Is there something beyond love

Part - 2

Shehnaaz was busy talking to one of her friends when suddenly her eyes fell on an officer standing a little distance away. She felt her eyes frozen at the sight. There stood an epidome of charm, a charm that captivated her eyes just in one look at it. She felt her heart refusing to beat. The distance between didn't matter, she could clearly see him. He was wearing his uniform.She always knew the charm that uniform held but on this man it's grace increased 100 folds. He was looking absolutely stunning and graceful was the least to say. She felt herself frozen at her seat.

"Hayeeeeeeeeee Rabba, kitnaa sona
hai ye",she mumbled to herself and then shrugged off her thought thinking how stupid was it of her to even think like that. Her mind fought with her heart for some sanity but it could not convince her heart to beat that stopped the moment she saw him. She tried recollecting her senses as she saw him moving towards them but failed miserably. She could not believe that he was for real. "Shehnaaz Rukja, tune apni aankhon se ched kr dene hai unke andar",she mumbled again still looking at him.
He was too perfect to be real, she thought.

"Hello girls and guys, I am Battalion Commander ,Colonel Sidharth Shukla",Sidharth greeted everyone as he reached there and took his place.
"How you all are doing? Excited for the session?"he asked trying to make students feel comfortable.
He was looking at all of them when his eyes got stuck on a beautiful creation of God who was looking at him with her mouth wide open. His heart started fluttering in a way it never did as soon as he saw her.
The surroundings seemed getting paused to him when his eyes met hers. Goodness, they were beautiful. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Though she was in her  uniform but still looked like an angel descended from heaven.He didn't realise when a smile crept over his lips looking at her innocent face that was gawking at him.

And that was it, his smile and shehnaaz felt embarrassed to the infinity. Her mouth fell shut assuming that he was smiling over her stupidity.She realized that she was looking at him as if he was some alien. An eyes captivating alien.

Sidharth came back to earth when she bowed her head down. He thought of it as a result of his constant gaze letting him feel a bit embarrassed and a bit amused.

Trying to maintain his calm and realising where he was, he started speaking again, "So ok guys, we will have a question answer session, you can ask any question and I will try answering them".
He chuckled seeing her head still bowed down and paying no heed to what he was saying.

The session started and Sidharth was bombarded with a lot of questions to which he replied happily. His mind was working well but heart was out of his body fluttering around her. He so hoped that she would ask something but probably she was in deep shock to do that. He grinned at his own thoughts.Why would she be in shock? But well , her face screamed so.

Shehnaaz mustered up some courage to ask a question. It was too a precious chance to lose. She stood up making Sidharth gasp at his thought of her being in shock, and said, "Good morning sir!!  I am shehnaaz.Sir have you ever been for some actual face off at border?If yes, then how was the experience??".She somehow completed her question saving herself from being embarrassed in front of him once again.
It took her a lifetime of courage to keep her sanity intact having him in front of her eyes and take those words out of her mouth.

But it seemed like someone else was way too lost to respond to her question. He was lost in her voice. "Shehnaaz......",her name was unusually mesmerizing. He just loved her name for some strange reason.

"Sir..."
"Yes shehnaaz",he uttered suddenly and wondered how softly her name flowed out his mouth.
"Sir, answer"
"Ohhh, could you please repeat the question ",he said embarrassed when she again asked for answer and he was so lost that he didn't hear anything but her name. Jay chuckled at his stranger behavior.
Shehnaaz repeated her question and this time he listened to it carefully.
"I have been posted in border troops always, this is the first time for me being posted at official department.So ,I have been in border face offs many a times. Once such was some 2 years ago. Back then I was in Kashmir and Pakistan's army broke the ceasefire at LOC. We lost our 5 bravehearts in retaliation ",Sidharth replied feeling the loss. Shehnaaz felt the same.