After getting off the phone with her mother, Anu decided that no matter what it took, she was not going to be in any trouble at that dinner. She was going be like those rare people who only nodded and stared and and never filled silences with talk. Because no social calamity can befall someone quiet. Or, so she thought.

Anu chose a corner chair where she had Sanju to her left and a palm tree to her right. She was all set to be trouble-free but she also decided not to be conservative with her drinks and food. They were paying big money anyway. So they might as well have a good time over-consuming. That was the idea behind dinner outings, right?

Anu began with two White Wine Sangrias back to back with a plate of loaded nachos, Potato Jackets, and a few other artery-clogging starters. Sanju had leaned away from her to be a part of a discussion on ERP, SAP and other similarly abbreviated technologies. Nobody cared much about her, which suited her fine. She took out her phone and started watching Gilmore Girls on mute with just the subtitles. Someone ordered a pitcher of Sangria and kept it before her. Nice of him or her or whoever.

‘Anu … Anu,’ she heard someone call her name and shake her shoulder. Oh boy, where was she? Why was she so sleepy?

Lifting her head which weighed a hundred kilograms, Anu stared into Sanju’s horrified face. ‘Wake up, Anu. Clean your face.’

It took her a moment to realize she was still at dinner. Utterly groggy, Anu held a selfie camera to inspect her face. Oh boy! She looked like she was straight out a ghost movie—her face had a mixture of green and white paste with embedded crumbs of nachos. She had fallen asleep on the plate of nachos! She stole a glance at the concerned faces around her as she tried to wipe the guacamole and sour cream off her cheeks.

Sanju didn’t speak to her either in the car or at home. Was it her mistake that she had had a bit too much Sangria and fallen asleep? Didn’t it speak volumes about the conversation around her?

As she twisted and turned in the bed, sleep eluding her, Anu began to think. What kind of life was it? A change had to be for the better, wasn’t it? They had a good life and now they were bent on ruining it.

Pete and Pooja began to laugh (Pete modestly, but Pooja uncontrollably) when Anu narrated to them what had transpired the previous night. Eyes watering with mirth, Pooja asked if Anu had a photo of her guacamole face. To her chagrin, Anu had in fact clicked one when she had used the selfie camera to fix her face. As Pooja continued to laugh, Pete patted Anu’s hand. ‘You fell asleep, big deal! Cheer up now.’