On the dance floor..

Christmas time..! Its Nostravia time..! That was what the party banner said.

When the first information about the Christmas party came out, the buzz was not quite high. But when the days started closing in, the party fever had set in. That was the 17th of December, the day of the party.

The celebration time had begun right from the end of November and this day was the day every one at office was absolutely looking forward to.

Christmas had always been special to him. This time, it was certainly going to be extra special because this Christmas was going to be at London.

‘Dude, where is your suit..! This dress is not allowed for the party..!’, he was told.

‘What time is the party mate?’, he asked.

‘We are going to start from here at 6 pm.’

‘You have got six hours more man..! Wait and watch..!’, he said with a wink.

Everything in office seemed normal till around four in the evening and all of a sudden the energy level rose high and the buzz had begun. Every single soul in office started getting ready for the party, so did he.

He spent a serious thirty minutes to dress himself. When he set his foot out of the dressing room, the first thing he heard his manager say to him was, ‘My Word, you look stunningly smart.’ After a long time, that was when his typical bright smile broke out.

London had taught him to enjoy life. Late night parties, hip hop dancing and enjoying life were all part of his London trip. That was in a sense totally different from the way he had lived life for a while, should say around six years. This Christmas party was something, like everyone else, he was looking forward to. The fun and hype from the previous year’s party was just too much to wait for.

Everyone was ready, perfectly suited and booted. It was typical English ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’ presence at the office lobby, eager for the transportation.

‘Are you guys ready?’, asked their boss.

‘Yes..!’, they said in unison and energy level which they never showed at work. And off they went to Knight’s bridge. It was Nostravia time..!

The hall seemed small for the crowd but the atmosphere was electrifying. They were welcomed by perfectly built macho men and glamorous silk clad Russian girls showcasing their acrobatics. The flashy blue light was too much to handle at the start and everything looked refreshingly ‘Hollywood’ish.

‘How many people approximately?’, he asked his friend.

‘Close to six hundred, should be a bit more not less. The hall seems small for all the people, doesn’t it?’

Their talk was interrupted by a sudden clink of glasses nearby.

‘Champagne or beer, sir?’, asked the waitress.

He was not used to drinking but he was going to drink for sure. He was definitely not going to miss this opportunity. He was surely going to drink a lot today.

‘Champagne, please.’, he smiled.

After a few minutes there was a slight hassle when four girls of the troupe took the mini stages at the four corners of the floor with communist flags in hand. They started flexing their bodies to the rocking music. The whole crowd was in silence awestruck by the acrobatics.

As in unison with their movement, at the peak of the electric guitar, the huge white cloth covering as the wall of the hall fell like an avalanche exposing a vast spread of colourful dining arrangements with the fantastic glass dance floor in the middle. There was a roaring cheer from everyone.

After skimming through the table arrangements, they managed to sit around a huge table perfectly decorated. The entire place was gloriously lit and every single decoration was shining. But, it was shining of something else that caught everyone’s attention. It was the shining of the bottles of wine and beer.

No questions asked, the corks of the wine bottles were opened immediately and intoxicating smell of alcohol began to set in. The sushi starters and barbeque chickens for supper were absolutely cherished. The party mood was at its peak.

It should have been close to thirty minutes when he was asked, ‘How many rounds mate?’

‘I guess you have asked the wrong question man! It should have been how many bottles..!’, he smiled sarcastically.

The dinner was complete and the show had begun. The dance floor had just been occupied by the performers. The special show by the performers was a delight indeed. The excellent muscle flexes, the swinging acrobatics and the scintillating dancing was just a feast for the eyes.

Almost twenty minutes later, the gorgeous lady who had just finished her performance announced with an exuberating energy level, ‘The Dance Floor is now OPEN..!’. That was something that the party animal in everyone was waiting to hear.

‘Shall we?’, he was asked.

‘In a few minutes’, he said ‘let everything settle down.’

‘The energy in the dance floor was simply too much and he could just not resist more than a couple of minutes. He stood up and took deep breath and walked up the stairs onto the dance floor.

And all of a sudden, his alter ego took over and the dancer in him burst into life.

Was it the influence of alcohol, or was it the fact that he was a real good dancer? Neither he nor the others knew. But one thing was sure, he was absolutely rocking..! Every move he made was electrifying..!

Be it rock.. Be it disco.. Be it any kind of music.. He had his tailor made moves. He could adapt to any kind at any time.

Tiredness was an unknown factor that day. Neither the music stopped nor did the dancing. Neither the energy level subdued nor did the alcohol. Rounds came in dozens and minutes became hours.

Be it the stunning groups or be it the lovely pairs, those few hours were full of rollicking fun and frolic. Music, dance, drinks and enjoyment were the order of the night and none of them worried about having to work next day. It was as if every one of them was on a never ending holiday.

After those hours of hectic dancing, the groups slowly started dissipating. Very slowly a few of them started getting some rest at the boundary bars of the dance floor. The music had slowly moved on to some slow and romantic ball room numbers.

