Priya is also getting connected to Neha and liking her easy going nature. Priya acknowledge that Neha is trying her best to make her comfortable.

"Where are you lost now? Common let's go down and select your apparels quickly. Ram will be here anytime so we need to finish these stuff before he comes" Neha said dragging Priya downstairs along with her without giving her a chance to speak up.

Priya shake her head sideways finding Neha unstoppable. Both smiled at each other and climb down the stairs.

"Neha, there are plenty of options here and it is very difficult for me to choose amongst these many options" Priya surprised looking at the options available in-front of her.

Neha helped out Priya in choosing her bridal-wear and jewelry.

Shipra and Ayesha enters into the Priya's room.

"Priya, don't behave rudely in-front of Kapoors. I didn't like the way you were yelling before. Good that Neha didn't mind your earlier behavior and make you feel comfortable. Remember that you are going to stay in Kapoor Mansion and you will spend time with Neha Vikram also so better you behave nicely with them. I am telling you all these for your own good" Shipra scolded Priya for her earlier behavior downstairs. Priya shake her head in frustration.

"What is your problem Di? Did you ever thought you will get this much good match for you? They all are fond of you and you give them cold shoulders." Ayesha didn't leave the chance to roast Priya.

"Ayesha, don't talk to me like this?" Priya tried to stop Ayesha from speaking but Shipra cuts her in the middle saying "Ayesha is absolutely correct, behave properly with them in-order to stay happy".

"Are you people done with your preaching?" Priya asked in frustration.

"Now go and get ready for the dinner, Ram will be here at any time soon and dare you misbehave with him. Let's go Ayesha." Shipra warned Priya before leaving her alone in the room.

After sometime, Ram enter the farm house heading towards his room to get freshen up and ready for his dinner date with Priya.

"Hey Ram, what's the hurry man?" Vikram asked stopping Ram in the middle.

"Hurry for your first date with Priya?" Neha asked winking at Ram making him blush for a moment.

"Yeah!" He walks towards his room along with Nevik while Neha explained what is bothering Priya.

"Let me go and speak to her now" Ram turned towards the door while Nevik stopped him saying to speak to her later.

"Yeah I will talk to her outside and the main reason behind the date is to clear her misunderstandings. Thanks Neha." Ram takes Neha in his bear hug.

"Don't thank me Fatty. We want to see you both happy always. I will try to make Priya comfortable with us" Neha said while patting his back.

"Get ready and take her out for the dinner man!" Vikram said keeping his hand on his friend.

"Let's go Neha and ask Priya to get ready for the dinner." Vikram asked Neha while coming out of Ram's room.

Neha knock on Priya's room door.

"Come inside Neha" Priya welcomed her inside her room with a smile.

"Are you not ready for your date yet Priya?" Neha asked.

"Is it necessary to go on a date?" Priya asked Neha knotting her eyebrows.

"Yes, very much needed right now. You both should sit and talk peacefully." Neha said taking her hands in her assuring her everything will be alright if they speak to each other calmly.

"Hmm" Priya nodded her head in acceptance.

"Show me what are you wearing for your first date with Ram?" Neha excitedly asked Priya.

"Is this not suitable for dinner?" Priya asked confusingly looking at the dress she is wearing currently. Neha looked at her from top to bottom and observing her salwar suit.

"Ram likes you irrespective of what you wear but I would suggest you to wear something suitable for the dinner date. Let me choose something good for you." Neha walks towards her wardrobe and surprised to see the wardrobe essentials needed for every woman.

Priya close her eyes in embarrassment while Neha hovering her hands on the apparels neatly placed in the wardrobe.

"Wow Priya! Such a beautiful collection of dresses. Must admit that Ram has a great dressing sense." Neha quipped in sheer excitement.

"Haa haa, thanks for telling him about my measurements Neha" Priya sarcastically said to Neha while Neha busted into laughter.

