Mésalliance (Completed)

Chapter 2

The blaring noise of the pub wasn't new for Vikram, he even knew the scheme of the tunes that played. He had been visiting the pub for eight years and drank for three. The place was his getaway despite the fistfights and police raids. He had been charged with drunken drive many times but was bailed out by his cop friend, Krish.
"Another peg," he kept the empty glass on the counter. The bartender said meekly, "You already drank a lot, sir." He cared a lot for his regular customer.
"Pour me or I will break your skull," Vikram warned him sternly. The bartender refilled the glass, "Stop after this. I don't want you to die, sir."
He came to the pub earlier than usual to cool off. The lawyer threw a huge bomb at him. The big drawback was losing the inheritance.
His dad would sell Vikram for saving the hospital, let alone the marriage. Vikram didn't want a woman permanently near him. One night stand was his preference, not marriage.
He would kill his late granddad for writing the will. His grandmom, Rati stayed far away from Mumbai. She luckily didn't meet Vikram that day, he would've broken her bones otherwise. It's for her better to hide in a grave instead of meeting him.
"Hey, Daddy!" A sexy chick reached his side stool. "Are you waiting for someone?"
She was draped in a skimpy velvet dress that covered her tan skin but traced her bubbly assets. Her silky hair had been straightened and she smelled like lavender. Vikram wanted to prey on her that night, no matter how bad her makeup was. He let his eyes eat her features. The night was going to compensate for the day.
"Like what you see?" He wiggled his lashes, drawing circles on her bare back. She smirked at him.
He pinched her nipples over the dress. She hissed and gave a fake glare in his direction. He groped her full breast and licked his lips. She moaned, "Shall we leave?"
He touched her in a fully covered dress, "These touches will land on your bare skin within some minutes."
Vikram extended his arm in her direction. They would spend the night in his private bungalow. He stayed away from his residence for privacy. He would eat her and forget his problems. 
She tried to stand up from the bar stool, holding his hand but fell into her drunk state. Vikram lost his patience to wait for her. He lifted her on his shoulder like a sack bag and walked out of the pub.
"Are you that desperate?" The chick giggled as he threw her on the rear seat of his Mercedes. He planned to rash through the road to show her desperation. Neither the traffic nor the vehicles mattered to him.
All he knew was hitting on something before dozing off.
******

