Raghu pulled it off irritably. ‘Aamir, please apologize to my friend,’ he said, turning to him. ‘You were really rude.’

Aamir just rolled his eyes.

So I was his friend now. Not girlfriend. Something inside me didn’t want to let it go because if he was embarrassed by me, I wanted to embarrass him further.

‘Actually,’ I said smiling up sweetly to this Aamir, ‘as of last night, I’m his girlfriend.’

Aamir raised his eyebrows as though in appreciation, but I knew he was mocking me.

Raghu did look embarrassed at that.

‘It’s very easy to call someone fat, like it’s an insult,’ I said.

Raghu’s eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to intervene, but I didn’t let him. Aamir still had that insufferable smile on his face.

‘It’s taken a lot of hard work and many years for me to not think of myself as worthless just because I’m fat. There’s more to me than my body weight,’ I told him, remembering Nisha’s words, the many articles I’d read over the past few days that Aunty V had shared with me. ‘And if you think you’re going to make me feel ashamed about my weight, you’re wrong.’

I turned around and walked to the door, not really caring if Raghu was following me because after making such a statement, it was best to walk away, head held high. I was quivering with rage but glad that I hadn’t run away as I’d wanted to at first. When I reached the bright sunlight outside, I felt thankful.

Only then did I feel Raghu’s presence behind me.

‘Come,’ he said.

We walked together, not really sure of where we were going. The road was full of places where we could sit and eat.

I was high on adrenaline and I wanted to inhale an entire brownie if I could. For the first time in years, I remembered those triple chocolate brownies that I’d made for that bitch Esha. I wished I had tasted at least one before wasting them on her.

I saw the brightly coloured façade of one of those cafés that specialized in desserts in front of me and didn’t think twice before walking inside. Delicious smells of toasty shortbread, coffee and chocolate accosted me.

I turned to Raghu, right behind me, who was looking around. His gaze finally landed on mine and he didn’t look away.

But I was angry with him and so I glared back. His gaze softened and he touched my cheek lightly.

I shook my head. ‘Let’s find a place to sit,’ I told him tightly.

We found a table against a wall. Even though it was past three in the afternoon, there were lots of people here. I sat down and avoided looking at Raghu for a bit, looking around and taking in the surroundings.