Chapter 16: Trip to the shopping Mall 1
One month after the dinner at Nicholas' parents place Nia reluctantly followed Rhianna to shopping. It was a leisurely Friday afternoon in July. The college was closed that day as there was some sort of tribal festival and the day was declared as state holiday. As she waited for the evening to come, Nia listened to some melodious Sufi songs on the music system. At five she would be driving out to the Bamboo Grove art cafe and the training center.
The phone that was on the coffee table started ringing, causing Nia to open her eyes. A frown appeared on the lovely face. The ringing phone shattered the peaceful ambience the song and the otherwise quiet afternoon created. She lowered the volume of the song before picking up the cell. It was Rhianna calling her.
Her frown eased a little before answering the call. She wondered what that girl was up to. Her own itinerary was already fixed and she did not want to skip the visit to the cafe and the training center. There were pressing issues to be discussed with Zubeen. They needed to add another floor to the training center building to accommodate the growing number of trainees.
"Hey Rhi, how come you remembered me on a holiday? Nia teased her friend. "Did you call me by mistake?" Since their engagement, Rhianna's most Sundays and other holidays were reserved for Nicholas.
"Shut up Nia. I want your help and it is important." Rhi replied with fake anger.
Nia groaned as she tried to imagine what unnecessary important help her friend wanted. Rhianna had this habit of labelling everything she talked of or did as important.
"I have work, Rhi. I'm not free. What can be more important than Nicholas' company in a beautiful afternoon?" Nia attempted to push the ball to Nicholas' court in a subtle way.
"Nirvana Sonowal, I know what you're trying to do. Now haul your ass up from the sofa and get ready. I'm reaching your place in twenty minutes. We can go to the cafe and the training center after shopping."
"I've work at the training center. Ask Nicholas and spare me." Nia would not stop trying to evade this disaster called shopping with Rhianna. It would not precisely be shopping as far as she was concerned. She would only shamble after Rhianna Gogoi like a half dead dog.
It was half past three in the afternoon. Her mood was a little restless, but more peaceful, set in the exact favourable spirit by the rare cool summer afternoon. The light breeze gliding into the room through the open windows and the door opening to the balcony, touched her like the caressing fingers of a loved one.
The soulful Sufi songs made her afternoon perfect. The scent of the flowers and the chirping of birds added the addictive calm to her inner being. Nia had no wish to leave this intoxicated sensation behind to go out to get cooked outside in the hot weather of this city. Moreover this was her alone time and wanted to evade the presence of another person right now.
Back at the cafe Nia could relax only after assuring the smooth running of everything. Today she would not be able to relax at all as Zubeen and she had a serious discussion. It was not just a simple discussion about adding another floor to the training building. Some builders had been eyeing the whole plot of land where the cafe and the training center stood. That was a serious matter. The plot was registered in the name of Nia and her mom.
She would never hand over the land even in exchange for her life. She had received threat from some real estate agents who were in cahoots with land Mafia. They thought they could easily intimidate a woman. Nia would not hesitate to employ every source of power to make the enemy retreat from the battlefield. She needed to discuss those things with Zubeen Gohain. And here came her best friend with a plan for shopping.
"Stop the circumlocution. I'm not the one elusive here. No more excuses. I'm coming." Rhi hung up without much ado.
The soft crooning of the singer in that low volume now sounded like a requiem. 'I don't want to hurt her by refusing to accompany her. She is a pampered princess who is blissfully unaware of the malevolent world.' With a sigh Nia reluctantly left the comfort of the basket chair and turned off the stereo, then started to get ready for an evening to be wasted at the mall.
'Yeah,' she reflected miserably, 'I'm a dead soul about to depart to the realm of Hades.'
As she changed into an ankle length white skirt and an ocean blue blouse top, her mind pondered for a while on the kind of important help Rhianna wanted from her in a Mall. Rhi would not be supervising any work there. She could not help being sarcastic. The only work that woman had there could be, buy and only buy whatever caught her fancy.
She did not linger on the thought. Most probably Rhi wanted to buy a dress for the upcoming party that the Adam cousins were throwing in a fortnight for the shareholders, where a lot of friends and prospective investors would be invited. Of course Nia was invited too, not only as friend but also as the new consultant. Though only Nicholas and his dad knew who the new consultant was.
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