Chapter 27

Chapter 25:

It was eventually decided that with Major Nair in the academy a party there would be too risky, and so Raj's room was 'volunteered' as the party's location. Of course Raj didn't actually find this out until half an hour later when Huda informed him that that was where the party would be.

Luckily Raj was still far too happy to mind his room being volunteered without his permission and agreed without any hesitation. They had also invited Dr Shalini who was thrilled at the idea of a party, and while they had considered inviting Suriji too, Pooja had pointed out that then they would have to invite Lolitaji as well, who with her strict personality wasn't likely to approve of a party.

Everybody was scheduled to begin arriving at Raj's room at 9pm, and they would all be arriving one by one to avoid any suspicion. However Raj wasn't at all surprised when he heard the first knock on his door ten minutes before nine, immediately guessing who it would be.

Opening the door he grinned at the first arrival. "Well if it isn't Cadet Naina 'Ah' Singh standing at my door. Aren't you a bit early for the party?" he asked her teasingly. She had changed into usual salwar kurta and her hair was loosely plaited.

"My mistake, Sir." She replied back in the same tone of voice, "I'll just leave and come back again in ten minutes."

As she turned to go, he quickly grabbed her arm, pulling her inside the room and shutting the door behind her. The motion was so fast that there wasn't even time for Naina to blink. Placing the palms of his hands to either side of Naina, Raj effectively trapped Naina between himself and the door.

"No so fast, Cadet Singh." He told her "I never said that I wasn't happy you had arrived early."

"I'm not so sure, Sir." She joked with him, "Maybe I should go and come back, after all, what could we possibly do alone together in the ten minutes before everybody arrives?"

Raj looked at her intensely, leaning in even closer. "Cadet Singh, I can think of hundreds of things I could do alone with you in the next ten minutes."

Naina raised her eyebrows at this comment, "Sir!" she exclaimed, pretending to be shocked, "Really, is that the only thing you can think of?"

"Argh, I didn't mean it that way, Naina!" Raj said, getting flustered, "It really wasn't supposed to sound that way. I don't know what happens to my brain and my mouth when I'm alone with you that everything comes out wrong!"

Naina giggled, "I was just joking, Raj. I know you didn't mean it like that."

Raj gave her a look that would make any girl melt, "Naina, I missed you so much." He told her.

"It's only been a week since we saw each other." She informed him with a smile.

"So that means that you didn't miss me?"

"If I said I didn't miss you… then I would be lying." She told him with a grin. Raj grinned back and hugged her tightly before lifting her off the ground and swinging her around while Naina hold on tightly to him, laughing. Finally he placed her back on the ground and released her.

"So I believe that we were discussing what we could do alone together in the next ten minutes." He informed her.

"Well, perhaps a practical demonstration would help." Naina suggested, putting her arms around his neck and tilting her head up to his. Raj placed his hands on her hips and was just bending down to kiss her, his lips about to graze hers when suddenly there was a knock on the door. The two of them released each other and Naina hurried over to sit down in one of his chairs as Raj swore under his breath before fixing a smile on his face and opening the door.

"Hi Sir!" Yudi said brightly, "I hope we're not too early, but it's only a few minutes until 9, so I thought we might as well come now," and he wandered in past Raj, followed by Dr Shalini who gave him an apologetic look as if she had guessed that they had interrupted something.

"No problem, Yudi." Raj told him, "Naina just arrived a couple of minutes ago and we were discussing plans for the party."

"Oh hey Naina," Yudi said and wandered over to sit with her, completely unaware that anything had been going on before his arrival.

'Sorry', Shalini mouthed at Raj but he just shrugged to show that he wasn't too annoyed, giving her a wry smile. She handed him a bottle of wine and was also carrying some cushions.

"What are those for?" Raj asked her,

"Well in case you haven't noticed, you don't have that many chairs, Captain." She informed him, "These are for the people who will be stuck sitting on the floor."

