Annie's eyes speaks a lot ....

…. Reyan ….

She was smiling like a fool looking at the open sky and dark blue water. Little things make her happy, like when she first saw me. At least I thought she was happy to see me again.

3 years ago…

My family has a tradition to visit our ancestral house in C city for every Tamil new year. I saw Jenny for the first time in a mall. Among her sisters, she was unostentatious. Playing with her phone the whole time, she seemed to have little contact with the outer world. Although I was not sure, I believed she would be the perfect candidate for the assignment. Firm wanted an Indian who can be physically trained and is not interested in any political affairs, because she'll have to work against them.

After one year of military service in south korea, this was the first task, my firm assigned for me. I sneaked a picture of hers.

She suddenly turned towards me. Her pupils enlarged as she saw me, and then swiftly turned back, like she saw encountered ghost. Her eyes said a lot of things during those nano-seconds. After a while she turned again.

"Dude, your admirers are everywhere" ----- Kenny sarcasm knows no bounds -----

"I want her to be the candidate for my firm."

"Wait seriously? I am joining military service this year, can't you stop your work and spend time with us."

"What are you two love birds talking about? About the girls over there?" ----- Rana, my friend back at hometown interrupted our conversation -----

"He is bringing us a sister-in-law" -----Kenny said chuckling -----

"You want a good beating don't you.. " ----- My eyes followed her for a while, before they finally got up to leave -----

"Let's go I must check her physique" ----- I whispered Kenny, or I thought I whispered -----

"Brother, are you seriously planning for kids, after seeing her for the first time?" ---- Rana heard me and said aloud, breaking everyone into laughter -----

She was tall and thick. With guided physical training, she can become brawny in no time.

I got her information using her picture through our firm. Firm wanted me to monitor her actions.

Soon after 2 years, after tracing all of her calls, social media engagement, participation in social activities, love life et cetera, firm agreed to my choice. She never had a boyfriend but she fancied a guy named Riad who had multiple girlfriends. She spoke about her on and off interest towards him to her friend dyna.

After returning from my second year of military service, I was a permanent cadet at the firm. Though the service period is only for 10 years, I was vivaciously waiting for 8 years of surprices waiting for me.

Kenny joined me after her 2 years of service. We travelled together to a lot of countries for the sake of our missions.

Through her, web searches, she unintentionally hinted us that she wanted to study abroad, which made our task easier, because then we wouldn't have the vexation of planning to get her out of India.

Luckily her grades helped her get an offer from NYU without any of our intervention.

… At the airport in C city…

I saw her again after 3 years. She changed a lot in terms of appearance. Her dressing style, physicality, lost a lot of weight which was disappointing because she wouldn't be able to tolerate the training if she is weak, and that smile … it is more real this time. She must be happy not knowing what awaits her at the end of this journey.

But soon after deceiving her parents, she sat down on the stairs weeping like a baby. Handing her a tissue, I walked away afraid she would recognize me.

Even after travelling along with her during her entire journey, she didn't recognize me. Looking adorable in the gown for the photoshoot, she entered the room with Sarah. Her eyes, they speak a lot. Most of them contrast each other. The reaction I expected of her when she found out that's he was abducted was that she would cry. But instead she rebelled, proving me right for choosing her.

Cadet Rule no1: Cadets should not become weak in front of your enemies.

Asking her to be my girlfriend was part of Kenny's plan considering her behavior in the mall. She proved otherwise. She was not pleased to be my girlfriend. Although I was glad that she not one of those girls who imagine themselves to be in a Korean drama when such things happen, there was a slight discomfort in me that I was not sure what it was.

But her first escape was not expected given her acrophobia. I was pleased with her attempt. But she stopped in her tracks to rest. This agitated me. She shouldn't have thought that she is safe now that she ran for quite a few hours.

Cadet Rule no2: Never underestimate your enemy.

She deserved to be punished, however I didn't plan to torture her in that way. I just lost control.

Her second escape was perfect. After tottering me and the guards, she fled. Moreover she didn't stop until she reached her destination. I was quite pleased, but Sarah wasn't.

Sarah slapped Annie in front of me, totally disregarding the fact that Annie was an important person for the firm and we cannot afford to depress her. After multiple requests from Kenny to fire her, I finally found a reason to get rid of her. But she was a reliable comrade. One mistake resulted in this situation and she was expelled from the firm.

After that she stayed in her room, refusing to face me downstairs. Finally after 2 days she came down. I was sick of wasting time, waiting for her next move. She eventually was bored staying in her room.

"Where do you want to go?" ----- I was hoping to hear something that is less crowded, as I was responsible for her safety -----

"Any isolated beach" ----- Sadness could be heard in her every word. I'm grateful Miss. -----

When we reached, her eyes glistened as her eyes set on the beach. She was ecstatic at that moment. After examining the entire area and the roofs of tall buildings near the beach for snipers, we sat on a bench.

She talked a lot of weird things. Nevertheless, she talked after all the chaos. For a moment I believed that she was not depressed.

When she wanted to go near the water, I hesitated for a while, but after careful consideration I let her go. Inching towards the water, as the foam touched her feet, she smiled, for real this time again. She turned around smiling and waved at me.

Her eyes sparkling under the moon light, lips curled up graciously, it was the first time ever I saw a her genuinely happy. I smiled back reverberating her enthusiasm. Standing still as the waves attacked her gently, the translucent dress excavated her slender figure.

She stood still for almost 10 minutes not even moving her hands as the waves started increasing. I felt something was wrong.

"Annie!" ----- I called her to return quickly before the waves rise higher -----

She didn't respond. I though she wanted to stay there for a while before returning. I called her out a few times, but she started walking further into the water. It was already dark and the waves would not decrease further.

I walked into the water calling screaming her to return. Soon the water reached her neck and she was drowning in no time. She did not even struggle and as far as I know she has never learnt swimming.

I rushed into the water, till my foot touched the land. Then I dived in hoping not to loose her. She was getting deep with her one hand pointing the surface. I grabbed her hand, took her into my embrace and reached the shore. Seeing her unconscious state, I regretted bringing her to a place letting her kill herself. After performing CPR, her eye lashes seemed to move. She coughed and threw up water and slowly opened her eyes. A moment of relief. I wouldn't have forgiven myself if something had happened to her.

I sat on the sand as tears started rolling down my eyes and laid her on my lap. She reached her arm and gently caressed my face, wiping my tears. I briskly pulled her into my embrace and held her as tightly as I could.