IshRa SS(complete 7th aug):Honeymoon in Switzerland

In the morning, Raman notices that Ishita is avoiding his eyes. She almost doesn't talk back to him. She only nods and gives one word answers. Even ruhi notices that something is wrong. Usually Ishita plays along in front of ruhi but today she needs some slack as she didn't sleep much.

Ishita's car is at the garage for repairing so Raman tells her that he will drop her. Ishita agrees but she is still very quiet. In the car she doesn't argue with him over little things like they usually do. Raman doesn't like it at all.

As he parks the car at the clinic, Ishita starts to gets off.

Raman : "Err Ishita?" She stops her movement and looks at him. There's a bit of anger in her eyes. Raman continues : "I thought I might come by at noon... we should have lunch... together. I mean if you want." Ishita seems to be thinking. Raman adds "Last time you brought lunch at the office so I thought I should make it up to you. Just so I don't owe you anything, you know?" He tries to laugh to be casual about it but when ishita looks at him there is sadness in her eyes.

Ishita : "As you wish." She gets off the car without looking back.

Raman : "Jansi ki rani ko kya ho gaya? ... Kuch to hai... "

Raman goes back to his office. Unfortunately it's a very busy day, with an unexpected really important meeting that comes at lunch time. Raman is so engrossed in the work that he doesn't realize it's lunch time and he doesn't eat. Later in the evening he checks his phone and sees a message from ishita : "I tried to call you but you didn't pick up. I guess you are busy. I'm eating with Sarika."

Raman slaps his forehead : "Raman yeh kya kita tumne! You totally forgot about lunch with ishita..." He looks at the time, it's past 5pm, ishita is probably at home right now. He decides to head back too.

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At home :

Toshi "puttar tu ha gaya? Tere liye chai banaun?"

Raman : "no thanks mom. Is ishita back yet?"

Toshi : "Yes, she went in your room to freshen up."

Raman goes inside the room. Ishita is putting clothes in the cupboard.

Raman : "Ishita?" Ishita looks at him, there is no emotion on her face but raman still feels like she is mad at him.

Raman : "Err... I'm sorry about lunch today. I had an unexpected meeting during lunch time."

Ishita keeps her focus on the clothes : "No problem. I don't expect anything from you anyway." She doesn't want to say those words but she is so bitter about his fake confession that the words slips out of her mouth anyway.

Raman angry: "What does that mean?"

Ishita : "nothing". She closes the cupboard and goes for the door but raman holds her wrist as she passes him by. She looks at him shocked "Raman... what are-"

Raman : "Tell me what is wrong with you. And don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. You've been acting completely strange since yesterday. I don't have time for these little games. If you're mad at me just say so, don't give me the cold shoulder."

Ishita : "let go of my wrist, you're hurting me."

Raman realizes that he is holding her bruised wrist, he let go immediately. Ishita massages her wrists and starts crying. Raman tells her in a very soft voice "I'm sorry ishita. If I did anything wrong..."

Ishita feels bad because she knows that he didn't do anything bad. She got her hopes up herself and now she pays the price. She keeps sobbing.

Raman's heart clenches when he sees her crying like that. He doesn't know what is wrong but he has to fix it as soon as possible. He comes closer and holds her hands "Listen Ishita. I really ..." Ishita pushes him away.

Raman is shocked.

Ishita : "don't do that to me! Don't be so nice because I know that you actually don't care..."

Raman : "Wh.. what? Of course I care! You're my wife, did you forget about that?!"

Ishita : "No I didn't! I also didn't forget that we only got married for Ruhi's sake. There is nothing between us."

This angers raman, he comes closer again and takes her firmly by the shoulders "How can you say that? I married you for Ruhi, that doesn't mean that our relationship stops there." Ishita is surprised by his words. What does he means by "our relationship doesn't stop there?"

Ishita : "but... but what about "sirf ruhi ke liye" ?"

Raman stammers "... well... things can change you know?... We've been living together for almost a year now." He is getting insecure and takes a step back.

Ishita doesn't want to let go of this chance to know if he feels anything for her or not : "What do you mean? What changes?"

Raman looks at his hands : "No... I mean, yes it changes. You get use to the other person, whether you want it or not. They start to become important, stuff like that... Sometime... you even start to l... love them."
His voice is getting lower and lower as if he wishes he didn't have to say these words. He turns sideway but ishita grabs lightly his arm and makes him face her again. Raman is stealing glances at her but can't keep straight eye contact.

Ishita softly : "Love?"

