Happy Birthday Moon
OS: Wherever you go...
As he cut the call with his Mom, he looked around the beautiful valley from his balcony, 'What now Major Arjun Punj?' he asked himself. Thinking of the title added to his name, he beamed, he was sure his Dada was proud of him. Achieving it at thirty was not easy. He did, his focus and determination did it. Major Punj came from a family of Army officials; he grew up watching his grandfather and father encountering criminals and terrorists, adding badges and medals. He studied at the prestigious Army school in Kashmir. He had always admired the aura of command and strength surrounding them and had dreamed of carrying on the pride of being a military man. The moment, his father General Sudheer Punj had himself handed over the major badge to him would be his most cherished moment till date. His grandfather was now retired. As usual when you achieve something, we tend to take a tour down the memory lane, Arjun was doing the same.
He had never been a popular one, he might have been, who cared. All he cared about was his books, sports, army entrance and his love' his family. His only best friend was Rajveer Sharma. That was may be because they had born in the same year to two families that had been friends over two generations. Right, Rajveer was also from a Military family, they had all lived in the military quarters, playing together, studying together, and had grown up together. Two families could be better off called as one. So he had two moms, two dads, two daddus, dadi and a DJ. His Dadi passed away six months ago when he was on a mission. He could not even be there to do her last rites. In fact he got to know of her death only ten days after it was all over. His job had done that to him, yet he wouldn't complain, coz he was sure, his dadi would still be proud of him as he was away protecting his country from terrorists at the border. After all, her other Pota and Poti were there with her, when she breathed her last. Dadi considered Arohi and Rajveer her grandchildren too, just like DJ considered Arjun as her ladla pota. Rajveer was an Industrialist, he was not interested in army, crushing the hopes, his parents had nurtured ever since he was born, he went on to take up business and was now happily married to Gauri. And last but not the least, the ladli of the entire family... Arohi Sharma, the devil, naughtiest one, she was just opposite to both Arjun and Rajveer, the prankster and being the youngest, six years younger than him and Rajveer, she was always pampered and spoilt. Everyone loved her to bits, that eventually made rajveer and Arjun to plot against her and get her caught for her pranks but whenever the family saw any hint of tears in her eyes, they would melt and end up scolding Arjun and Rajveer. He couldn't deny the fact that her antics used to be too cute and a person should have a heart made of stone to not melt at her crystal clear brown eyes and that cute pout. She knew how to win other's heart; Arjun shook his head at his thoughts. It has almost been ten years since he met her, last time they met was when he was 21 and she, 15. Something unexpected happened that day he left to the border, that made him avoid her all these years. A horn from outside his cottage brought him out of the reverie.
Arjun came out and saw two officers, one in a bullet and another in a jeep, both of them came forward, saluted and handed the keys of the gypsy to him. After a nod, they left together in the bullet, not before saluting him again.
Arjun had been given one whole month to prepare for his next mission that was to demolish an arms factory in the deep forests of the himalyan valleys. He had to have the best of the officers in his team, so he had been assigned with six lieutenants, who had topped the academy. He had to train them for a month to handle adverse situations. He was pretty confident about them all, he was once a topper at the same academy and he was sure about their abilities. He had seen their credentials himself. Soon, he was out of his house throwing his bags on to the jeep and was on his way to Darjeeling. They needed a calm place to gather their concentration and to elaborate them on the mission.
Major Alluwalia (Jai Alluwalia),his colleague for the training, had already reached the bungalow that had been chosen by Arjun himself, a huge building on the outskirts of the hill station, pretty much hidden in a valley, known for the unpredictable temperature fluctuations, just like the place they would carry out their mission in. Right then, he got a message that all the cadets have already reached and ready.
As he entered the huge gates of the bungalow, he saw that the cadets were already waiting for him. As soon as he went near them, Jai introduced them one by one, "Rank 6 ' Lieutenant Verma", Anil Verma came forward and made a stiff salute, Arjun nodded and went forward, "Rank 5 ' Lieutenant Shekawat", "Rank 4 ' Lieutenant ketketta", "Rank 3 ' Lieutenant D'souza", "Rank 2 ' Lieutenant Khan", everyone saluted him and stood stiff, ready for his orders. Arjun beamed at his own choice, each of the soldier there were confident of themselves, that's what he wanted. "And' finally Rank 1 ' Lieutenant Sharma". Arjun nodded, as the cadet repeated the same as others but suddenly he froze at his place as he realized that it was a girl.
