Hello everyone! Thank you for all the love you all have been showering my stories with! Happy reading!
Twinj: It’s Always Been You: Episode 19
A quick recap: Twinkle makes a hair breadth escape from the speeding car, Kunj brings her home and explains the circumstances to everyone. They all put forth their own thoughts about the issue, and despite Kunj’s repeated apologies, Usha doesn’t give in. Leela finally asks him to take some time apart and think well before any further decision is taken.
“Aparna, listen..” Twinkle’s sentence remained incomplete when she entered Aparna’s room to ask for help, but found Aparna herself looking sad and as though she herself might require help. “Are you alright?” Twinkle asked, sitting beside her on the bed, worried about what must have troubled the happy go lucky Aparna that she knew. “Ya, I’m absolutely fine! What could happen to me?” Aparna responded quickly, trying her best to sound as cheerful as ever. “I know that you were the one who has always handled me in my times of distress, but that doesn’t mean you’ll always have to be the stronger one!” Twinkle spoke softly, watching her carefully. “Aparna, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to. I had no idea!” Leela spoke as she rushed into the room, looking guiltily at them. “What is this about, now?” Twinkle asked Aparna, who responded, “It’s nothing.” Leela then told Twinkle how she had unintentionally hurt Aparna and ridiculed her, as she sat down on Aparna’s other side and patted her head gently, apologising profusely. “I lost them in an accident, aunty. The entire family had been so excited when I told them about my convocation. Unfortunately, they never made it.” Aparna explained, resting her head on Leela’s shoulder and shutting her eyes. Although Leela was extremely saddened by what she had just heard, she felt a beam of admiration rise in her as she observed how quickly Aparna recovered. “I realised, after some time of brooding pointlessly, that I still had a long life ahead of me, and I couldn’t spend all of it over some heart wrenching incident that only belongs in the past.” Aparna said, watching Twinkle over the corner of her eye, hoping her statement had found its mark. It seemed successful, for Twinkle smiled genuinely for the first time in a while, nodding understandingly.
Twinkle had been sitting in the moonlit garden all by herself that night, trying to forget her pain so that her family wouldn’t have to suffer because of her at least. It had been a week since she had poured her heart out to Kunj, and hadn’t heard from him ever since. She knew he had been hurt horribly by it and had decided to give him some time, for she herself hadn’t been able to recover even after staying away for three long years, but his silence was killing her. She wanted him to be around her like he always did, trying to make her laugh when she was either too angry or too tensed, or just spend time with her in silence, anything at all; she sighed at the thought that perhaps everything was so complicated now that it was impossible. “All ok Twinkle?” RT’s voice broke her trance and she looked up with a nod and shifted a little, making space for him on the mat that she had spread out for her stargazing session. “Papa, do you think I should have simply hidden the truth from everyone?” She asked once he had sat down comfortably. He smiled warmly at her and answered, “Your mother and I have always been surprised by how wonderful your decision making abilities have been. And that isn’t even because you are our daughter. It’s because you are a very sorted person, if you decide to do something, you would have definitely thought of it from all prospects.” He recognised the refusal she was going to bring up and quickly added, “I know you have been bothered about the impact the truth made on Kunj. I would still say I trust your decision to tell him. It was his child as well, although he only got to know of its existence and the mishap recently.” Twinkle smiled at him, feeling one burden lift off her heart.
“Should Kunj and I get back together? Should I listen to my heart that yearns for him, or the motherly instinct that warns me strictly against it?” Twinkle asked after a long silence, making RT look up at her, wondering which way her thoughts had led her. He sighed deeply as he thought of an answer. He would have wished to dodge the question, but he knew that Twinkle was probably tired of thinking of it over and over, and that she needed some guidance, not a verdict being imposed on her. “I gathered that probably everyone is either asking you to forget everything and move on, or forget the pain and make peace with Kunj. Either way, it demands that you forget things. But this cannot be forgotten, Twinkle. It is as much a part of your life as everything else, and will always be. So you need to accept completely that it happened, you or Kunj for that matter probably had no much control over the way one thing led to another. Both of you have made your fair share of mistakes, and need to forgive each other, not forget. I think that should help you comfortably make your final decision, for that will always be yours to make, Twinkle. Nobody else can design your life the way they want to. It should be you.” RT explained, making Twinkle finally see the part of the truth that she had been turning her back to all along. She could definitely not forget it like it never happened. It was like a deep scar, sure to leave an unfading mark. She needed to learn to wear it like an ornament.
