Greetings all you lovely people! Thank you so much for all the love the story is receiving!! So, Tanisha is receiving quite the hatred, huh? Don’t you all worry, we’ve got this! 😛 Happy reading!
Twinj: Meant to be: Episode 21
A quick recap: The rest of the rituals of Yuvi and Aditi’s wedding are performed, where Twinkle bonds with Aditi’s mother. Following Tanisha’s rude warning, she leaves the venue without telling anyone and tries to cut off Kunj completely, but he turns up at her café a couple of days later. His attempts at convincing her, however, don’t bear much fruit.
Yuvi and Aditi had only returned home a few hours short of the reception ceremony, and seemed happier than ever. Kunj couldn’t have been more relieved at that than he already was. Like Yuvi always said, the two boys were literally brothers, and Yuvi’s happiness mattered to Kunj much more than he would ever figure out how he had to express it. He grinned when he saw Aditi chide Yuvi for something as they walked down the stairs hand in hand. The moment they spotted him, they pulled him in for a group hug, gushing excitedly. Kunj tried his best to keep up the momentum of the conversation, but who was he kidding! They knew in seconds that something was wrong.
“Something has happened.” Aditi said. An observation rather than a question. Kunj sighed deeply, decidedly to avoid the topic. “My soon to be daughter in law is here!” They heard Usha’s voice right then, making Kunj groan audibly. Yuvi and Aditi blinked blankly at the Usha and Tanisha exchanging pleasantries at the door. “What?!” Yuvi blurted out at the same time as Aditi whined, “Why!!” Kunj shrugged, still refusing to turn and look at his ‘fiancé’. “That was the best Usha aunty could do?” Yuvi said a moment later, fighting his laughter. Aditi threw him a glare that made him quieten down immediately. “Please tell me you didn’t agree to this!” She directed at Kunj, her eyes searching his face for any hint that he had, in fact, brought this upon himself. “Of course not!” He said, sounding offended that she had even thought that way.
Kunj shifted uncomfortably when Tanisha walked over to them and grabbed his arm as she greeted Yuvi and Aditi, who quickly returned the greeting, looking as uncomfortable as Kunj himself did. She only stood in their company for a few more minutes, but all three of them let out exasperated breaths as soon as she left, only to end up laughing. “Do you want to tell us how you found yourself in quicksand the moment we got a little busy and left you alone?” Yuvi teased when the laughter had subsided. “Wow. Typical Usha Sarna.” Aditi commented when Kunj let them know that he wasn’t even asked for his opinion on the alliance, Usha had just informed him that she really liked this girl and that he would have to marry her. “I think she’s just really worried for him now; you know? He’s been turning down girls for two years now.” Yuvi said, glancing quickly at Usha. Aditi hesitantly agreed while Kunj let out another noise of disapproval.
“Twinkle hasn’t come yet.” Yuvi whispered to Aditi when almost all the guests had arrived. He hadn’t missed Kunj looking expectantly at the entrance every now and then. “I know for a fact that something went wrong between Kunj and her after we left. Did you notice how he avoided any reference to her?” She whispered back, smiling at yet another group of people Usha was introducing them to. “Should I call her up? I’m getting worried, I know she wouldn’t miss this just because.” He whispered back, but Aditi didn’t get to answer since a few women dragged her along under some pretext.
Yuvi took the opportunity to quickly make his way through the crowd to get to Kunj’s side. “Where is she!” He exclaimed, and although Kunj tried to feign an ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about!’, he failed. Kunj shrugged helplessly, wondering if he should go and see for himself. “She probably won’t come, Yuvi. I’m sorry, but this could have something to do with me.” Kunj had just finished saying when he saw Yuvi grin widely at the entrance. Snapping his head hopefully, he spotted her walking in, her cheerful smile almost making a reappearance. She saw him too, but then, immediately, she looked away, watching the food counter for any shortcomings. Kunj stood by awkwardly, watching her as she then headed their way and greeted Yuvi. It had been five whole minutes later – Kunj counted – that she glanced at him unsurely, but managed to say a quick ‘Hi’ nevertheless.
Twinkle had then gone to catch up with Aditi before joining them back. But before Kunj could even respond to her greeting, Usha got there and pulled her along by her wrist, sounding delighted as she declared, “There’s someone I really want you to meet, Twinkle!” Twinkle threw an ‘SOS!’ look at Yuvi, who caught the clue immediately and followed them, Kunj trailing behind. They needn’t have panicked however, for it turned out that Usha Sarna, for what had to be once in a blue moon, actually had some good news for Twinkle. One of her renowned guests had apparently appreciated the food and expressed his desire to hire the same people for an upcoming wedding at his place, and Usha had – surprisingly – taken it upon herself to make sure Twinkle got the deal.
“Whoa. How did that happen?” Twinkle and Yuvi said in unison when Usha had permitted them to leave. “I have to tell Aditi! It’s a glorious day, I could hope for any seemingly impossible miracle and it’ll happen, just like that!” Yuvi gushed dramatically, earning an eye roll from Twinkle, whose eyes next landed on Kunj. “Congratulations on that!” Kunj said softly, and she nodded in acknowledgement, realizing only then that Yuvi had left them alone. The two of them were now looking at each other tentatively, each hoping the other would break the awkward silence. “You had second thoughts about coming here tonight, didn’t you?” Kunj said suddenly, catching her off-guard. She accepted it despite her reservations, figuring that there was no reason she had to overthink about telling Kunj things anymore. She would just go by her instinct, she had decided. “I’m glad you came though.” He said then. She flashed a small smile and added, “You were right, Yuvi and Aditi are really glad I’m here.” He shook his head in a negative, whispering a “Not just them.” He chose not to explain further, leaving her confused.
