DEATH'S HEART

Chapter 6 (Radish Fiction Version)

It wasn't as crowded as she thought it would be when she entered the living room. She had always thought college parties would be overly packed, just like in the movies where people were squished against each other like canned sardines. Asha looked around her, and exhaled. "Wow!"

"Everyone must be at the back," Cat figured. She tugged Asha by the arm. "This way!

"Look at this place!" Asha whispered under her breath as she gawked at the size of Miranda Lane's house. How many living rooms did this house have? After the first room, she found herself and Cat standing in another room with a luxurious, U-shaped leather lounge suite.

Cat's body started moving in sync with the beat of the music that came from flatscreen TV mounted on the wall. She gently nudged Asha by the rib and pointed towards a group of guys who were having a rowdy game of pool. "Looks like the footy team is here, too!"

"My gosh! How big is this place?" Asha couldn't stop craning her neck around.

Cat laughed as she saw Asha's bewildered look. "Close your mouth, hun," she giggled. "You're like a child who has set foot in the Disneyland for the first time."

Asha's face turned red. She snapped her mouth closed and looked down. "I've never been to Disneyland," she muttered.

"Neither have I." She took her friend's arm and led her through another passage, this time they entered a massive gourmet kitchen. "Pay attention to the party, not the venue," she laughed, lifting her nose in the air, "Mmmmm, smells so good!"

"She got catering, too?" Asha's eyes widened in disbelief, seeing the line of chaffing dishes on the black granite bench top. "I wonder how much she spent on this." She took in the sight of food being arranged on plates like artwork by uniformed staff. The enticing colour and aroma sent her mouth salivating.

"Lots!" Cat replied as she strode closer to the buffet to have a look at what was on the menu. "Yummo!"

"They look so delicious!" she moaned, particularly eyeing the chicken drummies, warm bread rolls, nachos..."Is that a sushi platter over there?" she pointed, unable to keep her excitement.

"I bet the whole student body will be so disappointed when she graduates," Cat snickered. "No more cool parties!"

Asha shrugged the comment off. "You never know, someone else could be hosting a party when she's gone," she said without taking her eyes off the food. "Oooh! I think I know what I'm having!" She was about to approach the stack of plates at the end of the counter when Cat tugged her arm yet again.

"Come on! Let's go to the garden!" she squealed with impatience lining her voice.

Before she could have a chance to protest, Asha's feet were trying to keep up as Cat maneuvered her through a maze of halls, passing by rooms that seemed bigger and more impressive than the other. Despite her admiration, she could never understand the need for that kind of space. Judging by the photographs that were hanging on the walls, it looked like Miranda and her parents were the only ones who lived in the enormous waste of space. Why do they have two gourmet kitchens, formal and informal dining rooms, four lounge areas, a music room, and a theatre room? What was the point of a theatre room when she had already seen five flatscreen televisions mounted on the walls. That did not include the built-in LCD screens on the monstrosity of a refrigerator they had.

Back home, they only had a small kitchen. It wasn't anything fancy, but that was where the delicious magic happened. The dining table was just a four-seater, but it was more than enough to enjoy a feast. There was only one living room, but almost everything happened in there–they watched movies, played games, danced to their music , received guests...It was an adequately sized room, but it was was where they actually lived as a family.