‘Only to avoid a zombie war. If I tell him I am having a drink with you, his face will grow so tight, it will split at the seams. Then he will grow deathly silent. Then he will either boil the air around him or freeze it for the next couple of hours.’

‘The air thing did not make a lot of sense.’

‘Well, just emphasizing.’ Anu chewed on the masala peanuts.

‘Do you lie to me?’ Sameer asked.

‘No. You are cool because you make a million mistakes yourself.’ Anu munched on more peanuts. If she ate more, she drank less. ‘Do you lie to me?’

Sameer shrugged. ‘I don’t lie to anyone. But you are a forgiving one. I have cancelled on you so many times but you still meet me.’

‘That is not a compliment. That sounds like I am desperate to meet you! Anyway, tell me what’s going on with you.’

Sameer grew serious. ‘I am moving to Dubai.’

Anu choked on her peanuts. ‘What! Why? You had this blockbuster news and waited till now to deliver it?’

‘I am investing in some real estate there with a friend. Maybe, I will even hone my photography skills.’

Anu stared at him. ‘No offence. But where do you have the money to invest in Dubai? And, what will you photograph there? You can capture the deserts and Burj Khalifa only so many times.’

Sameer laughed. ‘And, both are already done to death by all my Dubai-returned relatives!’ Growing serious, he added. ‘I will be a working partner. My friend Jaggi’s uncle will put in the capital.’

Anu suddenly felt empty. ‘Once I get over my sadness, I will be happy for you. Can’t digest you being so far away.’

Sameer smiled. ‘I may not even last there! So feel sad if I stick around for at least six months. Now tell me your stories. Pete, that girl, Vicky’s school, the mean mommies.’

Anu was always the talker and Sameer the listener and she liked that equation. A conversation was more fun when she was the one talking, ‘Well, Pete and Pooja are good and nothing much to report. Except I have a very sore arm from playing. The bad thing is, Vicky is so unhappy with the school he cries every day.’

‘Then pull him out of that school. Bring him back here along with yourself.’ Sameer ordered his third beer while Anu was still working on her first. He had the metabolism of a bull.

‘Sameer! Your last name should be extreme solutions! Just listen to my distress, okay. Don’t give me suggestions.’

‘I am extreme? How about when you changed from Science to Humanities and didn’t tell your parents for six months? How about when you broke up with Sanju but let your mother keep planning your wedding? How about—’