Getting absolute date from RelativeDateItem

I'm trying to get absolute date from a RelativeDateItem in a DynamicForm. But the value returned is the current date instead of a future date.

The code is as follows:

String futureDate = form.futureDateItem.getValue().toString();
RelativeDate relativeDate = new RelativeDate(futureDate);
java.util.Date absoluteDate = RelativeDateItem.getAbsoluteDate(relativeDate);

Why is the value returned the current time and not the value selected through the RelativeDateItem picker?

Thanks,
Mohan