Serendipity {Complete}

Chatper 2 - Veer

Veer had spotted the city girl at the village market as she tried her best to bargain with the local merchants. That she was extremely poor at bargaining was evident because the sellers were swindling her shamelessly.

Despite her conventional outfit, she stood out like a sore thumb. Her knee-length, pink kurta clung to her ass, emphasizing the generous curve. Every time she bent over, asking a vendor to show a product, the kurta would stretch tight over her bottom.

The men at the market took note as well, brushing themselves and their hands up against her body at every opportunity. Exasperated, he'd spent the better part of the morning watching her unsuccessfully use her dupatta and her bag as shields. Sweat had dampened the back of her kurta until it was almost transparent.

He could never understand why these city-bred women came to the villages in the first place. They wanted to traipse around alone, disregarding their own safety, to experience the rural roots of the country and then howl on social media about how they were getting harassed by the locals.

And why wouldn't they?

This was the butt-end of civilization. An unescorted woman was fair game. Hell, escorted women were not safe either. Kidnapping, rape, and murder were rampant in the provincial states.

Veer's business at the market was to pick up a shipment and transport it to Kesari, a few hours from Bandhargaj. But he spent the better half of his morning watching the woman futilely navigate the crowded marketplace, and that had inevitably delayed him. He was late to load the shipment, which made him miss grabbing his lunch.

Fleetingly, he had contemplated approaching her to offer some assistance. Although he was fairly certain she would not accept help from yet another strange man. Upset with himself for wasting away his morning, coupled with the sweltering heat and his gnawing hunger, Veer's mood had soured drastically.

He absolutely had not expected to see the woman standing over him at the tea stall later that afternoon, where he'd stopped to quickly scarf down the terrible fried snacks with the terrible tea before heading out to Kesari.

Her soft, polished voice as she requested the fat bastard sitting opposite him for a ride had set his teeth on edge. But when she offered to pay cash for the lift, he was pissed.

She had to be a colossal idiot to even mention cash while traveling alone. What did she think men on this side of the world would do, knowing they had the opportunity to rape and murder a lone, stupid woman? And make some money off of her as well?

Weren't women from the city smarter than this? Bhadhargaj was a regular feature in the news for kidnapping and rape.

But Veer had a rule that he seldom broke: don't get involved; stick your nose in your own damn business. But a little voice in his head piped up, saying he should help this fool. Would he like to read about her dead body in the news a week from now?

No, I wouldn't.

Which is why he told her she had made a mistake and to go back to Khora on the evening bus. Not that the local buses are safer, because they notoriously aren't. But her chances with public transport were better than hitching rides with strange men looking for an easy lay, consent be damned.

If she was smart, she would listen to him and return to the bus shelter. But as he was reversing from the snack shop, he spotted her in the rearview mirror, heading back to the tea stall.

Fucking hell. Not my problem. She's an adult, and being this stupid is her problem.

Back on the road, he checks the map on his phone and sets the course for Kesari. He was delayed, but he could make up for it if he drove with minimal breaks and refused to give in to further distractions.