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Chapter 14

My sisters and I sat at a shack near the hotel we were staying at the next night. Priyu di ordered beer for everyone. We were waiting, while I munched on the shrimp crackers as Akshay was still to arrive. He said he would be here in a few minutes. He had to take a shower and had asked us to go ahead and leave first.

"Can you stop eating?" Priyu di told me. "Didn't you eat a heavy lunch?."

"The only good thing in my life is food." I said, "Don't take that away from me as well. And I came to Goa to enjoy food. I don't have much interest in alcohol."

That was the time when our beer mugs arrived, chilled to the right amount. Since my sisters reached out for the mugs and began to sip from them, I reached out for my mug as well.

Just then the mug was taken out of my hand and I looked at Akshay.

"You are going to drink?" Akshay asked.

"Hm. Why?" I asked. We did not have any drinks last night since we spent it visiting the local churches. And Priyu di had said today was the night to drink. "Is there a problem?" I asked Akshay.

"Don't you know you should not mix alcohol and anti-depressants? Did you take today's medicine?"

Oh... Yeah, I had read that somewhere. "But it is not that harmful that I will die if I drink," I told him. "Life is too depressing anyway. Let me at least drink while I am in Goa. If I cannot drink in Goa, what is the point of coming to Goa."

"You said you are not interested in alcohol," Priyu di casually commented.

"Nope." Akshay held the beer mug away as I tried to reach for it. "Priyanka didi, shouldn't you be stopping her from drinking? Instead, you are buying drinks for her?"

"It's seriously not that dangerous Akshay. Once in a while drinking, that too just a bit is fine. One of my friends is on antidepressants. And he was fine after drinking one beer bottle at a party," Priyu di said.

"Just because your friend was fine, doesn't mean Shiyu will be fine. Let me look it up." He set the mug on the table and took out his mobile and began to google it. "See it says here it will tamper with the effect of anti-depressants, and 'at worst, it can cause serious health risks that require emergency medical attention'" he read out from the online article. He looked at me, "So... no way are you drinking that."

"So what am I supposed to do? Just sit here while you all drink?"

"Drink a cold drink." He said. "There are a lot of options, right? Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta... Or how about a non-alcohol cocktail?"

But I sulked. Akshay looked at me.

"Shall I get you an ice cream then?"

My mood immediately brightened up. I nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay, ma'am. Getting you an ice cream in no time." He smiled and gave me a salute.

"Where will you find ice cream here in Goa? This place....?" Milky asked.

"There will be a shop somewhere." He said and ran out.

Priyu di looked at him for a while. "is he... in love with you?" She asked.

I spat out the shrimp cracker I was having. "What?" I turned to her.

"Seems like it," she looked at me.

"No," I said. "Not at all. We are just friends."

"That may be true." Priyu di said. "But how can you be sure about his feelings? I don't think even Rishab has ever taken care of you this much."