Standing with the whisky glass, Michael looked at the setting sun through the coloured window panes, and the late evening sunlight added a gorgeous glow.

Michael gazed at his friends gathered around the table in the center of the large hall at the Army Quarters. It was a gathering of friends and family to honor the citizens who had recently assisted during the floods across the country.

They were chatting, unaware of Michael's intense gaze from a distance. The people gathered were his old comrades from the various armed forces of the country. Although he had retired ten years ago, he still held his seniors, who had mentored him, in high regard. He often looked up to them for valuable advice.

Seeing his officer walking towards him, Michael moves forward to meet him halfway, instead of making him walk from the furthest corner of the room to where he was standing.

“Michael, you should learn to relax and be more friendly now, that you aren’t part of these forces. You can smile more and be happy. What’s stopping you, young man?”

Michael smiles and answers, “No more young, Sir. I am growing wiser, slowly becoming an old man, who will be interested in me.”

“Oh! Young man, don’t say that always keep your options open. You never know, what fate will bring for you.”

While they are talking, the major's daughter joins them. By relation, his officer is her uncle, and he has always thought Major wanted Michael to settle with his niece. But somehow, she wasn’t Michael's type and things didn’t go in that direction. Although Maya(Major´s niece) always tried her best to get Michael and had a crush on him. Now, she was married to a colleague of Michael.

“Ah! Maya, your favourite is talking to me and you couldn’t be away?”

“Uncle, I am married now, you shouldn’t be making fun of me and Michael. People will understand differently, and I would end up explaining. By the way, how are you, Michael?”

“I am good. Thank you. How are you and Peter?”

After a half hour of pleasantries and general talks here and there, both niece and uncle, left Michael alone, with his thoughts. 

Michael's mind reminded him of a certain hazel-eyed woman so exquisite that his heart was captured at first sight. He was head over heels in love with her when he saw her in the marketplace that day. The day reeled in front of his eyes as it had happened now.

It was his day off, and he was wandering on the market streets aimlessly, it was mid-afternoon, the streets were all quiet and the shops were sheltered from the blazing sun, the owners lazily seated after their lunches, not many people on the road, there was peace slowly returning to the country, after the peace keep forces barged the country and took over, but still there was some unrest among the civilians, a sound from somewhere disturbed them, Michael was slowly walking along the streets munching on an apple.

From a distance, he saw her in a bright yellow sundress, loitering with two lovely kids, in the streets, looking at all the stuff in the shops. She stopped at the flower shop and kept looking at the flowers, she looked like a delicate flower.

Her expression changed as she saw a different type of flower. She liked the sunflowers, so much that she had picked them up and held them close to her, once in a while smelling them. Michael kept looking at her and was munching the apple.

He saw her walking straight ahead to where he was standing, he just stood as if he had been rooted to the place and looked at her without blinking. She slowly walked with each kid on either side of her, talking and laughing. She was lost in her world, oblivious that he was also awe-struck by her. At the moment, both of them were unaware of the impending danger looming behind her.

A group of people engaged in a fistfight, were right behind her, marching towards her and the kids. When Michael noticed it out of the corner of his eye, he rushed to save them, and in the nick of the moment, caught them all and pulled them to safety.

The group of people kept moving as if nothing happened and continued to go on their path. Michael sighed in relief and looked at her and the kids as if they were hurt. They looked fine, though bewildered by the commotion.

Their eyes met for a few seconds, something transpired and it appeared like they were in a silent agreement.

He smiled and asked, “I hope, you all are not hurt. Luckily I saw them at the neck of time.”

He forgot that he wasn’t talking in their language and spoke in a foreign language. He quickly recollected and tried to talk to them in their tongue.

She replied, “Thank you, for saving us. I don’t know what I would have done if you had not saved us. Thank you so much.”

Michael was surprised by her answer, he thought she might not know his language. But she spoke with perfect diction and pronunciation. He was astonished and silently was happy he didn’t have to speak her language. She took leave of him, and he stood there without knowing how to ask for another glance of her.

