not going to be easy. For one thing, you're both going to have to stop yourselves from doing anything that would expose you while she's at this academy. Next, you'll have to somehow win over her parents and that doesn't seem like it's going to be an easy task."
Raj nodded, he'd been thinking about these same problems over and over again without finding a solution.
"I can't help you with Naina's parents," Shalini informed him, "But I can do my best to stop anybody finding out about the two of you here, as long as you promise me that you won't do anything that you shouldn't be doing."
Raj blushed at this, he wasn't really that keen to be discussing that side of things with Shalini, even if she was a doctor and his friend. "Of course I promise, you know that I wouldn't compromise Naina in that way." Not to mention his own career and conscience.
"So then my advice to you is to try to act like nothing has changed," Shalini told him seriously, "Which means no more whistling as you walk down the hallway or hugging Suriji in the mess."
Raj wondered how she'd heard about that, but by now he'd realised that Shalini eventually heard about everything.
"Always try to be discrete and don't spend too much time alone together. As long as you and Naina can exercise some restraint and avoid anybody finding out about your relationship, then I can say with confidence," and Shalini took one of Raj's hands in hers, squeezing it for emphasis. "That you two will be one of the happiest and most perfect couples I've ever seen. After everything you've been through together already, I'm sure that you can overcome any obstacles in the future."
"Thanks Shalini," Raj told her, "I think that I really needed to hear this from you. I was just feeling so nervous about everything, but now I'm feeling a bit more relaxed and I think I can handle all this."
She patted him on the shoulder and he got up to go, smiling at her with genuine happiness.
"I'm glad that I've got a friend like you, Shalini." He told her, "It means a lot that I can come to talk to you about these things."
Shalini smiled as he walked out the door, whistling another tune. She was also glad, in these times genuine friends were hard to find.
Chapter 23:
Raj arrived back at the academy one day earlier than the cadets would, and could barely contain his glee that the holidays were about to end. He had missed Naina terribly ever since he had dropped her at Pooja's house, and finally the next day his torment was about to end. He was so cheerful that he gave Suriji a hug when he saw him.
"How were your holidays Suriji?" Raj asked him.
"They were fine, putar. Yours must have been good too, judging by how happy you are!"
"They certainly were, Suriji. Sometimes I think we all need a good holiday from KMA."
Raj spotted Major Nair, who had been staring at him with a suspicious look on his face and decided that he'd better tone down his behaviour. He left the mess rather quickly to get away from the Major, afraid that he might somehow figure out the truth.
Raj was strolling down the corridor towards his office whistling, when Dr Shalini came out of the infirmary.
"Hi Captain Shekawat!" she greeted him, then taking in his grin and the tune he had been whistling, she gave him a curious look. "It certainly seems like you had a good holiday."
"I did indeed, Dr Shalini." Raj replied smiling, "How was yours?"
"Well, mine was fine but I don't think it matched up to yours by the look of things." She knew something had to have happened, the change in Raj was remarkable. Before the holidays he had been wandering around sadly as if somebody had run over his pet dog, and now he looked like he was on top of the world. "So what did you do on your holidays?"
"Uh," Raj started, and couldn't think of anything to tell her. "I, uh, went to Delhi. Saw some friends, read some books, you know… I have to go, Doctor." He added rather hurriedly and left there quickly.
Dr Shalini's nose for gossip never failed her. Something was definitely up and she was going to figure it out.
However by the end of the day she was just about ready to scream at Raj. He had wandered into her infirmary five times since the morning, usually just to fiddle with some of her medical equipment, start a short conversation about something unimportant and then walk out again whenever she tried to ask about his holiday.
It was 4pm and he had just walked in for the sixth time. Raj was examining her BP monitoring machine with great fascination when Shalini lost her cool. "Captain!" she exclaimed rather loudly to get his attention, and Raj looked up surprised. "Is there a reason why you keep wandering into my room? Do you have some type of problem that you need help with, or do you want to tell me something?"
Raj was conflicted, he desperately wanted to tell Dr Shalini the truth. He knew that if there was one friend of his who would understand, it would be her. However he was also afraid to tell her the truth in case she disapproved or told him that he had made a mistake. He really didn't need to hear that right now when he was so unsure himself of what he was doing. This was the debate that he had been having with himself all day, to tell or not to tell. Raj sighed, realised it was a bad idea and decided that he should leave the room before he said anything.
"Halt!" Shalini called out just before he reached the door and Raj froze where he stood before turning around to face her with a quizzical look on his face. "If you walk out that door right now without telling me what's going on, then you are not to come back in it until you're ready to say something. You're driving me crazy!" Shalini told him, well and truly exasperated.