"To be honest, I did not tell him directly but he got to know from his designer. Take it easy it doesn't matter if he know about your measurements, he is going to be your husband Priya" Neha defended herself.

"Hmm" Priya calmly replied.

Neha has chosen a beautiful black color dress for Priya and insisted her to change the dress right now. Having no option left, Priya changed into the dress.

Her dress looks like below.

"Wow Priya, you look stunning!" Neha bewildered seeing Priya in that dress.

"Stop embarrassing me Neha!" Priya said stopping Neha to speak further.

"Go and get ready quickly, Ram must be waiting desperately for you downstairs" Neha squealed and disappeared from there.

Ram is waiting for Priya downstairs after informing about dinner plan to the remaining people. Ram is astonished to see Priya in this attire and admiring her while she is descending the staircase avoiding eye contact with him.

Everyone appreciated Priya about how good looking she is except two people. One is her sister who is not able to digest the fact that her sister is getting all the luxuries she is wish for and on other hand Ashwin is stunned to see Priya in this new avatar and regret that she is going to be somebody else's wife.

Vikram nudged Ram with elbow pulling him out of his dreamland.

Vikram whisper in Ram's ear "Ram, are you going to kill Priya with your staring looks? She will run away from the marriage if you scare her like this." Vikram and Neha giggle seeing Ram's serious look.

Ram then realized that how long he is staring at her making her uneasy. He averted his eyes to Vikram while twisting Vikram's hand to his back.

Vikram winced in pain, Ram left his hand before anyone sees them.

"Oye Fatty, Stop your bromance and start your romance with your Priya. Spare my husband for me, I have got only one." Neha giggled encircling her hand with Vikram's.

"Haa Bhai, leave me." Nevik hugged eachother.

Priya exchanged smile with Nevik. Ram finds her smiling heartfully for the first time, her smile is so infectious.

"Shall we go?" Ram asked Priya forwarding his hand to her.

Priya looks here and there and slipped her hand into his while walking out of the house.

Ram opened the car door for her like a gentleman, make her sit in the car comfortably before slipping himself into the driver seat.

Ram started ignition of the car and zoomed away from the vicinity with an average speed while stealing glances at Priya and trying hard to concentrate on the road.

Priya is aware of his continuous glances but avoided meeting her eyes with his until they reached the destination and Ram opened the door for her to get down from the car.

Priya looks up at him meeting her eyes with his for the very first in the day. They enter the restaurant and settle themselves in of the tables. The place looks so empty, she finds no other customers in the restaurant apart from them.

The place is very ambitious, decorated with glimmering candles, soft music is playing in the background and table is decorated with red roses, candles along with a bottle of red wine. Priya is surprised to see the candle light dinner setup in-front of her.

"What's all this? " Priya asked bluntly.

"Finally you are speaking! What happened to you today? You didn't speak a word till last minute." Ram stated making Priya to glare at him.

"Why there is no one here apart from us?" Priya asked in confusion.

"I have booked this place for tonight" Ram said to Priya.

"Oh! Okay" Priya said without any reaction on her face.

"You are looking amazing! You will take my breath away with your looks" Ram complimented her look.

Getting no reply from her he continued talking to her. "Let's order something. Here is the menu" Ram handed over her the menu card which is placed on the table.

"I will have one salad and orange juice" Priya said without looking at the menu card.

"That's it? I know you are vegetarian but order something to eat. One salad will not be sufficient" Ram earned a glare from Priya.

"I'm not hungry, that would be enough for me" Priya replied.

"Okay, your wish. I am gonna order vegetarian food because my would-be wife likes only vegetarian food so this time I will go with veg only." Ram responded and ordered his favorite items.

They started having their dinner and Priya is hardly replying to him in single words.

"Do you have boyfriends?" Priya raised her head and looked at him surprisingly.

"I am asking you seriously how many boyfriends you have till now." Ram asked her insisting her to speak up.

Priya murmurs "ohh god!" Priya rubs her hand on her forehead.

"Hello!!! What happened? I asked you a very casual question."

"Ok wait let me count" and she start counting on her fingers dramatically. "1, 2, 3... 9 and 10" Priya sarcastically said to Ram making him giggle at her reaction.

"Wow 10 is really a good number. Anyways it is not surprising for me that you have 10 boyfriends, obviously you look very beautiful and today you are really looking very hot and sexy." Ram winked at her making her gasp in shock. Priya gives him a deadly look.

"Tell me how many girlfriends you have? Must be plenty, I can guess it easily" Priya asked casually.

"Hmm let me count" and he did the same way like Priya did. He started showing his fingers to her "One only one and she is sitting right in front of me now."

"Ohh Please I am not your girlfriend. Stop dreaming" Priya retorted back to him.

"Yes, not girlfriend any more. My would-be wife" Priya is irritated with his cheesy lines.

"Okay tell me what is bothering you?" Ram asked Priya out of the blue making her flinch her face a little.

"What will you do if I tell you?" Priya retorted back to him. Ram takes her hand in his looking into her eyes.

"Priya, try to understand me. I know you have very bad opinion on me for some reasons but trust me it is not the way you are thinking" Ram tried to explain while she listen to him calmly. "See, I have no links with Ashwin and we are not together to spoil your life. I can't even think like that in my wildest dreams, trust me" Ram pleaded her to believe him.

Priya pulls her hand back from his hold.

"Why are you telling me all this now?"

"We are getting married Priya and I don't want any misunderstanding between us. Have some trust on me." Ram is trying to make his point clear to Priya.

"How can I trust you when you end up coming to my home with marriage proposal? How can I trust you when you are forcing me into this marriage when I don't want to?" Priya tried to maintain her voice low not wanting to get the attention of the staff in the restaurant. "I really don't care about all this now. I told you that I don't want to marry you but you are so stubborn and want to marry me at any cost. May be by marrying me you can fulfill your physical needs but love, you will never be able to win my love." Priya stated her feelings strongly while those words tears his heart badly.

"Can't you understand I don't have to marry you if I want you only for satisfying my physical needs" Ram blurted making her gasp with his words.

"Don't worry I will marry you. I cannot shower any love to you but I can show you how much I hate you." Priya said while pointing finger at Ram.

"I know how to convert that hate into love. Don't worry dear" Ram said with full confidence.

"One more thing Priya." Priya looks at him. "Don't ever think that I am showing off my money by degrading your family in any way. I didn't mean to hurt your feeling by taking all the responsibilities of this marriage. It is just that I thought it will make you people comfortable. You are one of those girls who does not love anyone for money. You are the one who matter to me the most and if you are really hurt because of me then I am sorry, I am really very sorry." Ram apologized Priya genuinely.

Priya said nothing and focus on her food which she is barely having.

"Would you like to have some desert?" Ram asked smiling at her. Priya is not able to understand how quickly he is changing the topic.

"No thanks. You can have it if you want."

"My desert is in front of me." Ram said licking his lips slightly making her irritate to the core.

"I am waiting to cherish my desert with great pleasure." Priya glare at him angrily and Ram shamelessly smile.

After few minutes, Ram goes to the manager to request to play a nice romantic song and comes back to the table forwarding his hand towards her asking for a dance. Before she could react anything he takes her hand and pull towards him. He wrapped his one hand behind her back and entwined her other hand in his without breaking the eye contact. He turned elegantly, his body moved in tune with the slow music allowing her to match his steps at her own pace making her heartbeat growing steadily along with each passing moment. He treats her with respect, never forcing the movement from her.

He swirl her around ever so carefully taking his sweet time. He is definitely creating unusual sensations in her with his each move. He pulled her towards him holding her waist making her grab his shoulders for support. His hot breath fanning on her face causing her to blink her eyes in awkwardness. Her heartbeat faster, and her body shivered from his touch. A sweet scent of his cologne filled her nostrils while he maintain the sweet eye lock between them. She closed her eyes trying to surpass the tickling sensation as his fingers stoke her sensitive skin slightly.