Raman : "Yeah... But it's not a big deal or anything. I mean... I'm not forcing my feelings on you or anything. In fact I don't even know if I'm really in lov-"

Ishita interrupts him : " I love you."

Raman looks at her, bewildered.

Ishita : "I love you Raman. I love you." She says it firmly, both of her hands on Raman's arms, as if she wanted to make sure that he understands what she was saying. Maybe raman loves her, maybe he doesn't, maybe he is somewhere in between but Ishita realizes that if SHE is sure of HER feelings, then she shouldn't be ashamed of them. The whole world can make fun of her, Raman himself can make fun of her. It doesn't matter to her, nothing matters to her compared to her feelings for her husband. She wants to be honest and she decides that she can't be afraid of telling what she feels anymore.

Slowly a bright smile appears on Raman's face. He feels light and happy.

Ishita laughs: "Got you!"

Raman confused : "What?"

Ishita : "You always tell me I can't act as good as you. Well you have your proof that I can, now!" She crosses her arms on her chest proudly and has a big smile on her face.

Raman's heart clenches hard. It was all a joke. She doesn't love him.

Ishita with a big smile: "so? How was it? My acting, I mean?"

Raman turns his back to her, and tries not to lose face: "Yeah really good. All thanks to me though, I've been a good professor." He scoffs but he has a big lump in his throat. He wishes she would just leave him right now. He closes his eyes. Suddenly he feels Ishita hugging him from behind. He opens his eyes.

Ishita laughs: "Got you again!"

Raman turns to face ishita. She lets him turn around but still hug him, from the front now. Raman is too confused to say anything. Ishita has a big smile : "Sorry that was mean, but it is pay back for yesterday." She pouts "I didn't like your little prank at all."

Raman looking in her eyes: "wait. That means..." he is hesitant so ishita continues for him "That means that I do love you Raman Kumar Bhalla."

Raman sighs heavily of relief : "You are really something aren't you? What type of joke is that." He frees himself from her hug, faking anger "I almost had a heart attack and you think it's funny? What is wrong with your head?! You're crazy yaar..."

Ishita is still laughing. She is feeling so light now that she had admitted her feelings. She starts to leave as she thinks that the discussion is over but raman grabs her arm. Ishita freezes. He gets close and hugs her from behind.

Ishita : "Raman...?"

Raman pushes her hair away and puts a kiss at the nape of her neck. Ishita closes her eyes, shying from the touch but enjoying it none the less.

Raman whispers in her ear: "You fooled me twice while I only fooled you once. Now we're even." He gives her his billionaire smile as she opens her eyes and leaves her alone in their room.

Ishita blushes "Ravan Kumar ! Always needs to have the last word...!" She laughs.

During dinner Raman is in a VERY good mood. He is sweet to everyone, even Simmi. He jokes at Romi's jokes, he gives lot of attention to Ruhi and so on. Toshi notices it of course and asks him why he is in such a good mood.

Raman : "I can't be kadoos all the time, even the villain needs to take a break from time to time!" Everyone laughs. Raman keeps stealing glances at Ishita, she does the same. Whenever their eyes meet, they have a big smile on their faces and both blush. Each time Ishita smiles at Raman he feels so much love inside him that he wants to hug the whole world, that's why he keeps showering everyone with love tonight.

After dinner Ishita goes inside her room. Raman wants to follow her but Toshi says "Raman. Do you want a cup of tea? I'm making some for your father."

Raman : "No thanks mummy ji."

Bhalla : "Arre Raman, say yes! I'd love to spend a bit of time with you. We never get the chance to talk lately."

Raman can't say no to his father so he sits with him and they drink the tea, talking and laughing.

After that Raman can finally go to his room. Ishita just got out from the shower. Raman and Ishita smile shyly at each other. Ishita says "good night" and goes to lie on the couch.

Raman : "Rukho Ishita." Ishita looks at him with question in her eyes.

Raman : "... I've been thinking... Maybe you should sleep on the bed. With me." Ishita's eyes widen. "I mean there is enough place for both of us. We can leave plenty of space in between." Ishita is relieved that he really only meant SLEEPING.

She is hesitant still. "You don't mind sharing your precious bed?"

Raman : "Haan tum jo mera dil mein guss gayi to bistre mein bhi guss jao..." He smiles at her. "What is mine is yours..." Ishita blushes and lifts the cover to get under them. Raman adds "But only 50%!" Ishita looks at him confused. Raman continues in Ravan Kumar mode : "You stay on your side of your bed ok? Don't think I'm giving you any permission on MY side of the bed." He mutters "Agar raat ko yeh madrasan sherni ban gayi to mein to samjo... khatam!" Ishita squints her eyes at him.

