Rachel Elizabeth Hudson - The Perforated Chest

The Perforated CHEST

Since Childhood, Crime novels have had a certain something for me. I guess we are sort of connected, crime and me.

It was May 2016. We, my family and I, were invited to this wedding ceremony of a family friend of ours. We had just arrived at the hotel, which Dad had already booked for us. A bellboy appeared from behind one of the counters and whisked our belongings away to our rooms on the third floor. And that's where I met this super amazing girl who, I later learnt, happened to call herself Rachel Elizabeth Hudson.

The first time I saw her, I like, literally stared at her for what seemed like a full twenty minutes, but what I hoped was not more than a few seconds. That was how beautiful she was. I was certain she saw me staring rudely but (and thankfully) she abstained from either looking at me or from chastising me. She just walked by, an unearthly determination plastered across her face. I did not forget her face for the rest of the day.

Imagine my face the next day at the bridegroom's place when I found out that she was the daughter of another childhood friend of Dads.

"Hi Rachel! My god - You have grown up so much. Son, meet Uncle Henry's daughter Rachel Hudson. Rachel, this is my son."

That's exactly how dad introduced us to each other.

"Hi!" I said, flustered. She just nodded and sat down on the couch. I had never felt as awkward as I did then. Something was very seriously wrong with me.

Well. I will just take a break from the flow of these events and go on to talk about the wedding. The bridegroom, Jack Smalling, had been one of dad's best mates at school. He had studied Politics at Oxford with the aim of getting a seat in the House of Commons, which he did. Thereafter he went on to become one of the most powerful men in London. His house, a huge villa, was surrounded by thirty acres of land, which had been grown into a lovely flowerbed. It was located in the countryside. Mr. Smalling had invited some six hundred guests to his place. The ceremony was to take place at a small church a short walk away. It was into this that Jack insisted we move in; the moment he heard, we had booked a hotel in London. Apparently, he had enough space to accommodate everyone.

Now going back to where I was. It took me some time before I finally mustered the courage to go sit beside Rachel. The moment I sat down, I felt like I had conquered the world (although there was some two feet separating the two of us). Well, the joy was short lived.

"Just say whatever you want to!" Rachel said without bothering to look at me.

"But I didn't-"

She sighed.

"Your legs are shaking. Your denim is wet from where you rubbed your sweaty hands against them. Your lips have been twitching since when uncle introduced me. You are sitting at the very edge of the seat, almost on the verge of falling down. It is evident that you are pretty nervous. The fact that you decided to sit beside me in spite of all the other empty sofas proves that I am somehow the reason behind your nervousness. Since we do not even know each other, it is obvious that you are trying to befriend me ... or something of that sort. So I suggest you try and be a little smarter if you intend to hang around with me."

I had definitely gone fifty shades redder by then.

"Oh. And close your mouth."

That, was the beginning of a friendship, which most definitely changed both our lives by magnanimous proportions. The wedding had been scheduled for the next day. There was a lot to be done. I just sat there beside Rachel as she calmly observed all the preparation going on around her. There were servants moving around with a variety of objects ranging from goodies to balloons and even whole beds and sofas. There was a constant clatter and murmur going on. The sound of an electric saw was coming from the floor above. Someone was singing in a terrible voice. My graze fell on an ice statue which was being worked on. Three men were busy carving it into a large statue of cupid. Unfortunately, his arrow broke off. Some others were busy blowing air into balloons. A woman suddenly appeared out of nowhere and addressed us.