Awe … Anu’s stomach gave a small lurch. He was referring to her marriage with Sanju. Sameer never was averse to voicing how he felt. Why did she pass him up for Sanju again? For a thousand reasons and the main one being that Sameer was a footloose and fancy-free Casanova, and Sanju, Mr Reliable. Sameer adored the entire clan of women while Sanju only her. Then she felt panicky. Did he still adore only her?

‘Do you think Sanju is having an affair?’ Anu asked hesitantly.

‘Sanju is Sri Rama, a sworn one-Anu-man. Why are you suddenly overthinking things? That is not you, babe.’

‘This is a question of my marriage. Tu kya jaane ek chutki sindhoor ki keemat.’ Anu quoted that famous Deepika Padukone dialogue.

Sameer laughed. ‘Your Hindi is hilariously wrong. It sounds like Kannada!’

Anu rolled her eyes. ‘If you insult my Hindi, you are insulting the holy land of Bollywood.’ She waved spoon at Sameer sternly. ‘Remember that every bit of my Hindi has come from the stars crooning about ishq and pyaar.’

‘Well, Sanju may be depressed about a lot of things but trust me, he is not capable of cheating. Too straightforward a guy.’

Sameer’s reassurance and the Vodka working its magic, Anu’s happy hormones began to rise. Biting into a crisp egg pakoda, Anu thought of her mom. She would throw a giant-sized fit if she knew that Anu was drinking, eating eggs, and all that with a man who was not her husband.

‘How is it going with Snigdha?’ Anu asked. ‘Shagged? Proposed?’

‘Broke up,’ Sameer shrugged, taking a large swig of his extra large whiskey. ‘She was not my type.’

‘Nobody is anybody’s type. Go with the flow.’ Anu smiled. The vodka was relaxing her muscle by muscle. Sanju insisted that the deep relaxation she felt with one small peg of alcohol was only her imagination. But she knew differently.

‘I will go with someone Mummy chooses. Someone who stays at home and does my bidding.’ Sameer smiled crookedly and beckoned the waiter for his next drink.

‘Very forward-thinking. I will marry that person too. Someone who does my bidding.’

‘We will make a fantastic threesome.’ Sameer winked, and Anu rolled her eyes.

Sameer patted her hand. ‘Look, I wouldn’t worry about Sanju. When we chatted yesterday, he was his normal boring self. Not suicidal.’ Sameer finished his drink. ‘But I don’t understand why you hide from Sanju that we meet. I knew you before he did.’

‘Because he gets upset even at the mention of your name! Why invite trouble?’ Anu smiled. ‘I prefer a non-belligerent living.’

Sanju liked Sameer, but he did not like Anu having anything to do with Sameer. Complex equations. But Anu met Sameer whenever she stayed at her parents, which was once a week. Sameer was a part of her DNA. She had to tell him everything that made her happy, sad or worried.