To his surprise, he saw that she was typing a reply. His heart rate increased exponentially and he forgot everything else.

His phone rang. Meera again! He switched off the phone. As the torturous little dots danced on the screen, he flopped on to his bed.

‘Mr Mehra, the doctor is busy shifting into her new office today. So please make an appointment for next week.’ She too added a winky emoji. He smiled and tried to think of a witty reply.

‘But I’m missing the doctor,’ he began to type but stopped himself. It sounded too desperate; it was too early.

‘This patient could help his doctor with the shifting process if she’d like.’ He couldn’t think of a better reply.

‘Your phone is switched off,’ she replied. He jumped to grab his phone and switched it on.

‘While my poor phone comes to life, you could accept my request,’ he wrote. She sent a grinning smiley.

‘But we are not friends yet,’ she replied. He sent a bawling smiley. She replied with a tongue-sticking-out face.

His phone rang. It was an unknown number.

‘Hello, Radhika?’ he asked, hardly able to breathe.

‘Madhav Mehra?’ a male voice asked, dampening his excitement.

‘Yes.’

‘I am calling from the college’s training and placement department. You have been shortlisted by Emarket. They have called you for an interview even though you were blacklisted. The college administration has decided to give you one last chance since you are a gold medallist. We hope you will behave properly this time and will not let us down.’ The man said all of this in one go, like in a terms and conditions advertisement.

‘Oh. Yes, sir. I will.’

‘We will mail you the details.’ He disconnected the call. Madhav sat back thinking of the whirlwind that had been these last few days—the interview, Dr Batra’s clinic, the party and yesterday . . . He was on the verge of slipping back into the familiar pit, but the prospect of hearing Radhika’s voice kept him on the precipice.

As he waited for her call, Meera called him again.

‘What are you doing, baby?’ she asked, her voice sickly sweet.

‘Nothing, I’m just sleepy,’ he said, trying to avoid conversation. He cared less for her now than before.

‘Come over, na. Maybe we could take a nap together,’ she said, suggestively. To Madhav’s surprise, he found himself refusing. This was unprecedented. Their entire relationship was based on sex and he had never before turned down such requests.

‘No, Meera. Actually I’m busy today. I have an interview to attend and have to prepare for that,’ he lied. He didn’t want to tell her that he was probably going over to Radhika’s office.

‘Wow! That’s great!’ she trilled. ‘Come over. I’ll help you prepare.’

‘No, I really don’t feel like meeting anyone today. I’ll see you later,’ he said and disconnected the call. Lying on his back, he stared at the fan and began daydreaming about meeting Radhika again.