Until I Found You

7. Falling

Priya sat in front of the dressing table, combing her hair and blushing as she looked at herself in the mirror.

It had been an unexpectedly wonderful day.

Ram's boss had given his team a day off for all the hard work they had put in over the past two weeks, and instead of resting at home or making any other plans, he had decided to spend the day with her and Pihu.

He had picked up Pihu from school in the afternoon, brought her home, helped her freshen up and change, and then taken her to the Mall.

Priya had joined them in the evening, heading straight to the Mall from the Institute at which she taught.

They had spent nearly two hours at the arcade, playing games and laughing together, and then another hour roaming around. Ram even bought Pihu a cute frock that she wanted, despite Priya telling him multiple times that it was not needed.

Afterwards, they went to Ram's favorite restaurant for dinner.

She chuckled remembering how excited he was to have them try his favorite dishes and drinks, and the eagerness with which he observed their expressions to see if they liked the food.

On their way back, the three had stopped for ice cream upon Pihu's insistence. What was meant to be a quick pitstop was anything but quick. They had ended up spending more than half an hour at the ice cream parlour- arguing over which flavour to order, fighting to get a taste of each other's ice cream, and then quickly forgetting their squabbles as they laughed and enjoyed their treats together.

The evening had been nothing short of perfect, and Priya felt so grateful to have someone like Ram in her life.

In her lowest, he had not only been kind and generous to her, but to her daughter as well. And that had really touched her heart.

Standing up from the chair, Priya turned off the lights and slipped into bed.

She gently caressed a sleeping Pihu's hair and placed a kiss on her forehead before lying down, her thoughts drifting back to Ram.

Since the day they had talked about their respective ex-partners on the balcony, she had noticed a change in him.

He had been happier and seemed more at ease.

Not only that, she had also seen some unexplainable emotions in his eyes- which would make her stomach churn every damn time- although she pretended otherwise.

The dynamics between them had changed that night, there was no doubt in her mind about it.

His touch felt different. Their eye contacts felt different.

She was not sure what it was, but she knew that there was definitely something between them.

Something unspoken yet powerful. Something which they both felt deeply.

But she was hesitant to acknowledge it outright, hesitant to confront him about it. She did not want to complicate matters by asking questions neither of them might have the answers to.

So, she had decided to just go with the flow and let things unfold naturally, trusting that the universe would lead her in the right direction.

It had been a long time since she had felt this happy, this free, and she wanted to savor every moment of this feeling.

She wanted to do whatever her heart told her to do. Whatever made her happy.

And right now, it was Ram who made her the happiest. Who made her feel as if nothing can go wrong anymore.

Since the day they had moved in with him, he had put in a lot of effort to ensure their comfort, which had only increased with time. He always took care of all their needs and made them both feel extremely special.