He sighed in the darkness, he had escaped them at last. Thank God! But the problem was that now he had no idea where he was. He didn't have a map, his flashlight was broken into pieces, his shoe sole was very tattered, blood covered his uniform and he was limping. And there he was, in the dark forest with nothing except trees all around him. He did not know what to do. He had been to many endeavors but this was by far the most challenging one. He briefly wondered what would happen if he died here and no one found him. He was all alone, with nothing .. not even a bottle of water. He didn't have a watch and didn't know when the sun would rise and he could go forward. It was a mess.
It was 6 o'clock. The alarm rang loudly waking him up. He woke up and sighed happily. At last his life was coming together, and that too with her. He just couldn't wait for her to be his.. he couldn't wait to spend the rest of their lives together. He smiled happily as he got up in bed and made way to the bathroom.
He looked at the photo album from KMA. Most of them were her pictures, their pictures. But there were a few others.. pictures of her with him. He smiled sadly.. knowing what she was hiding from him. she could never be his. She had already given her heart to someone else. She would never admit it, yet everyone knew. Everyone knew how they looked at each other.. they had a true smile when they were near each other. She never gave him that smile… she was his, he knew that.
'Let's play a game of truth or dare, what say guys?' it was the last day of term, and the six were officially bored.
'I'll go first. Though you all know what my answer will be.' Said the 19 yr old Huda.
'Ok Huda.. truth or dare?'
'Dare.'
'You have to kiss your phoolan on the lips.'
That had been one of the best moments ever. Her eyes had closed insticintively and her lips were warm and soft. It was the best kiss he had ever had. He would have gone on and on if it weren't for everyone else catcalling.
The next part wasn't as great for him though..
'Ok Naina, truth or dare?'
'Truth.. I guess.'
'OK! Great! so.. Naina.. tell me.. who do you love? is it Huda.. or…' the others grinned mischievously.
'Me? oh.. er.. erm.. oh me. ah.. no one! I like no one.'
No one believed that. He didn't either. At that time, he was happy thinking that she was falling in love with him. But the next moments confirmed it as no. he had seen her turn back, nod and mouth 'I Love You' to Capt. Rajveer. He had seen him smile back and blow her a kiss.. from that moment on, he knew he had lost her.. he knew he had no more say in this business, it was not his anymore. Now he just had her like a friend. ..ready to let go when he turned up again..
She sighed and went to the window. She somehow had a dreaded feeling at the pit of her stomach about that day.. almost as if it would turn out wrong. She was dreading this day and yet didn't know why. A loud, almost desperate knock on the door broke her train of thgouhts and she went to open it.
First she thought she had imagined it. then she thought she was hallucinating.. but no it was true!.. her next reaction was to jump into his arms but two things stopped her.. her engagement ring and the words he had said before he left.. she didn't know what to do anymore. Her dreaded feeling was coming true.
Captain Rajveer Singh Shekhawat was back.