So, he let it be with a heavy heart. If it is to happen, let it. Otherwise, it is fine thought he to himself. With a sudden emptiness in his heart, he went to his abode and hit the bed without any desire to do anything. The next day, the morning he didn’t want to go to the office barracks to do his work, the one thing, his passion and desire combined had brought him here, in this desert life, he couldn’t do that anymore, he was bewildered and wondered what difference she did with a slight glance of her.

He dragged himself to work when he heard a familiar tone and turned towards it. To his surprise, he saw her arguing with one of the officials there. They were so engrossed that she didn’t notice him. He without his knowledge, like a magnet walked towards her.

The officer seemed to notice him, then pulled her towards him and hid her behind him. Michael knew that action, and in his mind, he confirmed that the officer was her brother. It was a pure instinct of the brother to protect his sister.

He asked, the officer “What´s happening here? Who is this behind you?”

The officer scratched his neck and answered, “She is my uncle´s daughter. She came to call me to speak to her dad. He is not agreeing to something, she wants me to talk to him, as he listens to me.”

After hearing it Michael's heart stopped a beat and he thought he had one feeble chance and that too was going out of my hand. What do I do now?

With a saddened look, he saw her peeking from behind his shoulder, she just smiled widely and popped from behind and thrust her hand forward to Michael, for a handshake.

Michael was surprised by the gesture and reached out to shake her hand lightly. She smiled even wider and began speaking to her cousin in their native language. Michael understood most of their conversation and watched their expressions as they talked.

As they finished talking, she said goodbye to her cousin and him. He kept looking at her. When she went a little further, from him, he ran up to her and caught her hand. She turned, startled.

Knowing it was Michael, she smiled a little and put her head down, Michael continued, “I would like to meet you, one day. Will you agree?”

She smiled and nodded her head as he continued to hold her hand. She waited quietly for him to let go, but he seemed distracted. Looking into his eyes, she couldn't help but smile, almost bursting into laughter. However, she restrained herself and pointed to her hand, and he held her hand tighter as time passed.

He didn’t understand at first and couldn’t lift his eyes off her, but after several instances, he finally understood and immediately released her hand. She clutched her hand and looked at the place where he had held her, it was slightly reddened. He profusely excused himself, she smirked and said, “It is fine. I am not that fragile.”

She slowly started walking away from him, and when there was a certain distance between them, she turned and mouthed, “I will meet you on Tuesday, at the coffee shop.” - saying it she just ran away.

Michael felt like Tuesday arrived late, as if each day was dragging on and he could feel every second passing. By Friday, he was restless and couldn't wait any longer. He tried to busy himself, to distract his mind, but no matter how hard he tried to push her out of his thoughts, she was everywhere. He could see her smiling, laughing, talking, and gesturing to him; she was everywhere.

Finally, the day arrived and he got up earlier than usual, did his regular regime of exercises and a little more to look more toned than how he looked. He put on his best shirt, perfectly ironed trousers, shiny shoes, and his precious watch, and was ready to go.

He drove his jeep to the meeting place and arrived an hour early. He sat in the jeep, watching a few kids playing football on the field. His mind was racing, wondering if she would come or reject him. He was determined to see her that day and couldn't delay it any longer. His thoughts revolved around her, and he longed to express his emotions and win her over.

He got so engrossed in the game that he forgot about her for a few minutes. She arrived and stood across his jeep looking at him, watching those kids playing.

When he accidentally turned to the other side to check on something, he noticed she was already there. He got jittery and apologized, got out of the vehicle and they both walked to the coffee shop. On the way up, there was a moment or two when their hands brushed against each other.

She looked even more beautiful in a green dress, enhancing her perfect, pearly skin. He didn’t know how to express his joy and kept glancing at her now and then. They found a place, sat down, ordered, and waited for the drinks to arrive.

He was enthralled by her so much that he kept looking at her as if he had lost the ability to speak. She also remained quiet, waiting for him to open up and talk. Drinks were served, but he continued sipping his coffee and couldn't stop looking at her.

She couldn´t sit still anymore, and spoke up, “I thought, you wanted to meet and talk, or we going to sit here and you would keep looking.”

At this, he just smirked and said, “I have so much to say, I don’t know where to start. I am also a little afraid that if I say whatever is on my mind, you might get offended, perhaps even slap me. So, I don't want to open my mouth to utter a word.”

