Before we rolled over to sleep, I looked across to her.

‘You’re one special person; you know that?’

‘You’re not too bad yourself,’ she said. ‘Goodnight, Ashray. See you in the morning.’

I went to sleep with a smile on my face. A new job that was amazing and, quite possibly, a new girlfriend. ‘Yes, Ashray,’ I thought to myself. ‘Life is very definitely changing.’

13

JHANVI

‘They will be expecting you this morning, Jhanvi,’ Kavya said as she handed me a glass of orange juice and two tablets for my pounding head.

I knew she was right, but I did not want to see Gaurav this morning, and I did not want to rehash last night with Latika. I nodded, not wanting to have another argument; I didn’t have the strength for another emotional conflict.

‘Come, lay down for a bit, I will order breakfast,’ she said, and patted the bed. I obeyed, resting my head on a pillow as I watched her order food. I waited for the interrogation. Sure enough, when Kavya put down the phone, she asked, ‘What is the last thing you remember from last night?’ I groaned. I didn’t want to recall anything, didn’t need that stark reminder of how I had lost control.

‘Gaurav just got to me,’ I began. ‘I went back to the tent and Latika …’ I trailed off. ‘It just got out of hand. It won’t happen again.’ I said. I could see that she wanted to push me further but there was a knock on the door just then. Kavya thanked the server and closed the door behind him. She brought the tray of food to the bed. The mixture of aromas made my stomach turn, and I quickly closed the silver lid back over the plate. Kavya handed me a slice of bread. ‘You must eat something Jhanvi,’ she said, concern in her eyes. I obliged to avoid another argument. We sat in silence as we ate breakfast, Kavya eagerly adding more and more to the originally agreed upon bread. By the time I had finished eating, my head felt slightly better.

‘Did you at least get enough photos of last night to post to your account?’ she asked.

I dove across the bed for my phone, which was on charge. Putting in the pin to unlock it, I opened the gallery. I sighed; there were some decent photos. Quickly, I picked two from earlier in the evening and carefully edited them to ensure nobody could guess how much I’d actually had to drink. I made sure to add the hashtags agreed upon with Burn Promotions. Immediately the PR manager responded. I cursed. They were watching my account, and I was late in posting. Quickly, I added a few more photos to my story, making sure to gush about how much I appreciated being allowed to work with the company. Hearts filled my screen, and my follower count grew quickly. I smiled, thinking that I had adequately saved something that could easily have turned bad.