The unwilling guest

Nirvana Sonowal stood still in front of the full sized mirror in her bedroom, examining her profile absentmindedly. Her expression was a bit hesitant, as she was not yet sure if she should attend the party or skip it; invent some excuses and inform her best friend Rhianna Gogoi that she would not be able to make it to her party. But then she decided against pursuing that role of an escapist for two solid reasons.

First, she knew full well that her friend Rhianna would never believe her at all, regardless of whatever water tight excuse she might offer as an explanation. Rhianna was well aware of her apathy towards parties, her reluctance to socialize and her so called solid excuse would only appear as a lame one to her best friend. And she did not have the heart to hurt her best friend's feelings.

Her second reason for dropping the plan was that she had already dressed up for the party, despite the reluctance and hesitation. Nirvana who was better known as Nia to her family and friends, viewed her reflection in the mirror, carefully arranging the end part of the sari over the left shoulder.

She was aware that she was not any of those women who people termed as a breath taking beauty. What Nia was unaware of was that she had the kind of beauty which was like a flower in the wilderness; fresh, fragrant and appealing to both the eyes and mind.

Nia did not have an hour glass figure. She was a bit on the plump side. But she still had an attractive body with a firm, flat tummy. Actually she did not have much extra fat on her body. Her body was strong because of the regular workouts and the martial arts practices. Yet she did not have a muscular body and looked soft and delicate.

Though she considered herself to be a plain Jane, Nia was quite good looking with naturally beautiful eye brows above a pair of beautiful and intelligent eyes, a cute greek nose on a lovely oval shaped face and had a mysterious and melancholic charm about her.

Especially her big eyes were shiny liquid brown lakes, which invited men to submerge themselves in their soothing depth as if they were in the middle of a hot summer. There was a glimmer of fire in them when one looked deep into those eyes and then he would find himself drawn to them like moths were drawn to a candle. The three alluring M; mystery, melancholy and magic were seen radiating from them.

And the person looking at those mesmerizing lakes of liquid brown chocolate like eyes would find himself at their mercy.. Even women swoon over those pair of beautiful eyes. But Nia, was unaware of the magical power of her eyes, although she was aware of a certain M hidden in her eyes, the murderous bone chilling glance for those who dared to brush her on the wrong side.

The long, wavy light brown hair, framing her face and covering her back till it reached a little above the waist, enhanced her mysterious and aloof aura, often giving her the look of a witch with magical powers. But she appeared like the witch who regardless of her power of magic was fragile and lonely. Only those on her wrong side knew that the fragility was just like a thin layer of makeup. Once upon a time she was actually fragile, like a butterfly.

Nia was wearing a sheer sari in ocean green shade with a silver border of exquisite needle work in silver thread, with a sleeveless silk blouse in silver. March in this city was already warm. She actually looked stunning and her look would easily take a man's breath away. She opted for the sari as she knew most of the young ladies attending the party would choose to be in gowns.

Everyone seemed to run after a gown, not realizing that this traditional piece of attire gave women a more alluring and seductive look, showing off the figure and more skin. Nia chose to wear it because she thought she looked good in a sari. Moreover sari gave her body a slim look. She applied light make up that complimented her smooth pale gold skin. The red lipstick gave an enticing and luscious look to her beautiful lips. Nia might not care much about how she looked but her lips and eyes were her greatest assets, set on that oval shaped lovely face.

Nia took her clutch and grabbed the car keys from the top of the dressing table and reluctantly turned to go out of the bedroom. Her phone started ringing as she was about to lock the door and walk to the car. It was Rhianna calling her. With a sigh and the look of a to be martyr on her face she answered the phone while placing the phone between the ear and the left shoulder and locked the door.

"Don't you dare to throw some lame excuses to avoid my party. Nirvana Sonowal, I'm your best friend. Yet I, of all people get this treatment from you. Everyone is waiting for the cake cutting ceremony. I'm not gonna cut that damn cake without you. Remember that girl." As Nia walked to her car Rhianna's angry voice thundered in her ears.

Nia was not given any chance to interrupt Rhianna's long outburst. After her friend was done Nia gave out a small laugh that sounded sweet and melodious. At the other end of the phone Rhianna's anger melted like ice-cream in summer. She let out a long sigh and asked Nia,

"Are you coming or not? I know how much you hate parties. But this is my birthday, Nia."

A beautiful smile appeared on Nia's lips. She knew Rhianna and her parents cared a lot for her. Even her friend's fiance Nicholas Adam and his family treated her like family because of her special place in the life of Rhianna and her parents.

"Hold your horses girlfriend. Allow your poor friend to refute your unjust accusations. I'm about to drive to your home." Nia's words were followed by another spell of her laughter. Whenever one of them was angry, the other would always call her girlfriend and try to pacify.

Rhianna sighed with exaggeration at her bestie's attempt to pacify her. She loved to hear to Nia's happy laughter, not only because it sounded melodious but as she also wanted Nia to laugh more often. Sadly her laughters were so scattered, almost appearing once in a blue moon.

"Make it to here in 15 minutes. Without you to grace my party, it is a desert, dry and lifeless."

Rhianna's poetic words brought another round of laughter from Nia.

"Okay crazy girl, I'm driving in a minute. If Nicholas hears you he's sure to kill me."

Nia slid into the driving seat and was about to hang up the call when surprisingly Nicholas's voice came through the phone.

"Sweet sister, I do not dare. As long as my fiancee is happy, I'm happy too. Please, spare me any further torture and come quickly." There was laughter in his voice at her exaggerated response.

"Okay, bro." Nia smiled and hung up the phone. In the next minute she started the engine, and was on the road driving to her friend's house.