Part - 2
"My life sucks! It's been long since I have done something adventurous or daring. It's so boring to be normal", Ram complained to his bunch of friends.
"In that case fatty, I have something interesting for you", Neha jumps in
"Kya hai Neha...jaldi bata", Ram was eager to know
"Rehne de Ram yeh kuch ulta seedha karwayegi", Vikram added
"Haan Ram you should not forget your last encounter with Prof. Shukla", Shruti warned him
"Thik hai fatty rehne de", Neha was pissed
"Nahi darling tu bol na...just ignore them", Ram pestered her
"Okay...mai jiska bhi naam bolu tujhe uske saath Eye contact banana hai for 5 mins daily", Neha was excited.
"Ah its the easiest thing", Ashwin passed the comment
"Lekin isme ek twist hai", Neha looked at Ram
"Kya twist hai", Ram asked.
"You cannot speak to that person aur din mai wo jitne bar tere samne aaye you have to hold his/her attention", Neha was excited
"Ram agar isne Prof.Shukla ka naam kaha toh you are dead", Shruti whispered
"How long I cannot talk?", Ram enquired
"Jab tak yeh challenge chalega...simple", Neha casually answered
"Ram chod yeh challenge agar Neha ne kisi sar phire ka naam diya toh tu usey explain bhi nahi kar payega reason", Vikram discouraged Ram
"Neha dont tell me tum kisi ladke ko victim banane wali ho", Ashwin rolled his eyes
"Not a bad idea Ashwin", Neha laughed, "but fatty ki reputation kharab nahi kar sakte so we will go with Priya Sharma"
"Are you mad? Neha dont drag Priya", Shruti warned
"But why?", Neha countered
"You know how she is so I think", Shruti tried to explain
"how she is matlab? Kaisi hai wo", Ram teased them
"She is sweet Ram but introvert...kisi se baat nahi karti, always into books", Shruti spoke warmly about her
"Have I ever met her?", Ram questioned, "mila bhi hoga toh yaad nahi hoga", Ram himself answered his question, "Neha yeh challenge kab tak chalega"
"Sirf 10 days", Neha was thrilled.
"Do whatever you want and if Priya get hurt in this I will kill you both", Shruti warned them
"Ram here comes she", Neha points at Priya who was going to library, "wo jisne blue stole pehna hua hai"
Ram smiles remembering Priya's confused face when he was staring her. She was feeling uncomfortable with his gaze and quickly disappeared from the scene. That was the first time he actually noticed her in the college. In excitement to do this new and stupid challenge, he kept following her, seeking her whole day and Priya was intimidated. She was getting scared of his gazes as they were giving her negative vibes.
"Chal Ram ab soja...your life has taken an interesting twist n you have make most of it", Ram said to himself.
New day, New work, New plans. Both Ram and Priya once again resolved their grits and headed for Conference. Priya was sure what she have to do "maintain a distance from Ram" and Ram knew what he have to do "be as close to Priya as he can and grab every opportunity thrown by destiny".
Conference was going pretty well but Priya was bored as hell. She started playing with her pen which did not go unnoticed by Ram. He chuckled thinking how Priya do random stuff when bored-twisting fingers, tapping feet, playing with pen etc. He thought if she was not interested why she came to attend the conference. Priya tried concentrating then dropped the idea thinking anyhow Ram is paying attention and he will handle and she just have to agree with whatever he decides. Simple as that. She observed how engross Ram was in conference. She couldn't help but smile at his dedication.
Ram gave a break for lunch and Priya was relieved. She wanted to be away from Ram but destiny had other plans. Ram asked her out for a lunch and she agreed. Ram took her to the nearby restaurant, made her comfortable on one of the table and went to give some instructions to his secretary on phone. Meanwhile Priya took liberty to order the food for both of them.
"Sorry to keep you waiting", Ram was back after ending his call.
"Its fine", Priya smiled, "between I think we should not straight away start with online stores, first we should gain trust of consumers by opening boutiques"
"I thought you were bored in conference but you did paid attention to discussion", Ram was surprised
"May be not as attentive and dedicated as you were", Priya smiled, "but a little and that much is enough I guess"
"Why you did not said it in conference, we could have discussed", Ram asked
"Like you said, I was bored and did not have the urge to speak", Priya chuckled, "you can say it in conference anyways"
"as you say madam", Ram smiled,"shall we order the food?"
"I did that", Priya looked around to see if food was coming.
Waiter served them and went. Ram was surprised to see his favourite food on plate and it raised the questions in his mind.
