Hello everyone!! Thank you so much for all the love you have been giving the story! I’m really grateful!! I’m sure that Kunj’s revelation of being aware of Twinkle’s past brought a little surprise at least. And I hope you all appreciated it too! This episode is special since we finally get to see a couple of characters who have been mentioned before but not seen. Let’s go!! Happy reading!
Twinj: Meant to be: Episode 24
A quick recap: When Twinkle turns down Kunj’s proposal, he convinces her to think it over. Yuvi and Aditi don’t see this as a very good idea. Yuvi decides to let Kunj know of Twinkle’s differences with her family but is unable to go through with it. Kunj reveals that he knew for quite some time now.
Yuvi had visited Twinkle frequently post ‘the incident’, just like before, but not once had he breached the idea for discussion. Kunj’s name did come up a couple of times – Twinkle had realised that it was unavoidable. However, both of them had learnt to keep sensitive issues out of their conversation. Leela too had suddenly changed her ways and did not force Twinkle to find herself a groom. Twinkle knew this was uncanny, but when their calls remained restricted to discussing casual nothings for two whole weeks, she was tempted to start believing that Leela had understood her finally. And she couldn’t have been more pleased about it.
She had kept her word to Kunj too. She had thought the entire thing over several times in the two weeks since she had last seen him. Since he had proposed. And all she had gained from it was a stronger conviction that she had been right. There could have been no reason for him to want to marry her other than feeling sorry for her and being unsure of her being able to actually make true of her resolution to establish her independence. She hadn’t said so to anyone yet, but she was sure of her response whenever she would be asked for it. As long as she managed to keep her not-so-determined-yet heart under check.
“Twinkle?” She heard an almost familiar voice break her trance, making her turn to the door. It had been a dull evening with not many customers, so she hoped she would at least have something to do until closing time. But who was to walk in right then other than Manohar Sarna! “Mr Sarna? Please come.” She greeted, showing him to the nearest table. Although she had seen him several times during Yuvi’s wedding festivities, they hadn’t even spoken, so she couldn’t figure out any reason for his presence. “Coffee?” She asked when Manohar held his silence even after sitting comfortably for what had to have been over a minute.
Manohar looked unsure of that, but nodded nevertheless, quickly adding “Whatever you can get me quickly will do. I actually needed to speak to you today. So a few minutes of your time, please.” Twinkle looked at him weirdly before nodding and walking away. Manohar smiled warmly at her when she returned, accepting his coffee gratefully. “Please have a seat.” He beckoned, but she hesitated. “That’s alright, Sir. How may I help you?” She spoke, nervously straightening out the wrinkles on her apron. “I insist. I’m here to meet my son’s friend today. I haven’t come as a customer. Please.” Manohar said, as patient as ever. She gulped hard, deciding not to refuse again, fearing that that could annoy him. She sat down timidly, unconsciously crossing her fingers underneath the table.
She alternated her glance between him and the table, unable to hold in her anxiety anymore. “Is everything alright, Sir?” She asked, and Manohar looked lost, as though he had forgotten the purpose of his visit. “Yes, thank you.” He began. “I don’t know how I should even be bringing this up. It is only a family issue after all, but Usha won’t tell me anything. The kids seem to have sworn to secrecy, but since it’s disrupted the peace of the house, I wanted to do something about it. I’ll need your help with the same. Do you know what went wrong around the time of the wedding?” She simply blinked at him, wondering how helpless this man must have been if he had found no other way out than reaching out to an absolute stranger about something that he himself claimed was personal.
“You do know I’m talking about Kunj’s changed behaviour, right?” Manohar prodded, catching her off-guard. Was this a trick question? Her eyes welled up as she recalled Kunj’s exact words right next to that table weeks ago. “Do you know why he’s refused to marry Tanisha? I’m sure Yuvi or Kunj himself must have told you something!” Manohar sounded desperate now, and she still didn’t know what she had to say to that. “I don’t … Kunj refuses to marry Tanisha?” Her sentence changed direction as her mind processed that bit. He nodded simply, sighing disappointedly at the realization that Twinkle knew nothing of the whole deal either. “I’m sorry, Mr Sarna. I have no idea of any of this.” She confided, confused about the turn of events.
