Safar...A Journey of First Love

Chapter 18 - Am I Dreaming?

...The next day Riddhima woke up in a good mood and had a bright smile on her face while she got ready; she took her time getting dressed making sure she made an effort to look extra nice. She ran downstairs but suddenly came to a halt in the living room as she heard voices coming from the kitchen.

Riddhima raised her eyebrow and stood there like a statue as she heard voices; "Pagal (Mad)...now you're hearing his voice...get a grip Ridz!" she said hitting her head with her hand.

She smiled as she walked through the living room; through the hall and stood at the entrance of the kitchen; she pictured Armaan sitting around the dining table with her parents having breakfast; she couldn't stop looking at him.

Riddhima whispered to herself; "Now you're seeing things..."

She stood there for a while staring at him until Shashank noticed her; Armaan smiled at her.

"Riddhima beta...kya huwa?" (Riddhima dear...what's wrong?) Shashank asked her.

"Haan..." (Yeah) Riddhima came out of her daydream and blinked several times; "...ji papa?" (Yes dad?)

Shashank smiled; "Come and sit down...have your breakfast!"

Padma turned to look at her with a small frown; "Riddhima...you've become so forgetful lately...tum apne bag waha pe bhool gayi thi (you left your bag there) ...Armaan brought it back for you..."

Riddhima bit the inside of her cheek and thought to herself; "Oh my gosh...yeh toh sach main yahan pe hain..." then she forced a smile onto her face; "...umm thanks!"

Armaan shook his head; "No prob..." he winked at her and she looked around to see if anyone else noticed then smiled.

They had breakfast and then Armaan and Riddhima left to go to school saying bye to Padma and Shashank.

During the car ride Armaan kept looking over at Riddhima and telling her how beautiful she looked while she blushed; they arrived at the school and Armaan parked the car outside of the premises, he was about to get out when Riddhima called out to him.

"Armaan...what is this that we have?" she asked looking into his eyes; "...I mean...I do like you...but I..." she didn't know how to tell him; "...I umm...I promised dii to just concentrate on my studies..." she told him honestly.

Armaan turned to face her holding her hand; "I understand...we're friends right...and I believe that you want to get to know me better...so let's just take things slow...be a couple but don't take things too far too soon...if you want we don't need to have a physical relationship...I'm fine with that...we can stay as friends in front of our family until we are ready to let them know...but in front of our friends we can be a couple..."

"That sounds okay..." she agreed nodding.

"And I promise I won't come in the way of your studies...I know how important that is for you and you have made a promise to bhabi...I don't want to ruin that for you..." he told her.

"Thank you..." she whispered.

Armaan smiled at her and they got out of the car and made their way into the building holding hands.

"You're looking beautiful..."

"You've said that at least ten times already but...thanks again..." Riddhima blushed.

Armaan looked over at her; "So...are we gonna tell everyone right now?"

Riddhima suddenly looked scared; "Umm...I don't know..."

Armaan rubbed the back of her hand gently with his thumb; "They will find out somehow and when they do they'll kill us for not telling them..."

Riddhima nodded; "You're right...what do you think they'll say?"