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.

------

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.

He gasped and held his chest as it would normalise his sudden racing heartbeat before turning to see the source of his shock.

"Gotcha! .... In which deep ocean were your thoughts, huh?" The lady whom he had thought she might have left beamed with the brightest of a smile, as she yanked his cap on his head which he had left on the bench earlier.

"Oh hey! Sweetheart! I missed you" he greeted with a wide smile. A sudden sense of relief spread through him, he never knew her presence could make him happy. 

'What was she, his happy pill? Since when?' these questions suddenly popped in him but instead he asked about her stay. 

"I thought you left Mumbai already" he asked as he continued in the direction of  his quarters following her behind.

"What? Nah... Not yet" she told, walking ahead. 

He then noticed something awkward, Yashodha had been hiding her face since they met. Scanning the lady in front of him, she wore a hoodie-sweatpants, she had a navy cap on and he remembered she had her shades on as well. What is she hiding?

In spite of the urge to ask her immediately, he became conscious of the place they were, at the main entrance of his quarters. Hence, he silently followed listening to her random chatter while occasionally replying her. 

"Oh gosh... Sorry, I wasn't paying  attention, I came all the way till your door. Why didn't you tell me?" she mumbled standing at his doorstep.

"I wasn't paying attention either" he answered, scrutinizing Yashodha closely.

"Anyways, I'll see you later" she muttered and hastily turned the other way around so, he wouldn't catch a glimpse of whatever she was hiding. On her face in particular.

Noticing it, Jagdish swiftly unlocked the door and tapped her shoulders who had her back facing him ready to leave.

"Please come in. I have something to ask you" he said firmly. 

"Uhm... Later maybe? Please. I'll come and meet you" Yashodha looked over her shoulders, if he had buy her words. 

However, that was a failure, he shook his head refusing to let her go. Jagdish pulled her in by the hood of her hoodie jacket despite her protest.

"What is that you are hiding from me?" he interrogated, crossing his arms across his chest. 

"Nothing" she replied, pulling her cap down to hide her already hidden face. 

"Really?" he yanked the cap off her head, Yashodha instantly covered her face with her hands. 

"Come on, Yasho. Hands off!" he demanded and waited for her to do so. 

A minute or so later, she slowly withdrew her hands yet the shades were still on. "The shades as well" he pointed. 

"Err... Fine" she finally took the last shield that was hiding her eyes and... 

"What the hell is that?" Jagdish gasped at the condition of her face. Yashodha had a bruised right eye and lightly swollen cheek. She seemed to have been beaten up. Just a little.

It looked as if the swell on her cheek had reduced probably it was worst before yet the purple stain around her eyes were quiet visible.

Yashodha patiently waited for him to register her temporary facial features while Jagdish stared at her, horrified at the unexpected sight of Yashodha. Not even a single word came out of his mouth as he found himself addled. 

"What happened?" he asked almost whispering after a long time. 

Heaving a long sigh, Yashodha scratched the back of her neck trying to construct her answer. Then she replied, "You want to know what really happened or what's being speculated?" 

Before he could answer she interjected, "Wait! Let's see how's the story so far. Can you find anyone out there and ask what happened between Yashoadha and Commander Jennifer" she coaxed.

"What? I'm asking you and you are asking me to ask someone else?" 

"Yes. I want to know the other version of the story that is spreading. Now, go. Quick" she pushed him to the door and waited for Jagdish to return. 

Meanwhile, Yashodha headed to the nearby mirror and checked out her bruise that made her right eye look smaller than the other. 

Five minutes later, Jagdish returned. 

"So?"

"It seems Jennifer punched you because you were rude at her. Which I find it to be a little off, knowing how she is as a person. So, tell me your version" Jagdish settled on his bed while Yashodha on a nearby chair. 

"Okay. As a doctor, I have the authority to stop one's physical activity if it harms him/her further and that's what I did. She being the Commander demanded one of the Chief who had an internal leg injury to attend the morning session followed by an intense drill. When I refuse to let Chief Natasha to join the morning training session, Jennifer wasn't happy. 

