Page 120 of The Rules of Playing with Fire

“Umm, this is very good,” Mihir said. “Lata, Aaji, what do you think?” he asked in Hindi.

They both showered praises, on him or the cake, I failed to guess. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes right into my head.

“How was your meeting?” Mihir asked me.

The fork stopped abruptly on its way to my mouth. “What meeting?”

“Your mom said you were meeting a friend for coffee?”

“Oh, that! Yes, it was alright.” I worked on my cake while the rest of them continued the game.

“Want to play?” Mihir asked, shuffling the cards like a pro.

I shook my head. “I’m enjoying my cake.”

“Yes, you and your chocolate cake,” he blurted.

“Oh, so you are familiar with her vice.” Appa played the innocent, naïve parent to perfection.

“Yes, Tara always teases her,” Mihir covered efficiently with a cool, suave smile while my mother’s eyes danced between the two confident rogues.

“We are going to that pizza place tonight, don’t forget,” I tried to redirect the conversation. “Lata, you don’t have to cook tonight.”

“Oh, then I can go to that movie I’ve been wanting to see!” she squealed with enthusiasm.

“Mihir, join us if you have no plans for the evening,” Aai said to him.

Oh, that was a bad idea! Getting the four of us alone in a casual setting was a sure-fire way to blow our cover.

“Sure,” he said, dealing the cards on the table. “Where are we going?”

“There’s a new pizza place that opened last year, and Sona wants to try it.”

“It has rave reviews and impossible to get into on the weekend. Two weekends ago, we went there unplanned, and the wait was two hours,” I said with deep scorn.

“What’s so special about it?” Mihir asked as he dealt the thirteenth card and flipped the upcard from the stack.

“It has these amazing Indian-fusion pizzas. I mean, a lot of places make paneer tikka and chicken tikka pizza, but this place goes beyond. It experiments with the base sauces. It’s been described as a slice of Indian heaven on a plate.”

“Hmmm,” he said as the game continued. “That’s a tall claim. I hope they don’t disappoint.”

Three rounds of rummy later, Lata made the afternoon tea before scampering off to the movies. Aaji also took her leave to catch a late nap and rest her back. While Appa and Aai got busy with their evening prayers and chores, Mihir and I settled in the anterior family room with coffee.

“Do you think it was wise to agree to join us?” I said calmly.

He frowned. “Why?” When realization dawned on him, his frown ironed out.

“That’s right. Aai will smoke us out in three minutes.”

“Well, I can’t back out now. Plus, what if I wanted us smoked out?” he asked impishly.

“Did you forget the speech I gave yesterday?”

“The one you ended with my love?” he replied with every bit of sincerity.

“No, the one where I said I’m here as your friend. The other error was on account of muscle memory, an unbroken habit.”

“Or, as they say in Hindi, what’s in your heart surfaced to your lips. Dil ki baat, zubaan par aa gayi,” he said in his light accent.

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