Chapter 7

As stella entered the dining room everybody started to sang ‘happy birthday’.

Her friends pop the party popper and they all cheered. The music started and everybody took their glasses and started to dance while stella sat on the chair waiting for cake to be arrive.

A moment later the waiter entered with a large three tier cake and everybody shouted happily. Stella stood and they gathered around the table waiting for the stella to cut the cake. She held knife which was also decorated as the same colour as the cake, and started to cut the cake while everybody sang her the birthday song again.

The room was decorated very beautifully with balloons and disco ball in the centre. After cutting the cake she fed the cake to everybody with her own hands. And then Clara and some other fellows mischievously put a cake on stella's face.

“Clara what are you doing?” screamed stella.

“oops! Its tradition” she cheered and laughed.

When Stellas face got covered with cake, everybody took their glasses again and started to dance. While stella ran to the washroom alone as Clara was busy dancing with her friend so she didn’t ask her to come along with her. She wiped her face with tissue first and then washed it. Then she did her makeup again which she was carrying in her little purse. And she took a deep breath and smile to herself while looking in the mirror and thought

“it's my day, I should be happy and enjoy it to the fullest”.

Then she got out of the washroom and was on her way to the dining hall when she saw a group of business men coming towards her way. Firstly, she didn’t recognise the man on front who was talking to his colleagues but suddenly her brain started to rewind the image and she stopped there. 

They were near now and she was watching them continuously, she couldn’t go another way as there was no passage except passing them but then she headed back and sneaked into the washroom again. She didn’t care that they already noticed her presence as she was acting weird.

She waited in the washroom until they passed so she can leave again. As she got out of the washroom, she saw nobody in the passage hall. All rooms were closed and it was silence.

 “maybe they entered in one of these rooms, I should leave now”.

She leapt out and was about to go when she heard unusual voice from behind.

“I guess you were hiding from me” it was Steven Joseph!

She couldn’t dare to turn around and look at him. At that moment she regretted and became angry with Clara that why she even listened to her and came here. He came forward as he knew that she doesn’t have the guts to face him herself.

“I'm sorry I didn’t want to come here it was my friend who insisted me to celebrate my birthday here” she apologised.

“may I ask for what you are apologising” he asked like he was enjoying her helplessness. She looked at him straight in his eyes.

“you forbade me to come in your way” she replied.

“I forbade you to come in my way on purpose, but if it happens by chance, it is not your fault” he said calmly.

“ok then I should be going now” she said.

And wanted to go but he held her hand and stopped her, suddenly from nowhere she remembered that Fatima slapped Arthur when he tried to touch her hand, but then she realised that Fatima was a Muslim but she's not a Muslim.

She forcibly released her hand from his grip.

“you left something in my room that day if remember, it was a bracelet I guess” he told her.

“yeah, I know it was from my father but I did not have the courage to come to you again and fetch it” she replied.

“but now if you have, come to my office at 4pm tomorrow and take it away” he said in a firm voice. “and you already know my office’s address” he continued.

“I'll surely come and take it” she replied. And then he walked away first without even giving a glance but suddenly he turned around and said “happy birthday” he was smiling.

It was the first time she saw him smiling. And indeed, he was cute. And then he walked away again. She looked at his back moving away, and then realised that he's not that much rude as she was imagining him to be. 

Clara was still dancing but this time she was with Arthur. She took a piece of cake and sat in corner; she saw that there were more dishes now. But a thought occupied her mind, why Fatima did not come here? She saw her class fellows were drinking and dancing and some couples known from here class were kissing, everybody was enjoying. But why Fatima was not here? Doesn’t she enjoy music, drinks, boys? She kept asking her mind, why it's like that? Only answer she received was that she's a Muslim. She considers such things as sin; her religion doesn't allow her to do such things. Then she realised that she was thinking too much. But another thought disturbed her, should I go to stevens office? Why he kept my bracelet for so long? Do I matter to him? And she got busy in her thoughts.

“come on stella, come and enjoy!” exclaimed Clara in loud music. Stella stood up and joined the party. She danced with Clara. But soon she realised that she was not enjoying. And it was the first-time when she was not enjoying any of the things like she used to before, because she kept thinking that its wrong, all she was doing.