Page 17 of 12 Years

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‘I did not say that,’ Payal said. ‘Anyway, can I get you a drink?’

‘No, I’ll get one myself. You’re my guest after all.’

I took out some staff vouchers from my pocket and gave one to the bartender. ‘Gin and tonic, please,’ I said. A minute later, the bartender passed me my drink.

‘Cheers,’ Payal and I said in unison as we clinked our glasses.

‘Thank you for coming,’ I said.

‘I had fun.’

‘You came alone?’

‘I wasn’t supposed to. My best friend, Akanksha, was going to come along. But she bailed on me at the last minute.’

‘But you came anyway …’ I said.

‘Well, you’d personally invited me. And I’d accepted as well, remember?’ she said.

Our eyes met.

‘Wow, thank you.’ I smiled.

‘You don’t have to keep me company. You just wrapped up a show—go move around. Meet whoever you have to,’ Payal said.

‘I don’t need to be anywhere,’ I said.

‘You sure?’ she asked. ‘Mudit doesn’t want you out there, mingling with the guests?’

‘No. It’s fine. Another drink?’ I said, noticing her empty glass.

‘Okay, but just one more,’ she said. ‘I’m going to my parents’ place today.’

I gave two more vouchers to the bartender and asked him to repeat our respective drinks.

‘They don’t even know that I drink. I’ll need a lot of mints before I get there.’

I looked at her, surprised.

‘They’re somewhat conservative,’ she said.

‘And you?’

Payal looked at me incredulously. ‘I’m not. I drink. I love comedy. I do a few other rebellious things as well. However, I still try to do what they expect me to do.’

‘And what do they expect you to do?’

‘Work hard. Be a good Jain. Listen to them. Not have a boyfriend.’

‘And you do all that?’

‘I try to.’

Okay, so she probably didn’t have a boyfriend. That was the good news. But she wasn’t allowed to have one either. And that was the bad news.

‘So, you’re a good Jain,’ I said.

‘Except for the wine.’

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