We had an argument, she kept insisting me to let Natasha go and I kept refusing. Yashodha lost cool. I punched. In return, she punched me twice." she shrugged as if it was a common scenario. 

"Thank god nothing serious happened" he heaved a sigh. 

"Nah... I had the whole company supporting me. No one can do anything against me. Now, I'm the acting commander for the morning session, next two weeks" she giggled, wiggling two fingers. "Admiral Yusof acknowledged my background and requested me to be in charge while I'm here. Today was my third day as the commander. Super intense, army workout. I made the ladies cry" she laughed again, sticking her tongue out. 

He laughed along, "No wonder the ladies were early... 

Why did you lost cool? The Yashodha I know, handles situation calmly. Then why?" he asked. 

"Jagdish, I can be cool for a lot of things but when comes to someones health, I can't keep cool. Especially, when I know what will happen to Natasha post intense training. I lost it completely, Jennifer doesn't seem to care about her own people. I wonder what encouraged her to join the armed forces" Yashodha grumbled as she rolled the newspaper.

"But she knows big people. What if she gets you into trouble?" he asked a little worried for the problem Yashodha might have got herself into. 

"Trouble? I'll see it when it comes. 

Listen, life is short and when it comes to emotion be it love or anger, I choose to show it at that very spot. Because people like us don't really have much time. I mean, we just can't predict what and when will 'it' happen. 'It' can knock your door any moment. 

And for me, I'm mostly sent to relief camps, rehabilitation camps and the war zone. Apart from the near death war zone experiences, I had also came across a haywire rehabilitation camp once..." She paused as if reminiscing something related.

"It was that close...so many unsaid, unexpressed feeling and thoughts flashed at that moment. Thankfully, nothing unwanted happened back then. 

That's when I realised not to take the time for granted, if I choose to hold my feelings and not expressing it to the person concern and if it's too late..., 

The other person might never know; he/she had hurt me, or that I'm truly sorry if I had hurt them. Or they might just live with the fact unknown that how much I had loved them. They will never get to know. 

For me, I should express it, but anger is a tricky part" she said with a lopsided grin. "Plus, there is one thing that I highly ignore but finding it hard to do it these days" she mumbled lowly. Jagdish heard it however, chose to not acknowledge it. 

Nevertheless, Jagdish nodded in agreement for her former statement, for having the same thought about life as him. Yashodha seemed to be clear in what she looks forward in life. Clearer than he is, she got him completely amazed with her progressive thinking. 

"You always talk valuable, sensible stuffs that makes big thing look easy and simple. I admire you for that, Yasho. Really..." his eyes gleamed in adoration at the sight of her slightly blushing.

"How old are you? 60? 80?"  he then asked with a serious gaze as if the question was really important. 

"I'm a hundred years old granny" she replied, wearing shades on again. 

Just then, the room door cracked open, Officer Lakshman, Jagdish's close friend in the company walked in. "Have I interrupted your private moment?" he asked with a hidden meaning to his question.

"Not at all, officer" replied Yashodha grinning as she snatched her cap Jagdish had been holding all long. 

"I'm about to leave. And Jagdish, if you have any doubts about Jennifer and me. Ask Laksh, he was there when it happened" she winked and bid goodbye leaving the boys in the room. 

Lakshman waited till he heard the door closed before he spoke, "Lieutenant Yashodha is a rowdy in uniform. Trust me, she is the right person to fix Jennifer's atrocity. You missed an action flick between a combat medic and a namesake commander"  he commented with proudly.

"Rowdy Yasho, the righteous. The name fits her perfectly. She is totally different than the others" Jagdish spoke unmindful, forgetting Lakshman's existence even.

He stared nowhere in particular smile adorning his handsome face, Jagdish was mesmerised, totally bewitched by the lady's bravery in dealing with the ruthless commander. Yet he wondered why did she hide her face to him when her action has been talked proudly about?

*******

Done Chapter 7. Thank you for patiently waiting  :D

Don't forget to comment and vote. Thank you :) 

And wishing Sweety a Very Happy Birthday!!!!