When Manohar had thanked her despite it all and left, she was confronted by Maya, who had a knowing look on her face. “Do you really have no idea of what went wrong there, Twinkle?” She asked, surprising Twinkle. “I’m sorry? Maya, I am aware that you know a lot about Yuvi, Aditi, me and even Kunj since you see all of us up close time and again, but that does not mean you could imply that I have something to do with Kunj’s decisions!” She responded, fighting her anger to stay calm. “I didn’t, Twinkle. But the fact that it was your first thought proves the truth in it. Do you really think Kunj’s refusal has nothing to do with his developing ‘friendship’ with you?” Maya countered, forcing Twinkle to think of that possibility for the first time. Could she actually be the reason that the Sarnas had fallen into disharmony? The possibility wasn’t as bleak as she hoped it would be.
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As if Twinkle’s troubles weren’t sufficient already, with her internal debate on whether or not she should call Yuvi up and initiate the conversation herself, to end the problem once and for all, just a day after Manohar’s visit, she had yet another ‘I haven’t come as a customer’ kind of visitor. “These are for you!” The man grinned at her, forwarding a bouquet of purple asters. She recognized the flowers from Leela’s common comments of ‘They’re a symbol of royalty, Twinkle! Only get those for the important guests!’ There was no way she was going to accept them. “Are those for me?” She asked, hoping the show-off would get the clue. But he didn’t. “Of course. You already know these are special, don’t you?”He said, still holding them out to her, so she smiled a little and took them. Only to quickly put them on the reception counter immediately. “Thank you, Mr-” She trailed off, regretting not asking this guy who he was first.
“Abhimanyu. Abhi, for you. Leela aunty has probably informed you that I would be coming today, right?” He asked, making her groan internally. So that was what Leela had been doing that had appeared sweet and nice for so long, she contemplated, finding it almost impossible not to roll her eyes right then. “I’m sure she did mention you. It’s been a busy day, and I must have forgotten. Sincere apologies.” She said, and he seemed unbothered by the fact that she didn’t remember, when in reality, Leela hadn’t even dropped a hint of this. “So, this is about..?” She ventured, although some part of her already knew the answer. His response only confirmed it.
Just as Twinkle was about to tell him off, she heard what was unmistakably Mahi Taneja’s voice, and she was calling out to her ‘Twinki Di’. Twinkle spun around to find Mahi running to her. She hardly got enough time to assure herself that she hadn’t been dreaming when Mahi hugged her tight, just like she was wont to before everything had changed. “Whoa. Do you greet each like this every time?” Abhimanyu interrupted just as the sisters pulled away, watching each other with teary eyes. “No, it’s just because I hardly ever come to the cafe.” Mahi said quickly, and Twinkle knew right away that she had already thought this over. “Ma sent me with Abhimanyu so that he wouldn’t have trouble finding you.” Mahi informed Twinkle, who simply nodded, unable to react in any other way.
“That reminds me. I’ll just call Leela aunty and tell her that we got here.” Abhimanyu said, excusing himself, and Twinkle appreciated the guy for the first time for giving her a moment alone with Mahi. “Di, I’ve missed you so much! But you don’t seem to be affected at all! You never even called me up, you didn’t care one bit for me!” Mahi complained, sobbing. “That’s right. And it is because I’m way happier by myself here. I don’t miss you at all. Any of you.” Twinkle said, wanting to come off as harsh and unbothered, but ending up crying. “I’m sorry for everything we wronged you, Di! I’m sorry that Papa was so insensitive and ridiculous that night! I’m sorry Ma and I didn’t take a stand for you! I’m sorry you had to go through all this just because Papa thought it was alright to compare his two daughters, and he did it all wrong too! There was no way I could beat you at anything otherwise! I’m so sorry!” Mahi cried, placing her head on Twinkle’s shoulder, while the latter tried to comfort her. “What’s happened can’t be changed, Mahi. Let’s just move on from that night, shall we?” Twinkle heard herself saying even before she knew it. She wiped away Mahi’s tears and then her own, trying to lighten up the mood with “You won’t believe that people actually appreciate my cooking skills now!”
