A few months had passed since that weekend, three to be precise. And in those three months Armaan and I grew extremely close. No, we weren't boyfriend-girlfriend officially, but we shared that bond. That bond that was more than friendship. After that night, Armaan made every effort he could to spend time with me every day. Even if it was just a 10 minute encounter. We saw each other at least once, if not twice, a day. And it wasn't just us spending time together. Armaan got a new roommate a week after he sent in the papers. His name was Rahul. When Muskaan and I went over to meet him, Rahul and her instantly clicked. Well, not in the friendly way. They argued with each other more than actually having a real conversation. It was usually Muskaan who would start the fight though by turning everything into something that she found to be wrong. It was just who she was. At first, one wouldn't believe that they would get along with the constant fighting, but they did. I guess their arguments brought them closer...somehow.
I stood in front of the mirror fixing the lavender dress I was wearing. Armaan had bought it for me. He thought the color would look nice on me and I just couldn't say no to him. We were going to go out for dinner tonight and I was just waiting for him to come over. He said he'd be here by 7. I glanced over at the clock that read 7:24 p.m. and he still wasn't here. I was passing time by doing minor touch ups but this was getting ridiculous now. I couldn't fix anything else! Getting frustrated, I grabbed my purse and marched over to his dorm knocking on the door loudly. "Coming!" I heard him from the inside. I waited at least a minute before I realized that he wasn't 'coming.' So what do I do? Go by Muskaan's teachings and barge in!
I turned the knob and pushed it open to see the disheveled of the living room and connecting kitchen. Something that I had gotten used to. Armaan and Rahul were pigs when it came to cleanliness of the dorm! I walked over to Armaan's room's door and saw him emptying out his closet onto the bed and floor. He picked up one shirt and held it against himself but then threw it on the bed and grabbed another one. I stood there watching him as he went through at least 5 shirts in my presence plus the 10 to 12 that were already on the floor. He was moaning and groaning as none of the shirts satisfied his liking. "Armaan, seriously?" I asked, giggling at the cute face he was making as he grunted after each shirt. When he turned and saw me he stood there shocked. "When did you get here?!" I walked into the room and picked up a few of his shirts and put them on hangers. "A few minutes ago. Armaan, what is all this?" I gestured to the mess of clothes around the two of us. "I can't figure out which shirt to wear." He nervously scratched the back of his head and looked down at the piles of shirts. "Gosh, you're worse than a girl!" I snickered as he gave me a glare.
I spotted a black shirt of the ground with thin white and grey stripes running down the length of it. "How about this one? I think it'll look nice on you." I held it up with both hands in front of me. He took it from me and held it up against his chest and looked at himself in the mirror. "Armaan can you hurry? It's almost 8. Our reservation is for 8:30." I heard him grunt as I walked out of the room. Another couple of minutes passed before he finally came out of his room. And it was totally worth the wait. The shirt really did look amazing on him and I could smell his cologne from all the way by the door. He had put on the one I really loved which made me even happier. He grabbed his wallet and keys and walked over to me. "Ready?" He asked as he opened the door. "I should be asking you that. I've been ready." I stepped out into the hallway with him following behind. I waited as he locked the door. We then entered the elevator and he hit the ground floor button. "By the way, you look absolutely beautiful." Armaan said out of the blue. "Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself." I saw his smile widen some more. "And you smell great too!" I added. "Oh really?" He slowly stepped closer to me and I could smell the scent getting stronger. I looked up to see him smirking at me as he came closer. I backed away every time he took a step closer which didn't work out because his steps were wider than mine. He cornered me and continued to move closer.
I heard the elevator door open and saw Muskaan and Rahul were going to enter but stopped. I quickly tried to push Armaan away from me but he wouldn't budge. "Geez Armaan! If that's what you guys wanted to do then why go out for dinner?!" Rahul teased. Upon hearing his voice Armaan immediately moved away and turned to see him. I looked down at the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the world. I moved behind Armaan as I felt the warmth in my cheeks growing. "Oh please, like you and Muskaan have never gotten that close." I moved my head over to look at the two of them and saw Muskaan flabbergasted at what Armaan had just said. "Oy, shut up! And get to your dinner!" Muskaan pushed the two of us out of the elevator and repeatedly pressed the button for the doors to close. "You two don't get too crazy now!" Armaan yelled in before the door shut and I could see Muskaan glaring at him while Rahul grinned behind her.
