Hello everyone!! Thank you so much for all the love you all have been bestowing upon this story! I hope, now that the central plot has picked up, you guys will find it more interesting. Happy reading!
Twinj: Meant to be: Episode 7
A quick recap: Twinkle and Kunj fret over their newly developed emotions, both trying their best to get away from the other. While Twinkle seems to be the more determined one, apparently having even moved on in just a couple of days, Kunj has neither got over it nor believes that she has.
Twinkle watched Kunj without as much as a blink. ‘Is he serious right now? After all that he had to say that night, he turns up like it’s the most normal thing to do and says “We need to talk”? Unbelievable!‘ Her mind complained, but she didn’t as much as budge. ‘I have no right to complain about him.’ She was saying to herself before she even knew it. “I don’t want to talk to you.” She finally said out loud. It was his turn to look shocked now. “That’s just–” he began, only to pause abruptly, as if trying to remind himself to calm down. “I think we should. It’s only fair to.” He said a moment later, fighting not to burst out at her. ‘This isn’t about me!’ He reminded himself repeatedly. She, however, rolled her eyes at him and turned around, heading for the kitchen doors.
“Stop if you don’t want me to enter your kitchen again!” She heard his voice before she felt his grip on her wrist. It wasn’t the painful pull like the other night, but seemed to be persistent, pleading even. She halted right outside the kitchen and swirled back to face him. ‘Oh no!’ Kunj heard his mind scream, for she was so close to him that he was worried he wouldn’t be able to get his point across. She looked at him blankly again though. Like it didn’t matter to her at all. “About Yuvi and Aditi.” He managed to say coherently and watched her defenses drop a little. She had stopped pulling her hand away as well now.
“You’ve told them not to come here again, haven’t you?” Twinkle spoke suddenly, breaking the trance Kunj had unintentionally drifted into in her eyes. “What?” He shot back, making her wonder if she had to repeat herself. She so wished she could push him out right away for snatching her friends from her. “No, I didn’t! In fact, I don’t even intend to!” He added quickly, not wanting further misconceptions to rise. “I knew it! You hate me, and want everyone to hate me too-” The rant she had begun without really listening to him was put to a rest when his grip on her wrist tightened and he pulled her closer, uttering a ‘Shhhh!’ Her eyes widened, and she quickly looked around the café to find a couple of people watching. She almost missed his whispered ‘I don’t hate you!’, but since she didn’t, it made her snap her head back to him.
She freed her hand with a forceful jerk nevertheless, answering his questioning glance with a meaningful one of her own. He assumed it meant that she didn’t want to create a scene there, and was proven right pretty soon, for she had dragged him along to a comparatively unoccupied corner. “What is it about Yuvi and Aditi?” She asked curiously, her eyes flickering between him and the guests, while his remained trained on hers. ‘She has absolutely no interest in any casual conversation with you!’ His mind needled at him, and he groaned in disappointment. “I realize that I wasn’t really thinking it through when I said that I would keep them away from you the other night.” He relented, watching her responding expressions carefully. “I also realize that you and I don’t really get along well. That isn’t a good thing at all. Besides, since the two of them are really important to both of us, I think we should make peace and try to be nice to each other. I know it’ll mean a lot to those two, and that, in turn, would be really valuable to me. Do you think we can do that?” He spoke in a single go with his eyes shut, seeming really unsure with his words. But even then, as if a lot depended upon her reply.
“No!” Her voice made him look up at her, rather disappointedly, only to realize that she probably wasn’t even paying attention to what he was saying. Following her eyes, he ended up equally worried, for who else was at the entrance than Usha Sarna herself, and she seemed unusually angry. “Oh no!” He echoed in the same tone, his mind so preoccupied with figuring out an excuse for his presence there that it totally slipped it that he had to step away from Twinkle as well. Fortunately, it seemed to have struck her, for she backed off quickly.