“Twinkle!” Usha called out when she spotted Twinkle in the Gurudwara one morning. “Aunty, how have you been?” Twinkle greeted with a smile and a hug like she had been accustomed to doing over the years. Usha smiled hesitantly back at her, and nodded. On Twinkle’s repeated insistence, she finally revealed her thoughts, “I don’t understand, how could you be so nice to me after all that Kunj did?” Her voice low and making evident her guilt that had given rise to several negative emotions. “I think you’re being way too harsh on him, aunty. It’s not like everything is his fault!” Twinkle answered, shaking her head disappointedly as they slowly walked towards the exit. “How is Kunj doing?” Twinkle asked finally, having wanted to ask that question forever, but not sure to whom. Usha’s silence didn’t go well with her. “Aunty, please tell me you didn’t try to punish him by yourself!” Twinkle pleaded, hoping she hadn’t waited too long to ask about him. “I asked him not to appear before me.” Usha replied, wondering if she had done something wrong. “I can’t believe you did that! You know he needed someone to be by his side, aunty! You pushed him away instead of letting him cry on your shoulder?” Twinkle spoke impatiently, leaving Usha surprised. “But, Twinkle..” Usha began, but was cut short with “Enough with the cold treatment already! You will go home and help him deal with his guilt and sorrow right away!” Usha knew it was an order, Twinkle had always been specifically sensitive when it came to Kunj. Usha smiled to herself and nodded to Twinkle, glad that things were actually going to get better, or so she hoped. “Also, could you ask him to come and meet me once he feels better?” Twinkle requested right when Usha turned to leave, and quickly walked away, not wanting to wait for a response; she knew Kunj would be at her door soon.
“Oye! Where were you all this while?” Twinkle asked Yuvi, patting impatiently on his shoulder when she spotted him at her house the next morning. “My goodness! Could you calm down?” He responded irritated, also very curious as to what had made her get out of her room and speak to people, for the last time he had seen her, she looked so miserable that he was worried he would beat Kunj to pulp if he stayed back, and so he had gone away for a week. “Nope. Answer my question!” She demanded, slowly breaking into a smile when she saw how glad he was that she looked happier. After what seemed like an eternity, she, Chinki and Yuvi finally sat around the dining table and chatted for hours, gossiping and laughing. “Do you always have to pretend to be this lioness that you think you are?” Yuvi asked after an hour of small talk. “I am a lioness, I don’t pretend!” Twinkle answered simply, and Chinki seconded it, surprising Yuvi. “Whatever! Could you not have called me or Chinki once? Did you think we, of all people wouldn’t understand?” He asked, but no kind of persuasion from Twinkle seemed to be good enough for him. “Are you still bottling up all your emotions? That can’t be a good thing, Twinkle! You’ll have to go through stupid Aparna’s treatment again if you do!” He said finally giving up arguing, concern evident in his tone. “First of all, Aparna isn’t stupid. Secondly, I have actually gotten better recently, stupid!” Twinkle replied, playfully smacking him on his head when they heard the doorbell.
“Kunj?” Twinkle managed to speak, her heart leaping at the sight of him finally, it felt like aeons since she had seen him last. Her heart hurt at how badly he tried to fake a smile at her, he looked more bothered than ever. She saw his eyes well up as he looked at her intently, his mind still debating on if he should have actually turned up there on Usha’s insistence or not. “Are you not going to call him inside?” Yuvi’s voice broke their thoughts, and she let him in, smiling at Yuvi, who nodded at her assuringly as he headed to give Kunj a warm hug and carried out pleasantries. “You wanted to see me?” Kunj asked Twinkle whom he spotted standing opposite him and watching him, her eyes reflecting her much better state of mind, making him smile. Just seeing her made him feel better too. “There are things that remained unsaid last time, aren’t there?” She responded, excusing both of them out so that they could talk in private.
That’s it for now, guys. I hope it was fiine. Lots of love!