Encounter - A RaYa Journey

Chapter - 8

"I came because I missed you. I wanted to see you" a tear slipped down his face.

Priya couldn't take her eyes off him. She has had people in her life who were with her but never shown their support, only showed her sympathy but she knew Ram was the support she needed. She also knew that accepting him meant he had to risk his all on her behalf, was he ready for that? Was she ready to take this chance?

She could feel her eyes bream with tears "It's feels nice to know that someone missed me. But you do know that it's a very dangerous thing to say, right?" her smile was hesitant. "I'll pretend that I didn't hear that"

Ram could see her discomfort, he anyway smiled "There are billions of people in this world, there are many countries, yet we met in the same country at the same time. We spend a day together and when we returned back to India we met again in the same office. We also had a fun day together yesterday. I mean it's an amazing connection"

Ram had no idea what Priya felt, he could feel her discomfort but also he knew somewhere deep inside she felt for him but something was stopping her.

"Let's go out and enjoy this coffee, the weather is very good," she said trying to change the topic.

They sat out on the wooden chair, facing the sea directly. It was cold today, not ice cold but chilli for west coast weather. They slowly sipped their coffee ignoring each other's eyes. As Ram felt Priya shiver, he took off his coat and covered her.

"It's okay Ram," she said while removing the warm coat.

"You'll catch a cold. I am warm, I don't need it" saying this he sat closer to Priya. As she felt his side touch hers, she felt warmth all over her body.

They stared out towards the sea, both the sky and the water complemented each other. Silence accompanied them both.

A while later, Priya said "Ram, I need—"as she looked towards Ram, he was fast asleep on his side of the chair. His head was in an uncomfortable position so she slowly pulled him and made his head topple over her shoulder.

"He must not have slept the entire night," she said to herself. She stared at his face, his features, how adorable he looked, how his caring nature reflected on his face.

"I didn't have many friends when I was little." She continued speaking, not caring that Ram was not listening; she just needed to let it out of her system.

"I wanted to go out and play with my friends, but my mother didn't allow me. If I did become close, I had to become distant again. It's very painful to become distant to a friend you are close to, so after a certain point in time, I convinced myself that it's all useless. Then I met you, I felt myself coming out of my comfort zone, you made me laugh, I felt happy again. I had forgotten this feeling, which you brought into my life. But -"a tear slipped down her face. "But thinking about becoming distant again and acting like all these don't matter is still very painful. That's why I am trying to stop. Stop me from feeling."

As she softly ran her hand through his hair, he woke up. Ram realized what he was doing.

"I am sorry; I was too sleepy," he said feeling guilty and combing his hair with his fingers.

"Your head must be larger than it seems, woman have delicate shoulders, you know" she teased him, earning a shy smile from him in return. They both continue with their small talk.

*****

Priya returned to her room holding a plastic bag with some snacks from Ram, as she kept the bag on the table, she found another parcel. It was from Kunal – it had an expensive dress. But it was the plastic bag with the snack which she opened; and that made her smile, that made her heart flutter.