I'll Love You Longer Than Forever

Chapter Sixty Two

Riddhima smiled tentatively at Rahul as he gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. They'd been talking to a few of Rahul's friends for quite sometime now. Everybody was surprised to see Rahul's transformation from the supposed champu' he was into this dashing man. That had been the topic of discussion for the longest time. Now, they were reminiscing about old times, sharing anecdotes and making the others in their small group laugh.

Everyone was surprised to see Rahul arrive with a date, but they didn't say anything about it. Riddhima was pretty sure it was because they thought that Rahul had only managed to snag a date because of his makeover. She didn't like that. However, they were polite to her and so, in return she was polite to them. She didn't talk much, only laughed at the appropriate times and answered questions briefly when someone asked her something directly.

One of Rahul's friends, Disha, was frighteningly similar to Muskaan in matters of talking and she'd been cracking jokes for the past hour now. Her husband, Abhay, had been gazing fondly at her the entire time. Seeing them made Riddhima smile. And miss Armaan. She sighed again. He was late.

"Riddhima, kahaan kho gayi? Another one of Rahul's friends, Rohit asked. He was a charming man, but he'd been putting the moves on her all evening and she didn't like it.

"Kuch nahi, bas aise hi, she answered.

"Waise, Riddhima, Alisha, a girl who Riddhima was sure had a huge crush on Rahul, called her. "Tumne toh humein abhi tak yeh bhi nahi bataya ki how you met Rahul.

Riddhima smiled at her. "Uh, hum saath kaam karte hai, she answered. "Rahul's been really amazing to me in the past 2 years.

"Awww, Rahul cooed, hugging her around her shoulders and kissing the top of her head. Turning to the group, he said, "Aisa kuch nahi hai. Yeh Riddhima ki toh aadat hai badha chadha ke bolne ki.

"You guys make such a cute couple, Disha gushed.

"Oh! Rahul answered, surprised. He immediately removed his arms from around Riddhima.

"We're just friends, he told her.

Everyone in the vicinity laughed.

"Shuru mein sab aisa hi bolte hain, Shaurya, another one of Rahul's friends, joked.

"No, seriously, guys. We're just friends, Rahul insisted.

"Yeah, right, Roshni, also one of his friends, scoffed.

Riddhima noticed that Alisha looked really pleased at Rahul's insistence. She rolled her eyes. She really didn't like the girl. Despite knowing that Rahul had a date, she'd been trying to get close to him since they'd met.

Before either of them could say something to defend themselves, Roshni sighed. "Ah, there he is, she said, smiling dreamily.

"Really, Roshni? Alisha asked her, her voice laced with disappointment. "I don't even know why you like him so much! Sure, he's good looking, but do you remember how he used to make fun of Rahul all the time?

Roshni just shrugged sheepishly.

"Who? Riddhima asked confused. The others sighed and shook their heads and sighed, but Rahul looked guilty.

When she gestured to him, he sighed and pointed in the direction Roshni was looking.

And, there he was. Her boy, looking completely handsome and just too dashing for his own good. He was leaning into Muskaan and laughing at something some girl was saying. She was talking animatedly, but it was obvious that Armaan was the least bothered about what she was saying. His eyes were scanning the room, but he hadn't seen her yet, mostly because everytime his gaze wandered, said talkative girl would literally take hold of his chin and make him look at her. He was looking so miserable that Riddhima couldn't help but chuckle lowly at his condition.