Chapter 1

She was late. Very late. She had been forced to have a quick shower. No time to stare at her limited wardrobe and pick and choose. Quickly choosing a beige skirt and a white blouse, she ran her brush through her hair. Clipping on a pair of stud earrings, she hopped into a pair of sandals. Grabbing her bag, she was out of the door.

She was supposed to meet Meiling. She would be wasting more time trying to find the way to her apartment. Meiling had moved sometime last week. She had been complaining about the leaking ceiling for quite sometime now. Meiling had called her last week, with a business proposition.

Tomoyo was an artist by profession. And Meiling had wanted a couple of oils in her new apartment, and so she had decided to commission Tomoyo's works. And before Tomoyo painted anything for a new customer, she always met the individual, asked him or her about preferences and if there was something in particular that they wanted, and got a general feel of the apartment. Also it was important to know the environment. For e.g. a painting put up in a business setting would be very different from that put up casually in the room of a teenager.

After driving around for quite sometime in the busy streets of Tokyo, she finally found the place. Quickly parking her car, she ran up the stairs to the second floor, locating the apartment door and knocked loudly.

A very well-dressed Meiling answered.

'Meiling I'm sorry I'm late, I got caught in the traffic.'

'Relax Tomoyo. This is a very informal meeting.'

Tomoyo kicked off her sandals, and walked around the apartment.

'I really like what you've done with the place Meiling.' The living room had a number of sofas and comfortable armchairs, with the colour combination being orange and black.

'It would look a lot better with a couple of your paintings around. I've told you so many times to put up an exhibition. Why don't you do so? Any art gallery would be willing to rent it to you for a couple of days.'

'It's too much trouble. I prefer it this way, where I work at my pace. So what exactly are you looking for?'

'I don't know whatever you think looks good.'

'How come you finally decided to move into your own apartment?'

'I was getting really tired of leaking ceilings, unruly tenants and surly landlords. For god's sake I couldn't even hold a party if I wanted to. That irritating old man kept complaining about the noise, about the people. How can I hold a party without music?'

Tomoyo smiled wryly. Meiling was quite the social butterfly.

'So let me guess, you're throwing a party sometime in the coming week?'

'You bet I am. Infact it's tomorrow night. You can think of it as a house-warming party.'

'Meiling any excuse will do for you, just as long as you can throw a party. I'm sure a funeral will do too.'

At the thought Meiling smiled wickedly. 'Now girl, you don't want to give me ideas, believe me you don't. Which reminds me, what are you wearing to the party tomorrow?'

'What do you mean what am I wearing? Clothes.'

'Very intelligent. Have you thought of anything specific?'

'No. You mentioned the party just two minutes ago. I'll decide tomorrow evening.'

'No you won't.'

'What do you mean by that?' Tomoyo demanded. Unlike Meiling who seemed to possess endless energy and money to shop for clothes, she did not. And frankly she did not use every living breath to plan her outfits. As long as she was presentable she was not concerned.

Meiling sighed. Tomoyo could really be difficult at times. 'Girl what I'm trying to tell you is, for once in your life make an honest effort to look radiant, amazing, extraordinary, out of this world. For once in your life try to make an impression. Not for the men, but for yourself. Feel good about yourself.'

'I do make or atleast try to make an impression with my paintings', Tomoyo said softly and a little hurt. 'Is that not enough?'

Meiling moved towards her friend, and placed her hand on her young friend's shoulder. 'I'm not saying that you don't make an impression with your paintings, you do. But my dear, that is what you are, not who you are. You are a very talented artist, but it does not say anything about you as a woman. It won't be a bad thing for the world to sit up and take notice of that fact, every once in a while.'

'Okay', Tomoyo conceded seeing her friend had a point, 'I'll make an effort this time.'

'Good, want to join me for coffee?'

'Make it tea', called out Tomoyo, as her friend disappeared into the kitchen. She walked around the apartment, mentally trying to decide what exactly she should paint for her friend. She was also keeping in mind her friends vibrant personality.

She sat down on the bed, in the bedroom. The colours were in mauve, and she couldn't but help go over what her friend had told her. Your paintings are what you are, not who you are. It was a fair assessment that she had never in her life, tried to make an effort to look pretty or radiant. She could simply not be bothered. She had always thought that narcissism was a colossal waste of time. She did not believe in caking on layers of make-up.

Getting up, she walked towards the mirror, and glanced at herself critically. Her blouse and skirt, though well cut, were very plain. She was exactly that, a plain Jane. Only one word came to her mind, dowdy. Disturbed she looked away from the mirror. Was that how the rest of the world perceived her? Suddenly she realized that she had a lot of introspection to do.