This is not the End

Love is in the Air

 Over the next few weeks Ria and Samar spent a lot of time together. Be it assignment groups or participating in case studies or researching they were always a team. They were mostly sitting together in the classroom , going to the library together and going for the meals together. Ria liked hanging out with Samar. They often took walks across the campus and Samar would tell her his plans of starting his own business. Ria always admired his confidence, his enthusiasm and his business sense. Ria used to tell him about her life, her family etc but he never liked sharing much about his family.

Even after spending so much time with him Ria didn't know much about him. She knew his personality, his likes/dislikes , she could easily read his mood but when it came to his family he was a closed book. Ria never forced him.

Ria had found a best friend in Samar, who she could trust blindly, who cared deeply about her. Sometimes she would tease him saying your future wife would be so jealous of me. Samar would reply saying I am only preparing myself for my future wife.

One day while they were taking a walk. Ria asked – "Do you miss being in a relationship?"

Samar – "I am in a relationship"

Ria – "what? Who? When?"

Samar – he held her hand and said – "You"

Ria was surprised to here it, she felt different but she knew Samar always flirt with her from the very first day, lately he didn't say or do anything but Ria knew he probably was joking.

Ria – fake laughed – "I know your jokes"

Samar – "You are getting smarter"

Ria – "I am serious tell me"

Samar – "No I am happy the way things are right now"

Samar – "How about you?"

Ria – "I have never been in a relationship so don't know what I am missing but sometimes I do feel like I am missing out on things when I see Palak and Manav"

Samar – "you like someone?" he was not prepared to hear the answer but he still asked

Ria – "Not really"

Samar – "How about Nishant? You go on 'dates' with him"

Ria – "those are not dates, he is good friend and one more time I don't like him that way"

Samar – "May be you don't, but he definitely likes you"

Ria – "You always say that, may be I should think about him, but see you cant force those feelings"

Samar – "then why do you go out with him? you are giving him some wrong ideas"

Ria – "He is nice, I like his company and the main reason you don't go out with me" said flirtishly" so I have to go out with him"

Samar – "what?" Samar was not expecting her to say that.

Ria – "I mean whenever I ask you to go out you invite the entire gang"

Samar – "So you want to go out on a date with me"

Ria – "You wish" she said making a face and then walked away.

Samar was falling for her and he knew she only thought of him as a friend. But he could still not stop himself from getting close to her, he knew he will hurt himself but somewhere he had hopes that Ria also loves him may be she hasn't realized It yet. And today his hopes got even stronger. "What if she was not joking? Why did she bring up this topic" all these questions were bothering him.

Ria couldn't stop thinking about the moment when Samar had held her hand and confessed that he was in a relationship with her. The more she tried to convince herself that he was joking, the more restless she felt. Deep down, she wondered if there was a possibility that Samar's words held some truth.

Samar constantly had a fight between his mind and his heart. Everynight he would decide that he is going to keep his distance from Ria and in the morning one look at her will change everything. Ria also met Nishant often for coffee or dinner, it killed Samar but he never said anything. He had known by now that Ria only thought of him as a friend.

Their teamwork continued to flourish, and their understanding of each other's strengths and weaknesses only grew stronger. Ria had a unique ability to push Samar beyond his limits and provide him with the confidence he needed to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams. Samar admired Ria's intelligence, compassion, and unwavering support.

However,their unspoken feelings lingered in the air, creating a tension that both triedto ignore. Samar knew he had to address the elephant in the room, but he wasafraid of jeopardizing their friendship. He didn't want to lose Ria, even if itmeant keeping his own emotions hidden.