They both laugh and fall asleep.

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In the morning Raman gets up early and goes in the living room to have his breakfast. Balla's goes to get the mail and comes back with a letter for Raman. Raman opens the letter and he is shocked when he sees that it's the ticket for the European Tour they had won at the cooking competition.

Toshi comes and looks at the letter.

Toshi : "it came already?! That's so good. You and Ishita can finally have some time together."

Raman is a bit shy : "I don't know mom... I don't think ishita will want to go. It's only for two persons, ruhi can't come and..."

Toshi "arre chup kar! Leave ruhi out of this. You won a trip for you and your wife and you better enjoy it ! Ruhi will stay with us. You go and talk to ishita." Raman is hesitant. So toshi continues "Listen puttar. Making time for the couple is important in a marriage. It's even more important than the kids sometimes. Even after 4 kids, your father and I..."

Raman interrupts her "Stop it! Gosh I don't want to know! Chee!" and he rushes to his room. Bhalla and toshi start laughing.

Raman enters his room muttering "those old people... what is wrong with them! Sharam karna chaye iss humaar mein! Chee!"

Ishita was making the bed : "Raman? Kya hua?"

Raman : "Err Nothing." Ishita sees the paper in his hand.

Ishita : "what is that?"

Raman giving her the papers "It's about the Europe trip we won at the cooking competition. The tickets came today." Ishita is engrossed in the papers, she isn't really paying attention to him.

Raman : "But I've said to mummy jee that we might not go..."

Ishita suddenly looks at him : "Not go? Why? It's a FULL WEEK trip to EUROPE raman! I've never been there in all my life!"

Raman : "Yes but..."

Ishita fake crying : "Haan kedho na Raman. Mujko jaana hai... Raman please..."

Raman : "I thought you might not want to go because... it's a two person trip only. That means Ruhi can't come. That means... we will be alone." He lowers his head and holds his chin between his thumb and index. He looks at her.

Ishita seems to be thinking. Then she says : "It's fine with me." Raman didn't expect that.

Raman coughs before saying: "you realize this is honey moon trip right?"

Ishita : "Yes."

They stay silent for a second, then ishita adds "And we're going as husband and wife."

Raman smiles brightly. He is relieved to hear that she is willing to go on a trip with him. He gets closer and holds her by the arms. "Husband and wife. I like that!"

They rest their foreheads against each other, both smiling and enjoying their new blooming love.

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At night, when Raman and Ishita get to their room, they get cozy on the bed (sitting side to side)and start looking at the papers for the Europe trip.

Ishita is excited like a child in a candy shop : "The flight PLUS the hotel are free! Raman look! It's written that we can chose to stay in any hotel of this list and it's all 5 stars hotels! Ayo this is so nice! We can choose both the date AND the country we want to visit. Raman this is going to be great!"

She looks over at raman who wasn't looking at the papers at all. His eyes are fixed on her and he had a big smile on his face.

Ishita embarrassed at herself : "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Raman : "Nothing. You seem so happy about this trip. I like seeing you like this."

Ishita blushes and hits him arms lightly : "Well, I don't get to go to Europe every other day, that's why! So raman, which country should we visit? I'd love to go to Paris or Switzerland. Or maybe Italy. Or... I can't decide. Where do you want to go?"

Raman brings her into his arms and says : "I'll go wherever you want to go." Ishita smiles and closes her eyes as her body takes in the warmth of her husband body. If she had known her Ravan Kumar was so gentle and romantic she would have confessed sooner.

After some time they settle for Switzerland and decide to go the upcoming week.

The few days before the trip, ishita is really excited. She keeps talking about the places she wants to visit, the shopping that she will do, she asks everyone what type of gifts they want from Switzerland. The whole bhalla and Iyer family are happy to see her in such a good mood. They are helping her to get ready. Ishita is on cloud nine.

What ishita doesn't know is that the bhalla and iyer are sweet to her but are teasing Raman like never before. They don't want to tease Ishita because she is quite innocent and they don't want to break her spirit but it's just too hard to resist teasing raman. When Ishita is around they are all nice and smiling but as soon as she gets out of sight, they all make fun of Raman. They all gave him at least one sneaky comment.

Raman is getting more and more angry but he keeps his calm for Ishita's sake.

