"What? We are going to attend a party tonight? And you are telling this to me now? How am I supposed to get ready? I don't have enough time." Vennela panicked.

"You need more than ten hours?" Amar asked incredulously.

"You men just comb your hair and apply perfume. Women need to select a perfect dress for the occasion. Then some matching accessories. We need a lot of time to finalize the type of makeup. And then we have to start working. Half an hour for face makeup, another half an hour for eye makeup. The hair dressing will take 20 - 30 minutes because if we don't get it right the entire look will be ruined." Vennela wanted everything to be perfect.

"Sweetheart, calm down. You don't need all these things. You look beautiful just the way you are." Amar served breakfast. He observed that she wasn't eating.

"I have never attended parties like this before. What if I do something wrong that makes you feel embarrassed? I don't want you to regret taking me with you." Vennela felt insecure.

"Never say that again. Nothing you say or do will embarrass me. Just be who you are. I don't need a conduct certificate for my wife from anyone." Amar tried to ease her mind.

"Akka, your look for the party will be perfect. The immensely talented Shruthi will style you herself." Shruthi assured her. Vennela felt relieved.

Anirudh lowered his voice and spoke to Shruthi. "Whatever you do, don't use hair extensions or attachments." Shruthi felt her cheeks go red.

"Come with me." Amar held her hand and took her to their room. He gave her a box. "The moment I saw this I knew this was made for you."

She opened the box to find a beautiful and elegant red dress with perfect length and design. "Wow. This is great." She admired it. "Thank you."

"You may now gift me the watch you bought for me. You don't have to hide it," said Amar.

"You know?! Sorry, I felt nervous every time I thought of giving it to you. I bought it from my savings. It's not that expensive." Vennela was unsure whether he would like it.

"That stopped you from gifting it to me? Remember the first gift I've given you? It was just a bunch of lotus flowers." Amar found her reason very silly.

Vennela gave him the box. He opened it with childish enthusiasm and wore the watch. "It looks good."

"It's because my husband wore it" said Vennela. "You know, I didn't throw the lotus flowers away. They are safe in my old text book." 

Amar was overjoyed to hear this. He hugged her.

---***---

The sisters started getting ready from 4 pm. They took almost two hours. When they looked at themselves in the mirror, they were elated. "Is this really me?" asked Vennela. Shruthi, who wore a green knee length dress, answered. "You are looking like a queen."

"And you are my princess." They hugged each other.

Vennela wore stilettos for the first time in her life. Her feet hurt. But it was worth it. She practiced a bit to walk without tripping.

Amar was impatient. "Why are they taking so long?"

"It seems my anna can't wait to look at his wife." Anirudh was playing games on Amar's phone. Amar snatched it.

At that moment, he saw an extremely gorgeous woman descending the stairs gracefully. His jaw dropped. He walked up to her and held her hand. "Never knew moonlight could be so hot" said Amar, making Vennela chuckle.

"Shall we leave?" Amar asked Anirudh, who didn't answer. "Rudy, I'm talking to you. What are you looking at-- oh, okay."

Anirudh was staring at Shruthi who was descending the stairs. Amar looked at Vennela unsure of how she would react. But she was smiling. "Someone tell me what's happening." Amar was confused.

"Isn't it obvious?" Vennela winked at him.

"Oh my Dumbledore!" Amar gasped.

Vennela held his hand and led him outside. They reached the hotel in half an hour. Amar was talking to someone. Anirudh sat in a corner. "Not interested in the party?" Vennela asked him.

"Nothing like that vadina." Anirudh was unable to decide if he should ask Shruthi to dance with him.

"Just go and ask her if you like her. Don't think too much." Vennela encouraged him. Anirudh was surprised. He didn't expect her to give him her approval.

"She likes you too. Please don't suppress your feelings. Gather some courage and ask her. Let her know how you feel. Because an intelligent boy once told me that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Vennela quoted what Anirudh advised her months ago.

Anirudh smiled happily. "Thank you for being my vadina."

"Younger brothers don't thank elder sisters" said Vennela.

Amar appeared out of nowhere. "Are you people here to sit in a corner? The dance floor is inviting us. Come on Vennu."

"Amar, I'm not a good dancer." Vennela refused. Amar looked disappointed. "Okay. Let's dance for the next song." Vennela wanted to make him feel special.

"Oh my God! Look who's here. Amar Pratap Devaraju," said an unknown voice.

Amar turned around. "Mandira?" He was equally surprised to see his old classmate.

"Vennela, this is Mandira, she was my schoolmate." He introduced her. "And Mandira, this is my wife."

Vennela shook hands with her. "You look beautiful" said Mandira. "Let me introduce my family. This is my brother, Manish and this is my husband, Naveen." Amar's family waved at Mandira's family. Naveen excused himself to make a call.

