The only consolation was that he was returning to the US over the weekend—which meant I didn’t have to see any more of him in the immediate future. Feigning exhaustion after a long day at work, I parted ways with him soon after we finished dinner and headed home for some solitude and much-needed sleep. It really had been a long day at work and the faint stirrings of the headache I had felt earlier that evening had now turned into a raging tornado—it was as though a hammer along with a couple of tongs were merrily having a go at my head.

It was pretty late when I finally got home after braving some crazy Friday-night Mumbai traffic but to my surprise both the Momster and Sammy were up. Rishi was travelling for work and was expected back home in the early hours of Monday so it was going to be just us girls over the weekend along with the little man Aryan.

‘Hi Mom! Sammy! How come you guys are up?’ I said, walking into the living room and sinking into my favourite bean bag.

‘We’ve just spent the better part of our evening on night duty trying to put that sleepless child of mine to sleep!’ Sammy said with an exhausted sigh. ‘You know all those pregnancy tomes that tell you infants sleep for twelve hours a day? They don’t know what they’re talking about! I finally managed to pack him off to the land of nod about twenty minutes ago and I’m feeling too keyed up to sleep myself now. Do you want to catch a movie? Rishi got me some DVDs of the latest Hollywood releases I’ve missed since Aryan was born.’

‘Arrey, at least let her tell us about Gautam first!’ Mom burst out before I had even considered Sammy’s suggestion. ‘I was waiting for you to get back, beta! So tell me, how was dinner? What do you think of Gautam? Did the two of you get along?’

‘Relax, Mom!’ I said, feeling a twinge of irritation. ‘I thought you said there was going to be no pressure as far as this guy was concerned!’

‘Yes Megha, but I do want to know if the two of you will consider giving marriage a thought anytime in the near future!’ Mom shot back. ‘I mean, we all know this wasn’t just another casual date! Gautam’s mother may call me tomorrow and ask what you felt about him and I need to give her a clear picture! And I really think you need to be a little more decisive when it comes to these things, Megha. You are not a sixteen-year-old any more!’

‘Please, Mom! I can’t tell you what I feel about a guy after just one dinner! And you can tell his mother that too!’ I said angrily, the seed of irritation now having grown into full-fledged rage. ‘And if she really wants to know, tell her that her darling Gomzi is not my type. He talks too much, he has a fake accent and he doesn’t understand the first thing about the work I do! I’m not spending the rest of my life with some IT dude who thinks only those in the tech sector do real work and the rest of the world sells biscuits!’