He is sitting in the living room, cursing at his whole parivaar for their little games when Ruhi comes to him.

Ruhi : "Papa?"

Raman is happy to see her because he knows that at least Ruhi doesn't have a gutter mind. He takes her on his lap. "Haa beta bolo."

Ruhi : "Papa I wanted to ask you... What is MoonieMoon ?"

Raman doesn't understand : "What did you say?"

Ruhi : "MoonieMoon papa! Everyone is talking about Ishimaa and you going to MoonieMoon!"

Romi is passing by and says "Not MoonieMoon Ruhi chuhi! Honey moon !!"

Raman takes off his shoe to throw it has Romi but Romi dodges it, laughing.

Ruhi looks at her papa "What's a hunniemoon papa? Can I come along with you and Ishimaa?" Raman closes his eyes and pinches his nose. This is more than what he can take.

At this point ishita was getting out of her room and heard what Ruhi said. She takes Ruhi in her arms. Raman feels both relieved to see ishita taking care of the situation and eager to hear what she is going to say.

Ishima : "Mera Ru beta! A honey moon is a vacation for papas and mamas ONLY. Every papa and mama go on this vacation once in their lifetime. Just like you and shravan went on camp last time? That's the same!"

Ruhi : "Accha Ishimaa! You two go this time and we'll make our own hunniemoon next time so that we can go all three together."

Ishima hugs her tight: "That's a good girl!" She lets Ruhi go then looks at Raman with a sufficient look on her face because she handled the situation better than him. Raman makes a mock face and goes to pack his suitcase since they are going away the next day.

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The morning has come and Raman and ishita need to leave for the airport. As get they into the cab, Raman sighes of relief. Finally no one will tease him anymore. He can relax. During the cab ride Ishita is day dreaming about Switz while Raman passes some phone calls.

In the plane Ishita sleeps (she had spent the previous night preparing everything for the trip so she didn't get to sleep much) and Raman use the wifi of the plane to get some work done before taking a "break". He has planned not to use his laptop and to refuse all business calls during the trip so he can really enjoy the break.

Once they arrive at the airport in Switz they are welcomed by employees of the hotel. As they get into the cab that will drive them to the hotel, Ishita shivers. Even in summer, it's cold in Europe compared to the very hot climate of India. She took some sweaters but right now they are all in her suitcase. Raman notices she is shivering. He takes off his jacket and holds it to her. Ishita looks at him.

Ishita : "no it's okay raman. If I take your jacket you will be the one freezing." Raman doesn't listen to what she says and puts the jacket on her lap.

Raman : "You can use it or you can just leave it here."

Ishita understands that arguing is unnecessary so she puts the jacket on. She feels already better. As she is snuggling into her husband jacket, she remembers the night she had refused to take his jacket under the heavy rain. She smiles at the memory and wraps the jacket even more tightly around her.

Once they arrive at the hotel, an employee says that their luggages are already waiting for them in their room and he gives 2 keys at Raman. As they arrive in the room, Raman gives one key at Ishita.

Raman : "Here, the key to your room." And he starts to leave.

Ishita is confused. "Raman? Where are you going?"

Raman "I... I called earlier this week to ask if we could have 2 separate rooms."

Ishita : "Separate? But why Raman?"

Raman : "Because I'm tired of hearing you snoring all night." He smirks at her

Ishita : "What? I don't snore!! KUCH BHI?!"

Raman more serious : "I just wanted to make sure you don't feel pressured into... well, into anything really. This doesn't have to be a honey moon trip, it can be a regular trip. I think we shouldn't rush anything you know?"

Ishita is touched that he is so considerate. The thought of the suhaag raat crossed her mind and she tried her best to prepare herself mentally but even if she knows raman for several months, this whole romancing thing is still new to her and she is not sure she can handle all of it yet.

Ishita gently : "Thank you."

Raman smiles at her. "We should take a rest now. Let's meet in a few hours for dinner. My room is at the end of the corridor" He starts to leave and at the door he turns around and says : "By the way Ishita... You DO snore at night!" Before she can say anything back, he closes the door on her.

Ishita : "Ravan Kumar!"

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A few hours later, Raman comes to get her to go eat dinner. When he sees her, he is totally amazed at her beauty. She is wearing and coiffed like... this (I'm too lazy to describe).

Raman stays silent when he looks at her. Ishita is beautiful in saree but he always loved the salwar kameez more. He is absolutely mesmerized by her beauty. He can't even think of any one-liner. He just stares at her.

