Pretty Girl in a Party

(I wrote this script for local actors to perform a street play organized for a specific purpose)

Sunita stopped at the full length mirror in the lobby.  She checked her light red lipstick, her nail polish, touched up hair with her left hand, removed creases from her black sleeveless party dress and smiled at her athletic arms and slim waist. Almost ready to walk to the party, she stopped. She looked at herself again.

Sunil, her husband, said, “Oh come on. We are late Sunita.”

Ignoring him completely she took out a lipstick from her Gucci purse, “My lipstick is not right. Give me one second Sunil. “

Slightly annoyed yet happy with his wife Sunil said, “You look gorgeous. You have a perfect body. Almost like a model. Three hours in gym are helping you.”

Sunita turned around, moved fingers of her perfectly manicured hand on her husband’s cheek and smiled, “Mr. Hubby, Exercise is good for physical and mental health. Looking good is just a good side effect.”

Removing her hand from the cheek, waving his right hand index finger from top to bottom,   Sunil said almost sarcastically, “Oh I did not know you are wearing this… this ..this.. body hugging black dress for mental health. “

Not disturbed by his sarcasm, she held her husband’s face in her hands with love and almost laughingly said, “My dear OLD FASHIONED hubby, this is the trend. I am sure all my friends are wearing similar outfit. But DON’T you stare at them.”

Tilting his hand and holding back of head with his hand and raising his eyebrows but saying calm Sunil said, “There are all kind of men in the party. You know how they behave.”

Sunita could not resist laughing. “Oh-ho my dear JEALOUS husband! This is not INDIA. This is America. Women wear shorts here. Girls play beach volley ball in bikinis. Swimming pools are full of females in two piece swim suites.”

 Sunil stood still and suddenly became stern, “You can be serious sometimes and not ignore me.”

Holding his hand and continue to smile, she said with love, “My DEAREST Husband, you are such a wonderful, handsome, caring husband. I have all the reasons to be happy and enjoy. Now let us go inside”.

As they enter inside, their host Aisha waived with enthusiasm and hugged her. “Oh My God Sunita!! You look gorgeous. “

“Of course I am.” She replied and then held Aisha’s chin with her hand and said, “Because I have a gorgeous friend and because I have a disciplined gym partner.”

Sunil and Akash (Aisha’s husband) started talking on the side.

“Come on. Let me get you a drink”, Aisha started walking holding Sunita’s arm.

As they walked they ran into Sanjana and Suresh and another couple Rakesh and Sarita. Sunita had met fair skinned but extremely frail Sanjana and her pot belly balding husband Suresh in other parties though did not consider them very close.

Aisha was not sure so asked Sunita, “Hey you know Sanjana and Suresh. Don’t you.”

Sunita replied, “Yes, I have met them last time at your party before.”

Suresh’s eyes probed Sunita from top to bottom but Sunita ignored him. Sanjana and Suresh stepped forward. Sanjana hugged Sunita.

Sunita said hello to Suresh.

Instead of saying hello, Suresh moved forward and opened his arms and hugged her tightly. It was not a perfunctory hug. He squeezed her very close. His hand was on her bare shoulder moving from bare shoulder to bare arm to back.

Sunita was not expecting a physical contact with Suresh and he would not let her go. She trying pushing him but he was holding her tight. Suresh released her after 15 second which seemed like an eternity to her.

Suresh stepped back and laughed, looked at his wife and said, “Hey Sanjana, we should invite Sunita to our home.” Pointing his hand towards Sanjana, he continued, “You can take some tips for building good biceps.”

Sanjana was confused and did not know how to react. She made a strange noise from her nose and said, “Of course. We will invite them.”

Slightly angry and perturbed, Sunita tried to get away, “Hey Aisha, I need to get that drink. “

Suresh spoke loudly, “Sure, sure. I will get you a drink. What do you fancy? Akash has a wonderful collection.”

Without waiting for a reply, Suresh started walking to bar but Aisha waived at a server.

Sunita settled for a glass of wine while Suresh looked at the scotch as a thirsty pedestrian looks at the water in a desert. Suresh picked up the tallest glass of the scotch.

Sunita’s failed plan made her very quiet but she decided to be direct.

“Excuse me guys. Let me find Sunil”, Sunita said almost walking away from the group.

“Oh come on. Stay with us. Give us some fitness tips”, Suresh said and walked across to her side and put his right arm around her and pressing her right arm with his hand and while holding the glass in his left hand.

Sunita was red with anger. The guy was out of control.

While holding her arm around Sunita, Suresh started speaking with Rakesh, “Rakesh, look at her biceps. She has perfect arm muscles.”

For the first time Rakesh participated in the conversation, “Let us go Suresh. We will sit outside.  I can recommend a good trainer. He can help you build muscle.”

Suresh laughed loudly, “Oh come on. I have muscle too. A man’s real muscle is in his tool. I will show her”.

Fluid from the glass spilled on his pant.

Already angry Sunita lost her control at Suresh’s action and she took her wine glass and threw all the wine on his face at the same time and shouted, “Let me go….you moron. Don’t you know how to behave with women?” Sunita was angry, red face, red eyes and was almost in tears.

Suresh left her. There was dead silence in the room.  Pin drop silence. No one spoke for a minute.

But Suresh busted, “What do you think you are? Saali Behanji. Look at you. I meet a lot of girls like you in University. They all want me to be with me.”

To save the party, Aisha came forward, “Let us be calm guys. It is a misunderstanding.”

Sunil took Sunita in his arms, “Calm down, we can handle it without fighting.”

Sunita said, ”I want to go home. I cannot stay here.”

Aisha tried to stop, “Sunita, I am sorry. Suresh is not bad. He did not mean that. Don’t spoil your mood”

Sunita still crying, “I disagree with you. I cannot stay here any longer. Sorry.”

Walking out from the party, Sunita said, “Sunil, this guy Suresh is creepy.”

“You need to be careful”, Sunil replied

“How dare he grope me? It is not acceptable?”

“He was drunk. Ignore him.”

“No he was not drunk when he started.”

“You are responsible too.”

“What do you mean? I am responsible.”

 “I told you. I told you. You don’t know how to dress up.”

“What do you mean?”

“I told you not to wear this stupid sleeveless short black dress.”

Sunita sighed, “This is America. Everyone wears it.”

“I don’t want to argue with you right now. We will talk at home”

 

Dear Readers:-  I will leave it to readers to complete the play but got some questions.

1.     What went wrong here?

2.     Who all are wrong?

3.     Everyone will agree that Suresh’s behavior is totally not acceptable. But is Aisha right?

4.     Can a drink justify foul language?

5.     Could Rakesh have done something different? Is it okay to be a bystander to an unacceptable behavior?

6.     Is Sunita action of throwing wine on Suresh’s face justified?

7.     Is Sunil right about the Sunita’s dress?