Rajveer came back to his house and lay down on his bed. The Colonel was fast asleep in his bed. Rajveer twisted and turned thinking about the voice on the phone. He felt uneasy even thinking about it. This is Naina, he told himself. His Naina...his wife. She would never do anything wrong. He knew how much she loved him. He knew she would never cheat on him. But it wasn't the cheating part that he feared. He feared her getting emotionally attached to someone else. He feared someone else getting close to her.
He shook his head to clear out all his thoughts. No, this is all my imagination. Naina would never give his place to anyone else...he remembered all they had gone through to get here. How after Naveen's case was over, he had mentally decided he would go away from KMA. One look at her parents at Gehlot's trial was enough to understand they did not want his presence in their life.
He had firmly told all his cadets, that he was posted and would be leaving the next day. No matter what, he wouldn't look at Naina. After everyone left, she was at his door, as he expected. But he had prepared himself for this. He knew one conversation would be enough to make him weak...so he put up a wall...and told her, that he was going o matter what. He could see he had hurt her by not acknowledging the mutual feeling of love they had...but she had grown in the past months too..she understood and trusted his decision.
Promising her that he would return to see her being best cadet , he left. But his heart was in KMA. He missed her everyday. No matter how he tried, he couldn't get her out of his mind. He would frequently call Chauhan and Abhi to know how she was doing. He wondered if he could live his whole life in pain like this.
Before the final exams, Abhi had mentioned, that though Naina was doing well, he saw that she was a little nervous and under confident about the last drill. After mulling over it for quiet some time, unable to control himself, he called the hostel. As Naina came to the phone,
"Naina.."
"Sir.." she said softly.
"Kaise ho tum ? finals kaise chal rahe hai?"
"Ache the sir...aap kaise hai...aur aap aayenge na..graduation ceremony mein ?"
"Haan...zarur...par only if you are the best cadet...jo mujhe waisebhi pata hai ki tum hi banogi...I trust my teaching...and more than that I trust you."
That was it. Abhimanyu had called Rajveer almost yelling in joy..that she had completed the drill wonderfully and was chosen best cadet. Rajveer counted the days to the grad ceremony and though nervous about coming face-to face with her parents, he couldn't wait to see her again.
At the ceremony, he kept a distance on purpose, so that she wouldn't see him. He could see her eyes wandering around the grounds many times, searching for someone.
After the ceremony, he slowly approached her on the ground as she was standing with her parents.
"Hello sir, Maam."
All three had turned to him.
"Hello Major." said her dad, stiffly. Her mother dint respond. Naina was looking at him as a thirsty man would look at water.
"Congratulations Cadet Singh. Mein nahi bata sakta..how proud I am..mein humesha se jaanta tha ki tum best cadet banke hi rahogi."
Naina took a step near to him, and without warning hugged him....tears running down her eyes. Rajveer looked stunned for a second...as her parents watched on. He dint know what to do. On one hand his heart was melting and on the other, his mind was warning him.
He hugged her back for a second....and pulled her out of his arms, holding her shoulder.
"Naina, chalo..." said her mother as she dragged her across the ground to her room.
"Yeh kya bachpana hai , Naina ?" she asked. " Iss tarah unke gale lagne ka kya matlab hai...bhul ayi ki unhone Naveen ke saath..."
"Era...Naveen ko Rajveer ne nahi maara...use toh slow poison.." her dad said.
"Jaanti hu...aap chahe kuch bhi kahe...humare bete ki sharir mein goli unhone hi daali " said her mom, as Naina sat on her bed, crying.
"Aur court case ke waqt...Naina ke baare mein kaise kaise baatein uchli thi...aap bhul gaye...kya inn sab ka zimedar woh nahi hai ?"
"Bas Maa...bas...har cheez ke liye unhe zimmedar mat tehrayiye...Naveen bhayya ne unhe apni jaan lene ke liye kaha ..ismein unki kya galti...court mein Lt Salve ne apni case jeetne e liye..mujhpar keechad uchala...ismein unka kya kasoor." asked Naina.
"Naina...tumhein unki padi hai...humari izzat ki..Naveen ki...kuch bhi nahi." asked her mother.
"Haan" yelled naina. " Haan...mujhe hi sabki padi hai...Naveen bhayya ki ladai ki..aapki izzat ki..sabki zimmedari mujh pe....aapko apni izzat ka parvah hai...Major. Rajveer ko apni....meri khushi ka kisi ko nahi padi....mere baare mein koi nahi sochta..." she said breaking down, sobbing. " S..sirf mere bhayya the..jo mere baare mein sochte the...unke jaane ke baad bohot akele pad gayi hoon....bilkul akele."
Seeing Naina, crying so badly, her parent felt terrible. Rajveer who was outside the room, couldn't have felt more heart broken. She was right Nobody considered her feeling in all this. He had given her his decision.
Naina's dad walked out of the room and noticed him standing against the wall.
"Umm...Major...aap agar aaj free hai toh...shaam ko ghar aayiye dinner ke liye..kuch..kuch zaruri baat karna hai ."
Rajveer looked up stunned.
******
"Major. Everything all right ?" asked Col Bisht. Rajveer noticed he had woken up and looking at him concerned.
"Yes Sir..everything good."
"Chaliye...we have to plan out the time and details of the attack, now that the marriage date is fixed. aap ko ka kuch pata chala ki unki man factory kaha hai ?"
"Haan..aaj leke jayega mujhe Quereshi."
"Then everything is going according to plan."
"Yes sir."
