She didn't look like she could kill someone.
Then again, she didn't look like she could kidnap someone either.
A loud scream was what greeted him when he entered the hall where the party was being held. Followed by several other voices trying to match the same intensity of the first scream.
He had closed his eyes on instinct, afraid that he would be jumped at and attacked right as soon as he was spotted. But when the screams quieted down just a little bit and still nothing happened, he opened, first one and then the other eye to see a bunch of young women, most of them seeming to be in their 20s, jumping in their spot in what he guessed was excitement, a few of them wiping their eyes to get rid of the few tear drops that managed to escape some kohl lined and some smokey eyes. The woman in the middle was in a full-on crying mode, her lips stretched in a very weird yet excited looking smile.
Standing beside that ‘hysterical yet excited looking woman in the middle’, he saw ‘her’. ‘She’ was dressed in a sea-green sequined mini dress that hugged her body like a second skin. A section of the dress that should have covered the left side of her torso had a deep horizontal cut reaching her midriff, while the right side had no sleeve, leaving her right shoulder completely bare contrary to the left side which had a full sleeve, paired with nude high-heeled pumps. If his knowledge of dresses were anywhere close to be credible, he would say it was a cut-out, one-shoulder dress. But he was not sure. The neckline was deep enough to reveal only a little cleavage. Overall the dress highlighted ‘her’ hourglass body that he had not noticed till then. It was not his fault though, given his situation and all, he reasoned in his mind.
He also noticed how she had something green on her each time. She loved green, he guessed.
‘Her’ red-painted lips were parted in the same brilliant smile she had given him several times since meeting him in the washroom. He could see ‘she’ was side-hugging the ‘hysterical woman in the middle’ who, he finally noticed, was sporting a sash in pink with ‘BRIDE-TO-BE’ running across it in white, which meant this particular ‘hysterical woman’ was the reason behind his current situation.
He wanted to curse her from the depth of his heart. But then remembered that she was getting married next week. What could be worse than that?
‘She’ was saying something near her ear, while ‘her’ sparkling eyes were on him. ‘She’ seemed happy. As if ‘she’ had accomplished some unimaginable task.
Oh well. If him being sacrificed made them so happy then so be it. He shrugged internally.
He stayed standing there like a statue, that is until he felt one of the guards guiding him towards a makeshift raised platform of sorts. That was supposed to be his stage, he deduced and got on top of it. He watched as the women took seats on the number of couches and chairs placed all over the rest of the huge hall.
‘She’, along with her ‘hungry she-wolves’, looked at him expectantly. And he had no idea what he should do or say.
Should he start with some kind of speech? Or just start dancing like a monkey? ‘She’ did kidnap him to perform something here. And also gave him time to think about it.
But come on! How could he? How could anyone in his current situation?
In his internal, almost panic, he had completely missed when ‘she’ had walked up to the makeshift stage and come to stand right beside him.
“Well, what can I say?” She started. “I mean it's no news to us by now how big of a fan my dear best friend is of this handsome right here. So it should also not be a surprise that I would, no doubt, bring him here for this special night.” The bunch of ‘she-wolves in their 20s’ burst into loud cheers. Some even shouting, “We love you, T!”
He glanced at her. She was smiling that brilliant smile of hers. So her name started with T?
“Thank you for this exceptional and overwhelming response. You girls seem to have rendered him speechless. But, the party is just starting. And this handsome here, after knowing the reason why he was invited, had very graciously offered to perform something special for the ‘bride-to-be’. With the assistance of truly yours.” She bowed.
His eyes widened to resemble a saucer at that. He had not prepared anything even for a solo. And she was suggesting a duet?!
She turned to him after looking at one of her ‘boys’ and nodding.
“You are clearly too nervous to do anything so just follow my lead, yeah?” She said, stepping closer. “And don’t worry. No one is going to eat you up.” Then she leaned towards him, bringing her lips closer to his ear. “At least not yet.” She whispered.
His heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. In fear or something else, he could not be sure. He wanted to believe it was in fear, though.
Soon music started and he found himself following her lead, just like she had told him to do.
