Chapitre 34: A Butterfly 1
The two men noticed the woman with the brown hair observing them with furrowed brow. One last glance at each other, the two seemed to have come to an understanding. They smiled at the woman. Mark Adam went near her,
"Princess, at least don't be angry today. You are killing me with your anger."
Everyone laughed at the handsome blue eyed man faking pain. "Oh my god! He's so handsome. And he seems to love our sister Nia a lot." The women whispered and giggled. With two very handsome men the liveliness of the place increased manifold.
Nia took all the guests to lunch with her mom and grandma. Over lunch Mark charmed the five younger girls and the two older ones i.e. her mom and grandma. 'Wow! A real achievement indeed.' Nia was amused. Though the two men were amiable with each other Nia felt a cold undercurrent still flowing around the them. She decided to ignore it as she realized that Mark Adam was jealous of Zubeen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Along with birthday girl Astha, the other children also received gifts. Mark and Rhianna brought lots of gifts. Especially Mark, who came for the first time. He brought gifts even for Nia's mom and grandma. Everyone was won over by his charming, smiling personality. Like Zubeen, he played with the children, blew balloons, talked with the inhabitants of the Shelter pleasantly.
The guests and Nia's family, they all had dinner with the inhabitants of the Shelter as it was a day of celebration. Chicken biryani, chicken tikka masala, chicken with banana flowers, fish stew with bamboo shoots, split chickpea gravy, duck meat with sesame and pumpkin were served at dinner. After dinner they had sweet curd and ice-cream.
At ten in the evening while everyone went to bed the girls planned for a night at the bar. Nia who did not drink, wanted to go to bed early as next morning they would be leaving for the city. Mark was more interested in spending time talking with her. Zubeen told the girls they could drink at home if they wanted.
"I don't want another night like last night so soon. Moreover we wouldn't want to leave problems for mom and grandma."
So they drank and danced in the living room till midnight. At the end only Zubeen, Mark, Mahua who drank very little and Nia who did not drink at all, were left sober. Grandma's driver drove Monikarnika, Pynsuklin and Nungshi to the town as none were in a condition to drive.
Next morning before leaving for the city Nia returned a few story books to Mark Adam that he had brought along with other gifts. He looked at her with a puzzling look.
"Thanks for all the gifts and making the children happy. But return these books to the store. My girls do not read Princess stories."
"But I didn't bring Sleeping Beauty story book. I brought other fairy tales books."
As she walked to her car, Nia replied, "Stories which teach girls only to dream for a Prince Charming, my girls don't read them."
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"You see, there was this girl who wanted to carve the path she would walk on. She was the daughter of a brave army major, the granddaughter of a High Court judge. Her grandma was a successful lawyer and an organic farmer." She started telling her own story.
"And her mother," she paused, "her mother was a home maker who loved to take care of the family, and a teacher who taught girls to dream big. She was the principal of a Girls High School. Their family was a patron of that school." A few days after she had returned to the city after Astha's birthday, Nia invited Rhianna and Nicholas over to her place.
"It feels funny to be talking about myself, as if telling a story about someone else." Nia smiled awkwardly at Rhianna and Nicholas. The two of them sat silently, in Nia's living room, their whole concentration was on the woman who always talked less about herself.
"It was only natural for the girl to want to carve out a niche for herself like the other members of her family." Nia continued after a little pause.
"Her grandma named her Nirvana, a name with a deep meaning. She was a butterfly, soft and fragile like it, because her family treated her with utmost love and care. Like it, she loved the world, the freedom, the soft breeze and the sun. She was not borned to be in a cage. Her spirit was free, and Nirvana wanted to walk on a path that her heart told her to follow."
Nia was staring at her hands on her lap. It felt strange talking about her life as if she was reading out from the pages of a book. She chose to talk in third person because she had felt that that way it would feel less personal, less painful. That way her own past seemed like a hazy world, looked through the glass window on a rainy day.
"Then the girl's father died." Her voice trembled, she wanted to quickly finish the narrative. "He was a brave army Major but he died not in the line of work. He died trying to save his best friend and his wife from fire. It was a pity that they did not live long too. They died later on in a plane crash."
Nicholas knew Nia was talking about Yougal's parents. But only today he learned that Nia's father saved Yougal's parents from the fire that was accidentally started by their maid. He wondered why Yougal who seemed to be smitten by her, did not remember her from the past.
When he learned that Nia was the girl his friend was to get engaged to, Nicholas was not surprised. He was surprised at how much agony that lovable, gentle woman had kept buried inside her. He never ever thought that there was a graveyard in that warm hearted woman.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone