Blooming LOVE

Chapter 49

Ishita POV

As I carefully opened the envelope, my heart raced with anticipation. What could Rishab have written to me? As I unfolded it, I was surprised to see….

As I gazed at the photographs, a mix of nostalgia and admiration washed over me. Rishab's talent behind the lens captured moments of my first  unexpected modelling in my college. I looked at each and every pose of my photographs that he captured in his lens.

Then I turned my head and found a red coloured book. It looked like a journal. With trembling hands, I picked the journal in my hand, wondering what secrets it held within its pages. 

I turned the first page.... I noticed the journal was about three and half years old. The revelation that Rishab had been keeping track of my life for three years left me speechless. Intrigued, I focused on the elegant handwriting on the page.  I couldn't help but wonder whose hand had penned those words and what secrets they might hold.

" I never believed in love at first sight. But I had to believe as she stole my heart in the very first meeting at the mall."

" I wish ....I atleast know the name of that serene beauty...."

Reading those words, my heart skipped a beat. They spoke of a depth of feeling I hadn't anticipated, stirring something within me. The realisation that Rishab had felt this way from our first meeting left me reeling, wondering how I had missed the signs all this time.

Then I flipped the next page....

" I was overwhelmed to see her in the fashion University. Being a passionate photographer, I clicked her photos secretly.  As I already built my look as an old photographer. I wanted to take advantage of it.  As one of her university members was invited to the talent show. I  asked her for details from him. Finally, I came to know her beautiful name .... Ishita...."

I flipped the next page curiously….

" I wanted to know more about her. So I took advantage of the member of the university and planned to have dinner with her. While she was having her dinner, my eyes were glued to luscious pink lips. I never had dirty thoughts with any woman until now.  But slowly she corrupted my mind along with my heart..."

As I read those lines, I shivered down my spine as I grappled with the intensity of his words. The realisation that he had been observing me so closely, even to the point of being entranced by something as simple as my lips, left me feeling exposed yet strangely touched.

…..

"As I always have a habit of sharing my feelings with mom, I made a call to her the next day and told my feelings to her. I thought she could consider my feelings but strangely she took a promise from me that I need to marry a girl that she choose"

" I buried my feelings for the sake of my mom. It became a habit for me to visit her hostel everyday without her knowledge. Her mere presence and her smile, give me peace. But I felt anger, frustration whenever she used to socialise with her male friends. I knew that I should not feel like that. Still…. My heart feels she is only mine….”

Rishab's sacrifice for his mother's sake weighed heavily on my heart. The depth of his feelings was undeniable, yet the burden of family expectations had forced him to bury them deep within.

Then they flipped the next pages, but the pages were blank. After that, I took another Journal from the box. It looked like a recent year. 

Curiosity piqued, I reached for the second journal, wondering what new revelations it might hold. As I flipped through its pages, I couldn't help but wonder what had transpired in the six months since the last journal entry.