Time just flew shopping and preparing for the wedding. I had managed to loose 10 kgs, though I didn’t achieve my target weight, I was still glad I made it half way. It definitely was a huge achievement for me but the only disadvantage was that my dresses were a little loose now. Which ironically wasn't a crisis.
It was my bachelorette party and I was nervous. I had never been the center of attention and the thought of it was making me nauseous. I preferred being a nobody, but my newly found love for my body was making me feel a little confident. I had dressed up or rather Marwa did, according to the theme, 'arabian nights'. I was all dressed up and looked at myself in the mirror and I was surprised. I never thought I could look pretty and there I was, not able to take my eyes off the mirror. Not to brag, but darn it I looked good. Loosing weight did make me look better.
I never thought that I was capable of looking that way, even though my family and Sarah said otherwise. It’s hard to consider myself pretty when I’m surrounded by gorgeous girls. The white and black kaftan looked elegant and helped me hide my tummy which I couldn't get rid of entirely. My winged eye liner gave it the perfect Arabian feel and the silver chain going across my forehead completed the look. Marwa did a spendid job. I couldn't really understand her excitement for a party that she wasn’t invited to.
“You look so pretty didi”, Marwa said when she saw me looking at myself in the mirror. “Can I please come? I swear I won’t tell anything to anyone. What happens at the party, stays in the party.”
“Noway! Sarah didn’t invite you, there has to be a genuine reason for it.” I looked at her and she looked sad, “ By the way, kids don’t attend such parties.”
“How old do you think I am?”, She frowned.
“I’ll show you pictures?”. I noticed she was cheering up a little.
“And ice cream too?”
“That doesn't sound like a kid at all."
"Oh come on."
"Alright!"
**********
The party was at Sarah’s place as her parents were out of town for the weekend. I stood outside the door wondering if I should knock or not. I felt pretty but I may look like a joker to others. I had terrible fashion sense and there wasn't a single soul on this planet who would oppose that. I was feeling nauseous and decided that it was just a bad idea and thought of leaving. Just when I turned around to leave, the door opened.
“Hello my love. You're not going anywhere", She turned me around to face her. " Please come on in, your highness.” Sarah welcomed me with a rather ridiculous bow.
Sarah was always the center of attention, she was gorgeous and all eyes would just turn to her without her doing any effort. All she had to do was just show up. But when I saw her, she looked very simple. Subtle make up and super simple clothes, it was definitely not her style. She did it for me so that the spotlight would be on me. Though I wouldn't want her to be that way, I felt blessed to have such a wonderful friend.
When I entered, the living room which was always bright looked very different, decorated with colorful curtains and lamps. Handmade lanterns hung around the room giving it the Arabian feel. There was a big carpet on the center of the room with square pillows. The table at the corner had our dinner and cup cakes with whipped toppings. All my friends from work and college were present, which were a handful. They were all dressed up as per the theme. I was overwhelmed to see my friends and all the effort that Sarah had put in for me.
I struggled to dance to the music, I felt too concious. Sarah got the hookah out and that excited me. It was something I always wanted to try and I couldn’t believe that I was finally going to.
“Oh my God! You just made my day.” I screamed with joy.
I watched as she was setting it up, she did it with so much ease. Of course this wasn’t her first time. She handed me the pipe and hesitantly I took it from her. I was nervous at first but it got fun later. There was something about being surrounded by friends that made me not wanting to stop. Unfortunately Sarah stopped me as she said it was getting overboard. The others were taking turns while there was a knock at the door.
“ Is that a stripper?” One of my friends asked.
“What? No.” I screamed. I was awfully loud there.
“ Calm down. Like I’d do that. It’s a special friend who’s late. Let me go and get her.”
A stripper!. What was I thinking. We were in India and there are no strippers in India, or at least not that I know of. Hollywood did mess our minds more than we thought.
“Missed me didi?” Marwa asked. All decked up.
“Why is she here?”, I asked Sarah.
Sarah was about to answer but Marwa interrupted, “ like I would miss it. I had to get ready and pick up your cake. And also I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see this surprised look on your face. That’s why Sarah and I decided to keep this a secret.” She placed the box on the table and sat next to me and took the hookah.
I immediately snatched it from her hand and said, “Over my dead body.” She gave me a stare and turned the other side.
Sarah brought a Victoria secret cover from her room and handed it to me, “open it.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so. Please return it.”
“You didn’t even look at it.” Marwa said.
“ I’m not getting a good feeling about it, how about we just skip it?” I said. This was my first bachelorette party but I knew that gifts were erotic, so were the cakes. I was starting to dread this evening.
