Vihaan stood there long after the door had slammed in his face, Vera’s teary accusations giving rise to something that felt disconcertingly like guilt. His father had yelled and bellowed his displeasure about his careless attitude, and his mother had cajoled and begged for him to change.
Stubborn and headstrong, Vihaan had heard none of those pleas, choosing to live his life in the exact manner he’d wished. Having fun, flitting from day to day with no goal other than to drink with his friends and enjoy life.
But as he walked away from the cottage that housed his supposed nemesis, he felt like he’d been shown a mirror, and he had not liked the image that had stared back.
He realised as shame spread through every part of him, that all he’d done to bully Vera, justifying that she deserved it because of her supercilious, I-am-better-than-you attitude, had only proven one thing.
Vera Talwar truly was better than him.
4
The Stage is Set
Vera
Where was the refundon her life? She wanted to speak to the damn manager who ran this establishment.
Vera scowled at the screen in front of her, reading the news she wished wasn’t true.
Ethos had been acquired. Byhim.
She’d hoped it was a terrible nightmare that she was trapped in when his name had been announced, her body going cold when he’d walked into the room. She’d shrunk into the shadows while he spoke, his baritone voice evoking an emotion that left her with no air in her lungs.
It had been too sudden and unexpected—this meeting. And she knew she hadn’t been the only one surprised.
Her fingers tightened around the flimsy cup in her hand as she tried her damndest to resist the urge to crush it. Her frown deepened as she stared at the tepid drink within.Ugh, this was not coffee. Itwas a travesty; a crime that had gone unreported. It was water with a pinch of mud in it.
Was she being a little too dramatic? Maybe. If not for the cost cutting measures in her life, she’d have ordered a creamy latte with a cinnamon sugar sprinkle from the coffee shop across the street. It was one of the few things she indulged in when her tight finances allowed it.
Strapped for money or not, today she deserved a pick-me-up. After all, coming face to face with the man who’d taken her virginity and smashed her dignity wasn’t something a woman dealt with every day. Seeing her ex-boyfriend for the first time in almost a decade and a half counted as a good reason to splurge on that special caffeine hit.
“If you glare any harder, that paper cup will go up in flames,” a gruff voice called, interrupting her thoughts.
“Like the rest of my life,” she muttered, paying no heed to her friend. In the periphery of her vision, she saw his grey slacks stop next to her desk, his long fingers tapping the wooden surface before flying in front of her screen in an annoying bid for her attention. She swatted at him with irritation, making him grin.
Jay Jaiswal—JJ for short—was an anchor at their channel, and possibly Vera’s only friend. He knew her too well to be put off by her bad mood. He seemed annoyingly upbeat as usual, and it was rubbing her the wrong way. He propped one hip on the edge of her workstation before tinkering with her Post-its, fanning them over and over.
“Why do you look like you slept with a hanger in your mouth?” she almost growled, plucking the stack of notes out of his hand before he ended up permanently curving them.
“No reason,” he shrugged. “Just realised that coming into work got interesting again.”
“What do you know?” she asked suspiciously. Jay had been present for the private company meeting but had left before her,so there was no way he’d witnessed her awkward attempt to escape or her tense encounter with Vihaan.
“Not much. Why? Is there something you’re not telling me?” Shrewd eyes locked on her face.
“Nothing.”
“Oh yeah? You were thinking this hard about nothing?”
“I was trying to think about how much money I would get on the black market for one of my kidneys so I could quit work.”
“If you’re doing it anyway, I’d sell both. Things always sell better in a pair,” he suggested casually, grunting in surprise when she retaliated by smacking his belly with the back of her hand. An unwilling smile tugged at the edge of her lips when Jay bent over dramatically, pretending to be in pain. The sound of shuffling feet beside them had her turning, glancing up to find Olivia staring at her with the same pinched expression she always wore.
“I finished calling the people on the list you emailed me,” she announced, her frown permanent.
Why Olivia had felt the need to personally deliver this message instead of simply emailing her, Vera didn’t know. She said nothing however, thanking her for completing the task.
“Did you happen to forward the summaries to me?” Vera asked.