I walked to Esha and she turned to me, almost surprised that I had come. I was confused for a moment. Hadn’t she invited me to the party too?

‘Oh hi!’ she said, smiling at me and I was relieved. I handed her the box and wished her.

‘Thank you,’ she replied softly, taking it from me and handing it to Tara, who kept it on a table where the gifts were piled up.

I felt vulnerable without the box with me and I almost wanted to take it back, hold on to it until it was time to leave the party. I had felt comfortable with the shape and texture of it in my hand and now . . . I looked around, wondering what I could do.

Esha’s parents were busy supervising everything. I looked for a place to sit down although I wanted to go to Raghu and talk to him. He hadn’t even noticed that I’d joined the party. I wanted that easy familiarity we had with each other in my home. Why had he come away on his own? And here too, he hadn’t even smiled when he looked up and saw me. Was he . . . was he ashamed of being seen with me? What an absurd thought, I told myself as I found a place to sit.

I got quickly bored and wanted to leave, but I’d already seen Esha’s father bring in the cake on a trolley. I thought it would be rude if I walked out, so I lingered, watching as Esha and her friends gathered around the trolley. She smiled beatifically as she daintily blew out the candles and cut the cake amid all the applause and singing. I too clapped and joined in singing.

I looked around for Raghu and found him standing to one side. He caught my eye and rolled his eyes. Then he inclined his head towards the door, indicating that we leave.

I frowned. What was wrong with him? The loud singing died down and soon everyone settled down to eat. I managed to find a spot next to him at one of the many tables that had been lined up.

‘What happened?’ I asked as I pushed my spoon into the soft raspberry-flavoured cake.

He shook his head. ‘I’m just worried about my parents,’ he said. ‘I heard them fighting on the phone this morning too. What if this counselling doesn’t work? What if they split up?’

I didn’t know what to say to that. ‘Just enjoy today. We’ll think about it later,’ I told him.

He looked annoyed. ‘Easy for you to say that,’ he muttered and got up and left, leaving the cake uneaten on his plate.

I eyed it, tempted. It would just go into the dustbin. Might as well stop it from being wasted.