Recap

Aayush proposes to Sam . She refuses initially because she doesn't want him to get heart broken again, if they don't end up together, but he convinces her and finally she accepts his love. Aayush reveals that the entire tour was arranged for her sake and that everyone there knew that he was gonna propose. Then, they enjoy their first valentine's day by visiting various places in kodaikanal and they end up buying numerous gifts for each other. Meanwhile, Hadiya's boyfriend Varun, joins them in kodaikanal and Aayush tells him that he is scared if his father might not accept Sam due to Aayush's bad experience with Riya .

Sameera's POV

The girls screamed loudly when I narrated the incident to them. I showed the ring which he bought for me.

"I am so happy for you Sam", Radha beamed.

"Yeah. Me too", Sushma said.

"You won't believe what happened here on Feb 14. I finally told Prathik that I have feelings for him.'

"What ?"

"I don't think he took it too well. He stammered a lot when I said so. He said he would think about it. If he doesn't want me to be his girlfriend, I will surely kill him."

Sushma and I laughed at her.

"Poor guy. We don't want him to get stuck with you."

"I have got good friends.", Radha rolled her eyes.s

"Wait till Karthik hears about Aayush and me.", I said dreamily.

The next two years of our college life was the best ! It was pure heavenly bliss !

I felt my life had completely changed after he became a part of it. One major difference between our relationship and the other ones I saw around me was that we never texted. Aayush hates texting. When asked the reason, he said. "Texting is the best way to misinterpret what someone is trying to convey". It was actually true and I had a hard time accepting that because I love texting. But for his sake, I changed. Whenever he wanted to talk with me, he would call and that would be brief as well. We would speak for a maximum of five minutes every three to four days. Sushma almost fainted when she heard of this.

"FIVE minutes ???? Are you guys mad ?? Are you from another planet??", she was bewildered.

"Relax girl. I enjoy this ."

"But, seriously, FIVE minutes ??"

Sushma and Karthik always texted. I mean , always ! It was impossible to see them without their phones , even for a minute.

Aayush was always busy with his basketball practice, the eco club, academics and so on. He was apparently an all rounder and participated in every competition that was conducted in college. So, he spent very less time for me. I occasionally used to be mad at him but I accepted his way of life and stopped getting mad at him thereafter.

"Won't you guys be bored of talking to each other all the time ?", I asked Sushma.

"Nope .Never. This is called love !", she smirked .

Aayush almost spit the coffee he was drinking when I told him what Sushma had said to me.

"This is crazy. Totally . Ridiculous too !" , he laughed.

I finally got used to the "5 min" talk with Aayush. It was difficult at first. But, the quality little time I spent talking to him was cherished entirely .Whenever he could find time, he would take me out for movies, shopping, amusement parks, restaurants etc, which would usually happen during the month end. I would wait during the whole month desperately for that one day with him. When that day came, I would wear clothes of his favorite color. He could never guess that until I told him .If we met in college, then we would settle in the cafeteria for a long time and would keep on eating.

On his 20th birthday( July 28 ), my friends and I held a surprise party for him. We had invited almost everyone he knew. [ He was out of town on a tournament for his 21st birthday and we couldn't arrange a party.] About 50 people were there when he cut his birthday cake. He fed it to me first, much to the jeering of the huge crowd around us. After applying cake all over his face and taking countless selfies , my gang of friends along with Aayush and I left for the mall. We had food and then went for a movie.

"Is this my favorite movie ?", he asked excitedly.

"I am sorry dear. All the tickets for The amazing spiderman has been booked."

"Oh..", his face quickly lost all the brightness in the fraction of a second.

"Its okay. You have already done a lot for me.", he said, "I had been waiting to watch it in the theatre but I couldn't find time."

I smiled apologetically at him and turned towards the screen.

We were actually at his favorite movie but I wanted to fool him. I had booked the tickets in advance as I knew he was crazy for spiderman.

The movie started and the title appeared.

He had been dull since our conversation and when he saw the title he jumped and pulled my hand.

"Sameera !!! How come they are playing Spider man here ? It's a miracle. Yeahhhh !"

