‘You pushed the poodle into the water so its owner,’ Shwetha subtly pointed at the boy, ‘returned you the favour. Anu, it is like straight out of a comedy movie, man!’

Anu wrapped the robe around herself, disappointing a few lunchers who were enjoying her wet t-shirt show.

‘Say sorry to aunty,’ the boy’s mother pushed him gently towards Anu.

Anu bent down to face the reticent little boy and smiled, ‘I had a good swim. So don’t bother saying sorry.’

Now the boy looked up at her, still without a smile. He spoke after a pause. ‘You can touch Spot. Only once.’ He held his dog towards her.

Anu shook her head. ‘No. Spot won’t like it if I touch him.’ Anu said solemnly. ‘He likes only you.’

The boy brightened. ‘You get your own dog. He will like you.’

The mother now looked at Anu and apologized sheepishly. ‘Thank you for being so nice. I am really sorry. My son is very possessive about his dog.’

‘Don’t worry. I live closeby. I can be home in ten minutes to change.’ Anu waved the haggard mother goodbye.

‘Come, I will drive you home.’ Shwetha dished out the keys from Anu’s handbag. ‘And, I will help you clean the house. I have taken the afternoon off.’

‘How do I sit in the car? I am going to wet the robe in no time.’ Anu steadied herself. Thank god she was a tad drunk. How could she have managed to walk around in a robe in public otherwise?

‘Spread a newspaper. Your upholstery isn’t some high-quality leather that gets ruined.’

When they began to walk out, Anu’s phone rang. Sanju! Anu picked up the call automatically and realized it was a video call only when Sanju’s face loomed large on the screen.

‘Hey, what time is it? Why are you up till this late?’

‘It is 5.30 in New York. Told you I was going to be here for three days before flying to Bangalore.’ Sanju’s voice held a minor edge. ‘Where are you?’

‘Jake’s.’ Anu briefly explained what had happened, fully expecting Sanju to smile and shrug in mock desperation as he always did. But he snapped. ‘Why do you keep going to Jake’s? Can’t you find a better place? How could some boy push you into the water?’

‘Sanju! You like Jake’s and so does your father. What is this sudden loathing for the place? Also, why are you snapping at me?’ In her anger, Anu blurted, ‘I know your problem. You are you having an affair and you don’t want to come back to Bangalore. So you are on a fault-finding mission.’

Sanju’s jaw opened wide. ‘Anu! What nonsense! I am just snowed under with work, okay?’

Anu went into one of her belligerent investigative modes. ‘Show me around the room. Prove to me you don’t have some floozy hiding in there.’