"Armaan! Drive slower!" He was going almost 80 in a residential area! "You're the one who wants to get there quick!" Armaan answered back as he slightly slowed down for a stop sign but then sped up again when he found no cars. "We have 15 minutes! Slow down please!" "Fiiine." I watched the speedometer's needle make its way back down from 75 to 45 in a few seconds. "Thank you!" I could finally exhale the breath I had taken in who knows how long ago.
We arrived five minutes before the reservation time with Armaan still trying to explain to me how we could've gotten here earlier. "Armaan! Does it really matter? We're here now let's go!" I dragged him to the entrance and pushed him into the restaurant. I held back my laughter as I saw Armaan looking up at the man he had stumbled onto when I pushed him. For the first time ever , I saw Armaan scared of something, or someone in this case. But who wouldn't be? The guy was freakin' huge! Taller and much bigger too. "S-s-sorry!" Armaan managed to stutter out as the guy stared him down. The guy held his intense gaze on Armaan and I realized he took it much more seriously. "Umm.. Armaan let's go." I whispered from behind getting scared myself of what this man could do. I saw him nod and right when we were going to walk around him the man held his arm out in front of us. I looked up to see Armaan's eyes wide open ad glancing over at the man without turning his head. "If the pretty lady wasn't with you, I would've done something. So watch your step next time." His deep voice rang through both of our ears. Armaan nodded and he moved his arm away. Armaan grabbed my hand and pulled me away as he hurriedly walked past him.
Once we were seated at the table I looked at Armaan to see he was still frightened. "You should've seen your face!" I said in between my laughter. "Hehehehe!" He mocked in a high-pitched voiced. "It wouldn't have been funny if he actually did something, now would it Shilpa?" I composed myself before replying. "I guess you're right..." I saw Armaan lean back with a smug expression. "It would have been hilarious!" His expression soon disappeared as he heard that and saw me in a laughing fit once again. "Hmpf... whatever. You can pay for your own food then!" He crossed his arms and looked the other way. The waiter eventually came and took our order. Throughout the meal, Armaan kept forgetting he was mad at me so he would change his emotions halfway through our conversations. I teased him every time. "Would you two like to have dessert?" The waiter politely asked as another one picked up the empty plates. "Oh no than-" "Actually can we have two mini tiramisus?" Before I could finish, Armaan interjected. "Sure, sir." The waiter walked away to get the two desserts. "Armaan! I'm so full, I can't eat anymore!" Seriously, if I ate one more bite my stomach would explode! "Oh be quiet and stop over exaggerating, Shilpa. One dessert won't kill you." My mouth gaped open. "Armaan!" I stopped myself from yelling at him when I saw the waiter return with the tiramisu in 2 small bowls.
"Thank you." I smiled at the waiter and then glared at Armaan when he left. I looked down at the plate and saw a small, black box. It looked like a ring box. I brought my eyes up slowly and saw Armaan resting his chin on his joined hands with the cutest smile on his lips. I put down the spoon and picked up the small box. I opened it up to see a silver ring with two hearts. A blue one with Armaan's name next to it and a pink one with my name. I looked back to Armaan but didn't find him there, just as I was about to panic someone gently took my hand into his and made me stand up. With the box held between us, I looked up to find Armaan gazing at me with loving, blue eyes.
"I'm not proposing marriage so don't worry." He joked as one of his hands reached for the ring in the box. "It's a promise ring." He looked back at me. I kept my eyes on him the whole time. "You're the only girl I would ever want to spend my life with. If I really wanted to, this would be the marriage proposal. But I know you need time to get over what happened and I completely understand that. Still, I will wait. No matter how long it takes, I promise that I'll wait for you and be there for you when you need me to be. So Shilpa, will you "officially" be my girlfriend?" He brought the ring up in front of both of our faces and grinned. I didn't know when it happened, but tears had escaped my eyes and fell down my cheeks. I smiled as happiness took over and shook my head in a 'yes' movement vigorously. He lifted my hand, slid the ring onto my finger and pulled me into a tight embrace. I could hear the crowd that had accumulated around cheering and aww-ing at us. But I was too in the moment to acknowledge them. All I knew was that I was in the arms of the most loving and understanding person ever. Armaan. My Armaan.
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