I burst out laughing and couldn't stop.

"Why are you laughing Idiot ?"

"I was kidding you. We have come to watch Spider man only.", I continued laughing at him.

He gasped. "You lied to me. How bad of you.", he pretended to fake anger and crossed his arms.

"Soorrrrryyyyy Aaayussshhhhh. Please forgive me.", I pretended as well.

He smiled and said, "You really are the best girlfriend in this universe."

"Ooohhh. Enough lover boy. Watch the movie now", I turned his face towards the screen.

I liked Spiderman too, but not as much as Aayush. The best part about the movie was New York.

"Isn't New York a wonderful place ?", I asked him.

"What ? Yeah. I guess.", he was gobbling up popcorn.

"I wish I could live there. It's my dream city. After finishing college, I want to work there and live there. With you !"

He nodded, but I don't think he even listened to what I said because he was engrossed in the movie.

I admired him while he watched. Childlike, so sweet and innocent. But, he had a rough side too.

If some guy teased me, he made sure the guy went home with bandages and stitches. He would not shout or show his anger outside, he would calmly give strong punches till the guy bled. Whenever I was there, I would prevent him from doing so, but all those took place only when I was not present. After beating up two boys, everyone became scared of him and no one dared to tease me thereafter. The boys whom he beat were actually friends of Riya, who was so jealous that she sent people to mock us. Aayush said that she would soon realize her mistake and that she was a very egoistic person who wouldn't admit her mistake even if she did realize it.

Aayush's Dad has been successful in regaining his lost business and was doing very well. Riya couldn't accept that and she had wanted to patch up their relationship with Aayush again. But, it was too late since he was taken now and Aayush would never go back to her. So, when she came to know about me being his girlfriend, she became extremely jealous and tried to insult me. I made Aayush promise that he wouldn't beat anyone anymore. He reluctantly agreed, but he said that if it went beyond control then he would not stop himself.

There were frequent clashes between Aayush and Riya in college. She knew Aayush wouldn't hit her, so she took advantage of it to insult me.

Once when Aayush and I were walking towards the parking lot , Riya appeared with two of her friends.

"Look who is here ! Lover boy and his b***h !"

Aayush's fist clenched and he looked as if he was ready to kill her. I got scared of him at that very moment.

"You are angry, eh ? Lover boy ! What a stupid name !"

Aayush held my hand and he tried to walk past her when she blocked his path.

"Not so fast LOVER BOY ! We haven't finish yet

I was worried that he would beat them up.

"So, you have easily lured this rich boy ?', she asked me.

"Mind your words !", I said as anger swept through me.

"I have spoken the truth. Would you teach me some of your tricks ? Might come in handy .", she winked and laughed like a mad woman.

"This is it !", Aayush said , breathing heavily, "Let me go Sam !"

"Aayush, no ! Please !", I held his arm tightly.

"Aww. Look at this cute couple.", she laughed .

"Aayush, even if you lose every single penny , I will still be there for you. I won't leave you , like this vamp did ! ", I said to him.

Riya's mouth hung open in shock and I pulled him away from them.

"You are amazing. The look on her face- it was priceless !", he said after we came away, "She shouldn't have said that to you. She will receive some nice treatment. Wait and watch."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. Maybe, I can thrash her Australian cousin and make him run away from here"

"I strictly forbid you to do any such thing."

"But Sam, she insul...."

He stopped when he saw the serious look on my face.

"Fine. I won't do anything."

"I don't want you to ! Do you understand Mr. Aayush?"

"Yeah. I get it."

After that incident, Riya seemed to keep her mouth shut. Maybe she didn't want to get insulted in front of everyone. Whenever she saw me, she would glare and give a disgusting look. But, I never bothered about her.

Meanwhile, Radha's love story became a laughing stock. Prathik liked her, but he was very scared to confess his feelings to her, thinking she might stop talking to him forever. But, he never knew that Radha loved him too. So after she proposed to him, he was extremely happy and he wanted to tell her that he loved her too. All of us knew about this except for Radha. He had said to her that he would think about it, but in fact he waited for her birthday to tell her.

