Hello, Mr. Major General (1)

Chapter 49: I Miss You

When she was sure Naina wasn’t looking, Shehnaaz turned and gave Sandeep a big thumbs-up while mouthing,“good luck”.

Sandeep blinked at her. His round face shower his embarassment as he ducked out of the apartment with
Naina.

The front door shut with a resounding click, and suddenly the whole apartment was silent.

Shehnaaz stood in the empty living room for a moment,then ran about the apartment, turning on all the lights.

Once the lights were on, however, she felt even more alone.

The lights had only served to show her exactly how lonely the spacious apartment was.

…

At that very moment, at the C City airport, Rashmi Desai was just about to board a plane headed for the Imperial capital.

Before doing so, she sent an email to the client seeking help with regards to the Sinha family: “Sorry, but you’ve been declined. My boss will not take your case.”

A voice came over the airport’s PA system, urging passengers to board their planes. Rashmi turned off her
phone and headed for the special passageway meant for First Class passengers.

On the plane, Rashmi entered the First Class cabin and saw that Kartik was already seated in his spacious, first-
class chair. His face was turned to the side; he was watching the twilight sky darken on the other side of the window.

“Professor Sen.” Rashmi reached over and arranged a blanket around him as she lowered herself into the seat next
to him.

Kartik did not speak. He adjusted himself in his chair,then closed his eyes for a nap.

…

Sandeep and Naina returned to the base, bumping into Sidharth, who was returning from the training ground.
He stopped by the side of the road when he saw Sandeep and Naina.

“Sir, did you just finish a 10-kilometer cross country run,again?” Naina waved at him with a smile on her face.

Sidharth was wearing a black T-shirt and military green camouflage pants. His pants were tucked into his military boots, and there was a cigarette in his hand.

Standing under the street light, his tall, muscular body was both majestic and imposing, sweat glistening on his bare
arms and down the side of his face from the intense exercise. He called beckoned for them to come to him.
Sandeep and Naina immediately stood at attention before him.

“Weren’t you with Sana? How is she? Has she returned to her college yet?” Sidharth inclined his chin, motioning
for them to be at ease as he fired off a round of questions.

Sandeep shook his head. “Sana is in good health. Nothing seems out of the ordinary, for now. She hasn’t gone back to her school yet. She said that she’ll return tomorrow morning.” He shuffled his feet and then looked at Sidharth pointedly.”She did the same last week as well.”

Sidharth took a drag on his cigarette, and waved them off.

After Sandeep and Naina left, Sidharth  walked over to a tree and stood under it, the light from his burning cigarette flickering between his fingers.He finished smoking his cigarette while enjoying the silent evening, then walked to his residence on the Special Ops military base.

…

After taking a shower, Shehnaaz sat on the sill of the bay window in her apartment, alone. She hugged her little doll as she quietly watched the lights from the houses outside,beyond the window.