She smiled and replied, “Unless, you tell me I wouldn’t know how to react. Isn’t it?”

“True, but the matter of fact is what will happen next?”

“Unless you try, you won’t know.”

“Then, I will say whatever is on my mind. Come what may?” and he looked her intendedly.

She nodded her head in acceptance.

“From the moment, I saw you. I am mesmerised by you. I somehow have the intention to possess you. I don’t know if I am right or wrong. I have become a madman on a mission.”

He paused and waited for a reaction, she was waiting for him to finish, he continued, “I don’t want to scare you. I have seen many a woman in my career, no one has gone beyond a second glance, you seem to be the only woman who has been able to break my celibacy. I know, we have several differences and if something is ever possible between us, we are to consider many things. But, I am sure this is just me or do you feel anything too? That’s it, I have said what was on my mind. I hope I didn’t scare you. You can ignore it or get up and leave. I will support your decision.” and he waited with bated breath.

She was stunned hearing his words and took a few moments to recollect her thoughts and speak to him, in the meantime, he was waiting as if he was sitting on thorns.

She said, “Well, it is too much information for me to digest. But, I would like to tell you, I also reciprocate your feelings. I also seem to have been mesmerised by you. And like you said we have a lot of hurdles, but I am willing to go the extent we can go.

It was a sigh of relief for Michael and he just jumped to his feet and got up to hug her, but she resisted. Then he understood, that it isn’t like in his country.

He said, “I am sorry, I reacted with overjoy. I am happy that you too feel the same way.”

She responded, looking worried, "I would have to go back now. It's almost 2 hours since I left home, and my papa will start looking for me. Anything else, we can discuss sometime later. Bye for now," and she left.

Michael sat there for a few more minutes, settled the bill, and left. The next day, he met his cousin and obtained Jasmine's mobile number, feeling elated.

The story between them began with the ebb and flow of messages. The romance was fresh and exciting, and they could meet for a few minutes here and there whenever his work allowed. However, he was sent on a mission and couldn't message her for long.

After two weeks of constant messaging and phone calls, there was a hull of silence, he couldn't get her out of his mind while he focused on completing the mission.

It was an abandoned place with crumbling buildings and sand stretching as far as the eye could see. It was devastating to witness the change in the area, and it was almost unimaginable that people once inhabited. Now, it had become a hub for illegal activities, and the military forces were gradually using it as a base, allowing them to operate without interruption.

He was monitoring a broken tower one day, and he saw some movement in the far distance, he couldn’t see clearly. So, he zoomed the binoculars to get a clear image and he saw that the image resembled a woman.

After seeing the image, he was concerned about how a woman had ended up in that place with no female officials assigned to the area. He wondered who she could be. The location was closer to the enemy's borders, so he didn't want to cross the line. Nevertheless, as a compassionate individual, he was keen to assist the woman, if she had accidentally entered the territory.

He moved stealthily across to the image, as he did not want to wake the enemies and would follow a row of missiles to be fired leading to chaos and unwarranted killings.

He kept moving until he reached the location he had seen from above. Moving stealthily among the debris of the buildings and the remaining walls that could provide cover, he approached the woman. However, from a distance, he noticed some movement and a beam of light aiming at the woman. Michael quickly moved and pulled the woman to the side, hiding them behind a wall to shield her from the person aiming at her.

The woman opened her mouth to scream but he put his hand across her mouth and shut her down. When he turned her around to remind her to remain silent, he couldn’t believe his eyes, it was no other than Jasmine.

She was also stunned to see it was Michael. She heaved a sigh of relief and looked at him with wide eyes. He still had his hand covering her mouth. He slowly signed her to remain quiet removed his hand and pulled her to a corner.

When he was sure that they were hidden well he asked her, in a whispered tone, “How come you are here?”

She replied, “I came to see you.” and laughed.

He held her face in his hands and looked deep into her eyes. He couldn’t know if it was a dream or if it was happening in real. He forgot all about the danger involved and was lost in her eyes, he was so close to her that he could almost kiss her. Their breath mingled now, and both were lost in each other.

