My conviction about Yudi’s lack of involvement didn’t really help the mess I was in, though. I still didn’t have a clue who Shiv had spoken to. Maybe it had been a series of informal conversations with a combination of people on the basis of which Shiv had drawn his own conclusions. I would never know. I buried my head in my hands—it was beginning to hurt with all the unsettling thoughts swilling inside.

‘Maybe we should leave,’ Debbie said, signalling to Vijay to get up. ‘You get some rest, Megha. We’ll catch up with you tomorrow. I think you could do with some sleep.’

‘Thanks, guys,’ I smiled gratefully as I saw them to the door. I was still thinking about them as I got ready for bed half an hour later.

‘You know, Sammy, it sounds corny but it’s true,’ I said to Sammy who was perched by my bed with Aryan in her arms. ‘When things get really bad, the one thing that can still cheer you up is the thought of people who genuinely care about you. Somehow it always manages to multiply your joys and lessen your sorrows a little.’

‘Oh, thank God you’re feeling better!’ Sammy sighed in relief. ‘It’s a sure sign that you’re well on the path to recovery when you start spouting life’s philosophy!’

I crawled out of bed at 4 p.m. the next day, nursing a stiff neck and a throbbing head. I had slept badly the night before, my mind a shattered mess of confusing thoughts, and had drifted in and out of snatches of sleep all day long. It was escapist but convenient, this heavy dreamless sleep that had eluded me at night but was coming easily to me during the day. It allowed my mind to escape from the prison of dark thoughts it had been trapped in since the previous morning. I had decided to take the day off from work that morning, and had messaged Shiv and Varun citing a migraine attack. Neither had replied. In the run-up to the Annual Sales Conference slated to kick off that evening, nobody would really miss me in office.

I finally dragged myself out of bed when Sammy woke me up with a steaming mug of my favourite adrak chai and submitted myself meekly to a vigorous head massage administered by the Momster.

‘I really cannot understand this modern-day corporate life,’ the Momster grumbled, pouring what seemed like a litre of strong-smelling oil on my scalp and kneading it like a ball of dough. ‘They just want to work people into the ground.’

‘Umm, Ma, what oil is that?’ I asked nervously as she began tapping the base of my skull with her knuckles.

‘It’s an ayurvedic cooling oil to calm the mind,’ Mom said without missing a beat. ‘Now relax, will you? Your muscles are too tense.’ She administered a whack on my neck— strong enough to knock out an elephant—and continued with her kneading. ‘Why do you want to lead this pointless existence, beta? Is this what you expect from a company of the stature of GF? They nearly kill you with the workload and then when it’s time to share the credit they shut you out.’