Incandescence

Chapter 13

I sat in front of the vanity mirror, my eyes closed while Maira and Sadaf went about with their ministrations. I had agreed to go to the dinner because of Maira and what she had said. She'd hit a nerve inside me and I didn't want to let the sweet kid down. There was something about her that sprung a quick friendship between us and with her chirrupy nature; I knew we could be good friends in the long run. Both of them, Sadaf and Maira, were doing something with my hair. I felt them poke, twist and turn it around on my head but I couldn't see. I wasn't allowed to watch as they'd given me strict orders not to look in the mirror and ruin their masterpiece. They wanted me ready before I could be allowed to see myself. Such suspense, I thought. I sat still, like a mannequin, waiting for their ministration to end.

After what seemed like an hour to me, I was finally allowed to open my eyes. Sadaf quickly turned me towards the mirror, her eyes glowing with mischief. I opened my eyes slowly, prolonging the suspense. I looked at the image in the mirror and shook my head. Who was that? The mirage in front of me stood to her full height, her beautiful chocolate eyes sparkling with wonder and awe but what drew my attention was her hair. No longer was her hair burnt and in disarray, in its place was perfectly trimmed hair that looked exactly like the rest of hair on her head. Neatly cut bangs fell to her forehead, making her look pretty but mysterious. The damaged side of her face was partially covered by the new hair and she looked beautiful, in a simple way. I realized at that moment that I was watching myself in the mirror. I didn't look damaged goods at all.

I turned around from the mirror and looked at both of them in awe.

"Who is that?" I croaked, turning to look at myself in the mirror again.

"That is my best friend." Sadaf beamed at me. "Do you know her?"

"I guess so." I said, smiling shyly at her.

"Well, we better get you dressed. It's already nine p.m." Maira said as she turned around, looking for my closet. She crossed the room and walked towards the adjoining dressing room, which had my walk-in closet.

"We need to find you a dress."

"I already took care of that, Maira." Sadaf said as she opened the wardrobe and took out a dress packed in a bag. "I got this dry cleaned for you."

I unzipped the zipper of the bag and gasped. It was the same dress that she took with her in the morning. It was ironed and hanging inside the zipper.

"Come on! get inside the dressing room and change." Maira pushed me towards the dressing room. I quickly changed my clothes and stepped outside.

"Come, let me refresh your hair, Alisha." Maira said and as I sat in front of her, she brushed my hair.

"Well, someone has changed." Sadaf grinned at me. I rolled my eyes at her and grinned back, simultaneously. Sadaf brought matching black pumps for me to wear.

"Shall we go?" Maira asked, positively beaming at me. She was proud of her ministrations, I guess.

"Yeah! Let's go." I said.

"Wait! Sadaf, I will go first and you follow me, and Alisha you should be at the end. I really want to see their faces when they see her." Maira childish request made both of us laugh. After what she'd gone through for me, I was willing to play along with her. We descended the staircase in a queue, as she had requested.

From behind Sadaf, I could see that Shahmir and my parents had joined Anis in the lounge. Argh! I had an audience. Maira descended the stairs and greeted my parents, introducing herself because Anis had stood up from his seat, craning his head to look at me. Mom hugged her in welcome while dad patted her on the head in a fatherly way. Sadaf had walked down the stairs and went towards Shahmir. Now, I was in front of everyone.