Both moved their bodies slowly matching the rhythm of the song. He takes her hand towards his lips and kissed her palm causing her gasp in surprise.

Priya comes out of his hold not able to think straight being wrapped in his arms. She is not willing to admit that his presence is making her weak.

"Take me back to home" Priya asked him "Sure, let's go" Ram guided her towards the car following behind her.

Priya walks towards the car with blank mind lost in her thoughts. She trips and about to fall and closed her eyes expecting a hard hit on back of her head when one pair of strong arms wrapped her stopping her from falling.

Ram is holding her midriff from behind while she is about to fall. Their eyes locked in for a moment before Priya pulling herself on her foot. He helped her to steady on her feet.

"Thank you" Priya thanked him. "Thank you is not enough" Priya raised her eyebrows at his statement.

"Let's take a selfie, first selfie on first date with you will be memorable forever" Ram without wasting a moment pull out his phone and ready to click picture.

"Smile" Ram asked Priya where as she smiled for the selfie without resisting.

"Look at the picture and see how perfect we are looking together" Ram is showing the picture to Priya.

"Shall we go now?" Priya asked Ram ignoring his words.

"Such an unromantic person you are!" Ram murmurs under his teeth.

Both reached home within few minutes of drive. "Ok go to your room and take rest. See you tomorrow darling, good night" Ram told to Priya. "Good night" Priya is about to enter inside the house when Ram called her again making her turn around to face him.

"Thank you for the wonderful evening. Keep dreaming about me so do I." Saying this he winks at her and goes inside followed by her.

Ram is lost in the deep thoughts resting on his recliner when Nevik enter his room. Though he is behaving normally with Priya and irking her with his each action, he is concerned about her feelings and opinions about him.

"Ram, what are you thinking man!" Vikram asked keeping his hand on Ram's shoulder.

"Nothing Vikram, tell me you need anything?" Ram said blankly.

"Fatty how was your first date with Priya" Neha asked in excitement.

"It was good" Ram replied calmly.

"Fatty, is there anything bothering you?" Neha asked with concerned filled voice.

"Nothing Neha" Ram tried to conceal his thoughts which are bothering him so much where as Nevik can see the uneasiness in Ram's face clearly.

"Did Priya say anything that bothers you?" Neha asked trying to figure out the matter.

"I am not sure why Priya has a very wrong impression on me." Ram blurt out finally.

"Do you think you should proceed with this marriage?" Vikram asked changing his gaze at Ram and Neha.

"Yes" Ram said without thinking for a second time.

"Ram, we know everything about you and how much you love Priya but do you really think you will be able to convince Priya" Vikram has a point that made Ram numb. Neha is worried about her bestie who has just found someone to share his life with.

"I love her man; I truly love her. Whenever I look into her eyes, I feel emptiness. I feel like she is all alone even though she has a family; I want to be with her. I don't know why I get so connected and dragged towards her but I can surely tell that this is not just a mere attraction. I don't want to back off from this marriage I want to make her understand me better." Ram said with full confidence.

Vikram pat his back "Ok Ram I understand your feeling we are always be there for you." Neha press her hand on Ram's hand to assure the same.

The trio holds each others hand and embrace into group hug.

"Enough of sentimental scene okay, we have lots of work to do lets get going" Neha said breaking the hug.

P.S:

Hi everyone,

Hope you all doing good and liking the story as well. Keep voting and commenting to boost our confidence to write more. Don't be a silent reader and I would like to thank everyone who is following the story from the beginning and showering their love towards the story.

I really like the below pictures of Raya from the BALH wrap-up party and couldn't hold back myself to share these pictures with you guys. Aahh!! Missing Raya a lot.