A pair of hands grasped his arm at the elbow and jerked him upright. He swung around to face his saviour. It was Radhika, the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Her hand was still resting in the curve of his arm, near his elbow.

He felt an almost irresistible urge to take her hand and place it flat against his chest, near his heart, and let her feel his heartbeat. Instead, they stood looking at one another for five infinite seconds, while all the possibilities of parallel worlds and lives whirled gently around them. Meera caught sight of them from the terrace.

Radhika slowly moved her hand away. It was an easy, relaxed gesture, but he felt the loss of her touch as startlingly as the awakening jerk after a fall in a dream. He then leaned towards her, trying to get a look at her back as the kids laughed at him.

‘What is it?’ she asked, amused.

‘I’m looking for your wings. You are my guardian angel, aren’t you?’

‘I’m afraid not. I have heard these lines before,’ she replied with a wry smile. ‘There’s too much of the devil in me for that.’

‘Just how much of the devil?’ Madhav asked.

One of the kids, the scrawniest one, stepped in between them and tugged at Radhika’s shawl. ‘Madam ji! Come on, let’s play!’

She let slip a fake sigh and smiled at Madhav, shaking his hand firmly. He couldn’t for the life of him figure out what she was thinking.

‘Thank you!’ he said, as her hand slipped away from his.

‘Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll find some way to repay the favour,’ she replied. The kids had moved to the other side of the ground, and she went to join them. The children were all very young, urchin-like in their slightly tattered clothes. They laughed and leaned against one another familiarly, but no one touched Radhika. She seemed to project an aura that was simultaneously attractive and inviolable.

Madhav moved closer, pretending to enjoy watching the kids play. He listened as she spoke to them, but couldn’t make out her words. Her voice was surprisingly deep and sonorous; the hair on his arms tingled at its timbre. Madhav was befuddled by his reaction to this woman.

She asked them to continue playing and then led Madhav back to the building.

‘I hate leaving these kids, they love me so much,’ she said as she tied up her sleek hair. Her white shirt now had a few streaks of dirt.

‘I could see that. I’ve heard of you before, you know. I have read an article written by you. It was amazing,’ Madhav said. Her green eyes pierced his heart as she looked at him.

‘Thank you,’ she said.

‘Well, to be honest, I thought you were an old married woman. But you’re beautiful . . . and so young and . . .’ He was unable to form coherent sentences as she looked straight into his eyes.