Wilted Petals

Chapter 24: There's Mehendi on My Hands

Then, one of the biggest events of my life comes. Jen's wedding. I remember the times where we would sit on her couch and coordinate our wedding outfit colors so that we would look like goddesses ready to bless all our wedding guests' eyes. Now, she's actually getting married, I can safely attest to the fact that it's more exciting than planning your own wedding.

    Before I can squeal about Jen becoming Jennifer Samandi-Fakhry, we both have to get our mehendi done. Even though it means that I can't hold shit for the next few hours, it'll be worth it to flaunt the beautiful designs on my hands. And there's nothing wrong with not being able to hold anything, because I have Manish right next to me to help me out.

    The artist is piping out the paste onto my hands so swiftly and effortlessly, as my hands are resting on the skirt of my light green gown. The lack of sleeves gives me some reassurance that my clumsiness won't get in the way and smear my mehendi. Manish is sitting next to me, and I'm tempted to turn to him and tell him something.

But I know it won't be possible for him to hear me with all the ruckus that's going on. Ladies are dancing like they're on crack, music is being blasted at an illegally high decibel level, and somehow all of that is drowned out by the infectiously joyous energy and constant laughter. And of course,  it's all supplemented by endless rounds of snacks, hot food, and drinks going around to keep our energy moving for eternal conversations.

    "Need a hand, Jaya?" Manish cracks like he suddenly became a dad. I throw a look at Manish that makes it seem like I'm going to throw a dagger at him. But when he sees my murderously annoyed eyes, he just bursts into a fit of giggles. He got lucky tonight, because I have mehendi all over my hands. Otherwise, he would've been dead meat.

When Jen looks towards me and catches a glimpse of my murderous eyes, she just snickers. "You get used to it. And just remember: disposing of a body is way too tiring."

I start snickering as well, as I eye the mehendi that has been piped all over her hands. Unlike mine, which are simple designs that stop an inch below my wrist, Jen's mehendi extends almost to her elbows. It almost looks like she's wearing long and fancy lace gloves. The only thing that can compliment her look any further is a simple black dress and some pearls to complete the beautifully old fashioned look.

As soon as I'm done giggling with Jen, I spot something that instantly causes saliva to pool at my mouth. Sitting on the table of food is a perfectly constructed pyramid of besan ladoos standing there, freshly made, waiting to be devoured by someone as hungry and as obsessed with them as I am.

Manish notices that I'm salivating over the pyramid of deliciousness, and leans in towards me. "How many do you want, Jaya?" he asks in my ear. Damnit, Manish. You know me too well, I grumble to myself.

Yet at the same time, I can't help but applaud him for how quickly he noticed what I wanted. "Three, please," I say, and without hesitation, Manish hops on his feet.

The second he hops onto his feet and goes to retrieve the laddoos for me - which is interesting because I think he was a golden retriever in his past life - the mehendi artist finishes up my design. Perfect, time to keep my hands dead still and not move any of my joints for the next hour and a half, I think to myself.

I get up and make sure that I don't fall on my face because I'm notorious for being the clumsiest when it's the most inconvenient. Thankfully, I gain my balance quickly and waltz over to where Manish is gathering the besan ladoos.

Once he hears that I have crept up behind him, he turns around with a slightly satisfied smile both twinkling in his gentle eyes and glowing on his kind face. "Oh you're finished! Good timing. Okay, open up," he instructs, which I gladly do.

I inhale the entire ladoo in one bite, because they're fairly small, and start chewing on it. By my luck, a lock of hair got in my face and there are crumbs all over my face. I try to blow the piece of hair out of my face, but I'm unsuccessful, like always.

Manish starts giggling at my slight distress, and sets down the bowl of laddoos. "Hold on," he instructs, and again, I gladly obey. Unless he is going to stab me in the gut, I have no reason not to trust him. He grabs a napkin and gently dabs the laddoo crumbs off of my face. After he sets the napkin down, he gently brushes the hair out of my face and smooths it out so I don't look like I'm possessed by the devil.

"You're like my mom," I giggle, as Manish tucks a little baby hair behind my ear. He gently pinches my cheek, which he knows I slightly dislike, but it's not like I can use my hands to swat him away. "It's okay. We're both total messes at points. I mean, I literally stopped kissing you to get chaat. This is nothing."

I start snorting from all the giggling that I'm doing, and Manish himself can't help but laugh like he's high on drugs. Once we're both done being total crackheads, we see Jen get up from her spot and join in on the festivities. She catches sight of Manish and I giggling away our troubles in the corner, and beckons with her hand to come join us. Manish immediately bolts towards Jen, while I slowly jog after him to avoid tripping.

Once we're in the center of the dance floor, that's when things start to get loose. Manish, for the most part, dances like a stick figure on the dance floor, but with the environment that's going on, I can see the adrenaline fully loosen his muscles. Then, we both dance like there is nothing left in the world.

    By the end of the night, the soles and heels of my feet feel like someone rubbed their skin off with sandpaper. My voice is hoarse and strained due to all the yelling and screaming I did at the top of my lungs to match the music. My hair probably looks like someone rubbed a balloon all over it, while my fingers' joints are a little sore from the fact that I had to keep them still for the sake of my mehendi.

Of course, because Jen is a goddess, not one hair is out of place even hours after dancing. Her bouncy waves still retain all their curl, while her eye makeup does not suffer from one smudge. And that's not the only thing that's remained constant throughout the night. The pure joy from the festivities still radiates on her face brightly, and the smile that's been stretched out since the afternoon is still frozen in place.

As I admire how her cheeks didn't rip apart, I take a few deep breaths because all this dancing and celebration is a little too much for even me to handle. At this rate, people are flooding out like someone fired a gun there, so I'm almost ready to leave, anyways. I turn back to Jen, who is bidding everyone goodbye, and assume that her mehendi is dry enough to give her a giant hug.

"Jaya, I'll see you for the nikkah!" she squealed, as I bolted straight into her arms. Her mehendi's definitely dry, because she gives her signature hug that can easily break a person's rib or two. Three if she especially loves you.

"Yes, you are going to marry Anwar looking like a goddess, and I will do everything in my power to assure that." Jen giggles a little bit, as she loosens the grip on me.

She turns her attention to Manish, who is just standing there. I can see his eyes basically on their knees, begging for a giant hug from Jen. "Manish, I can't wait to see you at the wedding either," she squeals, as she starts to crush Manish in one of her hugs too.

Manish, of course, always reciprocates with even bigger hugs, so he hugged her back like it was the last thing he'd do. "I can't wait to see one of my best friends get married. I feel so old. Someone take me back to my childhood," he groaned, as I giggled inside.

Deep down, in the pits of my stomach, I would like that too.

Just so that I can reflect and see how much Manish and I have grown from our younger, stupider selves.

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We're getting SO close to the end! We only have about 3 or 4 more chapters left! What do you think the ending has in store for Manish and Jaya? Let me know.

I hope you guys liked this chapter! As always, please vote/comment/share/follow/message [both on here and on Instagram (svts.writes)] for updates regarding my works! See you in the next chapter!

Love you guys,

Shree