"Oh, bother! Why did the party have to be just this weekend!" Nina was not overly enthused about attending this one. So many pending chores pushed to the weekend and if she lost the weekend, it would only mean a grinding time the next weekend!
Besides party mandates of smiling incessantly till the jaws ached and making thoughtful conversation with folks she barely discerned from Adam and Eve, she had to look presentable as well! It was Wednesday already, she'd better start planning her 'look' for the party!
"Gosh, that is going to take some mammoth overhauling!," she muttered to herself glancing at the mirror while raiding her wardrobe for something wearable, preferably stunning. As expected, there wasn't a scrap worth wearing, an entire closet full of the most extra-ordinary collection of utterly redundant clothing!
But wait, that red dress she had worn at the new year party had made her look ravishing; at least that was what Nik had told her after waiting up two hours for her to get ready for the event. Hmm, worth trying out.
She quickly shrugged into the dress and gazed at her reflection critically; her eyes drew together and her mouth puckered into a frown.
She bellowed, "Nikhil, come here". Nik had a premonition that things weren't going to be too pleasant and began with his most affable, "Hey sweetie, what's with all this dressing up? Are you going out somewhere?" Giving him her iciest stare, she nodded to the mirror prompting him to join her in front of it. "You call this ravishing? Piles of flab popping out from all the wrong places and you convinced me that I was looking ravishing! How could you let me walk around in public looking like this? Don't you love me at all?"
Nik was dumb-founded, how could you argue when the truth was right in front of you? He mumbled soothingly, "Sweetie you did look wonderful that day," and added cautiously, "Maybe you've put on some weight after that?" Her eyes flashed, spelling DANGER. "I mean maybe the dress has shrunk, yes, yes, that must be it must....look it even has the dry-cleaner's tag still hanging. I am telling you that Glow Laundry is really hopeless, see they shrunk my woolen jacket last time and now its your dress."
Nina had to concede, it did seem plausible and let it pass; she still didn't have anything decent to wear.
"Nik, I think we need to go shopping, I don't have anything to wear for the party this Saturday...Nik, Nik," where had the man disappeared? Nik had slunk away from the room, hugging himself for adroitly diffusing the situation. But now hearing Nina call out, he returned slipping on his interested, helpful face on, "Yes dear?"
"I said, we need to go shopping for my dress for Saturday's party," Nina repeated patiently.
Nik vaguely recollected the invite, "Oh, yes the party! Hmm, its just a casual party, why don't you just throw on a good top and smart jeans, you'll look ravishh......I mean great in it!" But Nina was adamant, "No, I wore that new top at our last party, the blue one makes me look fat, the yellow one tired and the red one so wannabe...no, no, I need to buy something fresh!"
Nik calculated, the next four hours gone, twiddling thumbs parked outside the ladies changing room, while KKR battled KXIP without him to cheer them on! He could hear Timmy and Bobby screaming in the other room enjoying the match.
With a heavy heart he was about to agree when his phone started buzzing. Just another promo message from Triton, the latest online shopping venture to woo customers with tantalizing offers. BINGO!
He hurried over to Nina, who was still busy sticking her head into her closet, hoping to find a miracle dress hidden from her view. "Hey, look at this will you? Triton's fashion sale is on for the next four hours only, buy anything at a discount!"
Nina continued to rummage, "Hmmph, they have a sale everyday, what's new?" Nik threw in his trump, "But not a flat 50% discount everyday!" Now he had Nina's full attention. "And you could order with the one day delivery option," he slipped in. "What really! Show me," she grabbed the mobile that Nik helpfully held out to her and started browsing eagerly.
Nik left the room humming, 'Aur dikhao, aur dikhao' to grab a tray of munchies.
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| Image credit - Pixabay |
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Disclaimer: All the characters in the Nina's World series are fictional, any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental and unintentional.
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