‘Well, that position is taken,’ Kavya said, rolling her eyes. Another message came through. I ignored it to get up and get dressed. Together, we walked out into the warm air; the smell of the ocean was a pleasant change from the usual Mumbai city smells. My stomach, still unhappy with me, protested loudly. We chatted as we walked to the VIP area, discussing Latika and Gaurav and how their relationship was doomed to fail regardless of whether I was on this trip or not. Inside the tent, a waiter pushed forward a tray of champagne glasses filled with orange juice.

‘Champagne and orange juice for the ladies?’

I could feel Kavya’s eyes on me. I shook my head. ‘Just plain orange juice,’ I said.

‘You will have to go to the bar for that,’ the waiter said and winked, probably insinuating that he understood I had a hangover.

In a corner, Gaurav was speaking with some Burn Promotions PR people, while Latika sat not far from him, arms crossed and clearly sulking. Kavya leaned in and said, ‘Your bestie is over there, waiting for you.’ I shot her a look, and she burst out laughing.

The group of influencers she was with last night were sitting on one of the leather couches, drinking coffee; they smiled and waved for her to come over.

‘Go,’ I told her, ‘I’m just going to get myself an orange juice and I will be right over.’

‘You sure?’

I nodded before walking towards the bar. Thankfully, new bar staff were serving drinks this morning. I ordered the largest orange juice they had and took a big sip. The ice-cold sour liquid was like being splashed with cold water, and I felt instantly more awake.

‘Rough night?’ I turned to see a tall man in a pair of white linen shorts and a white Burn Promotions shirt.

He extended his hand and said, ‘I’m Arnav.’ I smiled weakly, and he burst out laughing. ‘I’m the PR manager assigned to you for the festival. I sent you the original message.’ As I shook his hand, I wondered if I was going to be berated for my lack of posts last night.

‘Are you enjoying yourself?’

I nodded, unsure of what to say.

‘I’m not going to keep you long. I just came over to say that, although we understand your feed is more curated,’ he emphasised the word curated and I felt myself blush, ‘we would like a little more live content today. Okay?’ I couldn’t find the words to make an excuse for why I hadn’t posted last night. Again, I nodded and internally screamed at myself for not finding my voice. ‘We aren’t unhappy with you, Jhanvi; it’s just that these things tend to benefit both the promoter and the promotee, when they are posted at the moment.’