‘I am sorry, Maddy,’ Meera cried.

‘I should kill you before you tell anyone else,’ he snarled as drops of sweat dripped down his face.

‘Maddy, what are you talking about? Please calm down.’ She begged him to stop. And to her surprise, he did. The abrupt shift in Madhav’s behaviour was extremely unnerving. He was maniacal one minute and completely Zen-like the next. But Meera had not seen the worst; even Madhav wasn’t sure what he was capable of doing during one of his fits.

He sat down on the couch as Meera adjusted her dress with trembling hands. She breathed heavily and sat down next to him. Madhav emptied his bag, smiling, as though nothing had happened. Meera stared at him in disbelief for a couple of minutes, too afraid to voice her fear. She had seen him rage against the students at college before suddenly calming down just like he had right now, but she had never borne the brunt of it herself.

‘Get the glasses,’ he ordered. Still unsure of how to react and scared that he might get angry, she got up and slowly walked towards the home bar.

‘Who told you about the bouquet and the pastries?’ he asked, chugging a beer.

‘Suresh called me,’ she murmured, still scared.

‘Why did he call you?’

‘He said you’d come to meet Radhika and had forgotten the box and bouquet there,’ she said as she handed him a glass. ‘He tried calling you but your phone was switched off.’

Madhav shook his head as he finished off a pint of Fosters. ‘So he called to ask if you were with me,’ she explained nervously.

There was a moment of silence. ‘Why did you go to her house with flowers and pastries?’ she asked.

‘Because I wanted to.’ Madhav opened another bottle of beer with his teeth.

He picked up her guitar and went to the balcony. She took the glasses and followed him outside. She was still in shock and moved as though she had little control over her actions. Madhav began playing the guitar, singing a Bryan Adams song. His voice was calm. Meera felt relaxed.

The view from the balcony was mesmerizing. The world looked miniscule and distant. The lights from cars and buildings pulsed like LEDs on a giant switchboard. They sat in the dark, the balcony illuminated with the faint light from the drawing room.

‘Madhav, I want you to see a good therapist,’ she said, holding his arm and kissing his bicep.

Madhav stopped playing the guitar. ‘What? Why?’ He placed the instrument aside and lit a cigarette.

‘I just think you need to see a proper psychiatrist. Your mood swings are starting to scare me, to be honest, and I don’t think some bullshit art therapy will give you the help you need. Especially with that bitch Radhika and her phoney nonsense.’ Meera held him tighter. She couldn’t help sounding jealous of his obsession with Radhika, but she also felt a bit awkward voicing her concerns so directly to him. During the five months of their relationship, she had seen many of his scary moods, but little did she know that her words would release a monster within him, a dark and unfathomable beast.