The Curse - 1 (Love Laced Tuesday)

"The Curse" is my attempt to adapt a common story according to the theme of the day here at WL. So the flow of this series will be according to the mood of the lounge on that day. Concluding with Terror Fridays. To read the preview click here. You must read the preview before reading this part. Suggested!!
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“When I was your age, I would never be at home for more than 10 minutes. And look at you Julia. You keep yourself immersed in books. Go out with your boyfriends. Hang out. Have fun! These are the best years of your life. Why waste it on your books sweetheart?” enquired Stella.

Advising her grand daughter and sharing pages from her past with Julia were Stella’s favorite pastimes. She was quite fit and agile for her age. Nearing 85, she had all her teeth intact. Though her skin was all shriveled and wrinkled, it still had that luster and you could see glimpses of her glorious past in it. And why not, she had been a top model at a time when modeling was not seen as a decent profession. She had modeled for lingerie brands and skin lotions despite coming from a staunchly traditional family.

Stella had always been the rebel child. Opposing her parents in everything, she had left her family house at a tender age of 18 to model for one of the top lingerie brands in the market. Strangely, she would never bring up her modeling career in any of her discussions with her grand child Julia. She would change the topic that very instant. But today she was in a mood to talk. She slowly pulled out a snap from under her pillow and handed it over to Julia.




“Wow”, Julia exclaimed, “Granny….you were drop dead gorgeous. Oh my god! This is what you call an hour glass figure. Look at you. Phew. No wonder you got all the handsome men out there drooling at your feet. I would have been surprised if they hadn’t done so. Just look at you. If only I would have got 10% of your beauty. You are simply out of this world granny”

Stella was blushing like a 20 year old. It had been decades since anyone had praised her so much for her beauty. She looked straight into Julia’s eyes. “I know honey. I know. Why else would they choose me for endorsing the topmost lingerie brand in UK without experience? And I was paired against the heart throb of that time, Sensational Ste. He was a celebrity all brands were dying to lay their hands on and only we had him. And my first shoot required me to drool over him. Something I would not have minded at all. I have always had a crush on him. It was like a dream come true for me. The very fact that the shoot came out so good was that I felt every single emotion that came out in the pictures. I had never met Sensational Ste. But the moment I was standing before his close up hoarding, I was drawn towards him. It was love at first sight. Sometimes you feel that connect. You feel that you are made for this someone you have never met and in all probability will never meet. Sometimes you love without conditions and inhibitions. Sometimes you love without any logic. That was happened with me at the location of my first shoot. I had seen Sensational Ste a million times on television. But today was different. I was standing before his giant sized portrait. I could feel a magnetic pull towards him. His eyes, though hidden by his dark goggles, somehow were sucking me towards him. I fell in love. I fell for the Sensational Ste. Crazy. But true. And today, it is the 50th anniversary of that date. The day when I fell in love”

Julia glanced at the photograph once again. Sensational Ste had everything in him to be the superstar that he was. The looks, the charms and the style. He had everything that mattered. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by her granny.

Stella’s lips were trembling when she spoke. “That love was cursed Julia. Our love was cursed”. With these words she started weeping inconsolably.