Page 84 - The World's Best Boyfriend

‘You did a good job though,’ he said. ‘You shouldn’t cry about it. Accidents
happen. He was an asshole. Forget about it.’
‘. . .’

Aranya didn’t know what to say because saying anything would mean telling
him about eight years of body image problems, the constant urge to cry, to shake
every person who had ever seen her differently and ask them what her fault was:

to tell them all the depressing details of how it was all brought on by Dhruv, the
spite in her heart, the vengefulness, which resulted in her overtly competitive
spirit, and the crushing inferiority complex carefully hidden by the veneer of

superiority she had steadfastly maintained.
‘Dr Raghuvir, professor of advanced physics.’ He thrust out her hand. ‘But
you know that already.’

She grinned and shook it. Snippets of information about Dr Raghuvir bounced
about in her frenzied brain.
13 years, made a high-powered telescope and found three asteroids. All

named after him. 14 years, completed Bachelor’s of Engineering from MIT.
Filed eighteen patents. 17 years, completed Master’s of Engineering in nuclear
physics from MIT. Filed thirty-three patents. 19 years, was part of the team in

France that successfully executed the first controlled fusion reaction. 20 years,
he went missing.

And it had been nine years since then. His reputation in the scientific
community had been of a self-aware prick. He knew he would change the world.
If he thought he was right about something, he would obsessively bulldoze
others with his theories, deride them, question them and make them believe in

him. He was a temperamental, obsessive, control freak, manic genius—like all
geniuses should be, the stuff legends are made of.

During the latter days of his illustrious career as a young path-breaking
researcher it was speculated that he became a bit of a philanderer, stumbling
from one relationship to another, ending up an emotional wreck. He had made a
habit of dating and breaking up with beautiful women—young struggling models

and actresses and students who found Raghuvir’s limitless intelligence
extremely attractive. When these relationships ended Raghuvir was often found

blaming a lack of common ground for the failure. A less talented man would
have made a fool of himself but not Raghuvir; he had the choicest quips for
anyone who still doubted his abilities. Slowly, he had snuck out of limelight.