One day, in front of us, he practiced those three words to tell her. He didn't want any dramatic proposal because she hated drama. He practiced how he would say "I love you " to her, in front of our gang. Radha was speaking to a professor inside the building while we were in the ground. Prathik had practiced almost a thousand times and all of us were bored to death. He was facing us while doing so and we were busily checking out our phones and we didn't pay him any attention. We failed to notice that Radha had come searching for us and she saw Prathik practicing . Since he had his back to her, he didn't notice her. I quickly looked up to see her standing there astonished. She had crossed her arms and she stared at Prathik. All of us had seen her now and we tried hard to control our laughter. As usual, Shabir couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"Prathik ??"

"Yeah ?"

"What don't you like about Radha?"

"She gets angry soon dude...."

"Shut up Prathik.", I warned him.

"Very short tempered.."

I could see Radha's face reddening .

"Despite that, I know how much she loves me and that's what makes her special !"

Upon hearing those words, her eyes widened in shock. For the first time in my life, I saw her eyes filled with tears. I realized there when it comes to love, even the most strongest and the boldest ones have a weak spot.

She went in front of him and smiled, much to his astonishment.

Then they began their love story !

Only Shabir and Vaibhav were actually single in our gang. Both of them were approached by girls several times, but they didn't like any of them. They were more career oriented. Shabir is an excellent dancer and many girls had crushes on him, but he liked a girl who was already in a relationship and he never was interested in a relationship. Meanwhile, Vaibhav was determined that he would marry only the girl his parents chose. Radha called him "old school" but he never really cared about the taunting.

One fine day, Aayush invited me to his house. We still hadn't informed our parents that we were in a relationship. It had been more than an year now but we didn't want to tell them now itself. We decided that after we finish college , we would do that. I was scared to go to his house, but he assured me that his parents were always out of town and only his maid and the other servants lived with him. He also said that his maid was a very trustworthy person and she wouldn't tell his parents about their relationship. So I agreed to go.

On a warm Saturday evening, Aayush picked me up from college and drove to his house.

"I am so excited Sam ", he grinned. "I am taking you home for the first time. Yaay.!!"

I laughed at him, "Aren't you adorable ?"

"Of course. I am ! That's why girls keep on flirting with me "

I smacked him with my bag and turned away.

"My girl is angry.", he laughed.

"Go flirt with them. Don't talk to me"

"Come on Sam. They come and talk with me .Besides, no one can replace you."

I turned and smiled at him.

"You always know how to make me smile."

"Else I wouldn't have been your boyfriend".

He turned the car and stopped in front of a big, black gate and honked.

A guard rushed and opened the gate.

"Aayush sir.", he smiled.

"Good evening ", Aayush greeted him with a smile .

He drove further inside and I saw a huge , magnificent house surrounded by a beautiful garden. He parked his car in front of the main door, went outside and opened the car door for me.

"Welcome My Queen", he bowed.

I blushed and said, "Thank you, My King" and got out of the car.

He held my hand and took me inside.

A middle aged woman, with graying hair and a cheerful smile came out to greet us.

"Welcome Sameera dear", she smiled .

"She knows me ?", I whispered to him.

"I told her you will be visiting today.", Aayush whispered back.

I smiled and said, "Hello Aunty. How are you ?"

" I am very fine dear.", she grinned and said to Aayush. "Good choice !"

"Thank you Meena amma. Have you taken your tablets ?"

"Of course kutty. He is very caring", she told me and she led us inside.

"Kutty ?", I laughed at him.

He became embarrassed and said, "She calls me that right from my childhood."

"Okay kutty", I couldn't control my laughter.

Aayush's house was very beautiful, both on the outside and inside. My architectural mind started working and I was telling him how an arch could have been built there and not her and so on, until he became tired of listening to it.

"Sam , please don't make me cry.", he begged me.

"Ok ok .I'll stop !"

"I'll prepare dinner for you dearies.", said Meena amma and went inside the kitchen before placing a big tray of cookies and sweets in front us.

We ate some cookies and Aayush took me on a tour of the house.

Finally, we visited his room.

It was a complete mess !

