My father fell for bullets I fell for that killer's killer smile Mom passed away when I was 7. People say that my dad killed her because she had an affair. My dad says she died a warrior's death. She died fighting cancer. We 4 now live a life deprived of love. Yes, two elder brothers. One is preparing for Navy and other is an interior designer. And I just like literature. Dad retired this year and is irritative these days. He served Ladakh border the most, during his service of 37 years. Now he is just an ex army officer addicted to gin and is strict enough that one would hate him. If I would ask him to tell me a story he would always share his border experience. How chilly the terrain was. Or how once they all nearly died to landslide, how once they interrogated a Chinese spy and other border experiences. I realised that though he now left army, army never left him. He still wakes up at 4 and exercise the same army schedule. He still miss his duty. Now bored with the daily schedule, I decided to go out and bring back the civilian in me that's scared of bullets and war. Like every time, I went to the cafeteria down the lane. Escobar, that's what I call this waiter. Sorry, my friend. He is also in the same boat. We both have to hear war stories and crave to live the life of civilians. Yes, you guessed it right or maybe wrong. His father and mine, both were in same regiment. As usual, I order my black coffee. I saw a new face today. That smile was so killer, everyone would fall for her. Bro code enacted. She was alone on table of 4, I on table of 2. Richard or Escobar as I introduced him asked her to shift on my table. She felt awkward for a moment and asked why so. "Miss, this table is reserved for our army officers and they shall be here any moment." He replied. She shifted. To avoid awkwardness, I didn't break the ice. "Anchal" she said. "What!" I exclaimed. "My name you idiot" she said "Anchal Tiwari". "Rishabh Dhyani" I replied sipping my coffee. And ignored her again so that she could continue to try interacting. Now that we broke ice and she interacted enough I asked her "I never saw you here before. New in this area?" "What do you think son of army officer?" She said. "How do you know that? I never told you I'm a son of army officer" I asked her. "If you are not the son of some army officer, what are you doing in this army canteen? She replied. "So you too are a daughter of some army officer?" "Yes, he is in custody of Pakistan. They charged him of all the fake offences." She said.
