Anu thought of pouring out her woes but decided against it. Shwetha would never back her decision to change Vicky’s school without telling Sanju. She couldn’t talk about the money problems because then Shwetha would jump in to help. Anu never took money from friends. She couldn’t tell Sameer any of her problems for the same reason.

Anu smiled bravely. ‘Things are not too bad. The yoga, tennis, walks with nannies—getting used to it all.’ Mothers in Verdant Green sipped their tea by the poolside while their nannies played with the kids. Anu knew more nannies than moms. One of those nannies had even asked Anu how much she got paid because she dressed so well.

‘Good, Anu. I am hoping for some luxurious time in London myself. But Dini says he leads a very below-average life there. How can he when he lives in such a rich country?’

Oh, Anu knew it! She could in fact write a book titled ‘How to successfully lead a poor life in a rich neighbourhood.’

After Shwetha left, Anu felt severely empty. She will have neither Sameer nor Swetha close to her anymore. Maybe that is why fate pushed her to Verdant Green so that she had more to worry about than her friends moving away.

It was a week into the new month when Rathnamma talked to Anu. She had avoided talking to Rathnamma all week. ‘Madam, when will you give me the rest of the salary?’

‘My husband says by the fifteenth. Half on the first and the other half on the fifteenth.’ Anu pushed her hair back and tried to sound confident.

‘Then, please ask your husband to clean the house for fifteen days. I am not a bank to take money in instalments.’ Oh boy, Rathnamma looked scary the way she stood with her hand on her hips with her nostrils flaring.

‘Okay. Fine. I will talk to him.’ Anu mumbled. Rathnamma looked angry enough—not to mention strong—to kill her with bare hands.

Anu had roughly spent an extra five thousand on the gardener and Geetha for babysitting. The last time she had tried to withdraw a thousand, the machine had rebuked her with a message that said she had no money left.

Vicky’s Principal Janaki had asked her gently to complete the formalities at the school and pay the fees. So, now the money problem was real.

That evening, as she sat watching Vicky ride his bike, Anu’s phone chimed with a message. Since she had the phone in hand, she opened it right away. What was that she was seeing? A lakh and a half deposited into her account! Such things happened only in fairy tales, didn’t’ they?