‘That’s your Nani, right?’ he asked in a whisper.

I nodded. ‘Yes, that’s her. She’s such a pain,’ I whispered back.

‘I got that vibe. How come you’re dressed to go out?’ he asked, looking at me up and down.

I flushed under his scrutiny. ‘I was planning to meet Nisha,’ I said.

He raised an eyebrow. ‘To talk about us, I presume,’ he said, rolling his eyes. He muttered ‘girls’ under his breath.

I was instantly annoyed. ‘You presume wrong,’ I said. ‘Anirudh is also going to be there.’

‘Yeah, big difference,’ he said lightly, shaking his head. His face brightened suddenly. ‘Shall I drop you off at Nisha’s?’ he asked.

‘But how?’ I asked, feeling pleased despite my uneasiness. Ground rules, Nisha’s voice boomed in my head.

‘Auto, how else? I’ll drop you and go to the restaurant. This way I can spend some more time with you,’ he explained, squeezing my hand gently.

His words made me very happy, but I was wary of showing it to him. I wanted to ask him the questions Nisha had raised last night but this wasn’t the right place. Not with everyone outside.

Raghu started talking about something else. ‘Hey, so I talked to my mother last night. I told her I wanted to do BHM, the hotel management degree course,’ he said, still playing with my fingers.

‘Oh, what did she say?’

‘She was surprised and pleased and said we could definitely work on it,’ he said, looking happy himself.

‘And what about your father? Will he be okay with it?’

He shrugged. ‘My mom will handle him,’ he said. ‘It’s my future after all.’

I so badly wanted to ask him if I was a part of this future he was planning but the words got stuck in my mouth when he suddenly pushed me towards the wall, and stepped in front of me. My eyes widened.

‘What are you doing?’ I asked as he stepped closer.

‘Kissing my girlfriend,’ he said in a low voice, bending his head to kiss me.

Girlfriend! He said I was his girlfriend.

My entire face felt prickly. Making out with Raghu while our families were sitting in the next room was sheer madness, no matter how much I wanted it to go on.

I gulped and stepped away from him, hoping that no one would walk into the kitchen suddenly. I took an apple from the fridge and bit into it, hoping the random mundane activity would slow down my racing heart.

He frowned and turned me around, holding my shoulders like last night.

‘Raghu, Nani’s here. She’s eagle-eyed,’ I said.

He made a face.‘Is everything all right with you?’ he asked.

‘Yes, it is,’ I assured him. But I couldn’t meet his gaze and I stepped away from his hold.