She caught Vihaan’s eye, that awkward flip in her heart causing her to look away immediately. Unfortunately, her gaze landed on Arjun who winked across the room at Kaya, both sharing secret smiles.
She was stuck with two couples who were sickeningly in love while she’d stumbled into the room fully in lust with a man she wanted to kinda-sorta-hate-fuck.
Lovely.
25
Conundrum
Vihaan
It was surreal thatshe was here, sitting amongst some of the most important people in his life. Seeing Vera steadily lose her usual inhibitions despite her unconventional introduction to his friends, created a confusing cocktail of emotions in him. He didn’t know if he could pinpoint what it was that had him feeling so vulnerable. Was it because she fit in so seamlessly? Or because he knew this wasn’t permanent?
It felt ironic that they were playing charades, because this entire situation with Vera was like one big game of ‘faking it’ and he had no clue if they would ever get to ‘making it’.
“OK, here’s your movie,” Vera told Rian when he bent lower so she could whisper it in his ear.
Vera trotted back to her seat beside Aditi, Arjun on the other side. The three of them had been winning for the past three or four rounds, especially since Arjun kept flirting with Kaya and flustering her when she triedto play.
“Think you guys will get this one?” Arjun called out, grinning like an evil gremlin when Kaya scowled at him.
Rian, to his credit, tried hard. He pointed his thumb upwards to indicate that it was a Hollywood movie, and immediately went on his tip toes, strutting around, waving his hand in the air like a dainty queen.
“Princess Diaries!” Kaya shouted, groaning when Rian shook his head.
He pretended to be waiting, looking left and right as if crossing the street before sticking a knee out. With a wink and an exaggerated bite of his lower lip, he bent low and began to stroke his jean clad leg.
Vihaan snorted, offering no help while Kaya tried to guess again, failing multiple times.
Each time Rian came up with a more outrageous and effeminate thing to do, the funnier it got, until Vera was holding her stomach, gasping, her face brilliantly red. Aditi had tears running down her cheeks and was shaking so hard, she slipped off the couch and onto the floor, grasping at Vera’s leg for help. Arjun had started taking a video of the chaos for posterity, no doubt planning to use it as some form of twisted blackmail material in the future.
And Vihaan? He was occupied doing what he always seemed compelled to do. Watching Vera.
He hadn’t been able to look away all evening. The fact that she was so engrossed in the game had allowed him to observe her to his heart’s content, appreciating how unguarded she finally was. They’d had sex, but neither in the storage room nor during their night together after the club, had Vihaan seen this side of her. Where she was exhibiting her competitiveness, but not her anger. Where she laughed a bit more freely.
He didn’t trust her. Heshouldn’ttrust her, he reminded himself. Still, that didn’t stop her smile from stealing the breath right from his lungs. And all he wanted to do then was forget everything else and make that moment last just a little longer.
Fuck, she’s glorious. He watched Vera clutch Aditi’s hand as she continued to giggle, the sound a balm to an ache he’d become accustomed to living with. She was always a stunner, even when angry. But like this? Throwing her head back in true joy, her throaty laughter ringing in the air, her eyes bright and face flushed—she was blindingly beautiful.
Not that she had smiled much even as a child, but the adult Vera smiled differently. A curated expression that was used for the benefit of others. This was the first true sign of levity he’d seen. Her chuckles had that odd, interrupted quality. Like she was unused to making a happy sound. The mere thought made his heart clench uncomfortably.
He’d forgotten how her face softened when she lost herself to happiness, how proud he used to feel at being the only one capable of making her gurgle happily in the past. With her lips stretched out in a smile, she went from someone who looked like a perfectly drawn doll to an earthy seductress who could bring a country full of men to their knees.
As if she’d heard him, her gaze swung to meet his. He still couldn’t look away and her smile grew confused.
He didn’t know so much of who she was today. What had made herher? What had her experiences been in the last fourteen years since they broke up? Did she still hum out of tune when she was cleaning? Did she still hate eating gourd because it was too healthy? Did she still use that old sandalwood bar soap that was sold at every corner shop because she liked the smell of earth? Did she still tear up while watching rom-coms but pretend that she hated the cliche scenes and dialogues? Had she fallen in love with someone else while he’d been trying to recover from the wreckage she’d caused? Had she—
He swallowed hard, the volley of questions tossing around in his mind refusing to abate.
Where had she lived? Who had been a part of her life? How had she ended up at Ethos?
Unlike his expectations, she wasn’t off living a lavish life of decadence with a rich husband. After she’d left his house without telling him, he’d found her address in the company directory and had driven over to check on her. The dilapidated apartment building had been concerning to see, which was also when he’d discovered that she’d moved elsewhere. Each time he was faced with proof that he was no longer privy to the details of her life as he once was, bitterness lashed through him. Every time he realised that so many of his assumptions about her were invalid, he felt frozen with fear for what else he might have misunderstood.
Had she truly moved on or was she still stuck in limbo like he was? He couldn’t figure her out. And all the while, simply being in her vicinity had him unraveling without control.
Desperate to show that he still knewsomethingabout her, he interrupted Kaya’s frenzied guesses.
“Pretty Woman,” he announced. It used to be one of Vera’s favourite movies. “Am I right?” he asked, still looking at her. Her lower lip curled in, pearly white teeth trapping one edge of it before she slowly nodded. At her confirmation, Rian slumped into the couch next to Vihaan, complaining loudly, “You couldn’t have guessed that earlier?”