There were posters of his favorite basket ball players on all the walls of his room. His bed was fully covered with his clothes. A study table was situated at the corner of the room, stacked with thick books and covered with dust. His laptop was on top of the books and it seemed it would fall at any moment. I carefully took it and placed it safely on the table. There was a dead plant near the table and the idiot had forgotten to water it .

"I will not tolerate any of this after marriage.", I glared at him.

"What ?", he was busy eating an apple.

I snatched it from him and said, "Take a look at your "room" !".

"It's perfectly normal.", he said

"No. It's not ! Aayush !"

"Sam. I don't have time to clean this up. Meena amma also won't clean up my room because she says I have to learn cleanliness .", he rolled his eyes.

"She is right !", I folded my arms.

"Okay okay girl. I will keep my room clean and neat and tidy hereafter.", he pretended as to be scared of me.

"You better ! Else ...."

"Have I not listened to you ?", he grinned.

"Whatever", I said as my eyes fell on a series of photos that were placed on his bedside table.

I went towards it and picked up each photo frame to look at it.

"Is this you ?", I pointed to a small child playing with a ball.

"Yes."

"Aww....you are very chubby and cute."

He laughed , " Sorry that I am lean now."

"Hey...why are you wearing a frock?", I showed him another photograph of a small baby.

He stopped smiling and he said sadly, "That's my younger sister Anita."

"You have a sister ? Why haven't you told me ? Is she here now ?"

"She is no more.", he said and sat on the bed.

"Ohh...sweety...am so sorry.", I sat near him and held his hand.

"She was only a baby when she died. Such a cute thing."

"How...."

"Drowned in the pool while playing.", tears rolled from his eyes.

I wiped his tears and comforted him.

"Mother was very upset and she almost starved herself to death. But, Father bought her back. He said that she had to live, at least for my sake. To take more care of me. It took a long time to bring her back to a normal state. She became like that again when I met with the accident before. She wanted to stay here and take care of me . But, I convinced her that Father needed her more than me. She had to take care of his health."

"Tell Mother that she needn't fear unnecessarily about you, now that I am here to take care of you.", I said to him.

"I know you will.", he wiped away his tears and stroked my hair softly.

"Kuttyyy.....", Meena amma called from below."Dinner's ready "

"Come on.", he pulled me downstairs.

We had a scrumptious meal and I ate way beyond my normal limit. Aayush forced me to third helpings , much to my dismay. Finally, it was dessert. It seemed as if he had bought an ice cream shop to his home. This boy ! He wanted everything to be extravagant when I was around, yet I favored just simple things.

He packed some ice cream and he asked me to sit in the car . I thanked Meena amma for the dinner and gave her a quick hug. She asked Aayush to marry me soon and that she likes me a lot. He promised her that he would and said that he would come home in an hour and got inside the car.

It was 8 pm and I didn't know why he was suddenly desperate to drop me home. But, I was wrong. He drove to the beach. He wouldn't tell me where we were headed , until we reached the beach. It was the first time I went there with him.

"Why have you brought me here suddenly ?", I asked him, as we slowly walked on the cool sand.

"To enjoy the breeze "

We sat down on the sand and he pulled out two ice cream cups and gave me.

"It has melted. We can only drink it.", he laughed.

"We already had so many. I am full.", I complained.

"Okay.", he said and grabbed it from my hands and he started to eat , rather drink them.

I laughed as he struggled to eat it and the passers-by shot him curious looks. The gushing of the waves , the cool breeze and the moonlight on the sea and with my idiot by the side, it was such a beautiful moment but I didn't know it was almost the last happy time I would spend with him in a few years.

Aayush's college life was soon coming to an end and I wondered how I was going to spend the remaining days in college without him. I knew he was going to take over his Fathers' business, but I didn't know if he would go to some other town. Few weeks after he left college, he told me a news that broke me to pieces. He said it was very important and that he wanted to meet me immediately. So, I rushed to see him and asked him what it was.

He looked grave and I realized it must be very crucial .

"Aayush ? What happened ?"

"Sam, I am leaving to New York in two days !"

............................................................

I am sorry , yet again, for the long chapter guys !!

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