30. Discord
30
Discord
Vihaan
Fourteen Years Ago
H e didn’t want to leave.
Ever since he’d opened his mail a couple days ago, this thought was at the forefront of his mind. Troubled, Vihaan stretched his legs out on the cool grass in the middle of the courtyard he was lounging in, leaning back to rest his palms behind him. His gaze swept over the school campus, watching other students milling about. Small groups huddled over their books and friends chatted on their way to their classroom.
The doors to a nearby lab opened and young teenagers spilled out in droves. Vihaan sat up immediately, his eyes naturally seeking the slim form of his beautiful girlfriend, disappointed when he didn’t see her with the peer group she usually exited with. Where was she ?
He grumbled frustratedly when his call went directly to her voicemail. He needed to talk to her. She deserved to be the first to know that he’d been accepted into university in the UK. After all, she’d bullied him into studying for all the entrance exams. He’d gone along with the process because it had made his mother happy, and every time he’d scored well, Vera would look at him like he’d plucked stars out of the sky for her. Being admired by someone as tough to impress as his girlfriend made him feel ten feet tall.
But the idea of leaving her behind, even if it was to attend a world-renowned educational institution, was about as appealing as sticking hot coals inside his shirt on a summer day.
Would she come with him? He’d brought it up once under the guise of a hypothetical question, and Vera had laughed. It would take winning a lottery for her to afford schooling outside of the city, much less India, she’d said.
But Vihaan had money, enough that he could easily cover her tuition, too. If only she’d accept help from him. The fact they’d been together for only ten months didn’t stop Vihaan from thinking about their lives long term. He could take care of her financial issues easily, but he felt like any offer from him would be unwelcome. Damn her pride and stubbornness. As much as he loved her, it frustrated him to watch her struggle when he could provide an easy solution. He’d do anything for her. Didn’t she understand that yet? He’d been trying so hard to change her opinion so that she no longer saw him as a spoiled degenerate but as someone who was capable of being the kind of partner she could rely on. Always.
Sure, they were only eighteen. But he was adult enough to know that he was in this for the long haul.
School was nearing an end, and soon, a new phase in their lives would begin. He wanted to share this, and everything else his future held, with Vera. Would she finally see it his way and let him lend her the support she needed? Vihaan racked his brain, trying to think of a way to broach the subject of Vera applying to the same university. Even if she could only join him later, at least they could be together while they worked towards their degrees. She’d hate to leave Nanaji behind, he was sure. But the chance of an excellent education should make that sacrifice worthwhile.
Maybe he should talk to Vera and Nanaji together. He was certain old Mr. Talwar would help him get through to his hard-headed spitfire of a granddaughter.
A loud voice calling his name had him looking up. Vihaan barely suppressed the urge to groan when he saw his cousin approach him. The exaggerated swagger in Rahul’s walk was nothing new, but the smirk on his face, as if he was ready to stir up trouble, had Vihaan wishing he was invisible.
Unfortunately, his cousin had a penchant for being pompous and downright nasty, made worse by the fact that his jealousy over Vihaan’s popularity had never abated. Rahul was careful not to antagonise Vihaan however, and in return, Vihaan ignored Rahul’s less than desirable personality.
“Cuz,” Rahul nodded at him in greeting, coming to halt in front of him as Vihaan slapped the dirt off his pants.
“Hey.”
“I just picked up my new phone from Dad,” Rahul informed him, showing off his shiny new iPhone 4.
“Hmm,” Vihaan nodded, noting Rahul’s gaze slide to the right, where Vihaan’s phone rested nearby.
An iPhone 4.
Rahul’s smug smile dropped.
“When did you get that?” he demanded. “They’ve been out of stock everywhere.”
“I’ve had it since release, man. No big deal. It’s just a phone.”
Rahul looked like he was about to grumble some more when suddenly, his stance relaxed. “I was just at Reed & Co.’s offices, you know, getting myself a snack. And something really interesting happened. ”
Vihaan nodded, indifferent to whatever it was that his cousin was insinuating.
“Ask me what,” Rahul prompted.
“Really rather not. You have an ‘I-fucked-my-fathers-secretary’ face on. I don’t want the details.”
“Jealous?”
“Of what?”
“I’m getting pussy and you’re not.”
Vihaan scoffed, gathering his bag before rising to his feet. He had no patience for Rahul’s nonsense when he had much more important things to focus on. Like his future with Vera.
“Congratulations,” he drawled. “You had sex. Hope you lasted more than a minute.”
Rahul’s skin grew mottled at Vihaan’s insult, his jaw tightening in anger. “Shut up.”
“You’re the one who started this inane conversation. I don’t give a shit where you stick your dick.”
With a careless shrug, Vihaan spun on his heels and began crossing the lawn when Rahul called out from behind him.
“What happened, Cuz? Was your dad’s money not enough to get you laid? Is that why you’re in such a bad mood?”
Vihaan stopped in his tracks.
“The hell are you talking about?” he spat in irritation, hating the spiteful gleam that lit up his cousin’s eyes when they faced each other again.
“Look,” Rahul hissed, flashing his phone in Vihaan’s face. He zoomed in without warning, and through the pixelated screen, Vihaan saw Vera and his father together. At Reed & Co.’s offices.
Was that. . . money? Vihaan’s brows knit as he shook his head lightly, blinking again. The image did not change. Vera was holding a wad of cash, standing across from his father. The fuck?
“You think I’m too stupid to notice you’ve been buzzing like a bee wanting honey around Vera Talwar, the girl every guy in this school has been trying to fuck for years?” Rahul snorted derisively, taking the phone back from a stunned Vihaan. “What did you do? Ask Daddy to pay the ice princess money so she’d drop her panties for you?”
