Greetings all you lovely people!! Thank you so much for all your love and appreciation for me and the story! Happy reading!
Twinj: Meant to be: Episode 8
A quick recap: While Kunj arrives at Twinkle’s café to make peace with her, she seems too stubborn to give in. But just when she begins to relent, Usha arrives, and we see her treat Twinkle coldly, as though wanting to keep her apart from the Sarna family.
“Yuvi! So great to see you!” Kunj’s excited voice echoed through the empty corridors of the Sarna mansion. Yuvi jumped up owing to the sudden intrusion and rolled his eyes at Kunj when he had caught his breath, making both of them laugh. “It’s well past midnight, Kunj!” Yuvi complained, but Kunj seemed to be in no mood to take any excuse right then. “I have a watch too, you know?” He retaliated, to which Yuvi threw him another bored look. “Stop annoying me at this ungodly hour, Kunj! What do you want?” Yuvi asked, pulling off a bad pretense of a yawn. “If you don’t want me to tell Ma that you came in at this ‘ungodly’ hour, you’ll cooperate.” Kunj stated, taking a comfortable seat on the sofa. He bit back a smile when he heard Yuvi groan as he settled into the chair opposite him.
“How did that … meeting go?” Kunj began, swaying midway to find something to say. “Cut the loose talk and get to the point, Kunj!” Yuvi whined, quietening down immediately as Kunj raised an eyebrow at him. “The meeting went just as planned, Sir.” Yuvi said now, his voice dripping of sarcasm. Kunj nodded, looking around as though looking for something else to say. “Kunj, you can tell me anything.” Yuvi encouraged him, slopping down beside him and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I know. Just don’t get me wrong, ok? I know what this can seem like superficially, but hear me out before you can jump to conclusions and wreak havoc all over the house.” Kunj said slowly, weighing each word carefully.
“Whoa. Are you planning to elope?” Yuvi asked after a whole minute of absolute silence, only to burst out laughing almost immediately, unable to continue his enactment anymore. When Kunj didn’t find that funny at all, Yuvi quietened down, only to gasp dramatically a moment later. “Do I know her? Oh my god, please tell me it’s not my secretary!” He continued, earning a cushion thrown with full force at his face. “I give up!” He relented finally, keeping his hands prepared for self-defense nevertheless. “What is it?” He asked, watching carefully as Kunj slumped back in his seat.
Kunj now let his thoughts rush back to his encounter with Twinkle a couple of days ago at the café. Although he hadn’t thought much about whatever she was speaking on the phone back then, it had kept coming back to his mind, and he was pretty confident that Yuvi ought to know something about that. And he needed to know too. “I was at Twinkle’s café recently-” Kunj began, but Yuvi cut him short with “Really? What were you doing there? And, why didn’t you take me along?” That reminded Kunj of the night he had ended up quarreling with her, and he was definitely not ready to let Yuvi in on it yet. Because he knew, for a fact, after thinking over and over about it that he was definitely at fault. He had been so immersed in his concern for Yuvi and Aditi that he had never dwelled on the idea that she might have her reasons for opining that way too.
But again, he always knew at the back of his mind that Twinkle was much more than what met the eye, and perhaps his memories choosing to replay that one moment when she was so close to him had kept him thinking. “Kunj?” Yuvi called out a whole minute later, his patience having run out. “Ma had come there too.” Kunj said, momentarily wondering if he should simply let go of the issue altogether. “That’s bad news.” Yuvi stated, perking up to listen to whatever was coming up next. “Ma seems to hold a strong dislike for her.” Kunj said next – something between a question and an observation. “You know her. She has always been like that.” Yuvi replied, but Kunj was not satisfied. “What about Twinkle? She’s hiding a lot from the world, isn’t she?” Kunj asked at last. He knew he had hit the right spot when Yuvi’s eyes widened. “I wouldn’t know, Kunj. She’s a really good friend, but that’s about it. Besides, why are you interested anyways? We should just go to bed now, it’s too late already.” Yuvi gushed, getting up and sprinting to the staircase before Kunj could ask any further questions. There was no way he could choose between his loyalties for Kunj and for Twinkle. “Yuvi, wait!” Kunj called after him. “I think it’s been over a week since you visited her. I know you’re very busy these days, but you should go and see her. She’ll be glad.” He added, turning out the lights and leaving quickly, not letting Yuvi speak any further either.