An unknown warmth crept upon his skin. A bright light shone on his face which blinded his eyes for some minutes. His body ached while moving the limbs. He batted his lashes and frowned at the place before opening his eyes completely.
Vikram lay in a well-lit room. The sun rays peeking out of the windows and blinded him upon waking. The warmth sweated his body which was covered by a blanket. The bed beneath him was cozy and he stretched his body with a long groan. He was sceptical to wake from such a comfortable bed.
After a few minutes of knowing the place, he recognised the guestroom of Krish.
He couldn't remember how he ended up there instead of his bungalow. He forgot about the chick he met in the pub.
His hangover wasn't that bad as he was accustomed to drinking habit. He slowly walked to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
"What the vampire?" He exclaimed at his mirror image. His hair strands were in random directions, his eye sockets were hollow and there were pillow marks on his left cheek.
He washed his face and slapped his cheeks gently to draw blood to those areas. He used the spare toothbrush and washed out the smell of alcohol. He went out of the room to meet Krish and clear his doubts.
Krish lived in a simple house: single floor, two bedrooms and a kitchen. Vikram frequently visited the place as he loved a simple life. Krish also had great hospitality towards his guests whether they are drunk or sober.
He saw Krish reading the newspaper in the living room and punched the paper. His fist tore a hole in the middle of the paper and the punch landed on the nose of Krish, making him curse profanities at Vikram.
Vikram heard cuss words from every alphabet in the dictionary and Krish finally became silent, losing his breath.
"Good morning," Vikram greeted calmly. He behaved like nothing happened.
"What the fu-" Krish roared at his friend. "You are the most incorrigible person I have ever met!"
Vikram made faces at his words, "It's just a newspaper, honey."
Krish threw the torn paper on his friend, "And my aching nose is your ass."
Krish was unusually grumpy that morning and Vikram wanted a valid reason for that, "Is there a problem?"
Krish stood from the couch, "Yes. It's because of you!" He paced the living room in anger. The space for him to walk was minimal and Vikram laughed, "You can go out in the garden for a dramatic appeal to your anger."
Krish stopped dead in his tracks, "Are you fricking serious?" He couldn't understand the sassy reply of Vikram when he was in serious trouble. He grabbed Vikram by the collar, "Do you remember being drunk?"
Vikram nodded his head up and down. He remembered being drunk to cool off his pissed mood.
"Good!" Krish remarked with a straight face, "Did you drive your car?"
Vikram nodded again.
"Also, you hit on something. Do you recall?" Krish added another point. Vikram remotely recollected the night, "Yes. But everything became blank after that."
"You, bastard! hit the car of the Commissioner of Mumbai police!"
The decibel of Krish's voice increased ten fold, "I met you unconscious in my police station."
Vikram blinked at the new details that Krish gave him. The cop added, "I had to talk with that big shark and bail you out."
Vikram felt grateful for his friend and hugged him.
But Krish pushed him roughly, "He suspended me for supporting you!" He raked his hair, "You, bastard! managed to sack me!"
Vikram blinked at him, "What?"
Krish frowned, "What else would he do if I support a drunkard like you?" He never slacked in his job and that black mark would prick forever. "I was beyond shocked seeing you in jail."
"You could have told them that I am the son of Sooraj Rao instead," Vikram replied calmly. "You would have escaped this punishment."
Krish gaped at him at a loss for words.
"Where is my car by the way?" Vikram questioned him. "Is it damaged?"
Krish glared at him, "All you care for is your car! Motherfuck-- Do you know what happened to my car?"
Vikram frowned at him and nodded side to side.
"You vomited in my car on our way home. I bailed you out and you soiled my car. My fucking car is in the wash now," Krish shouted.
Vikram felt miserable for letting down his friend. He confided genuinely, "Yesterday was a bit rough. That's why I drank way too much."
"Like you know your limits the other times," Krish interrupted him. "Every time you end up unconscious with alcohol. You never had a limit with anything."
Vikram tried to explain his changed ways that he won't repeat such an act but Krish wasn't convinced by his words. Vikram took a deep breath, "Dad proposed to me into marriage." He felt a great relief after sharing the information with his best friend. A ton of weight was taken from his heart.
Krish blinked in confusion, "Marriage?" he whispered the word continuously to check if he was right "Did you mean the real one?" He couldn't believe Vikram. "You need to tie a nuptial chain around the neck of a woman. Did you mean that type of marriage?"
Vikram sighed, "What else is called marriage?" And he shared the details about the will. The anger inside him subsided. He felt like a loser in front of the will.
Krish considered the facts and rules of the will. He pitied Sooraj, "He needs the business and Niyati is just a student. You can't lose the properties now."
Vikram agreed with his friend, "This thing is making me sick." He merely had a month to the wedding without knowing his fiancee. "I don't know her name either."
"It's the first time I am hearing about an arranged marriage," Krish commented in wonder. Vikram coincided, "Even I. Who knew my granddad would be a maniac?"
He felt helpless about the issue. His family would lose everything if he denied the offer. He couldn't be selfish to his hostile family. His dad would have been a toddler when the original will was drafted. Nobody could be blamed except his cunning grand mom. She should have stopped his granddad.
Krish grunted, "In this century, we can see the same gender marriages and you are struck with the traditional arranged marriage setup. I don't know what to say!"
Vikram considered how old-fashioned the entire setup was but couldn't do anything except pity his fate.
"Did you say yes?" Krish widened his eyes.
Could Vikram deny it?