‘Hmm, may be as a friend.’ Anu patted Pooja on the back. ‘Sleep on it. See how you feel tomorrow. And, don’t text him tonight!’

Pooja smiled and nodded. ‘That is sane advice.’

Anu felt relaxed as she started walking home. She had begun to feel comfortable in the new place, but Vicky’s agony about school bothered her.

Sanju called as she was walking. ‘Anu, we are going out tonight with Dave and a few colleagues. At 7 p.m.’ He sounded too excited to Anu’s ears. ‘Be ready.’

‘Who are the colleagues?’ Anu asked suspiciously. After the dinner debacle from the previous time, she dreaded these groupie dinners.

‘None from the last time. Relax,’

God, let there not be another fiasco this time! Anu prayed silently. She had to get Geetha to babysit Vicky, which meant she had to cough up more money.

The dinner was sombre. It was a new and swanky lounge bar. The gathering was mostly single people on a short visit to India from the US, which meant the conversation was all office gossip. Anu managed her time wisely between listening and tuning out. The music was retro, and the furniture was elegant, wooden and uncomfortable, and very un-lounge-worthy. But Anu quite enjoyed the music—The Beatles, The Eagles and Pink Floyd—being played. Occasionally the guy next to her asked her something out of politeness or because he was drunk. He was Scottish and Anu couldn’t understand a word of what he said. She simply smiled at everything. She was sure she smiled away at his questions too.

She felt all warm and fuzzy until the bill came. Anu peeked at Sanju’s share on the credit card machine. Eight thousand for what they ate and drank! It was not more than three even if you added a twenty five per cent tip! Why couldn’t everyone pay up for what they consumed?

While she and Sanju walked out, someone at the far end of the table caught up with her. ‘So I heard you have started a class? Is that allowed?’

Anu almost tripped and fell. What kind of wild rumour was this? ‘We just stretch together. That is not a class.’

‘Oh, is that so? But my neighbour Meena told me you have started a class. She was worried you may not have taken the property manager’s permission.’

‘It is a public space! If we don’t need permission to sit, we don’t need permission to stretch!’ Anu sounded a bit too defensive to her own ears but who was this woman? Everyone was walking around them, pretending not to hear them but the woman had made sure everyone had heard her.