Sid then runs his hands down my arms and smiles at me. He gently pushes a strand of hair behind my ear and bends down to kiss me. He kisses me really tenderly and looks away from my face to look down my body. I follow his gaze and look at my belly—my really round, huge and very pregnant belly.

‘I am so big and ugly,’ I say.

‘Shh, you’re not—you’re most beautiful, the mother of my child, the love of—’

‘Medamji, you like normal face pack or speshal tissue peel-off mask?’ Sid suddenly says into my ear really loudly.

I open my eyes to a light blue ceiling and the masseuse’s face peering down at me. Where did Sid go? I look at the girl, totally confused.

‘I think you like massage medamji, you went to sleep like baby and you also make pleasure-getting sounds,’ the masseuse says.

I realize I’ve slept through my facial. Which means I’ve been sleeping for an hour. It also means I was dreaming about Sid and me being pregnant and was probably moaning in my sleep. I glance at the girl, really embarrassed—she simply points to the face packs and indicates I should choose.

I go in for the normal face pack—and wonder what it would feel like to have Sid look at me the way he did in the dream—with so much love.

‘Do you want any nail polish medam? Pick colour,’ the girl suggests and points towards the nail polish stand that’s fixed on the wall.

I check to see if Minni is anywhere within earshot and quickly select the colour I want today. Even though I know Minni will call it a bad choice for my complexion—I’m going to get my toes painted bright pink. Today’s a special day and I’m also feeling very daring.

I look around while the girl goes to get the nail polish. I notice another girl bring in hot water to fill into one of the pedicure tubs—she looks up at me and smiles. I smile back—and realize with a start that it’s Simmi, maid-Mini’s oldest daughter. I didn’t recognize her with her hair done up and with the lipstick—she looks beautiful.

The girl doing my pedicure comes back and applies some blue stuff on my feet—‘face pack for feet’ I’m told. She shows me the nail polish again to confirm my choice and seats herself opposite me. I’m looking forward to this.

The girl unscrews the bottle and I get a strong whiff of the nail paint. I quickly clamp my mouth shut to stop myself from puking all over her.