I sat down while Raghu handed the plate to my mother. Ma stuffed her face with one whole cookie in one giant mouthful. I watched her, bemused, as she licked the chocolate from her fingers. Aunty V and even Raghu laughed.

They both took a cookie each, and Ma took another one. When Raghu handed me the plate, I shook my head. ‘I don’t eat cookies,’ I told him.

‘Have one, Ananya! These are so delicious!’ Ma proclaimed. ‘I haven’t had such delicious cookies in the longest time!’

I smiled tightly, but didn’t respond. Raghu looked at me, as though seeing me for the first time since he had come home, but he didn’t say anything.

I went to the kitchen to take out the next batch of cookies from the oven. Then I decided to spend as long as I possibly could in my room, away from Raghu and the delicious cookie smells.

I paced in my room for a bit, hoping that would help with the unease I was feeling. A lot of my feelings around what happened after Esha’s birthday were tied up with Raghu and my anger at him. Now that had disappeared and I found myself thinking that I was had been incredibly silly. In fact, his goofiness a while ago had made me realize just how much fun he was.

I called up Nisha, who was very excited on hearing about Raghu visiting. She was behaving like he was her long lost friend, not mine.

‘He did what?’ she asked in a whisper.

‘He broke an egg over my head,’ I replied, fighting to wipe the grin off my face, which was kind of silly since she could not see my face.

‘Oh man! He sounds like a riot. I really do want to meet him, Ananya. Let’s hang out together this weekend, no? I’m sure Anirudh will be up for it too,’ Nisha said.

‘Hang out together?’ I repeated faintly. What did she mean?

‘We were planning to catch a movie. Come with him, no? Please. It will be such fun,’ she said.

When I didn’t respond, Nisha sighed. ‘Should I talk to him and invite him?’

‘No!’ I replied. ‘I’ll tell him.’

‘You have to come,’ she said fervently. ‘Please. Anyway, it’s been such a long time since the three of us went out for a movie.’

I stopped myself from retorting that we hadn’t gone out anywhere because the two of them were a couple and I didn’t want to interrupt their time together. I’d already been mean to them about it once. There was no need to be bitchy again.

‘Aniruddh’s parents okay with him going for a movie?’ I asked casually instead. Aniruddh barely had time these days, what with college and preparing for his entrance exams. He was going for coaching classes right after college and got back home only after eight.