The captain noticed a new young woman calmly eating lunch alone, and she had not even tried to introduce herself to him. Deciding to teach her a lesson and humiliate her in front of the entire company, he poured juice directly over her head; but when the young woman silently pulled This out of her pocket, everyone around froze in shock 😳
For several days, rumors had been circulating around the company that a new female soldier had been transferred to them. No one really knew where she had come from or why she had appeared so unexpectedly. Some said she had previously served in another unit, while others insisted that she had only recently graduated from the academy.
But the strangest thing was that no one even knew her rank.
During lunch, several soldiers finally noticed that very newcomer. The young woman was sitting completely alone at a table in the far corner of the dining hall, eating calmly. She spoke to no one, made no attempt to get acquainted with anyone, and seemed not to notice the curious stares around her at all.
— Is that her? — one of the soldiers asked quietly.
— Looks like it.
The company captain, Mark, also looked in the young woman’s direction.
He immediately disliked her behavior. The captain was used to every new person in the unit coming to introduce themselves to him first. Mark loved feeling powerful and had even made up several of his own “rules” that did not actually exist in any regulation.
He especially liked putting new recruits in their place.
— Watch and learn how to talk to newcomers, — the captain smirked, picking up a glass of juice from the table.
He walked over to the young woman and stopped beside her table.
She continued eating calmly.
Mark deliberately waited for a few seconds, expecting the young woman to notice him, jump to her feet, and introduce herself. But nothing happened.
— You probably don’t know this, — the captain finally said. — We have a rule here: first you come to me and introduce yourself, and then I decide whether you are allowed to sit and eat with everyone else or not.
The young woman slowly placed her fork on the tray and looked at him.
— I know the regulations by heart. There is no such rule in them.
The nearby tables fell silent.
Several soldiers exchanged glances. No one usually spoke to Mark in such a calm tone.
The captain gave a mocking smile.
— I see you’re bold. Then, if you know the regulations so well, you should know that when a higher-ranking military officer appears, a soldier is required to stand up.
The young woman looked him straight in the eyes.
— I know. But it seems that you do not know the regulations very well yourself. During a meal, there is no requirement to stand.
Someone at the next table could barely hold back a smile.
The captain’s expression changed.
— I see you’re not only bold, but very smart too.
The young woman did not answer and picked up her fork again. That was what finally made Mark furious. He looked at the glass in his hand and then suddenly tipped it directly over the young woman’s head.
The juice ran down her hair, face, and black uniform.
A few chuckles rang out in the dining hall.
— Now you’ll know your place, — the captain said loudly.
He expected the young woman to start arguing, crying, or at least demand an explanation.
But she did none of those things. Instead, she pulled This out of her pocket, and everyone in the dining hall was left completely shocked 😳😱 You can find the continuation of the story in the first comment 👇👇
The newcomer slowly placed her fork on the table, took a napkin, and calmly wiped her face. Then she lifted her eyes to the captain. For several seconds, she simply looked at him.
For some reason, Mark suddenly began to feel uneasy.
— Are you finished? — the young woman asked.
— What?
— I’m asking whether you’ve finished your performance.
The laughter in the dining hall stopped immediately.
The young woman stood up, slipped her hand into her uniform pocket, and pulled out a small leather case.
The captain frowned.
She opened it and placed a military ID directly in front of him. Mark looked at the document. His smile disappeared.
He took the ID in his hands, read the surname, then the rank, and looked at the photograph once again.
The captain’s face turned pale.
— Colonel?.. — he whispered, barely audibly.
The soldiers at the nearby tables fell silent.
The young woman whom half of the dining hall had been laughing at just a minute earlier was Colonel Sophie Reed — the new commander of the unit, whose appointment had not yet been officially announced to the personnel.
That was why no one knew who she was.
Sophie had deliberately arrived earlier than scheduled. She wanted to see the unit on an ordinary workday, when no one was preparing for the arrival of the new commander.
And she saw much more than she had expected.
Mark straightened up sharply.
— Colonel, ma’am, I… I didn’t know who you were.
— I noticed.
— There has been a misunderstanding. I apologize.
Sophie calmly took back the ID and put it back into her pocket.
— What exactly are you apologizing for, Captain?
Mark was confused.
— For my behavior.
— For pouring juice over your new commander?
— Yes, Colonel, ma’am.
She looked at him silently for several seconds.
— Then you have understood nothing.
Absolute silence filled the dining hall.
— The problem is not that you did it to me, — Sophie continued. — The problem is that you thought I was an ordinary newcomer and therefore decided you had the right to humiliate me.
Mark lowered his eyes.
— If I had held a different rank, you would not even be apologizing now.
The captain said nothing more.
