I stomped off to my room and slammed the door shut. My head was throbbing with pain now so I sank into bed and put a pillow over it, trying to drown out the cacophony of thoughts and emotions that were threatening to overtake my mind. Outside I could hear Mom’s voice raised in anger while Sammy tried to placate her. I really hadn’t meant to yell at Mom like that, but as usual my temper got the better of me. And as always, Mom somehow managed to bring out the worst in me. Of course, I always felt terribly guilty after every blazing row, but right now I was in no mood to apologize. Knowing Mom, she would probably use the opportunity to get me to meet that darned Gautam again before he left for the US!

A few minutes later Sammy padded into the room and plonked herself down on the bed next to me. ‘Hey Meg,’ she whispered, bending down and putting her arms around me. ‘You okay?’

‘Yeah,’ I sighed, turning over to look at her. ‘Is Mom okay? I’m feeling terrible about yelling at her like that. Should I go apologize?’

‘Relax,’ Sammy grinned impishly. ‘She’s used to your little outbursts. You’ve inherited your famous temper from her only, remember? I’ve asked her to lie down in my room with Aryan for some time so that you get some respite. Go to bed by the time she gets here, will ya? And try to chill a little! Don’t let this stuff get to you, Megha. You’re still young and anyway life has a way of sorting itself out. I would focus on work if I were you; you have such a promising career ahead. And you’re just twenty-six for Chrissake! I’m sure you’ll meet tons of interesting guys. Next time, just say no when Mom tries to fix you up with one of these NRI types!’

‘I would have, Sammy! It’s just that it was different this time. Mom wasn’t trying to force me, she seemed so vulnerable and unhappy and she just wanted me to meet this guy once. I didn’t have the heart to say no to her. And she had said all this stuff earlier that really got to me. About being alone after Papa left us, and having this huge responsibility to see me settle down in life.’

‘I know,’ Sammy sighed. ‘You are so like her, Meg— impulsive, hot-headed, emotional. That’s why she worries about you. But I know you and I know that you’ll be fine. Tell you what! I’ll have a talk with Mom, okay? Tell her to go easy on you a little.’

She grinned and I smiled back gratefully. I missed having these chats with Sammy. We’d always been really close and Sammy had always been a rock-solid support system, someone I could always turn to for help or advice. But all that had changed once she’d got pregnant with Aryan. Our conversational focus had suddenly shifted first to the pregnancy and then to the baby, leaving little space for anything else. As a result I hadn’t even gotten around to discussing my job-related woes with Sammy. By the time the white noise buzzing around in my head had firmly established itself as the realization that this job wasn’t what I really wanted to do, she was too far into her pregnancy and I hadn’t really wanted to bother her with my random existential woes. But maybe I could use the opportunity to talk to her now.