Hey everyone! I was much happier to see some comments after this part! I hope you guys don't blame me, but really a lot of effort goes into writing these! And I hope everyone's exams are going well if they have them!
Chapter 15
If there is one thing that Raj knows well, then it is how to be patient.
He has had to be patient throughout his life, first with his attempts to prove Navin innocent, and now…
Now while waiting for the day that he can finally tell her how he feels.
But there are times when his patience is tested, times when he wishes he could forget everything and finally speak what is in his heart.
Like right now, as he watches Huda trying to flirt with her.
He watches, and struggles with the jealousy he feels, that Huda can express freely what he can not.
He fears… that in the end he might be too late.
But he remains patient, because in the end, he still has hope.
Because the way Naina smiles at him… she has never smiled at anyone else.
And he knows that she never ever will.
**
Dhiraj's grip on her hand remains tight as he leads Asha wherever it is he's taking her, and she glances around, finally beginning to become nervous and noticing that they've attracted quite a bit of attention.
"Sir," she hisses at him, but he doesn't respond, "Captain Kapoor!" he still keeps walking as if he hasn't heard anything. "Dhiraj!" she finally calls out in desperations, and shocked at hearing his name from her lips, he finally stops.
"What is it?" he asks, gazing down at her, still grasping her hand.
"Sir, people are looking at us…" Asha tells him almost pleadingly and startled, Dhiraj finally drops her hand, realising how much of a scene he's creating.
"Follow me," he tells Asha in a serious tone, walking slightly ahead of her, and she does, at the same time wondering why she's doing this so unquestioningly. It is only when they reach the area of the officer's quarters that Asha realises where he's taking her, and her heart starts thumping against her ribcage. He opens the door to his own quarters and gestures for her to come inside. Hesitating only slightly, Asha crosses the threshold, slightly startled when he shuts the door hard behind her.
He advances on her slowly, and she backs away, finally hitting the wall. He picks up her hand, inspecting the fingers, and at first Asha is confused about what he's doing.
"Good," Dhiraj breathes, and the relief is evident in his voice, "I thought that maybe…"
Asha finally realises what it was that he was checking for. She knows that there's no reason for her to do so, but she wants to reassure him, put his mind at rest.
"No," she tells him softly, "They wanted me to… but I refused."
Dhiraj stares at her, and his gaze is so intent that Asha wishes she could look away. She's dimly aware that he's still holding her hand, that he hasn't let go of her fingers yet but in fact has grasped them even tighter.
Then before she has time to even realise what's happening, Dhiraj moves, quicker than she's ever seen him move before. He pulls her to him, clutching her arms so tightly that it begins to hurt.
"I wasn't joking, I would've killed him." He tells her, his grip finally loosening on her arms as soon as soon as he's said it, "I would've…" and he lifts the fingers of his right hand to trail them down her cheek, gently, almost reverently.
Asha thinks that if she had any sense at all, now would be the time when she would step away, or at least turn her head, but instead she leans into his touch, her eyes closing. It is then that she feels his lips on her cheek, as his hands trail down her arms to grasp both her hands, entwining his fingers with hers, his grip hard, determined. He kisses her cheek even harder then, and Asha realises through a slightly clouded mind that it is the same cheek Rajesh had kissed as he dropped her off. She has the sudden feeling that Dhiraj is trying to erase the touch of the other man on her, to mark her as his own.
She opens her eyes, and he breaks away from her, staring at her as if seeking something from her. Asha blinks, and at that one moment, she realises that she does know exactly what she wants… even if she shouldn't…
It only takes that one moment, and Dhiraj sees the consent in her eyes, consent that she had never meant to give. In one smooth move he pulls her to him, crushing her so that she is entrapped between him and wall.
And he's kissing her neck so hard that she knows she'll have a bruise there in the morning, but she doesn't care, she really doesn't care, because somehow it just feels so right. And she's clutching him so hard through his shirt, that she's sure her nails must be leaving marks in his skin, but that doesn't matter either, because she needs to hold him, she needs to mark him as hers, and she's never felt a need this great before in her entire life. This passion consumes her like a fire and she wonders whether she will end up burning along with it.
