Six Months Later
It wasn't love-at-first-sight anymore. It was something better: slow love. Daily love. Coffee shop love. Walks after bookstores love.
Tara now lived in a small rented flat near Khan Market, finishing her last semester and working part-time at a publishing house. Raghav, after returning from a short writer's retreat in Manali, took up an adjunct position at a nearby private university.
They saw each other every weekend.
They didn't rush things.
"I feel like the world tried to test us," Tara said once, curled on his couch as evening spilled in through his window.
He passed her a cup of tea. "And we passed?"
"We did better than that," she smiled. "We waited."
---
The First Real Date
Their first official "date" hadn't been fancy. A Sunday morning. Strolling through Lodhi Gardens, her hand in his, as they paused under trees and sat on old stone benches.
"You always imagined your love story like this?" he asked, teasing.