On the other hand, there was another pair of eyes that had been following Usha around the room, and now they wanted an answer. “Are we going to pretend you didn’t suddenly change your attitude towards Twinkle, Usha?” Bebe asked, finding it all really strange. “Bebe, I didn’t –” Usha began, but was cut short by a “No! Don’t you deny it! How come you’re going out of your way to help her?” Usha threw her hands up in defence, explaining, “I’m just happy today, Bebe. Yuvi and Aditi have found their happily ever after, and Kunj will too, very soon. So, I just thought I would do a little something for her too. She’s a really nice girl, and hardworking. She’s done so much for the wedding; this could be a small payback!”
Bebe knew her daughter-in-law better than to give in at that. “Other than that cheque you wrote for her? Usha Sarna has become a generous giver, now?” Usha exhaled at that, knowing she was trapped. “I’ve tried being rude to her and all that, Bebe. I thought she would – in fact, I was expecting her to – complain to one of my boys, but she didn’t. I realised that she’s just really nice to be treated like I have all along.” Bebe smiled, appreciating that Usha had learnt to change her perceptions of people. “Do you also see now, that Kunj doesn’t want to marry that girl you’ve chosen? I forget the name –” She tried, but Usha hadn’t transformed that much either. “Tanisha. Her name is Tanisha, and she would be the perfect bride for Kunj. I know that he isn’t really receptive of the idea right now –” It was Usha’s turn to be cut short now. “He’s been fighting you ever since you put forth the idea, Usha! He’s begun avoiding you altogether. He’s made it clear that he wants to have nothing to do with you if you persisted! He hasn’t slept properly in days! Don’t you think you should drop the idea already?” Usha looked at her mother-in-law with a glint of resolve in her eyes. “I know, Bebe. That would definitely ease the tension between him and I, but I’m more worried for his future right now. I’m sure he’ll come around.” The sob that Usha choked on towards the end didn’t go unnoticed by Bebe, but she knew that it wasn’t the right time to press the issue further.
“I’m still allowed to come to the café sometimes, right?” Kunj asked Twinkle after another brief spell of silence. Her eyes welled up at that, absolutely hating how this was going. “Yes.” She said simply, batting her eyelids quickly to prevent the tears from spilling. “Kunj, I’m sorry about … everything. I wish I could repair things; I really don’t know what or how …” Twinkle failed at her attempt of an apology that had drifted to helplessness before trailing off. “I definitely didn’t ask for or expect an explanation, Twinkle. I understand that we all have things we can’t talk about. I respect your privacy, and your decisions. It’s probably just that I hadn’t seen this coming. I probably deserved it though, given how I ruined our friendship at the very beginning with my worries for Aditi and Yuvi.” Kunj spoke softly, weighing his words carefully. There was no way on Earth that he could have been prepared to part ways with her, but he had come to the conclusion that he would do it if that was what she wanted. What held him back though, was that her eyes glistening with tears narrated an entirely different story.
“Yuvi, no!” Aditi called after Yuvi as they walked over to Twinkle and Kunj. “Diti, this is the right thing to do! Look at them!” He argued, and Aditi did take a good look at Twinkle and Kunj, who despite seemed immersed in a deep, not so happy conversation, seemed to be so much at peace with each other that it appeared surreal. “I’ll give you that, Yuvi. But you can’t put either of them in a fix like that. You could just end up worsening things! You know there’s something bothering them already!” She retaliated, sounding really worried. “I’ve known Twinkle for two years now, Diti. She wouldn’t accept that easily that she likes him too!” Yuvi pointed out, and although Aditi agreed with that, she didn’t seem to too happy with his action plan. “Trust me.” He said, and she smiled at him, grabbing his hand. “And in the event that this doesn’t go as planned, we’ll deal with it together, as a team.” She assured him, giving his hand a squeeze.
Yuvi and Aditi joined Twinkle and Kunj casually, indulging them in a conversation about random things, gauging their moods, and all the while exchanging understanding looks. “That reminds me,” Yuvi quipped in randomly at an entirely unrelated issue, making Aditi groan internally. “I have the perfect solution to both of your biggest current problems.” He continued, watching as all the colour left Twinkle and Kunj’s faces. Both of them threw him warning glances, but he didn’t take the hint. He had a purpose to fulfil after all. Kunj quickly looked at Twinkle, knowing that this was probably the worst thing to happen all day – his huge squabble with Usha at the breakfast table included. This was the worst time to be bringing up his feelings for Twinkle. Their equations had just hit an all time low, but it didn’t seem to stop dropping any time soon.
Twinkle couldn’t close in on the issue that Yuvi was referring to. Was this about her financial issues that he had always been insisting on helping her out with? Or, God forbid, could it have something to do with the fateful conversation she had had with him the night before the wedding? Did he wish to bring up Leela of all things right then? She dreaded each one of those ideas equally, and wished she could just vanish into thin air right then. She looked at Aditi for a clue, but she was simply staring back at her. Yuvi had probably just lost it, and was out to make things worse for her – so unlike how he always made her feel better, she thought, but hardly had any time to dwell on that thought.
“The two of you should get married.” Yuvi declared.
That’s it for now guys!!! I am so excited for the next one that I’m going to go write it right away! I hope you all had a good read and are equally excited too!! There, Yuvi has dropped the bomb shell! Are we ready for the after-effects? Only time will tell. Also, this will be the last time that I request you all to drop in your views, because there is no other way for me to even know if people are reading the story anymore! Until next time, lots of love!!