I'll Love You Longer Than Forever

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Eight

"Oh, this is divine!" Riddhima exclaimed, as she stood on the deck of the yacht that Armaan had booked for them to journey to Capri. A neighbouring island from Positano along the Amalfi Coast, Capri had come highly recommended as the place to be. At first, Armaan had mulled over docking in Capri for the duration of their stay, but had ultimately decided on Positano because it was easier to travel to the other islands from there as opposed to Capri. He didn't want them lugging their bags around everyday to check into a new hotel. Positano has been perfectly located to take day trips to whatever other islands they wished to. So, it had won in the end, but Armaan was especially excited for their day in Capri. 

To get there, Armaan had decided to get them a private yacht, not wanting to travel with strangers. Plus, the benefit of the private booking was that they could take their time to get to their destination. It had always been a dream of his to go deep sea diving from a yacht. 

"It's okay," he countered, standing behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her back flush against his chest. 

"Yahaan har jagah paani itna saaf kaise hai? Despite so many tourists?" Riddhima wondered as she peaked at the ocean. 

Armaan laughed. "That's because yahaan pe isse maintain karte hain. Plus, tumne dekha hai yahaan kisi ko bhi kuch kachra fekte hue? Toh it's easier, I guess."

"Hmmm," Riddhima hummed in agreement. "I wish humaare beach ka paani bhi itna saaf hota. That would be so nice, nahi?"

"It would," Armaan nodded. "But Mumbai ke samundar ka paani itna saaf karne mein saal lag jaayenge. Which, I don't even think koi yeh sab karne mein interested hoga."

"I know," Riddhima sighed. "Such a shame."

"Yes," Armaan agreed. "But hum kyun aisi sad, depressing baat kar rahe hain? We should be having fun!" 

"Toh humein kya karna chahiye?" Riddhima asked.

"So glad you asked, Jaan!" Armaan cheered. "Let's go!" He took Riddhima's hand and tugged her inside the yacht. They went to the captain's cabin. 

"Hello!" Armaan greeted the woman. "Can I drive for a while?"

"Armaan? You know how to drive a yacht?" Riddhima asked, surprised.

"No, but how hard can it be?" He wondered.

"A lot," the woman, Brianne, laughed. "I only trained for a year to do this."

"Can you teach me the basics? I'll drive for like, 5 minutes. Please!" Armaan pleaded. Brianne laughed. "Sure."

She was no stranger to people wanting to try taking control of the yacht, especially when they realized their captain was a woman. It wasn't the easiest profession for women to get into, but the sea had always been her calling. After a few years on the job, she was used to men assuming she didn't know anything about sailing, and they would be better at this than her. Armaan was one of the very few men who actually asked her to teach them. And well, he was paying an exorbitant amount for this whole thing, so she could humour him for a bit. 

She turned the yacht into auto-pilot mode and showed him the basic functionality of the controls. "Here you go," she said, taking a step back. "Let's see how well you do."

Armaan enthusiastically stepped in the place she'd vacated and captained the ship. He was surprisingly good at it too, for a first timer. He managed to wonkily manoeuvre the boat to the left and change their direction for a bit, just like she'd shown him. "That's good!" She complimented him. He absolutely preened at the praise. 

"Can we dock for a bit and go swimming?" He asked Brianne after steering for a while.

"Sure!" She agreed. "Let me find a good place to stop."