And his hands and his lips are all over her, as he tugs off her jacket, throwing it aside carelessly. His touch burns her skin, and she presses him closer, wanting to feel… wanting to know… He pushes her onto the bed, pinning her down with his own body. She can feel the heat radiating off him, and Dhiraj kisses her neck, her shoulder, her cheeks, and finally his lips meet hers, and Asha can't help but gasp as he kisses her hungrily, as if he has been starving for her touch for far too many years now. One hand moves to below her waist, supporting her, pulling her up even closer to him. He moves his other hand to her leg, gripping her thigh tightly as if to steady himself.
Dhiraj captures her mouth again, accidentally knocking his teeth against hers in his haste to kiss her. He removes his hand from her waist, moving it up to tangle with her hair, pressing her face even closer to his.
And he's so warm, and alive, and Asha wonders why on earth they waited this long, because the way that he's kissing her, the way that he presses his lean body against hers, and the look in his eyes as he breaks away to gaze down at her, a strange combination of desire and confusion and relief. All of these things make Asha forget that there is a reason they shouldn't be doing this, a reason that she should stop this right now.
"Asha," he breathes, pressing his face into her neck once again to kiss it, and she shudders, unable to control herself.
She knows that she has to say something, do something, but he has wrapped an arm around her waist again and is pressing her to him even harder. And she can't help but feel that the most important thing right now is simply to touch him, and so she slips her fingers through hair that has grown far too long, combing them through it with such tenderness that he looks at her in surprise.
They pause, perhaps only seeing each other properly for the first time since she arrived back. And the look on Dhiraj's face changes from pure desire to something softer… It is then that he realises what it was that he was about to do, and startled he stares at her in shock, because this isn't the way it should happen…
It only takes one second for the fog that has been clouding Asha's mind to clear and she is horrified at exactly what it is that she was about to do. Hurriedly she tries to tug her t-shirt back down from where it has been pushed partially up her waist, Dhiraj still hasn't moved his hand from her thigh, and she pushes it off hastily, before trying to get up. However trapped beneath the weight of his body, she can't lift herself and Asha shoves Dhiraj in order to get him to move. The move is enough to wake Dhiraj up properly and he scrambles aside so that she can stand.
Asha doesn't even want to think about what just nearly happened or why it happened, and without looking at him she runs out of the room, completely forgetting about her jacket.
Dhiraj stands there for a moment, shocked and unable to believe exactly what it is that's just happened.
"Asha!" he calls out, after her, but she's already gone, the door banging behind her.
**
"Sir!" Samir turns around to see Amiya hurrying towards him, a smile on her face and he can't help but smile in return.
"Welcome back, Lieutenant Chatterjee, how was your suspension?" he asks her.
"Oh it was great!" Amiya tells him, and then realises she should sound a bit more repentful about the whole thing, "Uh, I mean, I've truly learned my lesson from this experience."
Samir chuckles, having expected just this response from her, and they begin to walk together towards the officers quarters.
"Why isn't Lieutenant Dutt with you?" he asks, "You both went to Kolkatta, I would've expected you to come back together."
"Oh her parents sent her back with that idiot buffa… with Rajesh." Amiya tells him.
"Why?" Samir asks, nervous. The last thing he needs is for Asha Dutt to have decided she likes somebody else. If Dhiraj is unbearable now, then Samir doesn't even want to imagine what he might be like when he heard this news.
"Because she wouldn't agree to an engagement, so they're still hoping she'll somehow mysteriously fall in love with him." Amiya tells Samir with a shrug, "Why are you so concerned?"
"Nothing," Samir answers hurriedly, and then at the suspicious look in her eye, "I was just worried about how… uh… certain people might respond if she had gotten engaged."
"Ah," Amiya replies, understanding fully. "And have certain people recovered from their leg wound yet?"
"Yes, he's up and walking around now." Samir answers without thinking.
"Then I'll stop by and say hi," Amiya says brightly, "It will be good to see him back to normal."
They're just walking towards Samir and Dhiraj's quarters when the both pause, frozen to the spot by the sight in front of them. The door to the room flies open, and running so fast that they almost can't identify her, Asha exits the room. A few seconds later Dhiraj also comes out, looking in the direction she's run before punching the door with his hand, so hard that it swings backwards and hits the wall before he heads back inside.
"That was…" Amiya starts to say.
"Yes it was…" Samir continues.
