The Birthday Party 3

Do I get to swallow

The tiny bitter pills alone?

rippleless lake water

Reeks with scent of dead fish.

Five years have already passed

I choose another closer,

Happy feet, and a ticking clock,

A hired mourner to sing a dirge

The smug grin on your yellow face

Disappear in bubbles.

I'm not Miss Havisham.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A smiling and smug looking Rhianna tugged at Nia's hand to direct her attention to the second person who was talking with Nicholas and her before Nia joined them. All through the stupid bantering of Mark, the man remained silent, as if he was that immaculate man who observed others to fill in the boring hours with even more boring details of his surroundings.

Till now Nia did not have a second to throw even a casual glance at the man, not that she had any interest to meet another rich Casanova or whoever he might be. Unlike many of her gender she was also the least curious one when it came to men.

Nia had much in her hands to work and worry about. A man was the last thing she had any time to spare for. She was always the apathetic observer when she was with her friends, while they check out on the eye candy. Now she followed Rhianna's gaze to look at the man leaning on the railing in an elegant way, like a model posing for photographer, with one hand in the pocket of his black pants.

She might not check out an eye candy but when it came to someone she was introduced to or about to interact with, Nia always observed that person, be it a woman or a man. Her inner instincts would automatically start assessing the person and try to profile her/him. It grew into a habit. It helped her to be on guard when she was with a stranger.

The man was taller than both Nicholas and Mark who were around 1.81m. He had a well toned body that showed well in the slim white shirt with rolled up sleeves and a body hugging side button blue vest. He had hazel eyes with the green being more prominent in them. She tried to remember where she had seen such a pair of eyes before. This stranger was way more handsome than the blue eyed boys; Nicholas and Mark.

His clothes had more stylish yet casual look unlike the Adam cousins who were in evening suits, though like the man, they too had the first two shirt buttons undone. Although he had a slight smile on his face and looked relaxed, Nia felt that he was a reserved person like Nicholas but not as easy going as the latter. Nia's expression was indifferent and the look in her eyes was unreadable and inscrutable as she observed him.

There was a certain familiarity about the stranger, but she could not remember if she had ever met him. She frowned for a split second at the thought of the familiarity, wondering why she felt so. She did not have any dealing with rich people. Knowing Nicholas was different as he was Rhianna's fiance. Nia could not remember meeting the man in the company where she worked as a consultant on a contractual basis till a year ago.

As Rhianna started with the introduction the man stood straight, while turning his whole face to them, allowing the faint balcony light and the soft silver moonlight to fall fully on him. The semblance of the smile on her face died immediately. At the same time Nia heard Rhianna's clear and slightly loud voice,

"Nia, this is Yougal Lucas Sinha, Nicholas's best buddy, and the CEO of the Parampara Group of hotels and restaurants. Yougal, meet my bestie Nia, an expert in both finance and marketing."

'Oh god! Of all men in the world why do I have to meet this devil here.' Nia miserably cursed her destiny and silently complained to heaven. But heaven was deaf tonight. Even in her wildest dream she never thought of ever crossing paths with this abomination of a man. She groaned inwardly while looking blankly at the demon from the past.

Anger was not what she felt, Nia had long overcome anger or anguish that his actions had caused. This man standing before her with a casual and relaxed smile filled her with nausea and Nia almost puked at the sight of the smiling face that might make many women swoon over him.

Yougal Lucas Sinha extended his hand towards her but Nia stood there with that blank look on her liquid brown eyes. Everyone stared at her with an odd look in their eyes. She was oblivious to their strange gazes upon her. 'This is the rude arrogant man,' she remembered bitterly, 'who every one of my family and friends thought, was going to make me happy.

But he rejected her in the crudest possible manner. She did not care about the rejection but she very much cared about the aftermath of his action. All he could have done was to cancel the wedding beforehand and save her family from the miserable tragedy. This man had ruined her but she rose up like a phoenix from the ruin. Now she had to shake hands with him putting on the act of strangers.

"Nia...what's wrong? Are you okay?" Rhianna's concerned voice penetrated through the fog of painful memories. She snapped back to the present.

"Yeah, I am." She smiled faintly at her friend and folded her hands in the traditional Namaste looking at Mr Devil. When people asked if you were okay even knowing there might be something wrong with you, you had to tell them that you were okay even when you were not okay. So she tried to shrug off her not okay self. But Nia wished she could often say she was not okay.

Yougal's extended hand fell to his side. He did not know how he should react to her Namaste after she refused to shake his hand. He was so flabbergasted by the woman's blank look and by how she ignored his extended hand, refusing to shake it that he, Yougal Lucas Sinha forgot to mask the complicated emotions on his face.

'Wasn't I always in control of my feelings, hiding behind a mask of apathetic coldness when in public and with strangers?' He thought afterwards but now he was not even aware that the fluctuating emotions he felt was very much apparent on his face.

Yougal Lucas Sinha always prided himself as an expert in assessing people. Yet he could hardly make anything of the behaviour of the woman standing before him with an icy coldness about her. He could swear that behind this expressionless gaze of this woman named Nia he detected a blazing fire of intense hatred for a fleeting instant.

'What's with all this attitude and almost unmasked resentment? I've never even met her before.' He fell into deep thought. May be they crossed paths before. The woman looked a little familiar. Though the refusal to shake hands with him puzzled everyone as was apparent from their perplexed glances, she quickly hid her antagonism well behind that blank look.

What ruffled Yougal Lucas Sinha more was his own emotions. Why was he upset by the woman's treatment of him? It was something he could not figure out. She destroyed his mood for the party and he found himself sulking even when he was back at home. He had met many women far more beautiful than her, had seen many of them throwing themselves at him, or trying to act coy, smart, cool, even acting as if they were hard to get at but he never cared.

He was never interested in any of them and always stayed away from women, giving a headache to his grandma. Did that mean he was suddenly interested in this strange woman? But he just met her. Then why it felt like he had met her somewhere before and offended her in ways he could not remember. Yougal Lucas Sinha wondered if he was that affected by Nia because she was Rhianna's best friend and very dear to both Rhianna Gogoi's and Nicholas's families.

He was also unable to conceal the perplexity and disappointment that he had felt earlier which never happened to him before. He now could not deny that growing urge in him to know more about this strange woman with eyes that looked like they had mystery hidden in their depth.