I'll Love You Longer Than Forever

Chapter Fifty

The morning of Cole and Tessa's wedding dawned bright. It was sunny out, the winds were blowing and there was a warmth all around them. It was a perfect day for a wedding, really.

Everybody had been up from the wee hours of morning, making sure that everything was in place and doing last minute inspections. It was going to be an intimate ceremony with just a few close friends and family, so there wasn't much to be done. But, they wanted everything to be perfect for Cole and Tessa on their big day.

Armaan smiled as he surveyed the placing of tables and chairs in the lawn. Riddhima was just a few feet away, looking at the decoration. So, obviously Armaan was concentrating hard on the task at hand - staring at his girl, the arrangements forgotten. It wasn't like it was his fault though. His baby was just so beautiful. He couldn't help it.

He'd been thinking a lot about what Cole had said these past few days. And, it did make a whole lot of sense. Armaan wanted to move on. He didn't want to live in the past. He wanted to be in the present and plan for his future. His future with Riddhima, to be precise. And, it was no use living in the past. Yes, they'd had bad experiences but he needed to get over them. More than anything, he didn't want to have any regrets. Not where Riddhima and their relationship was concerned.

He'd thought long and hard about what Cole had said, especially regretting not proposing sooner. He got where Cole was coming from, really. He couldn't wait for Riddhima to have his name. For her to be his wife. And, he knew deep within that he would regret not asking her sooner. He would regret everyday they spent apart just like he'd done in the past.

It was a huge step, trying to let go of his misgivings and inhibitions, but he had to try. For her. For them. At the rate that he was going, he would probably never gather the courage to ask her. And he couldn't not ask her. He had to. Because, as scared as he was, the prospect of Riddhima not being his wife was even scarier. So, he would just put on his big boy shoes and be a man.

Yes, he would. He was going to propose soon, he decided. Not at the very moment, of course. But, soon. He'd already started planning it in his head last night, finally excited about the whole shenanigan. He didn't want to foil Cole and Tessa's big day and he knew that once they got back, everyone would be busy. Especially Riddhima and him. They would have to catch up on all their cases and being gone away for almost a month, the workload would increase heavily. Plus, they had to plan and practice and execute the Sanjeevani Concert, which in itself was a huge task.

In the middle of all this, they wouldn't get the chance to enjoy their engagement the way they were supposed to. So, he would propose when the Conert was done. And, it would be absolutely perfect because the Concert was coming at such a time, that doing it after would give him plenty of time to plan and give him a date that would make it mean so much more.

"Hey, Armaan!" Anjali called bringing him out of his daydream.

"Haan, Anjy?" He asked.

"Ridzy ko taadna band kar aur kuch kaam bhi karle!" She replied, smirking.

Riddhima who heard this, blushed a deep shade of red. Armaan chuckled and winked at her, blowing her kiss before he turned to the task at hand.

Everybody worked tirelessly through the morning to make sure everything was in place before the girls rushed upstairs to get ready.

Armaan took the opportunity to go find Cole and talk to him.

"Hey, man!" He greeted once he met Cole.