Chapter 5: chapter 5

"Do you know Colonel Prakash?" Sonia asked Riya."Hmm, maybe I have heard about him but not sure if I've interacted with him. How do you know about him?" Riya responded."We were having a kitty party last night, and Colonel Dinesh’s wife was there with us when she unexpectedly spoke about Colonel Prakash’s reference for Kaushal. Then she tried to ignore what she said, but everyone already figured out the connection to Kaushal's promotion!" Sonia smiled."Oh, now I get it. Kaushal was a favourite of Colonel Prakash when he was serving in the northeast. It seemed they had detected and prevented a major insurgency during his stay in Mizoram. Colonel Prakash is already a part of an elite officers group and has a lot of influence in these ranking decisions. Now, it's evident he may have pushed for Kaushal’s promotion. It seems my case got weaker compared to his!" Riya was calculating all the possible reasons behind the decision."I agree, but that can’t be the only criterion, right? There must be other factors as well. Who knows, he might have somehow impressed Colonel Dinesh too!" Sonia added."Hmm, maybe, but we cannot speculate until we have facts. So, it's better that we get the facts from the Colonel himself!" Riya suddenly stood and smiled at Sonia.Sonia was startled by Riya’s sudden change in mood and asked with curiosity, “Okay, so it looks like you have a plan?”"Yes, I do have a plan, and let me try that. Though it may take time, it will shed some light. I might fail or succeed, but I want to give it a shot!" Riya grinned at Sonia.Over the following weeks and months, Riya's attitude towards Kaushal completely changed. She became calm and stopped arguing with Kaushal. Riya started agreeing with Kaushal’s orders, and suddenly, it seemed like there was never a conflict between them. The unit was surprised, and another rumour started that Kaushal had proposed to Riya, which she couldn’t deny. That's how the change happened.One day, Sonia told Riya about the rumour, and they both had a hearty laugh. Only Riya knew what was really going on in her mind.Lt. Col. Kaushal was also surprised by Riya’s change in behaviour. They had a big fight during a party where she had challenged him openly. However, she had suddenly taken a complete U-turn. Kaushal was puzzled; he couldn't understand how such a drastic change had occurred. Maybe she got afraid of her job security and adjusted to the current rank. Kaushal thought about it for a few days, and he assumed the change was in his favour, believing he had beaten Riya’s ego effectively.One day, when Riya was giving orders to her unit, Kaushal came and asked about a file she had to submit to him."Yes, Sir, I will be submitting it by noon today!" Riya responded."Major Riya, that file had to be submitted by morning, actually, and I think you have missed the deadline again!" Kaushal blasted Riya.If it were the earlier Riya, she would have turned red by now. But something had changed in the current Riya."I deeply apologize, Sir. I think I misunderstood the timeline you had given me. Let me immediately rectify the matter and report it to you!" Riya calmly responded to Kaushal and left the spot to address the issue.In an hour’s time, she was at Kaushal’s office with the corrected file."May I come in, Sir?" Riya knocked."Yes, Major Riya!" Kaushal didn’t even look at her when she entered."Sir, all the details have been compiled as per your request, and it's ready for submission!" Riya responded with a professional gesture."Hmm, let me see how well you have done it. Place it on the table and leave!" Kaushal’s tone was sarcastic; he still didn’t look at Riya and allowed her to leave his room.While coming out, Riya had a smirk on her face as she had just given Kaushal a fitting reply.Upon reviewing the file, Kaushal quickly made some changes and submitted it to Colonel Dinesh.In the evening, when Colonel Dinesh was reviewing all the paperwork, his expression grew grave. "This is unacceptable behaviour from Kaushal. How could he do this?" He was furious.He immediately called for Kaushal.Kaushal knew in advance that Colonel Dinesh would be angry, and he was ready with his reasons."May I come in Sir?" Kaushal knocked at Colonel Dinesh’s office."Yes, Lt. Col., come in!" Colonel Dinesh was in a bad mood."What do you think about yourself, Lt. Col.? Can you disobey orders just like that?" Colonel Dinesh blasted Kaushal."Sir, can you please explain what has happened?" Kaushal tried to hide his excitement."I had asked you for certain details last night to be submitted by the afternoon, and this is what you submitted!" Colonel Dinesh threw the file in front of Kaushal."It is completely different from what I had asked you to provide. Is this some kind of joke, or you don’t understand simple plain English now?" Colonel Dinesh was extremely furious."No, I mean, what do you mean, Sir? I had asked Major Riya to share the details like you had asked, as I didn’t get time to review them. Whatever she submitted, I gave it to you! Is that not what you wanted?" Kaushal had played his game of putting Riya on the spot."Have you lost your mind, Kaushal? This is highly confidential information I had requested, and you are taking help from your juniors here, and that too without my permission? What do you think you are? Are you going to do whatever ideas you get, or listen to my orders? This is extremely unprofessional, Kaushal. I didn’t expect this from you. We are already behind schedule, and it seems it was my mistake to choose you for this! And what did you say? You gave it to Riya? How will she get these confidential details? Did you provide her with the sources too?" Colonel Dinesh was fuming.Kaushal was completely baffled by the change of events; there was a mistake somewhere. The confidential file he had prepared himself and the other reporting file he had received from Riya, which he had manipulated, had somehow gotten interchanged. ~~~~