"Then I'll go…"
"And I will too…"
And unable to complete even a single sentence due to their shock, they both move in separate directions, going after their best friends.
**
Dhiraj looks up as the door opens, hoping that it might be her, that she has come back and he can explain… but instead he sees Samir standing there, staring at him in disbelief and a certain amount of disappointment.
"Dhiraj what just happened?" he asks him.
"It wasn't…" Dhiraj starts to say, but Samir cuts him off, refusing to listen.
"What it seemed?" he asks with disbelief, "Oh I certainly hope it wasn't, but somehow I think it was probably exactly what it seemed."
"I swear I didn't mean this to happen," Dhiraj tells him, placing his head in his hands "I don't know what happened, I just saw her and…"
"You saw her and suddenly you lost all reason and common sense?" Samir asks him, before sighing tiredly, "Dhiraj look at me, look at me now."
When his friend looked up, his eyes were red, and his face spoke of despair.
"Dhiraj, this has gone way too far." Samir told him, "I know you like her, but this… do you realise that you could be court martialled for this? Your entire career, her career, everything could be ruined."
Dhiraj knew that Samir was right, he knew that he had been incredibly stupid.
But with the feel of her skin still tingling in his senses, and her scent still in the air, he's having a hard time regretting what he did.
And the way that she had looked at him for that one moment… the expression in her eyes. Nobody had ever looked at him that way before in his entire life.
Seeing the emotions cross Dhiraj's face, the confusion that he seems to be feeling, Samir softens. He can't believe that his friend has done something this stupid, but he also knows that it wasn't intended.
"Exactly how far did things go?" Samir asks him worriedly, hoping that he doesn't need to fear the worst. "Wait, do I really want to know the answer to that?"
"Not far… quite far… not that far." Dhiraj can't make up his mind, because all he can think about is her, and the feel of her skin under his fingers, and her lips when he had kissed her…
"Tell me the truth now," Samir asks Dhiraj seriously, "Are you in love with her or just attracted to her?"
"I don't know…" Dhiraj tells him, and the look in his eyes is one of pure helplessness, "I don't know what I feel for her… I just feel…"
"Well just try and feel a bit more… sensibly." Samir tells him, "You know that the army frowns on this type of thing, of superior officers having relationships with their juniors."
"And what about you?" Dhiraj asks almost accusingly, trying to shift the blame away from himself. "Don't pretend that you don't like her friend, I've seen you two together quite often."
Samir gave a short laugh… if only Dhiraj knew the truth about what it was he and Amiya mainly talked about. "Whether I like her or not is not the issue," he tells him, "The issue is that I'm not about to drag her to my room and start… well…"
Dhiraj buries his head in his hands, realising that he can't make any more excuses.
"And what are you going to do now?" Samir asks him, "Do you realise that you two have to work together, that we're in a war time situation? What exactly are you going to say to her?"
Dhiraj remains silent, and Samir sighs, realising that he'll probably have to be the one to try and fix this. He spots a jacket tossed carelessly on the floor and picks it up, realising that it's Asha's.
"I'll just go… and give Lieutenant Dutt her jacket back." He tells Dhiraj, "Just sit here until I arrive back and try to think of something to fix this."
His head still buried in his hands, Dhiraj doesn't even respond.
**
Amiya finds Asha in their room, sitting on the bed and hugging her knees, shivering as if she's just come in from the cold.
"Asha, what on earth just happened?" Amiya asked her, crouching down so that she was at eye level with her friend. "Please tell me something."
Asha just shakes her head, still stunned, reeling from what had almost happened, from what she had nearly…
"I swear," Asha tells her in a shaky voice, "I wasn't going to… I mean I didn't intend to… I'm not… I'm not that type of girl, I'm really not."
Amiya just stares at her, hoping that she's misunderstood and that it's not what she's thinking.
"Asha, for god's sakes just tell me what happened, you're scaring me!" she pleads with her, but Asha just shakes her head, biting her lip and clutching her knees. Amiya is about to start pleading with her again when there's a knock at the door and she opens it to see Samir standing there, Asha's jacket in his hand and an embarrassed look on his face.
Amiya grabs the jacket and puts it inside the room, before turning to Asha. "Asha, I'll be right back, you just stay here and try to relax." She tells her, before walking outside and shutting the door.
