"naina the edition you gave me on war tactics is amazing.... Ye to humari library mein hai hi nahi... Tumhe kaha se mili.

Ud came with coffee and sat in front of her alongside huda and alekh with Pooja

"Kaun si book"
Pooja asked

"Are bohot sahi book hai , with additional marking and notes
Maine 5 copies banwa li hai... Sham Tak mil jayegi... Strategy and warfare usi mein learn karna"
Huda replied

"Par tere paas kaha se ayi , agar library mein bhi nahin hai "

"Rajveer sir ne di
Unki hai when he was cadet here."

"Hummhh"
Pooja sighed as if acknowledging something.

"What hummhuh"
Naina asked back

"Kuch nahi "
Pooja replied

"To phir hummhh kyun kiya"
Naina bickerd back.

"Chod na naina
Book mili na , wo bhi itni easy language mein
Bat khatam .... Kaise mili kaiko mili , Jane do na "

"Nahi alekh , ye humesha ka hai
Mujhe tum logo ke remarks achche nahi lagte
Please don't try to suggest anything
We have already been accused  falsely once
And he is a man with honour "

"Naina tu gussa mat ho please
We don't mean to hurt you "
Ud tried to diffuse the situation

"Nahi ud
I know you people mean well
But still
I don't want to cause him any more trouble than i already had
Please Pooja "

"I am sorry "
Pooja said with a genuine tone and alekh and huda nodded apologeticly

Naina left the table and alekh gave Pooja tap on her head.

"Chup nahi rehna hota tereko"
Alekh scolded her.

She hit him back on arm as they continued their coffee.

___________

She is struggling with her new found feelings for him.
Sometimes she is high on adrenaline rush when she thinks about him
His smile. His perfume, his touch
When last night during the shooting drill he was helping with 3 knot 3 ...
She zoned out for couple of seconds registering his perfume and missed out instruction.

But then sometimes she gets petrified thinking about what will come out of it
Her friends says that she is special for him
But he has never said anything
Even if she goes with her friend's words still it's forbidden according to rules
She needs to wait till her training gets complete.
And wait for what exactly
For him to confess.?

And what if she keeps baking her feelings for him, and this is all a big misunderstanding and he is not interested in her
Then what....is she ready for a heartbreak

She is not even sure about whether she should wait for her term to end or not
And if not then what, she is not interested in anyone else either way.

A packet of chips landed on her lap pulling her out of her thoughts

",Tune dinner nahi Kiya thik se , i thought tujhe bhook pagi hogi "

Pooja came and sat in front of her on bed

Naina took the packet and started eating already

" thanks"
Naina said as she ate

"I am sorry how I reacted in the mess , I just lost my mind "

"It's ok
Galti meri thi
Mujhe aise private messages group chat mein nahi dalne chahiye"

Naina chuckled.

Naina moved forward and hugged Pooja tight for comfort

Pooja hugged her back
She felt as if her friend if reaching out for something.

"I have never felt like this before Pooja
There was no one ever
And now I don't know what to do about all these emotions, all these feelings I have for him.
It's difficult to manage.
What if he not on the same page.
And after my training gets over , what if we gets apart , on different directions.
Should I tell him , should I wait , but then the question is am I supposed to wait.

Pooja for the first time realises the gravity of the situation
She has always been in easy relationships.
With free communication

"Tell me something
Sir ki baton se sir ke kisi actions se kabhi bhi hint nahi milti kya"

Naina breaks the hug and nodded a no

"He is nothing but respectful always
And with me he is always extra careful
Like he never calls me in his room to meet to discuss about bhaiyya 's investigation.
It's always ground or library.

He always maintain one hand distance whenever we walk together.

He is  always careful with his words , how he behave when I am around,
We have worked for hours sometimes on bhaiyya 's case and i never found his eyes wandering anywhere on me .

Pata hai  Pooja throughout the years I have met so many men.
And so many times I have felt so uncomfortable with some of them.

Par rajveer sir ke sath
I feel safe"

Pooja gave a soft smile
Wo to hai , rajveer sir is like i phone. Nothing but best"

Naina burst out laughing and Pooja joined her too .... A couple of tears rolled down her eyes as she laughed and Pooja pressed her hand.

"Overthinking mat kar
Filhal Jo bhi chal Raha hai chalne de
Waise bhi you can't act on any of your feelings
Just keep processing them and let them pass
Don't fixate on them.
Training ke bad kya karna hai ye bad mein dekhenge."

Naina actually got agreed with Pooja and they sat and gossip some more for a while