To his complete surprise, they did quite well. He did not trip, neither fall, nor step on her feet. So yes, they did very well. And not just one song but around three or four. Not that he was complaining. Neither was he counting. He just felt that the entire time, he was in a daze, not able to comprehend what was happening and running on autopilot.
However, that did not last long. Because he soon found himself being surrounded by those ‘hungry she-wolves’, all of them pulling at him to dance with them. He was quite literally being pulled in different directions. All the while being showered by compliments.
“Damn, you are so handsome!” One exclaimed.
“Please dance with me!” Another shouted.
“Such a nice guy. Are you married?” Another one asked while pulling him towards her.
“He is off-limits, girls. Stop bothering our special guest.” ‘She’ winked as she pulled him out of the crazy crowd.
That was just the start, though. During the span of the whole night, he was approached more than once and in more than one way.
While most of them were innocent requests for autographs and selfies, some were not so innocent at all.
One particular offer scarred as well as scared him to death. Mainly because the ‘girl’ that approached him was totally hammered and had quite abruptly landed on his lap, demanding him to carry her to one of the bedrooms upstairs and devour her all night long.
Gratefully, ‘she’ seemed to pop up each and every time someone came near him and dragged them away. And he was able to breathe properly and heave a sigh of relief each time that happened.
Or maybe he should not be so grateful, seeing that she is exactly why he was in this situation in the first place?
Whatever the case, however he wanted to see the whole thing, she and her ‘boys’ did keep him safe from the ‘hungry she-wolves’ all night long. One of the buffed up ‘boys’ also made sure that he had something to eat and some non-alcoholic drinks, so that he did not starve to death.
As the night proceeded, one thought became more and more prominent in his mind. What after the night ended?
So far, he had been safe. None of the stuffs that he was scared of had happened. Neither was he ‘manhandled’ by the ‘boys’, nor eaten up by the ‘hungry she-wolves’. His limbs were also very much safe from the ‘babies’.
But what next?
Of course, ‘she’ would not let him go just like that? He may not know her name, but he had seen her face. That would be enough to identify her and put her behind the bars for kidnapping him, right? But did he want to put her behind the bars? She had kept him safe and only been gentle with him, if he was to ignore the occasional threats that is.
But why would she take that risk? When she could very easily kill him, as she had said earlier in the room.
So, cold blooded murder it was, he deduced.
His head was spinning with all these thoughts when he felt someone put a hand on one of his shoulders.
“How you doing there, handsome? Having fun?” She asked. Then she looked back at her best friend, the BRIDE-TO-BE ‘girl’, and said, “She is really very happy to see you here, you know.”
Her lips were once again pulled in that brilliant smile of hers when she turned back to look at him. “Did you have this punch?” It was then that he noticed the glass she was holding out to him. “It’s one of my cook’s specialties. You should definitely try it.” Saying so she handed him the glass and turned away to go back to her ‘girls’.
He looked down at the concoction. It was a bit reddish in colour and had a fruity smell. He scanned the hall and found four buffed up guards at four different corners of the hall. He was sure there were more somewhere in the hall where he could not see them. He looked back at her and saw her laughing at something one of the ‘girls’ had said.
She seemed to sense his gaze on her and suddenly turned to look at him, her eyes locking with his and she smiled again. One of her hands lifted, raising the glass she was holding, filled with a similar reddish concoction as his, as a toast. To his death?
She didn’t look like she would kill someone. Then again, she didn’t look like she would kidnap someone either.
He looked down at his glass once again. Here goes nothing, he thought, and raised the glass to his lips. Tentatively taking a sip, he found that he really liked the taste of whatever that concoction was and soon he found himself taking a second sip. Then a third.
Within the next half an hour he had already downed his fourth or fifth glass, he was not exactly sure. And once again, on this strange night, he was filled with the urge to go relieve himself in the bathroom.
As he made his way to the room upstairs, two guards followed him. But no one followed him when he entered the bathroom. He found that odd.
As he re-entered the room after doing his business in the bathroom, he found ‘her’ sitting in the same armchair like she had done earlier in the evening.
Her eyes met his. She smiled that brilliant smile. And for the second time that day, her voice held a command as she said, “Boys.”
**********
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