Mahi was only glad that she hadn’t been faced with the resentment that her mother had received, unaware that Twinkle was really worried about the customers watching them and didn’t want to lose any of them by creating a scene. The two sisters had by then entirely forgotten about Abhimanyu, who made his presence felt immediately. “Wait for me!” He called out cheerfully. Twinkle grumbled audibly, making Mahi giggle, even as she apologised for bringing along this blunder of a person. That, however, didn’t seem to be the end of Twinkle’s troubles, for, right as Abhimanyu had joined them and restarted his annoying prattle, the doors opened and in walked Yuvi and Kunj.
Yuvi recognised Mahi immediately and raised his eyebrows at Twinkle, making sure the situation was in control. Despite Twinkle’s attempts to warn him against taking matters into his own hands, Yuvi dragged Kunj along right to where Twinkle was standing with the other two. She glanced at Kunj who was watching her too and felt a familiar pang in her heart. “Hello, Mahi!” She heard Yuvi’s voice, dragging both Kunj and her attentions to the scene. “Hi?” Mahi replied, looking at Twinkle for backup. “Don’t you worry! We haven’t met before. I’m Yuvi, Twinkle’s friend.” Yuvi quipped in. Mahi’s eyes widened as she blurted out, “Yuvraj Luthra? Twinkle, what are you doing? Why do you have friends like him?” Yuvi grinned at Twinkle, giving her an ‘I told you so’ look and a dramatic shrug.
“That is very rude, Mahi!” Twinkle reprimanded, and Kunj giggled softly at how much she sounded like a teacher correcting a child. She cast a glare at Kunj that quickly melted into a smile. She nodded approvingly at Mahi when she apologised to Yuvi. “And who’s this?” Yuvi directed at Abhimanyu, making Twinkle shake her head tiredly. Yuvi apparently wasn’t done with his tricks. “Abhimanyu. He’s here to meet Twinki.” Mahi explained. Twinkle shut her eyes, waiting for the drama to unfold as Mahi added, “He is a prospective groom for her.” Yuvi looked concerned for a moment before he realized this was Leela’s doing and relaxed, but Twinkle was sure she had heard Kunj gasp. Nothing could have prepared her for the betrayed look in his eyes when she turned to him. She saw Yuvi grab his hand and whisper something to him as well, but it didn’t make things any better.
“I’m really sorry, both of you, but you can see that it’s a pretty busy day here today, so I can’t really stop to chat. I’ll see you two around, but you should definitely try out some food before you leave.” Twinkle told Mahi and Abhimanyu, dismissing them with an air of finality. “I could always eat here, but today I’ve come to meet you, Twinkle.” Abhimanyu said nevertheless. “I’m sorry again, Abhimanyu, but I wouldn’t be interested in this alliance. Thanks for coming.” She said, waving at him, while Yuvi suppressed his laughter and Kunj heaved a sigh of relief.
“Twinkle! You didn’t even speak to him properly!” Mahi protested when Abhimanyu had left, but her elder sister had already decided that she had had enough for the day. “I know, Mahi. I also know turning him down like this will have unpleasant consequences, but I’m sure that I wouldn’t want to marry him.” Twinkle said, crossing her arms in front of her. Mahi looked confused at that, but Twinkle had already expected such a reaction from her. “I’ll see you another day, please?” Mahi asked, hoping she would be allowed that. Twinkle smiled at her kindly but didn’t answer the question. Twinkle turned to look at Yuvi and Kunj once Mahi had left in disappointment.
That’s it for now, guys. Hope you all had a great read! Tell me what you thought about the turn of events. Until next time, lots of love!!