She could see the war of emotions on Raj's face as he tried to decide what he should do. Finally he sighed, closed the infirmary's door and then walked over to her desk, collapsing into one of her chairs.
"Dr Shalini, I'm in love." He announced somewhat melodramatically and then crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her, waiting for her response.
Shalini rolled her eyes at his behaviour. "Well thank goodness it isn't anything more serious than that."
"More serious than this? This is very serious, Shalini! I have no idea what I'm doing and quite frankly I'm scared of how this will turn out." He sighed, becoming more serious. He really did need advice, and Shalini was the only person he could trust to confide in.
"So how far has it gone?" she asked him.
Raj looked at her in surprise, "Aren't you going to at least check who it is I'm in love with?"
"Raj, I'm not an idiot." Shalini told him, sounding as though she was offended. "And I'd have to be one not to have figured out who you were in love with by now."
"So then who is it?" Raj asked her, wanting to double check that Shalini and he really were on the same wave length.
"Naina of course, who else?" Shalini told him, sitting down in the chair opposite his.
"So when did you figure it out?"
"If I'm honest, then after your solitary confinement. But I tried to convince myself that I was wrong, because I knew how disastrous it would be." She looks at him seriously, "Raj, it could still be disastrous for you."
"I know, Shalini." He looked downcast again, "And that's why I need advice from you, I need to figure out what I should do."
"Well then answer my earlier question, how far has it gone?"
"Quite far," Raj had wanted to leave it there but was shocked at the expression on Shalini's face, "Not that far! Please, Shalini, I'm not that type of guy."
"Thank god," Shalini muttered, "Or we really would have had something to worry about. In that case, can you please be a bit more specific about exactly how far it has gone?"
"She knows I love her, I know she loves me, we've made the decision that we want to be together." Raj summed it up briefly, under no circumstances was he going to mention anything about kissing…
"And this happened on the holidays?"
"Yes." No need to go into further detail…
"And how did Naina's parents take it?"
"They don't know." Raj pauses, and then decides that he might as well tell Shalini everything if he's going to receive meaningful advice. "And they can't know. They hate me."
"They hate you? Since when? I thought that they liked you, it seemed that way when they came to the academy."
"Are you ready to listen a long story?" Raj asked Shalini.
"Always," she replied, and he began to tell her the entire truth.
**
By the end, she was entirely speechless. Then she reached over and impulsively gave him a quick hug.
"I had no idea," she told him, tears in her eyes, "To have kept that inside you for so long… And for Naina to forgive you and be brave enough to accept that she loves her… and her parents…"
Raj held up a hand to stop Shalini going over the story once again. "So what's your advice?"
Shalini thought for a moment before she replied. "Don't do anything that you can be court-martialed for." She finally told him with a small grin on her face.
"That's it? I just poured out my entire story to you, for you to tell me something that I'd already figured out?" Raj sighed, this had been a mistake to begin with. He shouldn't have said anything.
"Sorry," Shalini told him "I'll try to be more serious. Look Raj, your relationship with Naina is not going to be easy. For one thing, you're both going to have to stop yourselves from doing anything that would expose you while she's at this academy. Next, you'll have to somehow win over her parents and that doesn't seem like it's going to be an easy task."
Raj nodded, he'd been thinking about these same problems over and over again without finding a solution.
"I can't help you with Naina's parents," Shalini informed him, "But I can do my best to stop anybody finding out about the two of you here, as long as you promise me that you won't do anything that you shouldn't be doing."
Raj blushed at this, he wasn't really that keen to be discussing that side of things with Shalini, even if she was a doctor and his friend. "Of course I promise, you know that I wouldn't compromise Naina in that way." Not to mention his own career and conscience.
"So then my advice to you is to try to act like nothing has changed," Shalini told him seriously, "Which means no more whistling as you walk down the hallway or hugging Suriji in the mess."
Raj wondered how she'd heard about that, but by now he'd realised that Shalini eventually heard about everything.
"Always try to be discrete and don't spend too much time alone together. As long as you and Naina can exercise some restraint and avoid anybody finding out about your relationship, then I can say with confidence," and Shalini took one of Raj's hands in hers, squeezing it for emphasis. "That you two will be one of the happiest and most perfect couples I've ever seen. After everything you've been through together already, I'm sure that you can overcome any obstacles in the future."
"Thanks Shalini," Raj told her, "I think that I really needed to hear this from you. I was just feeling so nervous about everything, but now I'm feeling a bit more relaxed and I think I can handle all this."
She patted him on the shoulder and he got up to go, smiling at her with genuine happiness.
"I'm glad that I've got a friend like you, Shalini." He told her, "It means a lot that I can come to talk to you about these things."
Shalini smiled as he walked out the door, whistling another tune. She was also glad, in these times genuine friends were hard to find.
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