"My husband is always busy" said Mandira. "Come Amar. Let's dance."

Amar didn't like the idea of dancing with someone else. "Actually my wife--"

"Come on. I haven't met any of my schoolmates after the school. My brother will dance with her for a few minutes" said Mandira.

Amar was unsure. Vennela nodded at him. He agreed and followed Mandira. Manish asked Vennela politely. Before she could make an excuse he held her hand and led her to the dance floor. The lights were dim. Through the corner of her eye she saw Mandira talking to Amar excitedly.

Manish was gazing at Vennela without blinking. She felt uncomfortable. She couldn't leave because she didn't want to make a scene in front of everyone. She wished Amar would notice her. But he was busy talking. She wished the song would end quickly. Someone tapped Manish's shoulder. "I want to talk to my sister" said Anirudh.

Before Manish could reply Anirudh pulled Vennela's hand out of his grip. Manish glared at him. Anirudh, the protective brother, glared back.

"Vadina, the song is about to end. Let's approach anna. Just grab his hand and pull him. He is here to dance with you, not her."

"No. Mandira will feel bad. It's like insulting her." Vennela didn't want to hurt her.

"Oh God! Okay. Fine. Let's do this without insulting her."

They reached Amar. "Let me make a suggestion. Why don't you dance with your wife? Let me have the honour of dancing with this beautiful lady." Anirudh bowed to Mandira. Amar was amused. He let go off Mandira and grabbed Vennela's hand quickly.

Mandira was talking nonstop about her college days. 'How do I get myself into these situations?' thought Anirudh. He spotted Shruthi sitting on a couch scowling at both of them. "Is she your date?" asked Mandira. Anirudh nodded.

"Introduce me to her." Mandira pulled him along.

"Hello. I'm Mandira. An old acquaintance of Amar and Anirudh." She introduced herself. Shruthi opened her mouth to say her name when the over enthusiastic woman said, "I know who you are. You are Anirudh's date."

Anirudh wished the earth would swallow him at that instant. He covered his face.

"Yes. I am his date for today" said Shruthi, surprising Anirudh. "Excuse us. We are supposed to be on the dance floor." 

Anirudh was on cloud nine.

Amar was looking at Vennela. "Stop staring. It's creepy" said Vennela, ignoring the pain in her feet because of the stiletto heels. Amar was a good dancer. She was trying hard to keep up. He held her right hand with his left hand. Their fingers were intertwined. He pulled her closer until there was no gap between them. Their proximity always gave her goosebumps.

"Not creepy but romantic. I wish you would stare at me too. But looks like you are not interested in looking into my eyes." Amar complained.

Vennela lifted her head and looked directly into his eyes. "It's not that I'm not interested. I'm scared I might drown in your deep brown eyes. Your intense eyes are dazzling as well as soothing. Your eyes make my heart beat wildly. They hold so many emotions especially when they are looking at me. And I was scared to handle them because I wasn't ready." She tightened her grip on his arm. "But now I have gathered courage. I am willing to drown myself. I never thought I would say this. You, Amar Pratap Devaraju, have won my hea--"

"AHH!" Amar yelped in pain, holding his foot. "You stepped on my foot."

Vennela accidentally injured him with her stilettos. His foot was bleeding. She looked around for help. Anirudh and Shruthi weren't visible in the dim light. Mandira noticed them. She came running. "Help. He is injured. Let's take him outside." Vennela requested her.

Together they took Amar outside. Vennela removed his shoe to see a scratch on his foot. "Just a small injury. I'll get some ice for him." Mandira left.

"I'm so sorry." said Vennela.

"It's okay Vennu."

"I'm an idiot. I wasn't concentrating on dancing. I was busy talking to you. I am a very bad dancer." Vennela massaged his leg.

Amar noticed her footwear. "Why are you wearing stilettos?"

"Well, they look good." Vennela answered.

"I never saw you wearing them before. You will sprain your ankles. You need a lot of practice to wear it on formal occasions" said Amar.

"Yes. It needs a lot of practice. It took me six months of practice to walk without falling." Mandira appeared carrying a few ice cubes in a bowl. Vennela noticed her walking gracefully wearing high heels.

"She is right. Take them off" said Amar.

"I have to rush now. My husband is leaving for Delhi. Bye." Mandira left.

"Amar, I did it for you. I thought you would like it." Vennela applied ice on his wound. "I will practice well."

"No Vennu. These things look good on someone like Mandira because she can dance beautifully. You are not a good dancer. Please don't wear them again. You could have injured yourself." Amar didn't notice the agony in her eyes.

She tried hard to control her emotions. 'I did it for him. I danced with him because I wanted to make him feel happy. But he was happy dancing with someone else.'

---***---

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