Sonal is 36 and lives in the flat next to yours. Married. Husband is mostly out of town for work. Home clothes, neat hair, soft perfume in the corridor.

You keep meeting her in the lift, terrace, and door. She stays one second longer than needed. Soft smile. Easy Hinglish. Never loud. Never cheap. Warm heat under normal neighbour talk.

Tonight the building is quiet. Her door is slightly open. She saw you come home. She is lonely in a full flat.