No no' He was not a chauvinist! Rank one was not just any girl, it was Arohi. He had just checked their last names, how stupid. Arjun cleared his throat, he did not want the cadets to assume that he had special interest in any one of them. "Major?" Jai asked, Arjun collected himself, told them that the training starts tomorrow and asked them to go around, get familiar with the place if they want, finally ordered them to disperse.
He watched as all the five of them saluted and got back into the house with brisk, blatantly emotionless faces, was it Arohi? Of course it was her. What had he made her into? Arjun was still standing rooted to the same spot, he couldn't bring himself to move, his thoughts going whirlwind and his brain couldn't process how? When? Why did SHE end up in the military? Not even a member of his family mentioned it to him! How was all this possible? A high rated official in the military known for his super analytical brain was left confused. He had two options, one, to go talk with her, two was to call home and ask them about her.
'Hello ma?'
'han bolo Arjun?'
'Where is Arohi?'
'wo.. She has gone for training to Darjeeling, beta.'
'Which training ma?'
'Military'' she did not finish her sentence, 'Aap ne mujhe bataya kyun nahi?', he almost shouted. 'kyun chilla rahe ho?', his mom asked quite amused, and continued, 'you never asked us about her earlier, so you were never told.'.
'Ma?', he was annoyed now, 'Why are you talking to ma like that?', he stilled hearing the voice say that so casually, he almost turned around in a slow motion, only to see her standing there with her hand folded across. He raised his eyes in question; she just shrugged casually and took his mobile off his hand,
'hiii mom! How're you?'
'I miss you too..'
'mahhh! I want that nowww'
'haww?'
'okay, see you soon, love you!'
This was her conversation with his mom, she gave him the phone back and asked 'haan? So.. you were asking something?', he still stood there with his own attitude, 'Let me think? How and why am I here?' she asked with a knowing smile, 'You exactly know why SIR', she said with her head held high.
'Cadet, You're here for training, so do not play around. It won't go well with me or your rank, so mind your business.', His tone meant business. For a second her smile slipped but she caught herself, 'Yes Sir!' she said with a salute. Now Arjun felt better. He walked away from her, feel her heated sight over him. He turned around just in time, she winked at him and brusquely whisked away towards the gate, leaving him shocked.
It was dinner time, everyone was there except two, Arohi and Lieutenant D'souza. He waited until the dinner got over but no signs of them. 'Where are the other cadets?' he asked trying his best not to be scorny. 'Sir. They must have gone to the church Sir.', Arjun nodded and left to his room. He was standing at the window when Arohi and D'souza entered the gates.
The day he left to the border for the first time, was the first time he had ever kissed a girl, it may seem weird but he was 21, Rajveer was in Mumbai trying his hand at random businesses to set his footing right. Arohi was in 10th holidays. That afternoon he saw Arohi sitting in their backyard swing, just he called out her name, she wiped her eyes and said, 'I'm going in for lunch.' He knew something was wrong, he just pulled her back and asked softly, 'Kya hua? Kisi ne kuch bola kya? Or any problem at school?', 'nothing Arjun, was just thinking Random stuffs', he still was not convinced, Arohi was not the one to cry over things, she would rather beat it out. He cupped her face and asked her again and again, finally she gave up and said 'I love you Arjun'. He was shocked beyond limits, she was just a kid, he knew. Arohi looked at his bewildered expression and went inside, as if she knew he would react this way. The whole day, Arjun could not concentrate in anything, her words came back to him hauntingly. It was late evening when he was roaming around in the corridors of their house still thinking about her words, when he heard her call him, he was engulfed into a hug as he turned around to face her. 'Arohi', he sighed. 'I know Arjun. I know, I'm young. I shouldn't even be thinking of this. But my mind just won't understand, it keeps revolving around you, I don't know why but I want you. Having all this inside me is making me confused. That is why I want to pour it all out. Kuch bhi kar ke I want it all out of me. I also know that you would never agree, but still..' she crushed her lips over his. Arjun's mind was already too occupied with all that she said and the kiss, shook him off the ground, just when she was about to give up, he responded, pulling her closer and kissing her fiercely. When they pulled away it did not take a second for Arjun's guilt to begin kicking him in the gut. He pushed her away from himself, before he walked away, she said 'Arjun, I will not leave you this easily now. Don't forget that I NEVER GIVE UP. I'll come to you. to win you'. But all he felt was despair of wronging a small girl's feelings, guilt of taking advantage of small girl, his best friend's baby sister, a school kid, he could never bring himself to forgive himself, ever. He had brushed off her words back then thinking that her infatuation made her talk that way, until the reality of her words came crashing in today.
