The Hostess

The room was beautifully lit and decorated. People all around were showing their teeth, irrespective of whether they really felt any emotion at all. But majority were actually happy for the newly engaged young couple. And the couple was of course full of smiles for the flashing camera that just didn't leave their side.

In the midst of all this happiness no one noticed how hard she was trying to smile.

She stood in the corner whenever she could get away without anyone noticing. She was as cordial and as attentive as a hostess should be. She took the compliments that came her way with a gracious smile. She made sure that all her guests were comfortable but then she took her recluse in that small corner where she could allow the smile to falter or disappear completely for a while and be at peace with just herself.

She looked at the blissful couple laughing and pulling each others' leg and felt a real smile tug at her lips. She couldn't have been more happy for them. She had seen them together for 6 years now, it was about time that they made it official.

The to-be-groom was her cousin, the closest thing she had to a brother. So today was supposed to be a perfect day. And yet something tugged at her heart when she saw them together.

She couldn't really place it. Maybe it was because he would soon be someone else's and she might lose her place in his life.

She watched her cousin sister stand in the middle of her brother's friends, laughing a fake laugh, trying to enjoy when it was all she could do to not run away. Stealing glances at the bride-to-be with a hint of jealously at how pretty she looked that day.

As the hostess watched this she smirked again but this time in mockery. She could never understand what women envied in one another. She personally never had.

She looked away from all the laughter and false, nervous smiles of two very different families meeting together. Hoping they liked each other, knowing they never will and yet pretending like they had tried. As if you didn't have enough extended family members you had to be cordial with, that now a whole new bunch was added!

She shook her head at the disgrace of it, smiled quickly when an older relative passed by her, and then looked up to stare at the beautiful crystal chandelier on the ceiling. It looked so beautiful with the glittering crystals and the mild clinking of them together.

She felt peace as she stared at them. The crystals made a little noise as they clunk together and they were all of different shapes, equally sharp but when looked at them together, as a whole they looked absolutely breathtaking.

That's when she turned and stared at the entire room, as a whole, and for the first time instead of individuals with their stupid giggling to nothing, she saw a family. Albeit a big one with a sizable number of sharp edged crystals that definitely clinked when put together, but they still looked beautiful as a "whole". She looked at the bigger picture for the first time.

A fresh smile appeared on her face and this time she could keep it for the rest of the evening without a complaint. Nothing had changed except her sight. And that had made all the difference in the world.

Someone came up to her - "This party is amazing. You make a great hostess"

Yes I do, she thought, I brought the crystals together, I created this sight of them shining together. "Thank you" she said with the same smile but only now she actually knew what she was thankful for..