‘Yeah,’ I muttered, feeling a little foolish. He really had been interested in the bag! Maybe I’d just imagined him asking me out. ‘Umm, so Shalini is your friend, huh? I know her a little, and the Moms… my mom knows her really well. She’s very talented; I’m a huge fan of her hand-crafted accessories.’

‘Me too,’ Yudi grinned and held out the funky-looking pencil I’d seen him using earlier. It was a bright purple pencil with a cute little troll head affixed on top. The little troll had a mane of shocking red hair and a quirky expression that was really quite adorable.

I let out a little giggle and stroked its silky mane. ‘It’s got lovely hair,’ I said with a smile and looked up to find myself looking straight into Yudi’s eyes.

‘So do you,’ he said, that same unfathomable look flashing in his eyes, and I felt myself blushing.

‘I suppose you’ll say my face is like this too, next!’ I said, pushing the pencil back at him and he gave me an exasperated look.

‘It’s nowhere close,’ he said shortly and turned his face towards the cab driver. ‘Aagey se left lena, bhaiyya.’

‘Left?’ I looked at Yudi, perplexed. ‘Aren’t we going back to the hotel?’

‘I thought I’d take you out for dinner first,’ Yudi said, looking genuinely surprised. ‘I did ask earlier and you didn’t say no, so I assumed I had your permission. I do have your permission, right? I’ll be a good boy, I promise.’

He looked at me solemnly, his eyes glinting with mischief and I smiled at him in spite of myself. The cab dropped us off a little later in front of a quaint little restaurant and I sniffed the air expectantly.

‘Is this an Italian restaurant? I love Italian food,’ I gushed before realizing I probably sounded like an excitable four-year-old who’d just been taken out for ice cream. Yudi didn’t seem to mind, though, and he smiled at me almost tenderly as he gently guided me towards a table in the corner.

I looked around, soaking in the ambience. The place had a warm, homely feel to it. It was done up beautifully in shades of rust and burnt orange and had some lovely antique wooden furniture. The air was redolent with the fragrance of freshly baked pizzas and I was sure I’d be able to taste cheese if I just licked the air around me. Yudi had been there before so we decided he’d do the ordering and I settled back to enjoy the ambience while he chatted like an old friend with the genteel and dignified waiter who was taking our order.

‘So are you a vegetarian by choice or has it always been that way?’ Yudi asked, turning towards me as the waiter left. He hadn’t seemed too surprised when I’d told him I was vegetarian, saying instead that the restaurant was known for its vegetarian food. And even though I knew for a fact that he relished non-vegetarian food, the meal he ordered was exclusively vegetarian.