“Good morning ma’am!” Twinkle greeted Usha as cheerfully as she could, given the latter’s doubtful alternating glares between the former and Kunj. “Good to see you, Twinkle. I’m surprised my son is here, I assumed I was the one responsible for conveying the message to you.” Usha spoke, keeping her mannerism strictly formal like she always had. Twinkle glanced at Kunj, hoping he had a decent reason to tell his mother. “Yuvi brought me here a few days ago for the first time, Ma. I suppose I’ve left something of value here.” He answered immediately, but that only made Usha more suspicious. “Something of value?” She questioned, narrowing her eyes at him. “His watch.” Twinkle quipped in right then, having realized that Kunj probably had no believable reply to that. “Mr. Sarna thinks he left his watch here, ma’am. He is here to ask about the same.” She explained hastily. Usha flashed a small, ‘Caught you!’ kind of smile at Twinkle as she reached for Kunj’s wrist and held it up to reveal the watch he had on his wrist. “Still watch? Or you have something else to say now?” She demanded, now shifting her gaze to Kunj who gulped hard.
“What were you doing here, Kunj?” Usha repeated a minute later, but that had given Kunj all the time he needed to think. “Watch, Ma. The one that Bebe gifted me for my birthday last year.” He said calmly, sticking to his stand even when she shot her scrutinizing look at him. “I hope you found it, that one was really expensive.” She finally gave in, although she knew there was something being kept from her. She would deal with that later. “Twinkle, we’ll still require your services for Yuvi’s wedding, only a week later. You know the drill, you have to get your best recipes to me as soon as possible, and I’ll only pick the very best. You know I hate delays.” Usha got to work mode immediately, throwing her instructions at Twinkle, who nodded along. Kunj was tempted to laugh at the almost inanimate situation, but then he knew his mother had always been like that. She commanded people and had them wrapped around her fingers all the time.
Usha left in as much of a hurry as she had arrived, only to walk back in through the doors instantly. Twinkle and Kunj, who had just heaved sighs of relief, now watched with bated breath. “Kunj, are you coming along?” Usha asked, more of a direction than a question. “Yes, Ma.” He said, watching Twinkle observing him. “In a minute. Yuvi wanted me to pick a few cookies for him from here.” He added. Twinkle nodded and excused herself, leaving the mother-son duo alone. “I didn’t know you were a regular at this place, Ma?” Kunj asked Usha curiously, although he knew that she probably didn’t want to answer that right away. “I’m not a regular!” She sounded offended. “You know me, Kunj! I don’t prefer places like this. We have a standard as the Sarnas!” She said pointedly, a direct taunt at his presence there right now and the fact that Yuvi frequented the café. “I think it’s a nice place, Ma. The food’s good, the ambience is endearing, see? I wouldn’t be one to complain.” He defended, momentarily doubting if he had taken over Yuvi’s job to do so. “Oh my goodness! What is with Twinkle enchanting my boys so efficiently?” She whined. Kunj bent over to look at her sudden outburst of drama, chuckling softly. “Come on, Ma. You’re overdoing it now!” He teased, and Usha smiled for the first time since she had walked into the café that morning.
Twinkle smiled when she found Usha seated comfortably at a table across from Kunj when she returned from the kitchens. And she was smiling? That was a first! Usha Sarna had never before been even considerate, let alone cheerful – “That’s what I have seen, Yuvi! I don’t know what she is like at home!” she had argued a hundred times with Yuvi in this regard already – Deciding to push her luck a little further, she quickly prepared two cups of her special coffee and brought them to the table. Usha threw her a skeptical glance but accepted her cup nevertheless and inhaled the aroma. Twinkle could tell she was impressed, but she didn’t speak a single word in praise. “Alright, that’s enough interaction.” She said though when Kunj offered Twinkle an appreciative and grateful smile. And for a reason that even she didn’t know, Twinkle looked at Kunj hopefully, as if expecting him to side by her. Of course, he never did. “Sorry ma’am.” Twinkle heard herself tell Usha as she dropped off Yuvi’s cookies on their table and disappeared behind the kitchen doors in a flash, unaware that he had been watching her. Helplessly. Longingly. And for a reason he himself couldn’t quite comprehend.
That’s it for now, guys. Tell me what you thought about it, looking forward to that. Until next time, much love!!