One by one the rest of the cadets arrived, Pooja had brought some cds with her, Huda had brought his sweets, Ali some soft drink and Alekh… well he had brought some alcohol in his hip flask, but neither Raj nor Shalini could see any point in telling him that he shouldn't have.

They pushed the chairs and table back and all sat in a circle on the floor with their cushions as Pooja put some music on. Naina was disappointed not to be sitting next to Raj, as she was with Dr Shalini and Pooja, but knew that they couldn't afford to be too obvious about their feelings for each other. Everybody was having a good time, laughing and chatting and telling more stories about their holidays. Huda was more than happy to update everybody about how his buffaloes were doing.

"Okay guys," Yudi finally said, "I think we should have a toast. Firstly to our second year at KMA, may it be as fun and as successful as the first! Secondly to Ali and Pooja, for finally making their relationship official!" Everybody clapped and cheered at this while Huda whistled. Pooja looked ecstatic while Ali was slightly embarrassed but looked happy anyway.

"And now to celebrate," Huda announced, "I think that the happy couple should dance together!"

There were shouts of 'yeah!' from those assembled, except for Ali who was trying to refuse.

"Oh come on Ali," Pooja told him, "I know you're a good dancer, there's nothing to be shy about in front of our friends!" Ali eventually gave in, not able to deny Pooja anything that she wanted and everybody cheered as he waltzed her around the room.

"Excellent!" Yudi exclaimed, "Dancing was just what this party needed!"

"Of course," Huda said slyly, "Doesn't everybody remember our Captain's dance from the fresher's ball? Don't you think that he should show us his skills again?"

"No way, Cadet Huda!" Raj said resolutely, "I am not doing another filmi dance for you guys, and if I tried to in this room then I would probably just end up breaking the furniture."

"Oh come on Captain," Shalini told him, "No filmi numbers, just show the cadets how a soldier should dance."

"Dr Shalini in case you haven't noticed, you need a partner for that type of dancing. Are you volunteering?"

"No way!" Shalini replied, "I might have only had one glass of wine, but I was never good at that type of dancing even when I haven't had alcohol. Get Naina to dance with you instead."

Naina started to protest at this, that she was too tired, that she wasn't a good dancer, but Pooja and Shalini pushed her up off the floor even as the boys also dragged Captain Rajveer up.

"Well okay then," Raj said, "If you all insist." And bowing to Naina he offered his hand, laughing at his action she took her hand and Raj began to dance her around the room, occasionally spinning her around. It wasn't a particularly romantic dance but more of a fun one, both of them enjoying themselves. The rest of the cadets clapped along to the rhythm of the music, laughing with them. Alekh was relieved to see that for once there wasn't a look of jealousy on Huda's face but one of simple enjoyment. He realised that Huda really had made a decision to get over his obsession with Naina. Naina might not have said anything to Alekh yet, but he had already guessed that something must have changed. He had never seen his friend this happy before as she was tonight. Whatever had happened between her and Rajveer Sir was there business, Alekh just hoped that Naina's sorrows were finally over.

Finally at the end of the song, Raj dipped Naina down before bringing her up again rather quickly. Laughing she placed a hand to her head, dizzy due to the sudden movement. His hand around her waist to support her, he guided her back to the circle and they sat back down. After this there was more laughing and talking until Shalini realised that it was quite late and the cadets should return to their rooms.

All of them left at the same time, still chatting, as Naina threw a glance over her shoulder at Raj smiling at him. He smiled back and then closed the door behind them, heading towards his bedroom.

In the corridor outside the cadets said goodnight to Dr Shalini and then headed towards their hostels. Still humming to herself, Naina prepared for bed and then turned out the night.

"Everything's going so well, Naina." Pooja told her sleepily, "I just know that this year will be better than the last one."

"I hope so, Pooja." Naina told her, even as her eyes began to close, "Finally we're all half way towards our goals. It can only get better from here on in."

And she fell asleep, dreaming of all the moments from their first year.