Annika slipped the gold and fuchsia silk sari over her shoulder and glanced in the mirror of her bedroom. Her long, dark hair fell down her back in soft waves, and her make-up highlighted her full lips, high cheekbones, and large, almond-shaped eyes perfectly. A shiver ran down her spine in anticipation of Kiran’s touch that would come later tonight after the engagement party was over and they were finally alone.
She imagined Kiran’s hands running down the length of her body, exploring familiar curves and then lifting the expensive sari off of her, and then…heaven.
She bit her lip in anguish. He’d better come…I can’t take this much longer!
Kiran was forced to take a later flight from India; last minute administrative problems at the hospital had seen to it. But, by her careful estimation, he had just enough time to quickly change into a dashing suit at her apartment and then meet her at the Fairview Country Club where they would announce their upcoming nuptials to the world.
He’d be at her side and the world would be set right again. She’d be safe in the shelter of his cool confidence and unfailing strength. Whatever weirdly veiled threat Kareem made two weeks ago would fade into the crevices of her mind when Kiran arrived. Besides, nothing had come of it. Not a peep from the jerk since the restaurant.
It was just a bluff meant to unsettle her.
It had worked.
Tonight, though, she was done being nervous. This was her night to celebrate with the most amazing man on earth, and then make love to him until sunrise. Kareem and his empty threats could go screw each other.
Once that was decided, Annika touched up her lipstick and then descended the staircase without a care in the world.
It was time to party.
The Fairview Country Club had never looked so lovely, and Annika’s mother had worked her magic and found a cellist at the last minute.
Annika brushed past the quartet, glowing with happiness, feeling like the luckiest woman on earth. Everyone she knew was there—either to celebrate with or to check out if the gossip was true about her mysterious wealthy fiancé. Frankly, she didn’t care why they were there, just that they had shown up. This was her moment to shine and she wanted everyone to see it, whether they be friend or foe. She purposefully made the invitation list as long as possible—and nearly everyone RSVPed.
Three hundred of them, in fact.
Annika glided through the crowd, greeted the Mayor, other city officials, her extensive family—some flying in from London to be there. She clinked glasses, made small-talk and fed off of the positive energy.
There was just one thing missing.
“Where is this mysterious fiancé of yours?” Ava asked, unable to hide the amusement in her blue eyes that the party was half-over and he still hadn’t show up. “Are you sure he’s real?” she teased.
Annika surveyed her two other friends from her college sorority flanking Ava, equally amused at the lack of a fiancé at the biggest engagement party her small town had ever seen. They think he doesn’t exist, she thought. She knitted her eyebrows, annoyed. “He missed his flight so decided to take the family jet,” she answered smugly. He should be here any minute.”
Daphne and Jade exchanged quick glances, impressed. Annika grinned in satisfaction and took a sip of punch. Oh how she loved to say the words ‘family jet.’
“Wow, he has a jet? Annika, you really traded up, didn’t you,” Ava said.
What? That’s not what she wanted them to think.
“I didn’t even know he had money when I met him,” she said, defensive. Why was she always on the defense with this chick?
Her friends laughed in earnest. Then it hit her: They really think I haven’t changed. They think I’m just with him for the money. Annika could feel her cheeks flush. She was determined to set them straight. “Actually, I thought he was poor. He lived in a run-down house and worked in a charity hospital. I ended up helping them out—and there was an orphan girl, Pari, she was sick and…”
They just laughed harder as if she was making a joke.
Suddenly, as she stared at their shallow, vacant eyes, she understood the saying about tossing pearls to swine. She wouldn’t tell them about Pari, the sweet angelic orphan whom she had befriended in the hospital and then watch as she lay on the operating table and take her last breath. To do so would be sacrilege in a sense. Annika had been forever changed in a way these carefully coiffed trollops could never understand.
But she couldn’t deny that she wanted them to.
An hour later, guests were starting to leave. If Annika was burned to her core before, now she was a pile blazing hot ash.
Where was Kiran?