Ishita finds his reaction funny : "I knew you would like this. Chalein dinner peh yah yahin rehna hai apko?"

Raman gets back to his senses and holds out his arm for her to take. Raman is wearing a beige suit with a black tee shirt so they look really good together.

They go in the hall for dinner time and some occidental people ask to have a photo with Ishita because they are not used to see such beautiful clothes. Ishita agrees and is nice to everyone but Raman is feeling jealous especially when a young lad put his arm around Ishita's shoulder (just like occidental do). After the occidentals are gone, Ishita sits at her table and looks at the menu but Raman gets up and holds out his hand to her.

Raman : "Let's go somewhere else. Somewhere less... crowded."

Ishita doesn't argue and takes his hand. They find a little cozy restaurant in the hotel complex, and settle to eat there.

As the dinner progresses, they both get very relaxed and have a nice chat.

Ishita then asks : "Where did you go with Shagun for your honey moon?"

Raman almost chokes on his water.

Ishita is embarrassed : "You don't have to tell me. I was just being curious. Sorry, I shouldn't have asked..."

Raman wipes his mouth, leans back and says : "It's okay. You can ask these type of things, I don't mind."

Ishita looks at him, relieved that he is not mad at her.

Raman : "When I married shagun, I was only a little employee at the time and didn't have enough money to go on a big trip. So I saved up as much money as I could between the engagement and the wedding and I planned to take her to Shimla for a week. I was so so excited..." He gets silent.

Ishita : "it must have been so nice... Shimla is really romantic."

Raman : "I wouldn't know."

Ishita "what do you mean?"

Raman looks at her for a moment then says : "We didn't go." He pauses. Those memories are painful to him but he feels like he can share them with Ishita. "After the wedding, I wanted to keep the surprise until with arrived at the destination but Shagun insisted to know the night before. And when I told her... You should have seen the disappointment on her face." Raman scuffs "She told me that Shimla sounded boring and that she was expecting a foreign country. I told her that I didn't have enough money for such trip but I promised I would work even harder than before to earn the amount needed and take her wherever she wanted by the end of the year. In the morning, I woke her up to go but she said she was feeling sick and didn't want to go..."

Raman looks at ishita. She tries to hide the tears in her eyes. Raman doesn't want her to cry so he tries to make her laugh : "Ho hello why are you crying? I'm not telling you the story of Mumtaz and Shah jahan! By the way, I sent Mummy jee and Papa jee because I couldn't get a refund for the tickets and hotel reservation. They enjoyed it so much there that I thought they'd never come back!!"

Ishita starts laughing and wipes her tears.

After she recomposes, he gets the courage to ask her : "Where did you... where were you planning to go with this subbu of yours for your honeymoon?" He knows he has no business asking but that's just the type of thing you WANT to know.

Ishita : " We didn't want a honeymoon trip"

Raman : "Are you serious? Honey moon trip is every young couple's dream!"

Ishita : "Su... Subbu and I we wanted to take a 4 months vacation to visit the whole world. We were talking about this since we were 18... We saved money all those years. Whenever we got a summer job, we would preciously save our salary..." She laughs at her own old antics. "it got easier when I started working at the clinic and he started his job as an accountant. By the engagement, it was pretty much settled, we had enough money, we had chosen the locations..." She smiles sadly. "I wanted to go to Canada, Brazil, Italy and Japan and he wanted to visit Moscou, New York, Sidney and Paris... We wanted to spend 2 weeks in each place."

Raman looks surprised : "I didn't think you liked traveling that much"

Ishita : "Subbu and I, we were... crazy. We wanted to live like the world could crush tomorrow. We always pushed each other limits, always trying new things, new sports, new food, new places..."

Raman smiles imagining Ishita so full of life, before Subbu abandoned her and disgusted her of life. He wishes he had been the one she had shared all those experiences, all this passion with. It makes him smiles to think that he was the perfect opposite of her when he was younger. He always loved his little routine, his little habits; he never did something unexpected or surprising. After he married shagun it was even worse. All he thought was to please her, to bring money, to work harder and harder.

Ishita is thinking the same thing about Raman. She wishes she had known him before shagun took all the sweet out of him. She can imagine the nice, soft, gentle Raman under all his rudeness and anger. And she wants to show him she wasn't always this behenji, quiet, tamed Ishita. She knows he can bring her out of her lethargy because somewhere, there is fire that burns inside him.

Ishita and Raman lock their eyes. They are both discovering a new person in front of them. A person they want to unfold and know in the smallest details. A person they never want to let go of.