After the engagement was over, Swara-Sanskar's marriage was decided to be held after Swara's final semester which was in 2 months. So, the preparation for the marriage had started. Swara was over cloud nine while her family was happy for her especially Ragini. She was very excited about her sister's marriage. Though her parents are happy, they are still worried about Ragini's future. They are still searching for alliances for Ragini. Whenever the topic of Ragini's alliance was taken, she will be lost in the thought of Laksh.

To be honest to herself, she misses him. She had literally cut him out of her life. She stopped writing letters. She stopped watching the serial. She stopped stalking him on social media and the internet. She deleted his photos and videos from her secret gallery. She even hides those cute papers to not remember him again.

But every time someone says 'smile' or notices a pen and paper or hearing of the words 'love' and 'marriage', she remembers him. She was scared at the thought that what if she is in love with him? Will he accept her? How can she enter into his life and think about living the life that she could not even imagine in her dream? She could say that she is strong and confident but inside she is not that strong. She is not strong to accept her feelings. She is not strong to think that Laksh can also love back her. She was in the middle of the ocean called confusion. She was waiting for a sign, a sign that indicates what she should do next in her life. And that sign came in the form of a groom-meeting in a restaurant.

Ragini was not at all interested in this meeting but she came here for her family's happiness and she was waiting for the groom patiently. Just then she found someone sitting in front of her. She looked up only to gasp in surprise.

"Laksh"

She whispered under her breath but still, Laksh heard it making him smile.

"Hi, Anarkali girl"

Lost in his intense eyes, Ragini lost the ability to think, to hear, and to speak and literally everything expect gap at him. Laksh moved his fingers in front of her face and snapped her out of her thoughts. She cleared her throat to hide her embarrassment.

"Who are you?" She asked finally making Laksh raise his eyebrow but still, he played along with her.

"Laksh Maheshwari," He said like his name is known to everyone even a just born baby. But Ragini rolled her eyes and said coldly,

"Do I know you?"

"OF COURSE YOU KNOW ME, MY LOVELY STALKER!" Laksh wanted to shout it but then smiled simply and said

"No, you don't know me. But I know you!" Laksh said with a smirk making Ragini frown.

"He knows me!!" She wanted to squeal in happiness but then masked her emotions and said

"Oh! Are you my dad's long lost brother? Or my mom's long lost son?"

Laksh's eyes widen in shock and horror. He didn't mind to cover his emotions this time. "GOD, WOMAN! I AM NEITHER YOUR LONG LOST UNCLE NOR YOUR BROTHER!"

Ragini enjoyed his reaction and said sarcastically "Then can you enlighten me please?"

Laksh has never thought his Ragini is a woman who has every shade of woman but then he loved and enjoyed every shade.

'She proves to me now that she is going to be an actor's wife!' Laksh thought to himself

"With pleasure, my lady," He said and intensely looked at Ragini making her squirm. "The first moment I saw you were at a red signal. You were looking like a red butterfly wandering those doe shaped eyes towards my direction but not looking at me. Your innocence reflected in your face, your sparking eyes reflected your pure heart; your smile, like a just born baby, was not a fake one. You just hit my heart at the first, Anarkali girl!"

Laksh said and clutched his heart like how her look had actually hit his heart at that moment. Ragini's eyes widen in surprise and shock. She couldn't believe his words but his eyes and his actions looked so genuine. Her cheeks warmed at the sight of him clutching his heart. But then,

'He is a very good actor.' A voice can be heard in her mind. She listened to it and quickly masked her face before he could notice her.

"I am still listening!" Ragini's cold voice brought him out of his world. He was so lost in his flashback that he forgot to look at her reactions. So he didn't know if he had impressed her or had ruined his chance. But then he sighed and brings back his charming smile and continued his flashback.

"The second time I saw you were on that same day." Suddenly he realized something. "Hey, don't you remember me, grabbing your hand and saying some dialogues but we were interrupted by my director!"

Ragini very well knew that day. But still, she acted like she couldn't remember. "No, I meet new people every day. Should I remember everyone?"

Laksh's shoulder slumped down at her answer. 'She is too difficult to please. But I am not going to give up!' He thought and said "Right! It's difficult to remember every people."

"So as I was saying, I had a shooting on the park where you came like an angel in the name of coincidence. Instead of speaking my dialogues to my junior artist, I followed you and blabbered my mind out and you were looking at me like I am the most handsome man in the world also you had those cute please-take-me-away-with-you-my-prince eyes." He said and sighed while waiting for the reaction.