He gestured as if to ask, whether he could kiss her, and she responded with a nod. He just lowered himself to gently place his lips on her, when he heard a whip of a bullet pass them and hit on the wall on the other side. This brought him to reality and got into action.

“I must get you out of this place immediately. I promise I will certainly finish what I started, when we get to safety, follow me and be right behind and walk as softly as you can and remember not to make a sound. I promise I will keep you safe.”

Saying this, he held her hand and guided her to follow him, he kept looking behind and seeing if she was right behind him, he pulled out his rifle, loaded it and was ready to strike when he was faced with someone.

They slowly maneuvered from wall to wall and hid them well, but now and then they could hear the whipping past of bullets, hitting the walls.

He looked at her back, she seemed to be brave and following him as per his instructions, he was feeling proud of her and his mind was filled with fond memories of her. His heart swelled with pride and love for this woman, and he wanted her to be safe forever, till he took and gave the promised kiss.

She slipped on a stone and fell, but she didn’t make any sound, he slowly lifted her to her feet and asked her if she could walk, she answered yes and they kept going. He didn’t know how to get to the other somehow, he had to manage and take her to safety. He marked the images in his mind and slowly found a way.

They came to a dark alley and at the other end was safety. He pointed to the alley and said, to her in gestures. He asked her to go straight into the alley first, he would stand guard and join her in a minute. She didn’t seem to be interested in listening to him, she nodded her head as if to say, no. He just hugged and assured her, “Sweetheart, listen to me. I am right behind, I will join in a few minutes, when I instruct just run to the alley and go in the hide, I will join you ok.”

She didn’t like the idea, but she had to follow his instructions, she just nodded and agreed to him. He held her tight for a second looked around and nodded as if to say, go.

She slowly moved away and turned to go, for a second she stood rooted and looked at him again, smiled moved ahead, and slowly broke into a run.

As she went a little further from him, he heard a bullet zip by, he knew his calculation was wrong and he shouldn’t let her go, but before he could respond, another bullet zipped past him, he quickly hid and then turned to look where she was. He couldn’t see her, there was a cloud of sand covering his visage.

But hoping, she was safe and closer to the alley and she went in, he moved out and started to move towards her, but all he could hear was bullets zipping past him. The sound was so loud to hear, and though he was used to these situations, he was more worried about her than himself.

He quickly broke into a run and ran into the cloud of dust that arose from the ground and hid his vision, he blindly ran, hoping she was safe at the other end, and just as his vision was getting clear, he saw a bullet hit an image in the front of him, and then there was a scream.

He knew the bullet had hit her. Her scream was louder in his ears, and he ran like a wild man towards her. In the neck of the time, he held her in his hands, he had dropped his rifle and held her and dropped to the ground.

He held her on his lap and sat on the ground. It was difficult for her to breathe and she was struggling, with blood flowing from her shoulder. The bullet hit her just through her heart, the rascals had targeted her heart. Ruthless fellows, they didn’t even think for a minute it could be a civilian lost in there. They just went to shoot her directly. He held her and let out a cry so loud, that the sound reverberated through the cloud of dust and created a feel like a lion's roar, in pain.

She spoke in between her breaths with difficulty, “Michael, there’s no tomorrow for me. You have to let go of me and have a good life. Don’t grieve over me. Let my family know and don’t you worry and carry on with your life. Only then will my soul rest in peace, remember it and let me go.” with it, she closed her eyes and took her last breath.

Michael cried even louder and slowly got her to the other side. He carried her in his arms and ran, across, she was getting heavier with each step. He dropped to the ground and held her tight, crying as softly as he could. He couldn’t hold in, he had to break out and cry his heart out. He waited in the safety of the alley, for his fellow men to come in search of him. He held her in his hands and cried out, after a point, he couldn’t cry anymore. He held her and in deprivation, fell into deep slumber.

He was woken up after a long time, he didn’t know how much had passed. They had carried her back to her house, as that was to be done. Her cousin came up to Michael and consoled him. Like a stranger, he had attended her funeral and bid her farewell.

