Gehna’s giggles were infectious. Even random passers-by in a harried city famous for not smiling smiled at the sight of her.

‘Fine, fine,’ Eram said. ‘Shut up. You got your trainers dirty.’

‘Worth it.’

They walked past Otters Club and up Carter Road, Gehna still laughing whenever some mental replay of the last few minutes tickled her.

‘Laugh it up while you can,’ Eram said. ‘Revenge will be sweet.’

‘No, no. No revenge. We’re quits now. That was payback for you being mean to me earlier. And the thing of it is, somewhere you do believe it’s true or you wouldn’t have flung it at me. That I have lots of sex and party it up all the time.’

It struck Gehna right in that moment that this was also the reason why Eram hadn’t tried to kiss her. On learning that she was pregnant, he had made some quick, probably subconscious, calculations: she was either seeing someone and was therefore unavailable, or, if she was single, then she was the sort of girl who slept around, and which good Indian boy would want that?

‘What I believe,’ Eram said, choosing his words as if each one were a step across a minefield, ‘is that you’re sophisticated. That’s what I thought when I first met you. The ease with which you order drinks at a restaurant, the way you dress, how you automatically know if something is tasteful or tacky, your love of poetry. All of that comes with experience and, like, exposure, no? I don’t have it. I wish I did.’

‘And the sex?’

‘I wish I had that too,’ Eram grinned, hoping to keep things light.

But Gehna wasn’t willing to be steered off-topic. ‘Lemme guess. You were like here’s this knocked-up chick and, since she’s not married, obviously that means she gives it away freely to anybody who even looks at her sideways.’

‘It’s not about being married or—’

‘But it is about there being a guy in the picture,’ Gehna insisted. ‘Basically, girls can have sex if they’re married or in an exclusive relationship. If I do it with anyone outside of those boundaries, then, what, I’m a godless slut?’

Eram didn’t like the idea of himself being one of those people with medieval attitudes towards women, and he felt he should argue the point some more. But no matter how he cut it, it was still true. He had made a moral judgement about Gehna without being aware of it. It was an ugly thing to have to accept.

‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘I didn’t . . . I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be. This is the world we live in. But you’re good people, and I hope to make a feminist of you yet.’

They crossed the road and started on the dimly lit winding path that led to Pali Hill. Walking next to each other, it was only natural that their shoulders bumped occasionally. Maybe the back of Eram’s fingers brushed against Gehna’s, or she touched his arm while making a point. Neither of them could remember afterwards who took whose hand first.