Being Affectionate

Aditi and I were enjoying our time together in college. Our friendship had steadied itself. We looked forward to each other’s company. The

story of Vineet and Ruchi, however, was not making any headway. He was not able to gather courage and express his love to Ruchi. He could not say to Ruchi, ‘Ruchi, you are not my friend, but my girlfriend’.

He needed to say the three magical words, ‘I love you’, but was too scared to say them. Aditi and I, we encouraged him to propose Ruchi. He always promised to do it the following day, but the magic moment would not arrive.

‘Why are you not proposing to her?’ Aditi asked despairingly. ‘Aditi, what if she says no?’ he said in a doubtful tone.

‘Come on, Vineet. Be practical. Tell me, why will she refuse? It is not a crime to fall in love,’ I edged in.

I was sure Vineet would never be bold enough to express his love to Ruchi. We decided to take the matter in our hands. Aditi and I chalked out a plan to unite