Chapter 2

"I am not going back!" Jiya pushed him away with strenuous effort. Stumbling back at the impact, she stood a few feet from him away in fury.

"I don't think I am giving you that option, Jiya. This time, it cannot go your way."

She glared at him, her nose flaring in anger. "You know nothing! I am not going back and THAT'S IT!"

As she started to take away again, this time, with long strides; Ishaan grumbled loudly. Jiya Dhillon had a way of getting on everybody's nerves. Ishaan's, a little more than the rest. "Jiya, please STOP!"

"No Ishaan! Go away!"

"Jiya, there is a target on your back," Ishaan growled surprising himself and her in the process. She twirled on her heels with narrowed eyes. Rubbing his temples in despair, Ishaan continued, "Jiya, we have a strong reason to believe, that you may be abducted as a retaliation for a recent mission. This is not just about you anymore Jiya! It's a matter of National Security. Please understand!"

Jiya stared at him long and hard without a flinch. Seeing her stare at him devoid of any expressions sent jitters on his nerves.

"Everything is national security when you are an army. Don't do that, don't be like that, do this... Behave this way! Rules, discipline, reputation and whatnot! Why couldn't I have a normal life??" Jiya lamented.

"Jiya-"

"Ishaan! I am not going home." She said twisting her arms against her chest with a pointed look. "You are free to stay with me for a while though. But don't expect me to get convinced to go back. This time, it's different Ishaan."

With that, she walked back to the guest house leaving him in unrest. This was going to be harder than he thought. He has to knock some sense into her head and fast. Even if he had to drill a hole to let his voice across, he would. One, she was in trouble. Two, she was getting married. Both situations were driving him insane already. If he just managed to tackle the first one, the second dilemma could be traversed with firm resolution, hopefully.

Easier said than done. His heart scoffed.

***

Ishaan scoured the guest house for any suspicious activity. All windows and doors closed shut, curtains were drawn, extra lock at the main and finally he drew a long breath. "Ishaan... Chill! Nobody will find me... Or us here."

"I found you, right?"

She watched him pensively. "Yeah... About that. How did you find me? I left my phone behind. I have no electronic gadgets with me that you can track. I didn't use any ATM cards and did every transaction via cash. I even changed my disguise twice. How the hell did you find me?"

Boy! She did go too far to get away from her family, and her so-called 'Dhillon' life. When it came to fight or flight situations, Jiya always chose to fight. But this time, the only thing that made sense to her was to disappear. She didn't know who was she anymore. Everything she believed was a lie.

Ishaan snickered, while she went towards her bed, plopping down with a bounce and then folding her legs. She watched him tentatively with raised eyebrows waiting to find out where she had gone wrong in her escape stunt.

He stood leaning against the wall casually, opposite the bed. The way she was perched up in the bed, set his heart race and nerves tickle. How inviting did she look, Ishaan thought as he tried to blink away his deviating thoughts! Focus Ishaan. Clearing his throat, he looked away from her intense gaze and alluring face. "Your internet history. Pretty dumb I must say."

Jiya bit her lips and smacked her forehead, and then frowned, "Wait... I didn't search for the guest house address nor did I book it online!"

Ishaan chuckled. "But you searched for all possible routes from Srinagar Army Cantonment to Gulmarg."

"But this is not Gulmarg! This is Gantamulla!"

"Well.. From Gulmarg its' pure detective work. You obviously wouldn't go to friends' or relatives' places. You would definitely avoid places that you have already been to or any high tourist attraction. After talking to some locals, found out there is a bunch of cottages in Gantamulla village, where they hardly give a damn about verifying identities. Cottages were always your kind of thing - wasn't it?"

Jiya couldn't believe her ears! It was that easy?

"Don't beat yourself up. I am a trained soldier and obviously won't give away all my tactics just because you asked."

Jiya pouted looking out of the window. Time to face the reality, perhaps?

"Please, come with me. Your life is in danger, Jiya." He told her earnestly. She got up and marched over to where he was standing. Hardly feet away, Ishaan widened his eyes at the proximity, while she looked up, gulping. "I can't Ishaan."