“ Oh come on. You don’t have a choice”, Sarah said and handed me the cover again.
Nervously I opened it and there it was, just as expected. A night suit. It didn’t make any sense to wear it as it was as good as not wearing anything. I opened it and it was a sheer one piece light pink top which had to be tied at the shoulders. It was super soft, I would definitely wear it when I was alone but sadly the bottom seemed to be missing. Though it was see through, it didn’t look slutty. And yet not something that I would wear. On the bright side, it wasn’t something that would be worn in a sex dungeon.
“Go and change.” Sarah said.
“Yeah right.” I laughed
I noticed that she was serious and all my other friends were waiting, including my sister.
“No way am I changing into that.”
“You can wear it above ur lingerie for now.” Marwa seemed a little too excited than usual.
“ You wait. You’re in big trouble once we get home.” I warned her as it was hard to believe that this was my baby sister. She was like a completely different person.
“Alright, Alright. You don’t have to wear it now. But when you do, I need all the details.” Sarah winked.
Sarah went inside her room and was back with a stack of newspapers. I gave her a puzzled look and she said, “ I know how much you want to wear a white gown at your wedding, but that doesn’t seem likely so here we are making you an eco-friendly gown.”
I stood there like a doll while all my friends were busy stapling newspapers around me, I loved that Sarah was making one of my dreams come true, in whatever way she could. But it was nerve wrecking to stand there, people around me could see every inch and curve of mine. If that's how I was feeling around my own friends who were girls, I could barely imagine if I could ever get comfortable around Ayaan.
Sarah blindfolded me until she could get me in front of a mirror. She unfolded the blind and it took a while before I could believe what I was seeing. Even though they were just newspapers, it was beautiful.
"So....?"
"I love it. Thank you so much. You are the best friend that anyone could get", I hugged her right trying to fight back my tears.
"I know", she showed off.
“Im hungry.” I desperately tried to change the topic as I didn't want to cry on such an amazing night and thankfully it worked. We all had our dinner which was Arabian cuisine and once we were all done. Marwa got the cake and placed it on the small table in front of me.
Bachelorette cakes were erotic and my baby sister got it. As much as I didn’t want to see it, I was curious to know what she had chosen. I opened it and there it was, a square cake with pink fondant and silver beads, designed to look like a blanket. On that laid two naked people, the guy on top of the girl, doing the unspeakable. May God bless the baker for covering them with a fondant blanket. Which weirdly looked delicious and gross at the same time. All were impressed and taking pictures of the cake while I sat there convincing myself that it’s no big deal that my baby sister got that.
“Shall I cut it or will you do the honours?” Marwa asked.
“close your eyes, you shouldn’t see all this.” The protective sister in me spoke.
“ Oh come on, I told them how I wanted it. It’s really delicious, I chose the flavor too.” She handed me the knife and I looked at her disheartened.
“You’re not my baby sister anymore.” Sarah and Marwa laughed at that.
I didn’t understand where to cut the cake from as I didn't want to disturb the two of them on it. I decided to cut the so called blanket around them and carefully lifted them together with the help of two knives. I didn’t even want to lift the blanket off them to see what was happening underneath. The cake was truly delicious. I couldn’t get enough of the chocolate truffle cake but I also couldn’t take the risk of taking it home and gaining weight. So we decided to let the leftover cake be at Sarah’s place.
“Its getting late, I think Marwa and I need to leave.” It was a lot for me to take at once and I was getting really uncomfortable with everything that was happening there. I couldn’t wait to get back to my safe place, under my blanket.
Sarah and Marwa made it a night to remember and I would always be grateful to them for taking note of the tiniest things that I ever wanted and making it a reality. It was almost midnight, Sarah asked her driver to drop Marwa and me back home.
My parents had slept so we entered the house with my spare key. I was extremely tired after the night and yet I was struggling to fall asleep. Just five more days to the wedding and my heart raced every time I thought about it. I check my messenger again hoping to have got a text from Ayaan but no luck. It had been a month since he had responded and I wasn’t getting a good feeling about it. If it weren't for his mother informing my mom about his arrival for the wedding two weeks back, I would had been terrified for his safety.
He was in the same country as me. So near and yet so far. Five more days and we were going to be on the same room. We were going to he husband and wife.
I looked at my wedding invitation, like I did every night for the past one month and read “ Safa Hayath weds Ayaan Rasheed.”
__________
Hello my lovely readers 🥰,
Thank you again for continuing with my story. It means a lot to me. If you have come this far, I'm sure we are going to stick around till the end.
Bachelorette parties are now a trend in India, maybe this isn't the most conventional way but we try.
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Much love ❤️❤️❤️