"I didn't look at you like that!" Ragini said with red cheeks due to blushing and embarrassment.

"Oh, you did! You know you were like you would rape me at any moment!" Laksh said dramatically and making Ragini's jaw falls down the ground.

"You liar, I did not look at you like that. I was so dumbstruck at the moment to even give those looks at you, stupid!" Ragini screamed making Laksh grin.

"Hence Proved," Laksh said with a smug look and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Ragini let out a sigh of defeat and said "Ok, I know you. It's because my friend will always blabber about you and yeah I remember the incident at the park. I remember it because I had hidden it from my friend as she may burn me alive in jealousy. But I didn't look at you with those looks."

'Even now, you won't confess to me? Fine, I will dig it myself!' Laksh thought and suddenly exclaimed "Your friend is my fan! Wow, I want to meet her!"

Ragini felt a sudden sick feeling in her stomach."Why?" She questioned with frowned eyebrows.

"Because I respect my every fan and I want to thank them for supporting me!" Laksh said proudly while Ragini narrowed her eyes at him.

"So, you will read your fans' messages, emails, and letters too?" Ragini asked as though she was not interested but she was dying for this moment of answers.

"Of course, every single word is my stepping stone to success. But wait! Letters...?! Who writes letters in this era?" Laksh said and laughed out loud like it was the best joke while Ragini felt embarrassed. She felt like she shouldn't have wasted her time writing those letters.

"But, I love the idea of writing letters to me. I mean, it may be old fashioned but the romances and love are true in the centuries before us. So I believe, letters are actually written from the depth of the heart." Laksh said honestly and gazed at her intensely. Ragini felt her heartbeat so loudly that it might fall down from her chest. She took a deep breath to control her heart and lowered her eyes. But still, she felt his eyes on her.

'So he read my letter?' Ragini thought but didn't dare to voice it out.

"So, what are you doing here? I was waiting to meet someone!" Ragini said completely changing the topic. Laksh smiled at her effort but didn't point it out to embarrass again and again.

"Well, I am here to confess my feelings for you, Anarkali girl!"

"Fe-Feelings" Ragini stuttered making Laksh smile.

"I love you, Ragini."

Ragini gasped loudly while Laksh didn't move his love-filled eyes away from hers'.

"I have seen you at the orphanage where I had grown on my birthday. You, playing with those little angels, were a sight for sore eyes, Ragini. I wanted to speak to you at that moment but something came up. And the next time I saw you was as a fiance-to-be for my director whom I consider as my brother." Ragini's eyes filled with shock. She couldn't believe her own ears. She felt like she was once again going inside the bubble from which she tries hard to come out, till a few hours before. Laksh observed Ragini's every reaction and captured it through his eyes and stored them in his heart as a memory to be replayed when he was old while having the old Ragini by his side. He continued,

"At that time, I regretted. I regretted not coming in front of you, for not speaking my heart to you, for not confessing my love to you, for wasting my time to build the so-called courage. When I thought that I had lost you, at the nick of time, you voiced out a no, making me grip my last tiny bits of hope. And you didn't fail me. You made me feel the happiest man in the world at that moment. But I also got the horrifying nightmare of losing. So, here I am, shooing away that so-called groom, and sitting in front of you and confessing my love to you."

Ragini felt like she would faint at any moment and Laksh did not help her with his loving gaze. She wanted to say 'yes' and hug him at this moment but... There is a 'but' in her mind. Something is stopping her. Maybe her low self-esteem...

"Why me?" She whispered making Laksh frown. "You are an actor; you would have met most beautiful women. Why not them? Why me?" She continued making Laksh lean back on his chair.

"Of course, I have many beautiful women in my life. To be honest, I did have private moments with them but with you Ragini..." He stopped his sentence and gazed at her to make her look straight at his eyes and so she did. He continued "It's not beauty. It's about your heart and your innocence!"

Ragini leaned on the table and asked, "So when I lose this innocence, you will be nowhere to be found?"

Laksh chuckled and leaned on the table closing the distance between them. Her eyes widen in shock making Laksh smile. She may be putting a tough mask on her but at the end of the day, she is innocent. He whispered "When you lose that innocence, you will be by my side as my wife. And the wife in the sense, there is no going back, it's always and forever."

His hoarse voice did things inside Ragini. Her breath was heavy and deep. The way his eyes darken and the way he calls her as his wife did things inside her stomach. Her toes curled and felt a tickling sensation on her stomach. She couldn't take it anymore. She stood up from her place and said

"I need time!"

And she went away from there without waiting for his reply.

^_^

What will be Ragini's reply?