Amiya and Samir walk a short distance away before she turns to face him, clearly angry. "I don't know exactly what happened, but I do know that I am about to murder your best friend, so get prepared to save him if you can." She tells Samir in a very dangerous tone, "What the hell did he do to her? She's so traumatised she can barely talk."
"Look I don't know exactly what happened either," Samir tells her desperately, "But one thing I know for certain is that Dhiraj didn't mean to… I mean he didn't plan to… actually I think he might have temporarily lost his mind." Samir finishes lamely, "He's been going slowly crazy without her all week and I think that when she came back…"
"That doesn't give him the right to attack my friend, I swear I'm going to make a complaint, I'll…"
"Hey, calm down! From what I can tell, nobody was attacked." Samir tells her quickly before the situation gets worse. "I think that whatever happened was actually mutual."
"Asha is not that type of girl!" Amiya tells him, sounding offended for her friend's sake. "She's never even had a boyfriend before let alone… well… whatever it is that happened… almost happened." Amiya is getting embarrassed to even be discussing this with Samir, and he's not sure whether he should be trying to calm her down or defend Dhiraj instead.
"Hey, Dhiraj is not that kind of guy either, believe me! Usually he's one of the calmest and most sensible people I know, it's only around your friend that he seems to lose his mind."
"Well is that her fault?" Amiya asks, "How can she help it if she makes him crazy?"
Samir is just about to retort when he spots Hussein walking towards them with a cautious look on his face, obviously having realised that they were arguing.
"Uh, hi Amiya, hi Captain Samir." He tells them both carefully, utterly confused about why they seem to be fighting when they usually get on so well together, and wanting to diffuse the situation "It's good to see you both again… would you like some laddoos? My Ammi made them."
"Hussein, this is not the time for laddoos, we're in a crisis!" Amiya informs him and then quickly changes her mind, "Actually I was wrong, this is exactly the time for laddoos, give me one."
Hussein takes the tin out of his bad and opening it, hands a laddoo to Amiya.
"Amiya, how are laddoos supposed to solve this problem?" Samir asks her, not even realising that he's called her by her first name for a change.
"They're not," Amiya informs him, "But I'm going to feel better after eating one, why don't you have one too?"
Taking her advice, Samir reaches out and takes a laddoo, they stand there eating while Hussein stares at them.
"You're right," Samir tells her, "I do feel better." Amiya smiles at him before remembering the seriousness of the situation they're currently in.
"So what exactly is the problem?" Hussein asks worriedly, and they both suddenly turn to face him almost as if they had forgotten he was there.
Amiya and Samir glance at each other as if unsure whether they should be telling him the truth or not.
"Captain Samir is trying to convince me not to kill Captain Kapoor," Amiya finally tells him, "I'm definitely feeling less like doing so since I had that laddoo."
"But why do you want to kill him?" Hussein asks, confused and then suddenly he understands. "Ohhhh," he says and then abruptly stops. "What exactly happened?"
"Even we don't know that," Samir admits reluctantly, glad that there's at least one more sensible person around to try and handle the situation. "Something happened between them and now Asha is barely talking and Dhiraj appears to be having a complete breakdown."
"It's not their fault," Hussein says a bit sadly, and the other two stare at him.
"Why not?" Amiya asks, "Do you know something that we don't?"
"No," Hussein replies quickly, "But sometimes these things aren't in peoples' control, if they're so drawn to each other then maybe it's meant to be."
Amiya and Samir continue to stare at him as if he's gone crazy before exchanging twin looks of disbelief.
"Hussein, that's very romantic, but even you have to admit that they're not acting normally," Amiya tells him, "And right now our main concern is to fix this before news of it spreads all over the base and the situation becomes even worse."
"Well I think that first of all we need to get them to talk to each other," Hussein suggests, "If they can't act normally around each other it really will be a disaster, especially in the current situation."
"I think I need another laddoo." Amiya remarks, imagining trying to get Asha and Dhiraj to try and talk to each other and reaching for the tin again. The sweet in her hand, she suddenly looks towards Hussein. "Why aren't you more surprised?" she suddenly asks him, "Surely you weren't expecting this to happen?"
"No, not at all." Hussein lies, "But whatever happens, happens for a reason."
And he believes that now, more than ever.
***
And I bet none of you were expecting that! Now please do comment, as that way I will update faster, hehehe.
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