So she was back for him? All the sleep went out of his eyes. He felt as though someone had poured a bucket of cold water over him. He took his phone to call Rajveer, he was the one more experienced in relationships and girls. he did not know what to say or think, back then he has thought it to be infatuation but now? Oh no. What would he ask Rajveer? That he wanted to know what was going in his sister's brain? He was nervous, excited and over whelmed. This was something he had missed big time during his service, companionship not on field but off it. He always came home to an empty bungalow. It's not that he had never thought of marriage. He had but he did not want someone who sits at home worrying if he would come back alive or not. He did not want someone that depended on him. He wanted someone to depend upon, emotionally. Moreover he never could approach any girl since that incident, may be his heart knew why, but he was not ready to accept. Every time he met a girl, when she looked at him with expectant eyes, the devil's brown eyes flashed on his mind and he would abruptly move away. She was too young for him he still felt so. Nevertheless thinking of this little ladli of his house as an army academy topper working under him for a High profile case was still unbelievable.
He called up Rajveer knowing that thinking further would make him mental. 'Hello Arjun?' came Rajveer's voice.
'Did I disturb you?' Arjun asked.
'My king of formalities. Will you even tell me why you called?', his voice was teasy.
'What will you do if someone comes back from your past into life saying that they will win you? And you weirdly get excited about it all.' '.'at the most weird situations.' He added quickly.
'yes. I'm fine too Arjun, how're you? And here I thought you called me out of love, oh Arjun, you broke my heart' he sighed dramatically. Arjun could hear giggles in the background and understood Gauri was there with him,
'Chup kar be'
Rajveer laughed. 'le okay.. Major Punj, is asking a commoner for advice about an enemy?'
'Shut up. Not me but one of friends is there in this situation and she's not an enemy.'
'SO a girl has come for you? Let me guess, how many girls were you with in the past? Ehm. None.'
'If you laugh once more, be ready to lose your teeth.'
'okay. okay. Give me details?'
'What details? I just told it all.'
'Win you? In what sense? Love?'
'I think so.'
'A girl is in love with you?', All Arjun could hear was laughter and hiccups in between. He should have known it was a bad idea. He was going to cut the call when he heard his DJ 'putaar? Do you like her?'
'DJ? Aap??'
'han? We had a BBQ tonight' answered gauri. SHIT! The phone was on speaker. He cut the call. Being a strong man doesn't mean that he wouldn't have embarrassing situations where he would want the earth to swallow him alive.
His phone beeped.
She's the one girl that won't give up on you. She's the girl thats unlike the rest. The one that spent her days smiling, and her nights crying, that would love to be loved. The one that looks so damn strong, but feels so weak. She's the girl that picks herself up every time she falls.
He called rajveer back, 'You all knew?'
'She told us everything before starting college. Initially we thought she was not serious, but looking at her now, you yourself must know how serious she is. The question is do you feel the same?'
Arjun almost let out a teary laugh. 'Her thoughts were the only feeling I carried all these years'. What he said was true, be it guilt or happiness, she was the one who constantly made him feel it. He was isolated from family and friends for so long, he met them only for a month in a year and she was never there during those days. But he missed her, he at least wanted to apologize to her. But she never gave him a chance. When he saw her early today, seeing her so still, he had almost thought he had changed the fun filled girl to that emotionless military officer. That's what happens in movies? Isn't it? But she proved him how different she was, with that little encounter. He was sure, if he misses her now, he misses his final chance at life, final chance at love. He knew that no other girl could break his shell; he would never give that permission to anyone. But this girl did not need his permission, she never asked for it, be it back then or now. She walked into his heart as if she ruled it and ordered around as if she knew everything. Darn, she did.
hehe.. i will update the rest tonight but i want Moon's comment before it :P I'll see your guesses and then update it! Sorry if its tooo boring... :(
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