Page 8 of Addiction

Reina laughed, the happy sound warming Navya’s heart. At twenty-eight, Reina was younger to her by a year.

“These old English houses are far from the main city,” Reina said. “Don’t worry, we should be reaching there in…” she checked the GPS on the dashboard, “…ten minutes. And trust me, this party will be worth the drive.”

“Are you sure this is safe, Reina? Our names are on the guest list, right?”

Reina reached out and squeezed her hand. “It’s safe. My colleague Su Min will be at the entrance to sign us in. It’s a party held at her boyfriend’s home, I think.”

“You think?” Navya sputtered.

“It is, it is…” Reina insisted. “You’re getting paranoid for no reason at all.”

Navya exhaled, pushing her unease to the background. Her sister was right; there was no need to be concerned. Yet, a tendril of doubt lingered in her mind. She couldn’t help it. Even though four years had passed, she still couldn’t attend any party uninvited or without knowing who was hosting it. She’d done it once, and it had backfired, badly. Never again, she’d promised herself. It paid to be careful, and the last thing she wanted was to run into… Shit. She was not thinking abouthimagain.Hewas in the past. Her brother had ensured it.

Nonetheless, for the last four years, Navya had searched forhimat every party she’d attended, ready to bolt if he was anywhere to be seen. Thankfully, she hadn’t seen him at all. But he was never far from her thoughts. Like a bad dream, her mind kept painting and repainting his image in her head, reminding her of what she’d felt when she’d been with him. That feeling of her stomach hollowing, her heart racing, and her skin tightening—ugh. She never wanted to feel that lack of control ever again. Even thinking ofhimmade her tense up.

Thanks tohim, she’d been saddled with a bodyguard for a long time. Those days had been so suffocating. It sucked to be constantly watched and followed and be reported upon to their brother. It had taken a long time for Ananya and her to convince Rajiv to call off the bodyguard. But Navya knew that he still worried about them.

Reina gave her a concerned look. “You know, if Ananya was here, she too would tell you to relax. What happened all those years ago was an error on both your parts—Ananya was equally at fault then. Quit taking the full blame for it.”

Navya sighed. What happened in the past had been only her fault. She was the one who’d told Ananya of that damn yacht party and had happily agreed to the stupid idea to gate crash it. Thanks to that one mistake, her sister wasn’t the same anymore. To the world, she put up a cheerful façade, but Navya could see how sad and unhappy Ananya truly was. How quiet she had become, how withdrawn. And whenever Navya broached this topic with her elder sister, she always brushed it off, convincing her that all was well. It wasn’t, and Navya didn’t know how to make it right for her sister. Fuck. Ananya’s state of misery was all her fault.

She exhaled, forcing herself to let go of her thoughts. She’d have enough time when she was alone to stew in the misery of her past actions. Tonight was for Reina and her.

“It’s New Year’s Eve. Let’s go and enjoy ourselves, okay?” Reina mirrored her thoughts. “You’ve been here for a whole week, and tonight’s the first time we’re going out. You also missed the Coldplay concert because I had to be at work. I still feel so guilty about that.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Navya assured her. “Coldplay is touring the world. We’ll try and watch them in another city when you’re less loaded with work.”

“I hope so…” Reina gave her a smile. “Can you not stay for a few more days? I hate that you’re leaving the day after. We’ve not spent much time together.”

Ever since Reina had moved to London to study medicine, they hardly saw her. Hence, every minute spent with her was precious. Navya had specially taken this time off from her work to be with Reina during her Xmas break. The two of themhad even planned to catch that music concert they both had desperately wanted to attend. Unfortunately, the hospital had cancelled Reina’s leave at the last minute, and Navya had spent most of the week on her own—she’d vehemently refused to go to the concert by herself. What would be the point of that?

It was only by a stroke of luck that the hospital had allowed Reina to take half of today and the whole of tomorrow off. And so, Reina had quickly arranged invites for them to attend this party tonight. Thus, no more negative thoughts. It was time to party and enjoy with her sister.

“I wish I could stay some more. But I have to start work next week,” Navya said. “I have meetings planned.”

Reina gave her a sideways glance. “I’m so happy you’re so successful. That last Lebanese actress you worked with looked fabulous at the awards show she hosted last month. The way she spoke, her poise, her gown, her hair and makeup, all of it was on point, and all the credit goes to you.”

Navya smiled. As a fashion stylist and image consultant, it was her job to ensure that her clients were not only dressed impeccably, but that everything about them stood out the moment they stepped in front of a camera. The way they spoke, what they spoke, how they posed for pictures, how they walked—she ensured all of it was flawless.

Navya had worked under several celebrity stylists and image consultants in the past. Since the last year, she’d branched out on her own. Slowly, she was making her own name in the Middle Eastern modelling and film circuit. She had a few clients, but they were not big stars. Nonetheless, she was aware of the buzz around her name because of the way she dressed and coached her clients. She just needed one A-lister client, and she knew she’d never have to look back after that. It would happen, she was certain of it.

“You know Su Min was delighted we gave her our concert tickets,” Reina said. “She wanted to surprise her boyfriend with them. I think inviting us to tonight’s party is their way of thanking us.”

“It wasn’t a big deal. It’s better someone got to use our seats. At least they didn’t go to waste.”

Reina nodded, swerving the car onto a side road. They passed through vast meadows dotted with oak trees. Navya looked ahead, and there, on the right, rising on top of a small hill, was a palatial mansion. Her jaw dropped at its sheer grandeur. It even had four spires and two turrets. Under the bright halogen lights, it looked like a fairy-tale castle come to life.

“Wow, that is spectacular!” Navya said, as they followed the line of cars. “From the looks of it, Su Min’s boyfriend is uber rich. What’s his name?”

When Reina didn’t reply, Navya arched a brow at her.

“Umm, I think Su Min mentioned his name, but I forgot,” Reina replied.

Navya looked at her sister in outrage. “Are you serious? How can you not know whose party we are going to? Reina, you know we can’t behave reckless like that.”

“Relax,” Reina said gently. “We’re in London, Navya. Not Dubai. And, Su Min has invited us.”

“It’s not Su Min’s party; it’s her boyfriend’s,” Navya countered.

---