I'll Love You Longer Than Forever

Chapter Ninety Two

The next couple days passed in a blink. Armaan & Rahul werevery eager to show their girls around Kasauli, so most of the trip was spent visiting various little nooks and corners of the little town and enjoying the weather. They did visit the normal touristy spots, pray at the temples and the church, but it was first and foremost, a tour of Armaan & Rahul's home. So,the most important places to see weren't the ones that people usually visited,but places that had some sort of meaning, and only to Armaan or Rahul.

There was so much to see, so much to know. Every place they visited had a story attached to it, no matter how silly. Like the tea stall where Armaan had spent most of his college days apart from the cafe, sipping tea, and unfortunately, flirting with girls (Riddhima had whacked Armaan hard when he'd proudly announced it). Rahul's favourite little hole in the wall restaurant that served the best pizza they'd ever had was also where he'd spent a lot of time with his few friends from college. Nikki had made Riddhima promise that no matter what, they'd go to this particular stationery shop that sold the quirkiest things, and so they went. And what a trip it was! They all went a little wild, buying anything and everything that pleased them, all of it silly and obnoxious and quirky, but still amazing. The owner seemed to remember Armaan as Nikki's best friend, and after he'd made a quick call to said best friend and let her chat with the owner, they'd even gotten a sweet discount, on top of stuff that was sent for Nikki, on the house. They also visited some other famous college hangouts which were milling with students and both Armaan & Rahul recounted winding tales of what they'd done there.

They visited the library that Rahul used to go to, to study. It was huge and regal, absolutely beautiful, and the others were in awe as Rahul showed them around. None of the workers from when Rahul used to frequent the library still worked there, but it was a great trip nevertheless with Rahul sharing lots of anecdotes.

Armaan & Riddhima even went to Armaan's old kickboxing/streetfight gym. Both of them had been skeptical about it at first, especially Armaan, but Riddhima had convinced him to go, using his own words against him from the day before. They would make new memories to rid them of the old ones. And, they did (after Arman teased Riddhima of being a line chor, like always). Armaan's former coach was really happy to see him, and even happier tofind out that his favourite student was finally settling down, even if he was a little disappointed that Armaan didn't box anymore. It had taken Armaan sometime to explain to the man concerned that kickboxing had been a way to project his anger at something because of all the shit in his life at the time, which he didn't need now because he was in a very happy place in life. Armaan felt a lot lighter after that visit.

But, even with all the sight-seeing and exploring, the girls didn't fail to remind Riddhima that she was going to get officially engaged soon. Apparently, Anjali and Nikki had made it their mission to plan the entire ceremony ASAP. They were constantly calling Muskaan about something or the other, and both Muskaan & Riddhima's phones were inundated with about a million messages each day, sharing pictures of clothes, decor, food. While it warmed Riddhima's heart that they were so excited about it, the three were starting to get on her nerves a little. And, apparently, Armaan wasn't free of their form of torture either. Since he was the groom, his opinion mattered too, or so Nikki said.

By the end of the day, Riddhima felt that they'd planned the entirety of her engagement. She'd definitely okayed a gorgeous lehenga that Anjy had sent her a picture of, and from what she knew, Armaan had agreed to wearing a very snazzy suit also (pictures of which weren't shared with her no matter how hard she'd begged because Nikki wanted Riddhima to experience it the first time on the day of the engagement). They'd settled on a banquet to hold the event at, even agreed on a tentative menu, and found adorable decor to go with the theme of their engagement. The guest list had been final since ages, way back from the first engagement. So, really, they were all set. Now, Armaan joked, all they needed was an actual date.