That’s when he noticed her, on the dance floor.

He had been blinded by the rounds of alcohol and the whole time of dancing with his group of friends. May be the party mood was highly toxic that he hardly saw anyone else. Fortunately, he now did.

Dressed in party black, with neatly clipped hair, she was stunning. The lights around the dance floor were blinding. But her pearl blue eyes were even brighter and even more blinding.

She was tall compared to the other girls and that made here look even more beautiful. There was radiance all around her. To be exact, she was glowing and was surely the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

‘An angel would look brighter than the brightest of lights’, he had read somewhere. If those were the words, she sure was an angel. He was not sure if the world around her had suddenly gone dark or if she was really brighter than the brightest light. He really didn’t know.

Whatever it was, she looked heavenly. Whatever it was, he was attracted.

‘Are you tired mate?’, asked his friend.

He didn’t even notice the question and was watching her without even a wince.

‘Am talking to you buddy..!’, snapped his friend with a slight tap on his shoulder bringing him to reality.

‘Eh.. what? What did you ask?’

‘Are you in this world or what..? Where are you looking?’, his friend asked.

‘Nowhere.. just taking some minutes of rest..’

‘You got to be kidding, who are you looking at..’, his friend was in no mood to leave.

‘Well..’, he said and looked back in the direction where the girl was dancing. And, to bring down his energy level for the first time that night, she was missing.

‘Where did that girl go?’, he uttered.

‘Who..? Which girl..?’, continued his annoying friend.

‘Leave me for a few minutes buddy..! I will be back to kill you..!’, he said with his eyes wildly searching for her.

‘Where is she? Where is she? Where is she?’, was the only question that was running over and over in his mind. He hardly took a breath while he was searching. His eyes were rolling all around the dance floor yearning to see her again.

When he was about to run down the floor, his eyes got hold of her at end of the hall walking towards the exit.

‘Oh my God..! Is she leaving?’, he asked himself.

He was usually very lethargic in reacting to circumstances but certainly not in this situation. Without even his permission, his legs were in action. In a flick of a second he flashed towards the exit.

He ran as fast as he could avoiding pushing as many people he could. And to those who came in his way, it was certainly their unlucky day and they were surely to be down. He reached the door and came out of the hall as if he had escaped a stampede.

He spotted her immediately walking outside on the lawn. He smiled slightly and started following her.

She was not running, but her foot steps were not steady. He was not able to understand but kept a careful distance behind her while she was walking. She kept walking another few yards when he understood the direction she was walking in.

‘Caution: Slippery grassy – No railings – River ahead’, said the sign board. This made him shiver slightly. Something was wrong but he didn’t know what.

Her pace of walking had increased and he had to jog a couple of steps to catch up and keep the distance. She was surely going towards the river, the reason for which, he could not guess.

She was getting dangerously close to the river and her was dangerously increasing. He was trying to keep calm. He stopped for a minute with his mind racing. The only reason that came up into his mind was ‘SUICIDE’.

His heart started beating faster and sweat had begun appearing on his forehead. He had to do something, the girl was running to kill herself and he was definitely not going to stand there witnessing that. He definitely had to do something.

He started running faster than he could. He decided not to mind about the caution that he had read. He slightly slipped on a couple of occasions but that was not going to stop him. He had a life to save.

When she was just a couple of yards away from the edge, and he had a few impossible yards to cover, he shouted. ‘STOP..! STOP..! STOP..!’

He could see that she was startled but was still facing the river. She had stopped moving while he kept moving towards her to cover the distance. He came to a stop with a distance of four yards between them, a distance he could easily cover if she started moving.

‘WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?’, he shouted in the middle of his heavy breathing. She did not reply.

‘Answer me DAMN IT..!’, he continued ‘Are you MAD?’

She didn’t utter a word and she did not turn. He was not able to see her face and was not able to read her reaction.

‘Miss.. Turn around now. It’s a dangerously difficult decision you have taken. Take some time and it would sound foolish. Now turn around and talk to Me.’, he shouted.

She was still taking her time and reacted in the exact way he was expecting her to.

Slowly, very slowly, she turned around but her face was still down.

Slowly she lifted her head to look at him.

He was totally taken aback when she looked at him. Her whole body had turned slightly purple as if someone had beaten her red and blue. Her face muscles were convulsing visibly. She was in a pretty difficult state and seemed to definitely need some help.

A few seconds of sickening silence passed and then she did something that totally surprised him.

Out of the blue she smiled in the most enigmatic way he had every known. He was surprised to the core. A chilling shiver went through his spine.

‘What are you smiling at?’, he asked amidst his shiver.

She didn’t utter a reply but her smile grew wider and more enigmatic than before. And, she threw half a dozen of her unseen, unknown and inhuman squiggly arms at him to pull him towards her.

And she uttered the most horrifying words in the most shrilling and chilling tone,

‘I have been waiting for you…!!!’