The Invitation

Conversation, English, Friends, Humor, Love Story, Marriage, Nostalgia, Series, Short Story, Snigdha's Niche, Story

22nd January, 2017 – 8 AM – Kolkata 

Tulika was going through her Gmail inbox, when a certain email made her fall down from the chair. She ran out of her room and banged on the door of the other room.

Nidhi… NIDHIIIII…

What???”, a sleepy Nidhi opened the door.

He sent me a mail!!!

Ohhh… Okay.”, Nidhi yawned, turned and went back to her bed. She lay down, scratched her scalp and closed her eyes.

Tulika dragged Nidhi out of the bed and took her to her own room.

What are you doing you dumb girl?”, Nidhi protested mildly.

Tulika made Nidhi sit in front of the laptop, on the same chair on which she herself was sitting a couple of minutes ago. She hovered the cursor on the said email.

See…”, Tulika whispered near NIdhi’s ear.

Nidhi half opened her eyes and tried to concentrate on whatever the cursor was floating on. Everything was blurry. When Tulika shook her like a cocktail in a shaker, then only she realized that she had closed her eyelids and had gone back to sleep again.

Dammit Talli… who sent you a mail?”, a frustrated Nidhi asked.

Sourav.

Sourav who? Ohh boy.. you ex boyfriend, the one who stays in that big bungalow in saltlake???”, NIdhi’s eyes were now open and as big as ping pong balls. “OH BOY!!! OH BOY!! WHAT HAS HE WRITTEN?

I don’t know, haven’t read it yet.” Tulika looked at her flat-mate.

Open it.” NIdhi commanded.

Tulika obeyed like a lady under a charm and clicked on the unread mail. Both of their heads bent a bit forward towards the laptop screen and they started to read.

Hi,
We, Sourav and Sayantika, cordially invite you to our wedding, on 29th Jan, 2017. Please grace the occasion with your presence and be a part of our happiness.
The address details of the venue is attached with this mail.

Waiting for you,
Sourav & Sayantika

Nidhi looked at Tulika, who was still looking at the screen.

Son of a b****!!! What does he think of himself?”, Tulika went ahead and hurled some other obscene slang at the laptop.

Suddenly Nidhi, hugged her, “Control yourself Talli…”.

Tulika’s whole body was now shaking.

Naa.. naa.. don’t cry girl. He did not deserve you.”, Nidhi comforted her by patting on her back, still holding her tightly in her arms.

Abey… arghhhh… leave me Nidhi.. I am not crying for God’s sake. I am not able to breath. You are clasping me so hard!!”, Tulika managed somehow to utter these words with clenched voice.

Ohhh.. I am so sorry.”, Nidhi released her promptly. “I thought you are upset! But it seems, you are not…”.

Upset? Upset my foot!!! He is such a loser.

Both of them sat quietly for some time.

So… what are you planning to wear?”, finally Nidhi broke the awkward silence.

Normal… today is Friday na? I think, I will wear your black jeans… my white shirt will go perfect with it… what do you think?”, Tulika replied.

Offohh… you a$$*&^#! I am asking about Sourav’s wedding.”, Niddhi smacked on her own forehead.

Whaaaaaaaaattt… are you out of your mind? What made you think that I am going to ‘grace the occasion’ there?”, Tulika rolled her eyes.

Why not? See Talli… this is the best possible revenge you can have on him. Trust me.

No way… I am not going. You keep your best possible ideas to yourself.

Arey… listen to me first. You dress up like a princess and go there. He will regret his decision on dumping you and you can make her new bride jealous too. Believe me… this will definitely make your day.”, Nidhi tried to make her friend feel the power of this plan.

But..”, Tulika was still not ready.

No ifff… No buttt… you do what I say.”, Nidhi tried to imitate Sunny… not Leone, Deol… Sunny Deol.

The next couple of days went in a blur.. for Nidhi. Tulika was in a lot of pain though. She had spent an enormous amount of her money on a lehenga-choli. It being the end of the month, that lehenga left a big irreversible hole in her pocket.

It was Nidhi’s idea to go for the sleeveless, backless choli and a slit right through the fish cut lehenga to show off her right leg. She said that, the more skin you show, the more the ex would regret. To wear this attire, Tulika had to go through something, which literally spells  “pain” in all caps. She booked a salon and her whole body had to be de-furred – a full body waxing. She swore under her breath every time the lady on the salon smoothened a spoon of hot wax on her bare skin and pulled it out in one go. By the time, it was done, Tulika was more or less senseless. Her whole body burned. The following days, she could not help but scratch, scratch and scratch away the dry skin. Apparently the wax lady seemed to be a distant relative of crime master GOGO – “Ayaa hoon to kuch to churake jaungaa”. She had pulled away scraps of skin where there was no hair. So hair or no hair… “Aayi hoon to kuch to ukhaad ke jaaungi”.

At last the D-day had come. In the evening, when Tulika was finally ready after 6 hours of make-up and hair styling, she looked ravishingly beautiful. She looked in awe, at her own reflection in the full length mirror in Nidhi’s room.
Nidhi gave her a flying kiss, “You are really looking like a princess… Sourav won’t be able to take his eyes off you today.

Tulika, took out her lip gloss and did a quick touch up while hiding a smile thinking about the look on all the people present there in the function. Who knows, she might get lucky and find her Mr. Right at the very same place. That would be a bonus for her.

She took out her phone and opened the online taxi booking app. She would book a prime sedan today. Can’t afford to go in micro… won’t suit her.

Oooppsss… Nidhi… could you please quickly check the address in the mail attachment. I have not checked. My laptop is on.”, she said in a tone of urgency.

Nidhi ran to the other room.

What is taking you so long?”, Tulika came to her room when Nidhi did not come back for a long time.

Nidhi’s face was pale as-if she had seen a ghost.

What?”, Tulika was confused.

Nidhi signaled her to look at the laptop. Tulika went near NIdhi slowly and bent down to see the screen. The attachment was open…  And the address read: _

The Crystal Ballroom – Casselberry
Maitland, FL, USA.

What the F***!!!”,Tulika sat down on the floor and at the same instance, there was an weird sound.

Tulika stood up and Nidhi looked at the back of her lehenga…. to their dismay, now it had two slits… one at the right side showing her perfect leg and another at the back…. showing her not so perfect butt…

 

Author ~ Snigdha Sahoo. Born on 24th November, 1984, at Bhubaneswar, Odisha. A B-Tech Graduate from KITS, Bhubaneswar, currently working at Cognizant. A hardcore vodka lover, sucker of good movies and books. Sagittarian by birth, humanitarian by nature. Believes in “live and let live”. Dreams of traveling the world before dying. Trying her hand at small story writing. Connect her at – [email protected] or follow her @snigsahoo

 

Raw Cover Image: Facebook/Prime Glitz Media

Cover Image Design: Anari Minds

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