Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

Meanwhile, at the border site.

Time passed. Darkness had engulfed the entire area and the sun was ready to set. But the war was going strong. Aria and Ian were still tending to the injured soldiers. They had been working since the time they had arrived at the site. Though the others had taken a break in the middle at some time of the day, these two along with Stuart had been working without any break except for the time they had gone to have lunch. 

Seeing them work tirelessly, one of their army surgeons came to speak to them and asked them to take some rest. They did not want to tire them out right on their first day. This time the three people did not deny them and went to take a break. 

Now that they had finally got some time off work, they went to call their family members. Ethan had already given them permission to make their calls for the day as it was their first day and that their family members would be worried about them. But each person could only make one call. Many people from the group had already finished speaking to their family when they had taken a break before. Now, only these three were left.

They went to the main building and Stuart was the first one to call his family. After ensuring them of his safety and his wellness, they finally let him off. Next, it was Aria's turn. But she was highly conflicted. She could not decide who she should call. On the one side, she had her sister and on the other, there was her boyfriend. She could leave neither of them.

Seeing her in a dilemma, Ian gave her a suggestion. "Why don't you call Ivy? I'll talk to Noah first and then you could speak to him."

"Are you going to call Noah?" Aria asked bewildered. She knew that Ian did not have any family except for the person whom he addressed as his mentor. She had assumed to call his mentor, not Noah.

"Yeah."

"Aren't you going to call your mentor?"

When he heard about his mentor, a pang of sadness rushed through his heart. He had not informed her about him going missing as well as his death. So, she was bound to not know anything about it. 

"My mentor is out of town. The place he is at had poor signal reception. So, I am thinking of calling Noah. When my mentor will return, Noah will inform him about me."

"Oh okay. Can we do that?" Aria stared hopefully at the phone operator who was there to assist them. The man had been listening to their conversation and he had got a fair gist of what their problem was.

"Sure. No problem."

Sighing in relief, Aria made a call to Ivy. She had to wait for it to ring a few times for her sister to answer finally.

"Hello?" Ivy asked, her tone coming out as a question. The number on her phone looked weird and she did not know who might be the one calling her. So, she was skeptical to receive the call first. She then decided to see who was the one to call her and she had picked up the call. This had taken her some time to answer the call, though she was using her phone when Aria called her.

"Hello, Ivy. It's me Aria."

"Aria? Is it you? How are you? Did you reach safely? How is the situation over there? Are you alright? Is the work stressful?" Ivy fired her questions at her sister without taking a breath.

"Calm down, Miss Super Express. Take a deep breath." Aria said, trying to calm her overly enthusiastic sister. Ivy did as she was told for a few seconds when she heard Aria's reply.

"I reached here safely. The situation is quite serious here, but our soldiers are trying our best. I am alright and yes, the work here is a little stressful. But manageable."

"Thank God you called Aria. I worried sick. I had completely forgotten that your phone will not work over there and I had been trying to call you for a long time." Ivy said and then remembered how she had repeatedly called her sister until she realized that none of her calls would reach her sister and it had to be only Aria who could call her.

"I am fine Ivy. Don't worry."

"Anyway, Aria. Did you see the guy we talked about before?"

"Which guy?" Aria was confused and she thought about whom her sister was speaking. But she could remember none.

"I showed you a pic of a major. Do you remember? He is Major Ethan Meyers. Did you see him? Is he as hot as he looks in the pictures when you see him in person?" Ivy asked and Aria could immediately imagine her condition at home. The first scene that came to her mind was an overly excited girl who was asking about her high school crush. She also imagined Ivy blushing as she asked her questions about Ethan.

But a man's chuckle brought her out of her stupor. She looked around to see who was laughing and she noticed the telephone operator who was chuckling softly. She had completely forgotten about him. Though the soldiers over there respected privacy, they also had to be cautious. So, all the calls the civilians made would be monitored. Aria had forgotten that the he was listening to their conversation. She looked away in embarrassment when his gaze landed on her. 

"Ivy, watch your tongue. Our call is being monitored." Aria chided her sister.

"So what? I am talking about something important here. Anyway, who is listening to our talk? Is he hot too? Tell him hi on my behalf."

Aria wanted to smack her head on the wall nearby. Ivy was giving her no face. Taking a deep breath, she cooled herself. "Sure. The man is right here and anyway, you can speak to him directly. Don't worry, I'll even make sure to give him your details and contact number. You can have your own chat whenever you are free."

"Aria?" Ivy exclaimed in disbelief. She had no idea that her sister would retaliate this way.

"Ivy, I think the guy is interested too. I'll make sure to set something up for you here before I return."

"Aria?" Ivy said again and this time it came out as a yell. The soldier coughed in embarrassment and closed his eyes, not able to look at her any longer.

"I have to go now, Ivy. Take care. I'll call you after two days."

"Okay, Ari. You too take care and tell Ian that I asked for him. Also, tell the guy who is hearing us talk that I'll be looking forward to hear from him."

"Sure."

The call ended. Aria gave an apologetic to the comrade and he smiled in return. "Sorry about that. My sister could get a little crazy at times."

"No problem. And I wouldn't mind getting to know about her. She seems to be interesting." The guy chuckled.

"I'll talk to her about it on my next call to her."

"Sure. I'll be waiting."

Aria stepped out of the room and saw Ian and Stuart deep in conversation. "What are you guys talking?" She chirped as soon as she went towards them.

"Are you done? Shall we talk to Noah now?" 

"Sure. We will be back." Aria said to Stuart and the duo went inside the room again.

"Do you want to speak first or shall I go? On a second thought, you speak first. That man must be going crazy after not listening to your voice for an entire day. Give him some life." Ian teased and Aria blushed hearing his words. 

Aria dialed Noah's number as Ian looked on.

"Hello."

"Noah, it's me Aria."

"Aria," Noah breathed hearing her voice. Her call came in as a savior. As Ian had predicted, he was going crazy when he had not heard from her the entire day. Now that she had called, he could take a breather.

"Hi," Aria said.

"Hi. How are you?"

"I am good. What about you?"

"I am not good."

"Why? What happened?"

"My love is not here. How can I be okay?" Noah said and Aria could hear the tenderness and longing in his voice. Her heart warmed and she smiled subconsciously. Ian noticed her smile and his lips raised up a little. He could see that Aria was genuinely happy with his friend and he was very happy about it.

"Don't worry. I'll be back soon."

"You better do otherwise, see how I'll punish you," Noah warned her strictly, but there was a hint of teasing in his voice. Aria immediately reminisced the day he had given her a punishment and her body became hot at once. 

"Noah, stop it. Our call is being monitored."

"So what?"

"I am talking to my sweetheart. What's wrong with it? Anyway, the man who is listening to us will also agree with me. If he has a girlfriend or a wife, he too would be speaking the same way as me."

This time Aria had nothing to say him as he had rendered her tongue-tied. "Noah, take care, alright? I'll be back soon. Ian is with me. Speak to him."

Aria handed the phone to Ian and went outside thinking that Stuart would be left alone. This time she did not even look at the operator as she was too embarrassed due to the lovey-dovey conversation she had just had with Noah.