"So you had difficulty in remembering me but you pretty much remembered my likes n dislikes", Ram raised his eyebrows.
Priya cursed herself. Priya you should get an award for this. What explanation would you give for this now? Can't you keep your feelings in check.
"I thought you would like it so ordered...how come I would know what you like to eat?", Priya was looking into her plate, playing with spoon to avoid eye contact.
"I see you still dont make eye contact while lying", Ram smirked
Priya was impressed that he still remembered it and flushed out at his comment. Priya! Dont fall for this, he is married man...already taken. Shield your heart.
Ram left the topic and did not asked further questions to spoil her mood or to embarrass her.
"Priya when you were not interested why you agreed to attend the conference", Ram was curious to know
"Rajat forced me and I could not say no", Priya answered.
"Looks like Rajat holds important place in her life. Kahin Rajat isi se toh shaadi nahi kar raha hai? Ram you need to get information on her as soon as possible. It will help you to chalk out your plan", Ram mentally noted it.
The rest of the day followed. Ram put forward Priya's idea of opening outlets first before going online. He infact made Priya to give her views on it and she reasoned out the trust factor of consumers. Once consumers have trust in their products, then only they will buy their products online. They called it for the day and it was planned to discuss on Priya's point next day. Ram offered to drop Priya to hotel but Priya denied.
Once back from the work, Priya slumped on her bed and replayed her time with Ram on loop in her brain. She loved being around him. The way he looks at her, makes her feel special. It was his gazes only that compelled her to befriend him.
She was confused and little afraid the way Ram used to stare her, gaze at her. First day, she ignored him thinking he is some brat and would disappear next day. She was wrong as he continued to do so every single day. After 3-4 days, gathering courage she asked him the reason and he simply smiled at her and went away. This annoyed her and she went to speak to Shruti, her classmate-the only person in college with whom she was comfortable and acquaintance with.
"Shruti is something with wrong with my face", Priya questioned her
"Nahi toh...aise kyu pucha", Shruti questioned back
"I dont know but ek ladka 3-4 days se ghure jaraha hai...its weird, he dont even answer", Priya complained
"Just ignore him", Shruti suppressed her smile.
That eye contact daily with Ram, made her somewhat comfortable around him. She was not expert at reading eyes yet she found his eyes turning warm towards her daily. His eyes radiated warmth, care and meant no harm and this eased out her fear. She started smiling whenever he made a eye contact and he started reciprocating the same.
On the last day of challenge, Shruti introduced Priya to rest of her gang and there Ram apologized to Priya for stalking her like that, "I swear agar challenge nahi hota toh I would not have disturbed you". Priya had nothing to say so she just did what she always do "smile".
"Sirf smile hi karti ho ya kabhi baat bhi karti ho", Ram teased her making her blush.
"Priya you are such a spoil sport", Neha complained, "I thought you would complain about fatty to Principal"
Priya loved the gang instantly but could not mingle with them quickly. But they never left her alone and always included her in their activities.
Priya's thought wandered to destiny, "is it my destiny the reason to be face-to-face with ram? To meet him once again? May be destiny wants us to be together? May be destiny is giving me a chance to get Ram back in my life? Wait! Is not Ram married? Your fictional novels are damaging your brain and making you imagine stuff that happens in fairy tales. Huh. Why dont you once check if Ram married Isha. Obviously he would have married her...that's what Isha's Social Media status indicated.
Priya wanted to check Isha's profile as she always advertises her personal life on social media but dropped the idea. She could not see Ram with her, infact with anyone. She did not have the courage to face the truth.
Ram started searching about Priya. Earlier, he did not have any link or clue to know about Priya but today he has Rajat. He can easily know about Priya. Ram found out that Priya is very private person like she she used to be in college. He got hold of Jyothi who was Social butterfly. He was relieved to know that Rajat was marrying Jyothi and Priya is still very much single. Rajat and Jyoti are her only friends and family too.
Days were passing smoothly with Priya and Ram enjoying each other's company. Priya decided to stop sulking and being conscious around Ram. She wanted to make the time she spends with Ram special. She was creating memories for rest of her life. Many times, unconsciously, Priya did things that surprised Ram. Ram was amazed to know that Priya knows him better than himself. It was encouraging and also he was growing curious to know how Priya knows him the way no one knows or understands. The harder Priya tried to hide emotions, the stronger they came out.
"The more you hide your feelings, the more they show. The more you deny your feelings, the more they grow". Same was happening with Priya.
Waiting for Constructive Criticism😆
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