The Bet..

she was in one word perfect. Like a vortex that draws one in itself, her presence seemed to generate the lines of force,I know not what.
the cascading black seemed to absorb every emotion that escaped from the gathering; her face had the colours of life and her eyes could bore down to the depths of your being, stealing all your private thoughts.
she wore a simple black dress quite unlike the fashions on page three but that was enough to leave us all enchanted. a rope of pearls added to the celestial beauty, as i thought she was! rahul was the host of today's party. the trance beats around, the subdued lights and the effect of the necessary evil had taken its toll. we were all amazed, rather drawn towards her- enamoured.
'who's she', raj turned to rahul with the qustion that was hounding all of us.
'i dont know. i dont remember inviting her to the party'. rahul was confused as all the others were. still they could not compose themselves.
'i bet she'll be mine before we pack up' everyone stared at me!
'no way buddy, she's already turned down a dance request from prakash. she's not interested and certainly not you!' a rumble rolled around the group.
'i bet a thousand that by tonight i would have danced with her', i turned towards rahul. he had already scroughed enough money from his parents for the party but then he was game! 'you bet old fella!your gonna lose this one!'
i dont know what came over. maybe the alcohol in my nerves, numb senses, maybe the lights n the music that made life a big blurr of....
i stood up- i, the veteran of many a relationship, with the smile that i knew just gave away a touch of affection. just walked down that drawing room length, picked up two wine glasses, red wine.
she was sitting near the balcony, and i managed to look straight into her eyes, as i stood in front of her,'Hi... care for a drink'.
i dont know what happened. it all just fell into place like some heavely conspiracy! i could feel the envious stare of my pals burning into me but then could i look away?
as the evening progressed, the party sinusoid completed, it was time to head back home. we had talked, laughed and danced and now it was time to roll back.
i thanked rahul for the blast and could not help as he strained himself to give me the thousand. it was my win but still i did not know how it all happened.
i accompanied her out and flagged off a taxi.
'Its ritika', she said with a bewitching smile, as i gave her the share of 'our' win from the bet.
'you were not so bad after all... it was nice, thank you for a wonderful evening', was all she said before the vehicle rolled off.
and i, the veteran of many a relationship, stood standing, with that expression captured inside.

ps: quite an old write... somehow like this one a lot