‘What does Dr Shyam say?’ she asked, like she instinctively knew there was a gap in my story.

‘He doesn’t know Jhanvi, and I don’t want him to. Nobody knows except you and me, okay?’

‘Okay,’ she replied, her dark brown eyes burning into me, searching for a sign that I was going to be all right. ‘But if you feel like you can’t handle it, even for a second, you call me, okay?’ I agreed, feeling better about the upcoming birthday and my newfound strength to tackle it alone.

‘What about you?’

‘What about me?’ she mocked me, locking her arm into mine. I rolled my eyes at her, pretending to be annoyed.

‘Kavya is irritating me,’ she admitted. ‘Not on purpose, mind you. She is just doing what I asked her to do, but sometimes I want to do things for myself. I find myself wanting to drink again. To do something to take my mind off everything that is stressing me out right now …’ she trailed off.

‘But she is still acting on your instructions?’ She nodded at my question. ‘Well, then, aren’t you indirectly doing it yourself then?’

‘You’re infuriating,’ she said, frowning at me.

‘I know.’ I puffed out my chest, exaggerating a sense of pride. She reached into her bag, pulling out her phone.

‘Selfie?’ I laughed, but agreed to share the moment with her. She angled her face, posing with perfection. For a brief moment, it felt like I was standing with someone I barely knew. She opened her gallery to review the pictures. Staring back at me was the two of us, her looking absolutely magnificent as always, and me, somehow with the most ridiculous half-smile imaginable.

‘Sorry,’ I said, truly apologetic. She wrinkled her nose, a smile that reached all the way to her eyes.

‘I like it,’ she answered. ‘I think it is the perfect picture.’ We walked together, arm in arm, a little while longer.

‘How does this whole “moderately famous” thing work?’ I asked her. No response as she flicked between screens with graphs and words I didn’t understand. ‘Jhanvi?’

‘Something is wrong, my stats have never been this slow. I think they’ve changed the algorithm again.’ I looked at her, struggling to separate her self-worth from what was happening behind her screen, sure that this would mean a setback for her. Reaching over, I gently took the phone from her hand before locking it and putting it in my pocket.

‘That’s enough of that for now, hey?’ Her initial reaction of shock made me think that I had overstepped the boundary, but eventually, her expression softened.