Kunj knew Yuvi too well to be fooled by his lie. He was also aware that Yuvi wouldn’t tell him anything just like that and that he couldn’t ask Twinkle directly either. Besides, ever since he had realized that his behavior with Twinkle that night had been unacceptable, he had been cursing himself for it. And his reluctance to accept it and apologize meant that any possibility he had of finding out by himself was pointless. She wouldn’t let him anywhere near whatever was troubling her. And that was pretty much why he had begun considering keeping away from her, although it seemed impossible before he had even begun. ‘Not happening.’ He muttered under his breath as he set out to find a better solution.
*************************
“Kunj told me Usha aunty was here a few days ago. How did that go?” Yuvi asked Twinkle curiously, only to end up confused when she threw him a look that he couldn’t quite comprehend. “No trouble at all.” She answered after what seemed like careful thought. “But Kunj thought she was rude.” Yuvi informed her, and that indecipherable look was back on her face. “What is up with you now? He was behaving all weird yesterday, and today it’s you! Are the two of you hiding something from me?” Yuvi demanded, now sounding suspicious. “Did the two of you fight?” He asked, sounding almost sure without her even looking at him, and her silence only confirmed the fact. “But you got along so well that day!” Now he was clearly protesting. “Yuvi! I didn’t say we fought, stop making things up! You’re my friend, you’ve been my friend for a long time, it’s obviously different with someone I just met a couple of times.” She explained, but he wouldn’t buy that. “Nope. Don’t ask me any further questions, I’m not answering them. Your friend is my customer and that’s about it! Drop it already!” She added quickly with an air of finality.
Twinkle had been seeing off Yuvi at the gate, sometime later, the two of them chattering about random things, when she spotted the car again. She hated that the visits during the day had become frequent now, as opposed to the restricted night ones that they initially were. She cut short her conversation with Yuvi under the pretext of her needing to get back to her customers and walked to the car after making sure that he had left. Little did she know that she had underestimated Yuvi’s ability to see through her lies.
“Twinkle.” The all too familiar voice called out to her from the car when the person had sighted her. The voice sounded almost as endearing as it had been before she had left. Almost. “Mrs. Leela Taneja.” She returned in the same tone that had been used for her, now so used to these occurrences that she could already predict all that would be spoken by both parties. She saw Leela flinch at her greeting. ‘As if any of this actually matters to her anymore.’ Her mind taunted, even as her heart threatened to forget all that had been wronged against her and just give in to her mother’s warm hug that would hopefully still be welcoming to her. “What is it this time?” She said quickly, worried that she wouldn’t be able to hold back the tears for too long.
“You already know what this is about, Twinkle!” Leela answered, struggling to keep her voice low. “Just as much as you know that I am not bound to go by your commands anymore, Mrs. Taneja.” Twinkle responded surprisingly calmly. Perhaps the passing time had made her numb to it all. “You are as much my daughter today as you were back then! You know that I mean no harm, I’m your mother!” Leela retorted, no longer worried about who might hear her. “Are you sure of that?” Twinkle questioned venomously. She hadn’t forgotten anything – neither the allegations and wounds, nor the way she had been left with absolutely no choice other than leaving her own home like it meant nothing. “Twinkle! Every time I come to see you doesn’t have to go like this! You’re making this unnecessarily hard on both of us! Please listen to me! I hadn’t asked anything of you ever since you left until this came up after all!” Leela whined, tired of hating herself a little more ever. “Exactly my point! You didn’t even turn back to see how I was doing until you had to get something from me. And even that is only for your own selfish need!” Twinkle accused, all the memories of her struggling all alone coming back to prick her. “Twinkle!” Leela screeched, turning suddenly quiet, which made Twinkle turn around to find Yuvi standing there.
“Mrs. Leela Taneja! Good day, ma’am! I was wondering when I would get to finally meet my dear friend’s mother!” Yuvi greeted like it was the most normal thing to do, shocking Twinkle, for she had seen him spew his anger at Leela for long enough to believe her eyes currently. “Yuvraj Luthra. Good day to you too, and congratulations! I hear your wedding is right around the corner!” Leela spoke, turning to glance at Twinkle as she finished. “Yes, ma’am. Thank you very much! I should be thanking Twinkle for most of the preparations going well though. And I’ll need you to excuse her and me, we have some work to get done.” He responded, dragging Twinkle along. He stopped briefly a few steps away to say, “I only wish I could say that it was an absolute pleasure meeting you.”
Whoa. That was quite a lot, wasn’t it? Had any of you seen this coming before? Either way, do let me know your thoughts, looking forward to those. Also, a little more warmth would be nice. Until next time, much love!!