Vihaan’s fist went flying, ripping through the air with a speed that had both boys rolling around the grass like two rabid dogs in a street fight.
“Don’t talk about her, you pathetic pig!”
“Screw you,” Rahul yelled, elbowing Vihaan in the stomach. “I’m not scared of a loser like you who needed his father to find him some pussy!”
Vihaan tried to launch himself at Rahul with a furious roar, finding his path blocked when multiple other students intervened, holding the two feuding cousins apart. From a distance, he could hear someone yelling for a teacher. But all Vihaan could focus on was his weaselly cousin and the filthy lies he was spewing.
“You say one bad word about her, and I’ll cut your fucking tongue off!” He struggled against the hands that held him back from making good on his threat.
“If you don’t believe me, ask your father!” Rahul shouted, more confident now that he knew there were people who’d run interference between him and his blood-thirsty opponent. “Ask that bitch who took money from him in his office today. I saw it all. Your father paid her for you. Or maybe paid her to stay away from you! You’re the pathetic one here, not me!”
Enraged, Vihaan shoved off every restraining hand and punched his way to Rahul who tried to turn tail and run. By the time the security guards and the principal came rushing, pushing their way through the crowd that had gathered to watch the fight, Vihaan had a bleeding lip and Rahul had a broken nose with a black eye that was beginning to swell rapidly.
Vihaan barely heard a word of the reprimand he received, nor did he feel the slightest bit remorseful for being suspended for the week due to his behaviour. Considering it was his first major transgression on school grounds, he’d gotten off easy.
Instead of relief however, his mind remained mired in what Rahul had said. The recollection of the picture he’d seen caused his stomach to churn uncomfortably. He growled in annoyance, hating that he’d let his dickhead cousin get to him. Sitting back in his car, he rolled down the glass on his window as his new chauffeur navigated through the busy roads leading home.
So what if Vera had met with Papa? He was sure there was an explanation for it.
But. . . the money?
“I need the security of money so if I have to pick it over you, I will”.
Her words slithered into his already troubled mind like a poisonous fog shrouding the edge of the cliff he was mindlessly approaching.
The knot in his chest tightened. Vera would have never taken money from his father. If she needed anything, she’d ask him, wouldn’t she? And she’d certainly never leave him. He wasn’t secondary in her life, and she knew by now that he was capable enough to help her, didn’t she?
He pulled out the acceptance letter he’d been carrying around all day, his gut twisting as fear as something that felt uncomfortably like doubt began to gnaw at his insecurities.
Then, by providence, Vihaan saw Vera standing by the crosswalk.
“Hold on, park the car on the side street,” he immediately ordered his driver, jumping out the door even before the vehicle had fully come to a stop. He jogged towards the intersection, looking around until he spotted her entering a shop halfway down the block. He followed immediately, intent on speaking with her when his steps slowed.
Brows furrowed, Vihaan stood outside the storefront, wondering why Vera would have any need to visit the jewelers. Before he could even consider going in, he saw her through the glass window, speaking with the old owner as she reached into her bag and pulled something out. Time slowed and everything around him blurring as his vision homed in on the scene inside. Vihaan watched, shock rendering him mute as Vera handed over the bangle he’d so lovingly earned for her, pocketing the stack of notes the store owner gave her in return.
Unable to fully process what was happening, Vihaan stumbled away, retreating like a coward instead of confronting Vera. For the rest of the afternoon, into late evening, he remained numb, hiding away in an abandoned fort at the edge of town. The isolated spot did nothing to calm the chaos churning within him. Conflicting thoughts and alternating theories tormented him. On one hand, he wanted to deny everything that Rahul had said. But he’d also never dreamed that Vera would sell the symbol of his love for her without telling him.
She’d smiled when she’d seen that money.
In relief. In happiness. In satisfaction.
And with that bright smile, she’d thrown his world into darkness. How was he to make sense of what his eyes had witnessed, his mind had deduced, but his heart refused to accept?
He glanced at the missed calls on his phone. His father, His mother. Vera. All calling him for different reasons, he was sure.
Determined to get answers despite the screaming pain within his skull, he dialled Vera’s number.
“Hello?”
“Did you go to Reed & Co. today?” he asked, incapable of going through the niceties one normally did at the beginning of a conversation.
“I. . . Vihaan? What? Where are you?”
“Answer the question! Did you meet my father?”
“Y-yes. How did you know? Did your dad talk to you already?”
Talk to him about what? That their relationship was over?
“Did he ask you to leave me?” Vihaan questioned, feeling sick .
“He did, but—”
“Then did you take money from him?”
The silence on the other end felt like damning proof. It took every ounce of his restraint to not hurl his phone against the ground when she didn’t respond fast enough. After what felt like an excruciating wait, her soft voice filtered through his speakers.
“He offered it, and I couldn’t refuse.”
“Right,” Vihaan whispered, her words twining around his fragile heart, constricting it until he couldn’t breathe.
“I needed the money and when I met your dad—”
Whatever else Vera was saying was lost to the foghorn that was blaring in his brain, his mercurial emotions subduing all logical thought. He’d given her a chance. For the sake of his love for her, he’d tried to communicate and ask questions instead of jumping to conclusions. And all he had for his efforts was irretrievable proof that he’d been played for a fool.
“I’ve got to go,” he muttered, abruptly cutting the call before she could protest.
I’ve got to go , he kept thinking, the idea of leaving India flashing to life, like flood lights above an escape hatch.
I’ve got to go.