"Why?"

Staring down at her toes, "I fought with my parents last night. I know everyone sees me as a total spoilt brat. But... this time, it's much more than that. I can't face them."

Ishaan lifted her chin up to notice the tears lining her eyes. He could feel his heart constrict at the painful emotions marring her face. "They love you too much, Jiya. Whatever it is, it can be resolved."

Jiya shook her head, tears spilling out. She stepped into his embrace, leaning her head against his chest and wrapping her hands around his waist. Ishaan hugged her, unable to hold himself back. Tightening the hold against each other, they stood there, feeling the warmth spread across their bodies.

She had missed this. He had missed this.

"Ishaan, her wedding is on the 15th..."  Her mother, Shilpa's voice rang in his head. Ishaan pulled out of the hug and stepped away. He rubbed his temples trying to clear his mind. Jiya wiped her face and leaned against the wall watching him, trying to figure out her emotions that always spilt out of control around him.

During his attempt of keeping his eyes anywhere but Jiya, he saw a blinking light coming from under her bag that was on the table. Suspicious, he checked it and found that a location tracker was attached to the base of her handbag. "What's that?" Jiya asked standing behind him inspecting whatever that had caught Ishaan's unyielding attention.

"You are being tracked!" He was riled up. Glaring at her, he started emptying the contents of her bag and like a madman rummaging through the guest house for any other trackers. Alarmed, Jiya followed him breathlessly even as he muttered a bunch of curses at her.

"This can't be! I had that bag close to me all along, right from the moment I left home. I haven't kept it away even once!" Jiya defended worrying about who would put a tracker on her and most importantly, how!?

Could it be her father? But if it was, Ishaan didn't have to 'find' her. He would have headed straight to the guest house.

"I told you are not safe. I told you your life is in danger! But do you ever listen?" He thundered, throwing apart everything in the guest house. Jiya held her head vexed at the turn of events. Once he had combed through every inch of the guest house, he announced. "We are leaving, RIGHT NOW."

Jiya didn't get a chance to speak as he pulled a cap over himself and then placed the wig over her head and wrapped a scarf around her neck. It was a good thing he had come in his casual wear and Jiya had a disguise. This should be able to keep them safe, for a while at the least. Jiya grabbed her purse, which Ishaan had inspected thoroughly, before dragging her out of the guest house covertly. Ishaan threw the tracker on a truck that was passing by and he climbed into his SUV with Jiya in the passenger seat. He wasn't just pissed, he was blazing with anger.

While she enjoyed playing with his nerves, his anger on the other hand scared her. She had seen his worst self. Yet somehow, she never felt safer with anybody than him. That realization alone had hurt uncountable times. She looked away as tears threatened to spill out of her eyes.

"We are not going home." She said once they were on the road. Ishaan's anger had subsided, but when the words left her mouth, he was seething again. "I am done with your games Jiya. Do I look like I will listen to you after this? For all we know, they could be behind us!"

Absently he checked the rearview mirror for any wary vehicles tailing him. Thankfully there were none. He must report to Brigadier that he had found Jiya and was bringing her back safely.

What did he know? The little firecracker sitting beside him was going on full explosion mode.

"Don't challenge me Ishaan! I said I AM NOT GOING!"

Ishaan's murderous look matched her tenacious gaze like two bulls ready to fight. Things turned drastic the moment she started meddling with the steering wheel, all the while yelling he cannot force her. She was adamant and crazily determined to not step back into her home. Ishaan was aghast at her impetuous behaviour and tried hard to fight her. But when has he ever won against her mulishness?

Frazzled at her demeanour, he brought the car to a sudden halt at the side of the road. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Ishaan shouted furiously. She was no more a child. At 26, she should know better than this! So many thoughts ran through his mind, all blurry. What if they met with an accident?

What if something happened to her?

A dreadful look crossed his face at the thought of injured Jiya. Even the worst-case scenario grazed his mind almost making his heart pop out of its socket. "Anywhere but home, Ishaan"