A beautiful bride looked back at her from the mirror. It was an oval shaped mirror and some of her body parts were not visible. But what ever she saw dazzled her ash green eyes. She looked straight out of a movie set. The golden and red bangles on her slim hands jingled in glee. She was wearing a deep pink lahenga that was borrowed for this special occasion but fitted her shape like her own. Her heavy fake jewelleries were a take on the ‘Umrao jaan’ designs. They made her look like a million bucks. Her soft curly brown hair was tied with Jasmine gajaras. Her make up was just right. A girl from the beauty Parlour had specially come down to help her get ready. She had never felt so important and beautiful in her entire thirty years. This was going to be her wedding night and it came only once in a life time. The more she looked at herself, the more she fell in love with this new bride. Salma aunty had been so right. She made a perfect bride.

She did not laugh at his inexperience nor does she tease him. There was respect in her eyes for him. She offered herself to him in a way that would be easy on him. She was thinking about his comfort and not about herself. She laced her fingers in his thin trembling hands and let the warmth from her body flow into his. It was a gentle touch of a teacher for a dear student.  He was her salvation.   

The orchestra of the noise outside drowned some where between her whispers and his breathing. While their bodies were in imperfect collision, their minds were struggling with uncontrollable passion. He was visiting a universe, he knew existed but never been there. She was living a dream that she never expected to come true. Both had an incredible gift for each other, willing to give and desperate to receive.

Each of her emotions which were trained to be controlled, shuddered under his sincere admiration. Each of his desires that had been cold so far throbbed under her expert guidance. At that time they both chose to be miles away from their respective agendas.

She was not sure if she heard him say ‘I love you’ or just dreamt it. But in her mind she had already tagged what ever she felt for him as ‘love’.

Morning came a little too soon for both of them. She did not expect to see him around and she was right. She had slept like a baby. She streched herself long and hard. As her hands came down, her left hand touched an envelop before it rested on the bed. The white envelop was full of money, a lot of money. It brought her to ground zero. Salma aunty must be waiting. She was Salma aunty’s  favourite call girl. And for them this was the best deal ever. A rich father wanted his only son to have the experience of the Suhaag Raat before his wedding.