Destiny's Dice

A Second Glance.

A/N: Alya is towards the left and that's Chachi on the right. Happy reading xx

"Let them in!" Chachi exclaims excitedly, and the gathered crowd separates, as if it were the Red Sea.

Chachi and Chacha walk through the now cleared pathway, followed by Manik and Alya. The latter is dressed in a fruity colored dress - which quite frankly is hurting my eyes. The material is hugging every inch of her body.

"Is that a swimsuit?" I murmur, my eyes trailing down towards her six inch heels. They are a loud red color, the surface gleaming, as if she's just washed them and come. Her right wrist is clustered with squarish bangles of all the colors one can find in a rainbow.

The woman truly loves colors. Alya's hair is flowing past her stomach in beach curls, ending right near her waistline. A Micheal Kors bag is hooked onto her left wrist.

"She's really something," Navya whispers in my ear. I nod, suddenly feeling immensely conscious about my own looks. Alya's standing there, looking like a goddess, and then there's me, looking like a total mess.

I take a step back, trying to cover my figure with Navya's. Unfortunately for me, Navya is shorter and more petite than me, so I'm sure, one glance towards us and everyone will see the person who seems to have come out of a gutter - me.

This time I focus my gaze on Manik, Alya's boyfriend, also know as the person who plays sick games, in which others - elders - get injured. He's wearing a black fitted, V-neck shirt that hugs every contour of his body.

A gasp escapes from Navya's lips.

"He's a Greek God," she says in awe. Although I dislike this man strongly, I have to agree with her. Manik has well-built muscular body, which is further highlighted because of his choice of clothing. He's complemented the shirt with a pair of faded, ripped jeans and white sneakers.

There's light stubble growing across his jawline, his lips forming a perfect pout. My eyes linger on them for a second too long. Shaking my head slightly, I cut my gaze up towards his eyes, which hold two black orbs.

Those eyes are watching everyone, taking in the situation, and assessing it. I wish the ground would open up and take me in, thereby hiding me from this man. I would love a confrontation with him, but not right now. Not when I'm looking like I've been through a tornado.

His left arm is curved around Alya's shoulders, a black watch gleaming on his wrist. His fingers are slender and beautifully long, their length completely encompassing the width of Alya's forearm.

Well, that's not too hard, because she is all bones. The jewelry items on Manik's right wrist draw my attention towards them. He's wearing a combination of brown and black bands, complemented by a silver bangle. The click together as his arm swings ever so slightly, as they make their way further into the house.

"Nandini!" Chachi yells, making me jump. No, no, no. I intertwine my fingers, squeezing them tight. Navya sidesteps, completely baring my body to the people gathered around. I look up towards the ceiling.

Aiyappa, do you really have to do this to me today? What bad karma am I paying for?

"Nandini," Chachi calls again. This time when I look towards her, she's staring right at me, gesturing for me to come over. With hesitant, small steps, I make my way towards them and take my place beside Chachi.

With whatever little self-respect I've got left, I smile at Alya.

"Hi," I say, offering her an awkward wave. I'm so embarrassing, I mentally face-palm myself. Alya's gaze scans my face for a few seconds, before her eyes travel down the entirety of my figure.

She's checking me out and not in a nice-to-meet-you manner. Oh no, this checking out is the I'm-judging-you one. I can feel it.

Alya's face contorts with displeasure for a mere second, before she wipes the expression of her face and meets my gaze, smiling.

"Hi," Alya says, her pink lipstick coated lips smiling, but in an extremely cold manner. "I'm Alya." She takes a step toward me, as if wanting to hug me, but then thinks better of it and stretches her hand out towards me instead. I grasp it, giving it a good shake.

"I'm Nandini," I introduce myself. "Your cousin."

"Your sister," Chachi corrects hastily, smiling fondly at Alya.

"Ah, right. Of course," Alya mumbles, slipping her hand out of my grasp, as if she can't wait to get away from me.

My gaze cuts toward Manik. He's staring at me, his expressions seeming as if he's seen a ghost. I raise an eyebrow at him, causing him to come back to the present and wipe off that look from his face.

"Mom, I'm super tired, so could you please just show us to our rooms?" Alya asks, looking back towards her mother.

I take a step back and blend into the crowd once more, as Chachi excitedly guides the couple up the stairs and towards their room. I watch Manik's back, contemplating whether or not I should tell Chachi as to who he is.

Just as they're about to make a left towards the corridor which will lead them to their room, Manik's head turns toward me. He offers me a brief over the shoulder look, just before he makes the turn, along with everyone else and disappears from view.