He paused and looked at me wryly. ‘I wasn’t supposed to tell you this but, then again, I wasn’t supposed to feel this way for you either. I’ve fallen for you like a ton of bricks in spite of fighting it every step of the way. Something tells me I’m in for a rough time.’

I glared at him again and he laughed. ‘And the grapevine is right about Delhi, by the way. I do have a “love interest” there, as you so quaintly put it. My two-year-old niece. My sister moved back from the US to Delhi last year, and I try and go there whenever I get the chance, to spend time with her and my niece. We hardly met all the years she was away in the US and I guess I’m trying to make up for all the lost time. Now, shall we move to the next question?’

I blushed and looked down, feeling thoroughly mortified. ‘Actually, there is one more question.’

‘Megha!’ Yudi said in an exasperated tone but when I looked at him he had a grin on his face.

‘It was something you said that evening in Delhi, over dinner,’ I mumbled, my words tumbling out in a rush, ‘about how you could eat vegetarian food and listen to Bollywood music for one evening… I thought you meant it literally—like I was a pain in the neck you had to tolerate for just one evening. I mean, you hated the fact that I got involved in the creative work on Bright Biscuits, right? That’s why I always thought it was only natural for you to hate me.’

‘You’re kidding me, right?’ Yudi looked at me in amazement. ‘How come in all of the stuff I’ve ever said to you, you managed to find the one thing that didn’t even mean anything? Megha, I’ve really put myself out there this time. And I’ve done some real cheesy stuff too, just so you would know I care. How come you haven’t noticed any of that stuff? Like the way I got us paired for that stupid treasure hunt in Goa so I could spend some time with you? Or that trip I made to Delhi in Neil’s place—again, just so I could be with you? Or that song I got recorded for you when I drove you to the conference? I don’t even like that blasted song! But I listen to it anyway because it reminds me of you!’

We gazed at each other in silence for some time before Yudi went on again. ‘I did have a problem with your involvement in the creative work. As a matter of fact, I’m still against it—in principle. I’ve had my share of idiot clients who fancy themselves to be budding creative geniuses and there’s no way I can deal with that shit. But I realized there was something different about you—you weren’t just some client with fancy ideas, you were actually pretty good.’ He paused for a moment before regarding me solemnly. ‘You were right about something you told me once—you are a misfit at GF. You’d be a lot better off on the creative side.’