He wasn’t answering his cell phone and he should have been here by now. If she had to answer another question about his presence, she was going to hit someone with the cello. But before she could send the National Guard to fetch him, she spied Ava, Daphne and Jade heading for the exit.
No!
She rushed over to run interference like a Dallas Cowboy at the Superbowl. No way were they leaving without meeting Kiran and confirming in their meager minds that he was, in fact, real and wonderful and better than anyone they would ever marry.
“Ava, you’re not leaving, are you?” she asked, trying to hide desperation in her voice.
The trio stopped in their tracks and gave fake frowns. “Annika, it’s getting late. I have a spa appointment at, like, seven tomorrow,” Ava explained as if a spa appointment was akin to life-saving chemotherapy for stage four cancer.
“But you haven’t met Kiran. He’ll be here any minute. Please stay for ten minutes longer. He’ll be here.”
She shrugged and looked at her watch. “Okay, just a few minutes.”
But she didn’t have to wait that long. The main event of the night had arrived.
Annika looked over Ava’s shoulder through the glass door leading to the foyer and smiled broadly. A dark car just pulled up and a man was exiting.
It had to be Kiran.
“You won’t have to wait. I think that’s him,” Annika nearly shouted. Several party guests moved in closer as if the Dali Lama was about to emerge from the hall, and the women all turned around to get the first peek at an extremely rare HBD.
Please be wearing the sexy gray Armani suit, Annika quickly thought to herself, but there was no need for silent wishes. A red-headed, middle-aged man with a bad comb-over and thick glasses emerged wearing an off-the-rack Macy’s special with a blue polyester tie.
Needless to say, it wasn’t her Hot Billionaire Doctor. It was some guy holding a manila envelope in one hand and some loose papers in another. And he was making a beeline for her.
“Oh, wow, there he is,” uttered Ava, trying not to laugh.
“You’d better keep an eye on him or Jade will be all over that,” Daphne added, failing any attempt at suppressing a giggle.
Jade pulled out her phone to record the moment for YouTube later. “Make sure to give your handsome fiancé a big ol’ wet kiss!”
Annika fumed. “Shut up, that’s not him!”
The man stopped in front of Annika, a small crowd now gathered around them, and asked plainly, “Are you Annika Bashir?”
“Yes. Why? Is everything okay? Is my fiancé okay?” She started to panic.
Ava put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
The man shook his head and then handed Annika the manila folder. “Annika Bashir, you’ve been served.”
Then he turned around and left as quickly as he had come.
Annika stared at the envelope, confused as hell, as whispers of what had just happened spread through the crowd like an airborne virus. Then she opened it and pulled out a very formal-looking document.
Ava looked over her shoulder. “Oh shit, Annika. You’re being sued!” she gasped, sounding less anxious about missing her early spa appointment.
“What are you talking about? I’m not being sued.” Annika said, stunned.
Ava grabbed the paper. “That’s your name under Defendant.”
“Who’s suing me?” Annika asked, afraid to look.
But her gut knew the answer.
“The plaintiff is Kareem H. Raman. He’s suing you for Breach of Promise…for breaking off the engagement.” Ava flipped through the pages trying to find the juicy bits. Jade and Daphne leaned in closer, Jade still filming on her phone. “He wants five million dollars for…let’s see, emotional distress, loss of societal standing, blah blah blah, um, loss of income, the cancelled engagement party, wedding expenses, yadda yadda yadda, oh and it says here he wants the engagement ring.” She looked up at Annika, confused. “You didn’t give that back?”
Annika sat down in a chair nearby, her legs starting to fail her. She could hear the strained voice of her mother somewhere in the crowd getting filled in on the latest news.
This was bad.
She swallowed and answered, her voice sounding parched and weak. “No. I donated it to charity in India.”
“Whoa. You’ve got balls. That was a big rock. No wonder he’s pissed.” Daphne chimed in.
But Annika couldn’t hear them anymore. She was in shock, digesting what was happening. Kareem has just stung the hell out of her, humiliating her on what should be one of the happiest days of her life.
And Kiran still wasn’t there.