Jasmine approached her make up like an artist approaches a canvas. Her case of pastel eyeshadows as complex as a painter\u2019s pallet. She dabbed her eyelids with emerald green and turquoise, transforming herself from housewife to glamourous movie star <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jasime glanced at the light blue veins that braided her translucent wrists like Ming replicas. Marred only by a faint butterfly tattoo just above her pulse point. Ink so stubborn it resisted removal by any modern method. A dogged reminder of the secrets she carried like a long-buried splinter<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cHey chaaro, our uber will be here in ten, ok?\u201d chimed Krishnan as he popped his head around the door. Jasmine nodded, inwardly smiling at his use of the Hindi name for darling. It made her feel cherished, secure\u2026 and faintly exotic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marrying Krishnan had been the high point and turning point of her life. A whole new family and a whole new culture. The Patel family had been so understanding of her childhood spent in the care system. Jasmine repaid them by fully embracing their modern Hindu rituals. She adored it all – the lights of Diwali, the crazy water fights at Holi and the lavish banquets. Jasmine even secured a place in Patel family legend for making samosas that were indistinguishable to her sister-in-law\u2019s, but not quite as good as her mother in law\u2019s. That really was as good as it got.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a7<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The jazz bar was a blend of old school charm and modern style. The art deco lamps on their table perfectly illuminated Krishan\u2019s noble Dravidian features. Their Old Fashioned cocktails the right balance of bitter and citrus. Jasmine visibly exhaled in time with the singer\u2019s smoky chords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCheers to us chaaro\u201d said Krishnan as they clinked glasses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The dream like haze was interrupted by a flurry in the form of blue hair and piercings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh my God Chantelle, it\u2019s YOU!!\u201d squealed the woman. \u201cI\u2019ve been looking for you for years. Remember me, Kayley?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jasmine looked up and down at the woman, her jaw agape. \u201cI think you\u2019re mistaken. If you don\u2019t mind, we\u2019re having a peaceful evening\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The hint to move on was not well taken. \u201cWell Chantelle, I think you do<\/em> remember me\u201d continued Kayley, her tone rising indignantly. \u201cCellmates from Charlwood, ninety-five to eighty-eight. Spirit sisters for life\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCharlwood, never heard of the place\u201d said Jasmine shakily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kayley shoved her wrist under the lamp, exposing a pale blue butterfly tattoo. Whilst embedded in a foliage forest of ink, it was undeniably a match for the symbol on Jasmine\u2019s wrist. Her hand was now shaking as she clutched her glass tightly, too late to turn her arm away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jasmine felt an icy flush ripple down her body like a wave. She looked up to see two butterflies rise and flutter across the room. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Krishnan turned slowly towards her, his face holding a hardness she didn\u2019t recognise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJasmine. Anything you want to tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jasmine approached her make up like an artist approaches a canvas. Her case of pastel eyeshadows as complex as a painter\u2019s pallet. She dabbed her eyelids with emerald green and turquoise, transforming herself from housewife to glamourous movie star Jasime glanced at the light blue veins that braided her translucent wrists like Ming replicas. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10158782359051062_103813597863211":"","twitter_1225722811282530305_1225722811282530305":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1490,1750],"tags":[643,1766,556,7,1763,1765,116,13,1764,429,14,651,687,74,11],"class_list":["post-2563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1490","category-traitor","tag-been","tag-blue","tag-family","tag-her","tag-jasmine","tag-krishnan","tag-like","tag-me","tag-modern","tag-point","tag-she","tag-so","tag-their","tag-up","tag-was"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbrNJE-Fl","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2563"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2564,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2563\/revisions\/2564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}