Armed Forces in Love ✔

✩✩7✩✩

Twelve intense days of training period later, INS Betwa returned to the Mumbai Naval Port safely after successfully accomplishing the given task. Six hours post mooring the ship to its designated berth, Jagdish and his fellow sailor were officially on leave for the next three days before they resume their duty onshore.

Generally days in the offshore would be a time Jagdish look forward for but the last twelve days had been the exact opposite. He had been unconsciously waiting for the moment he would set his foot on land again which only made him restless.

Ambling to his quarters, Jagdish begin to feel anxious and pensive for no particular reason. In an effort to pacify his unstable mind, he hurriedly reached his room. Chucked his bag. Changed into a comfortable attire. He sprinted up to the terrace. A place he often visits to mellow his perturbing mind. 

A lazy smile played on his lips as he gazed upward.

The sky was as dark as the kohl with no moon nor stars. It depicted him peaceful, no unnecessarily bothering thoughts and no impending workloads to bug him for the next three days. He loved the solitary moment accompanied with the sound of the cold sea breeze. Rubbing the palms of his hands against each other, he blew out air, warming himself.

Involuntarily, his gaze feel on the building opposite his.

The building reminded him of the someone whose thought had never left him since he had gone offshore. That includes an unanswered question, is she still there or had she left?

Jagdish found himself massaging his aching  head as he felt extremely strange, why was he feeling unsettled at the thought of missing her. He vigorously shook his head trying to brush it off. For the first time in his life he held such an unexplained emotion that all he wanted was to shut it off from growing.

He took a deep breath, leaning forward to the concrete railing, he rested his elbows on it, feeling defeated after having a battle with himself. 

'Officer Yashodha... you are making me feel all kinds of emotions... which is not good, you know. I don't want to experience it yet it's forcibly making it's way into me. You are making it happen. What have you done? What should I do? Do I have an answer? Are you even here?' he mumbled as he stared at the building she reside.

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Naval officers' morning begin as usual with a routine workout session with the commander in charge for their training. A training that gives both pain and pleasure.

Marching to the ground twenty minutes earlier, Jagdish took the opportunity to savour the moment. The breeze, morning mist, the beautiful soft blue sky and the greens soothed him while the birds chirped, singing the morning song.

He jogged a little across the ground and settled on one of the nearby benches and took off his cap. While ruffling his flatten short hair, his eyes caught a group of lady officers on the other side of the ground. They were engaged in an intense regular physical training, he was surprised to see them earlier than usual. Nevertheless, he kept glancing at them occasionally while he waited for his team join.

At the same time, his mind took a turn back to the thought of the lady whom he was not sure if she was still there or has left. Intending to put his questioning mind to rest, he made a mental note to check on her service status post training. 

However, deep within he hoped that it was just a random note she had threw the other day and that it wasn't an abrupt 'goodbye'.

Completing his morning training an hour later, Jagdish headed back to his quarters ready to plan his holiday to make it worthwhile. About half way across the huge ground, Jagdish got startled with a sudden scream 'boo' that came from behind which than followed by a bellow of laughter.