Shape of the Sun

A different kind of scumbag

"Trisha! Trisha!"

"Baby, wait..." And then, she was gone.

Veer knew he'd lost his fiancee again for the record eleventh time this week on seeing the mass of people flocking to her, and successfully crowding him out. They were like a bulldog on a rampage just by seeing her, and Trisha just loved to interact with them. They were her fans, the most important to her in the world. Hey, just a few minutes ago in the car, this same woman had her lips on his, whispering to him how he was heaven and earth to her. Veer clicked his tongue at her guts. Women were such total liars, damn.

He stood at the side, watching Trisha sign autographs, the crowd ever passionate, but slowly retracted his gaze and began looking all over the garden, watching everyone engage in small talk, each with a smile that hid their evil thoughts. It bored him. Veer was bored out of his mind that this was his new world now, talking for hours over wine and in suits with ties pulled so hard, you'd slip into a coma. His father had decided years back that it was time to whitewash the family business, especially since he wanted to enter politics. Crime didn't pay that much anymore and so, the Garewal family traded in casinos and weapon trafficking dens for hotels, bars, and charity organizations that had laundered money funding them from the underground. Ah, what his father hadn't told them was that crime was now much more sophisticated.

His familial ties to the dark side of things made it hard for Veer not to notice them on sight. But Prithvi, that wretch, was making him doubt the family's talent. A week ago, he and Rishabh had taken it upon themselves to suppress their friend's half-brother with all they had, and he had gotten some information that made him believe that this bastard was dabbling in some things he shouldn't. Veer wanted to dig deeper, but his father made him stop, not wanting him to cause trouble, especially with elections around the corner.

It made his insides hurt, even more so that he had a personal vendetta against Prithvi. Just a month before Rajkumar's return, Prithvi had the guts to insult him at his father's birthday party. A mere illegitimate nobody dared to humiliate him in front of everyone, him Veeranshu Garewal! Veer had to suppress the urge to slam a fist in his face because one, of Uncle Bhairav, and two, of Rajkumar. Growing up in wealthy families like theirs meant they had to have a high IQ, and Veer knew that hitting Prithvi was the same as hitting his childhood friend in the face, the legitimate heir who'd allowed his half-brother to grow wings under his watch.

Again in this matter, he was to blame. Rajkumar was busy working as a doctor abroad, and the least he could have done to help was to break that bastard's legs that day, so that he wouldn't be able to walk and go sit in a position that had no business with him. Fortunately, all it took was for his friend to return, and Uncle Bhairav finally took things back to the way they used to be. Veer trusted Rajkumar to know just what to do.

Things were however different with him, especially by his lonesome. Veer had no idea what to do now. He didn't want to go into the main hall alone and one look at Trisha told him that she was far from over. So Veer decided to walk the garden a bit more and make small talk here and there, which didn't actually feel so bad when he got down to it. People were always available to pander and flatter people like him, and he slowly understood why his fiancee would rather spend her time with a bunch of strangers than with him. They could make one feel like he was a superhero.

But one careless look to the tables was enough to kick his scaredy-cat mode into overdrive. Manmeet Chatterjee was sitting alone at one of them, laughing and typing at something on her phone screen. She was the second person that made Veer nervous, the first being the police. It was a family thing they were all growing out of. But right now, she was here in the flesh, and he thought it would be wrong to pretend he didn't see her. Garewal men weren't cowards. Veer excused himself and walked over to her table, taking the seat next to hers.

As expected, Manmeet looked up from her screen, surprised at what she felt was a total invasion of her personal space, only for her look to turn subtle after seeing who it was that joined her. There was only one word she uttered before returning back to her phone.

"...Veeranshu."

The owner of the name could only smile bitterly at her cold reaction. No way, he deserved the treatment. In the past, it hadn't been always like this between him and Manmeet Chatterjee. They had spoken casually in high school, their relationship not close, but not bad enough to ignore each other completely. It was inevitable that they had to meet, especially since she was Rajkumar's deskmate. Then, they had graduated from high school, and Veer decided to take a backpacking trip to the illegal salt mines in South Korea with his uncles. It was the perfect summer internship, they had said. And it was perfect. Because that was where he met his first love, Rewa Sharma.

And oh, was she sugar, spice, and everything nice. He'd loved her like the eighteen-year-old he was then, wanton and full of his affection. But there was a problem. Rewa came from a family of police officers. And while Veer had been in love, he had enough common sense to know that there was something very, very wrong with their combination. It didn't seem like the future was too bright for them, and while he loved her, it didn't make sense to give up his inheritance and the life he knew for that. They had a violent breakup and after his return to Mumbai, Veer locked himself up in his room, depressed. It alarmed his father so much that he called Rajkumar, schooling in the UK, over the phone to talk to him. And as Veer remembered clearly, his childhood friend, after listening to his story, told him very succinctly that he should get his shit together and stop causing a fuss back in India.

Oh, what brotherly love they shared.

Veer had tried to do just that and he had done so quite well. Well, until he reunited with Manmeet Chatterjee at a dinner party five years after they left high school. She had been talking to some other people with her friend, Vicky, about his architecture startup, and he couldn't help but notice how similar she was to Rewa. They weren't identical, but they had the same type of eyes and their lips were similarly shaped. Veer, melancholy, had drunk himself into a stupor and the next morning, swore that he'd pursue Manmeet Chatterjee till she said yes.

And she had said yes...four years later. She had also called him a piece of shit and kicked him out of her house, stripped to his boxers, when he had called her Rewa for the sixth time that day when they were kissing. Their two-week relationship was all the gossip for a few months.

At first, Veer had been resentful. But, after some time had passed, he realized he had been selfish and Manmeet didn't deserve to be treated by her boyfriend like he did. And then a year ago, at her own fashion show in Paris, he had met Trisha, a woman who was even more selfish and arrogant than he was, it attracted him. Both selfish, attracted people decided to get engaged and not harm other people's children. It was a rave, still is. By now, Veer had come to understand that his tastes were quite heavier than the usual palate. To date, his father still found time to scold him for dating Rewa, a police officer's daughter. Tch.

That was all in the past. Right now, all Veer wanted to do was to make it up to the woman sitting next to him. He wanted them to return to being friends.

"Manmeet."

This time, she looked at him, a bothered expression on her face. But that wasn't enough to stop him.

"Manmeet, I'm sorry. I-I know I messed things up a bit.."

"A bit?"

"....okay I mean, a lot. Look Manmeet, can we just start all over and be friends?"

For the first time since he sat at the table, Manmeet gave Veer her undivided attention. To be honest, she had never really thought anything of this matter concerning this ex-boyfriend of hers. After all, who hadn't met a few scumbags? It's just that Manmeet thought that Veer's version of scumbag was in the ballpark of unique. His scumbag was quite progressive over the years. Not only could he reform, but he also knew how to get together with other scumbags for the sake of society.

And again, Manmeet was so busy with work most of the time and it was so bad, her relationships were all explicit versions of escapism. How could she even take the events of four years ago so seriously? The hell?