He couldn’t stand to be there for even a moment, he decided, he had to resign and move out from there forever. It has been 6 years since that fateful incident. It took almost a year to get out of the incident, he went in for a lot of counselling and many sittings with a psychiatrist. Even then, it wasn’t going away, and as he wanted her to rest in peace, he tried to let go of her, in vain and she never left him. He even came to know, that she was also working as an official in the army of the country, but then too he couldn’t let go of her.

Someone came and placed a hand on his shoulder and shook him. He had not realized he stood there looking at the window and had recollected the whole event once again. He was surprised that after 6 years he had thought about all the events, once again, but this time, there wasn’t much grief and howling and crying like he usually used to whenever her memory struck.

He has been silently recollecting the events standing here, he responded to the guy who shook him and they both went back into the hall to mingle with others. Michael thought, it was time to take leave and then he shook hands with most of them and decided to go home.

It has been five years, since he had started the bodyguard services and his foremost duty was to save the lives of the civilians who needed protection he also accepted the innocent wealthy from their threats.

His business was good and he had a few trusted people around him, all ex-navy seals and army personnel who broke away from the services and all had some healings like Michael. So, he was doing good in his business. 

Reaching home, he went to the desk where he had kept a secret locker, opened and pulled out the remains of Jasmine locked. He had kept a scarf of hers that she wore on the fateful day, it still had stains of her blood. He put it away and pulled the photo of her, looking at it longingly, he no longer broke out into an episode of crying. He silently looked at the photo noticing her facial features and traced her cheek with his forefinger, he spoke to himself, loud and clear “Jasmine, I guess, I am finally ready to let you go. But, you will still be in memory somewhere and I can look at you without the hurtful pain of the past and think of you as my true love. Though I couldn’t have a life with you, as I wanted, you will remain with me” - saying this he held her photo close to his heart and hugged it as if it was her he was hugging.

He took a longing look at the photo placed the photo and scarf in the locker sealed it as usual and went to wash off the remnants of the day. After a long relaxing bath, he retired to bed and after a very long time, he slept soundly for the first time after that fateful night.

The next day morning, he got up bright and with a good feeling he looked forward to the day's task and went to the office. He was greeted and welcomed back after a three-day break. They were all surprised when their boss took a three-day break. They never knew he could do such a thing as they had never seen him not work or talk about work and tasks to be done. He was always ready to talk to you when you approached him and he was always ready to pitch in for people who wanted to take time off for their personal needs.

So, it was like a feast when the boss returned to work. Michael also felt good to be back, he knew the break had done him more good than harm. He joined in the celebrations of his return to work and slowly got immersed in the work.

It was past lunchtime and there was a phone call. The phone calls to Michael were rare, as all his work came through the mail and was sorted by his secretary. Therefore, the call had surprised him. It was from an old friend asking for a favor. Although he agreed to help, he wanted to meet the client in person.

At the scheduled hour, the said client walked into his office.  She was an extraordinarily looking woman dressed to kill, in clothes of great quality and style. It seems she is a celebrity and quite famous in her circles. She needed some protection as there were threats to kill her.

For the first time, in a very long time, Michael never paid heed to his clients, to how or what they did or looked, but this woman seemed a little different and it had piqued his interest and needed to do a full background check on her before he took her as a clientele.

He was hoping that she wasn’t so beautiful. There was little or no control over how your heart responds, right? After all, Michael was a human and above all a full-grown man, who had needs and desires.

The woman who had come also showed signs of being aware of what a handsome man he was. But Michael´s mind pulled his old memories to the forefront and played games with his mind.

Michael thought, “I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out.”

He got up from his chair and walked towards the wall-to-floor glass panes that adorned his office, keeping it open looking at the city skyscrapers. He stood close to the panes and looked at the people, below who walked on the street. He wondered what kept these people moving day in and day out for varied purposes in life. He couldn’t ignore the fact that some might have a sordid past like him or not.

He had to go past his sordid happenings and look forward to some happiness as his senior had suggested.

He walked back to his desk and picked up the file of information he wanted left on his desk some time ago of the new client, Elizabeth.

He hesitated to open the file, considering whether to pass on the work to someone on his team after looking at the details. He kept pondering on it and when he finally decided to open the file, it was too late.

There was an unknown call on his number, he picked it up to hear Elizabeth on the other end.