Hello everyone! Thank you for all of your love and appreciation for my stories! It’s so overwhelming to hear from you all! Happy reading!
Twinj: My Lifeline: Episode 23
A quick recap: Twinkle and Kunj check in into their room at Udaipur. Kunj appears to hate the hot weather, while Twinkle enjoys the beauty of the place. He is surprised time and again by her love for his music, and brings up the issue of her trust on him, only to be pleased with her answer.
Twinkle had literally run outside, wanting to be as close to the stage as possible, but could only manage to get to the tenth row or so, disappointing her. She could hear excited hushed conversations of people around her, each one trying to guess the songs that Kunj would perform that evening, the colour he would be wearing and so on. She smiled to herself for she knew the answers to all the questions in their minds, and felt extremely lucky that she did. She recalled hearing Kunj sing on the night of their wedding and wondered if it would be the same dreamy experience, if he would look for her in the crowd, but immediately shook off the latter thought, not wanting to burden herself with expectations. She felt her heart beat quicken when his voice was first heard, she could feel the winds begin to blow slowly as she spotted him walk to the centre of the stage with his first song and then the crowd went crazy. There was hooting and clapping all around her as he thanked people for showing up in huge numbers and told the crowd that that concert was a really special one to him. Twinkle’s heart skipped a beat at the thought that it could be because she was out there, listening to him, but her mind dissuaded it, supposing that it was something he probably said every time.
Twinkle found herself getting lost in his soothing voice as the show proceeded, surprised when she realised that she had been swaying along to the tunes of the romantic number he had been singing, when he looked right at her, secretly glad to have found her after looking for her since he had stepped on stage. He quickly scrutinised the place she was standing, relieved that there were only decent looking girls around her which meant she was safe. He knew his eyes would come back to look at her repeatedly post that, his heart finding solace in the fact there was someone out there who was his own. She blinked her eyes rapidly to make sure she wasn’t dreaming, her happiness knew no bounds when she realised it was yet another of her dreams coming true. He grinned at her with a slight nod before he looked away, making her want to scream like the other girls had when he had walked to the front end of the stage. She realised that she had probably looked like a dork to him, not even smiling back, and cursed herself mentally, even as she figured that he probably wouldn’t even remember when so many other things were happening around him. She was amazed that she wasn’t aware of how three hours had passed by when Kunj wrapped up the show. She caught him glancing at her one last time right before he walked into the wings; she smiled back this time around, sighing as she watched people begin to leave.
Twinkle stood at the door to his green room and watched admiringly as Kunj calmly posed for selfies with some fans who had managed to sneak in. She was surprised that a couple of them had recognised her and greeted her too as they walked out after they were sure they had got all the pictures they wanted. “I’m going to watch all your shows in the crowd!” She announced excitedly as she walked in, making Kunj smack his forehead. “No, you won’t!” He argued, realising that she was only trying to tease him and joining her giggles. “That was such a brilliant concert!!” She exclaimed as the laughter subsided, almost jumping with her elation. “See! I told you you’ve begun to sound more in love ever since Twinkle came in!” A familiar voice spoke, making them turn around. Twinkle glanced at Kunj who was looking embarrassedly at his drummer. He definitely didn’t want Twinkle to find out that his entire team thought that way, for he didn’t know for himself whether it was actually true or why. “Aww! Look at you blushing!” The drummer added, and Kunj immediately dragged him out and had a disagreement with him, most of which only sounded like muffled words to Twinkle. She no longer had control over her thoughts, just the possibility that Kunj was affected by her driving her crazy. She knew for a fact that he wasn’t in love with her, but if she had actually been able to bring some positive impact, she thought it was wonderful. Kunj however, never brought up the issue in front of her when he got back, breaking her high hopes. It probably wasn’t true at all, she mused, it was, perhaps, just the team’s attempts to make her feel better about herself.
Kunj had behaved absolutely normal with Twinkle as he led her back to their hotel room, telling her passionately about the concert and the crowd’s response, getting to the point where he had spotted her just as they got to their door. She smiled at the rest of his team who appeared to be waiting for him there as she headed inside alone. Kunj walked in a few moments later, asking her to accompany him to a little success party that were having downstairs. She refused blatantly and insisted that he should go ahead and enjoy, reasoning that she was really tired and didn’t have it in her to go to a party of the kind that she had never been to before. He had agreed reluctantly and asked her to order food for herself and go to sleep right after, without waiting for his return. In reality, she had been really worried that the team would say something awkward again. She sat by the glass door as she had the previous night, pushing away her apprehensions and replaying Kunj looking at her from the stage, blushing at the idea. It had been near midnight when she heard commotion right outside the door. She opened it to find Kunj trying to help his pianist who looked really drunk, to her feet. She came forward to help him even before he asked, making him sigh gratefully.
Kunj looked at Twinkle tapping fervently on the bed side table when he walked towards her after freshening up. “What is it?” He asked, sitting beside her on the bed, jolting her out of her reverie. “What are your plans for tomorrow?” She asked, playing safe and not wanting to bring up the previous incidents that were actually what she had been thinking about. “It’s a rest day! I get those very rarely, so I’m just going to sleep all day long!” He replied sheepishly after pretending to think deeply. She chuckled to hide her discontent and said, “Well then, I’ll be doing some sightseeing around the town, just thought I should let you know.” He blinked at her, now appearing to be thinking more deeply and said, “No! Not you alone, I’m coming along too!” She tried to convince him that he needn’t have to trouble himself but he wouldn’t listen. “I agreed to your demand of watching the concert among the crowd, now you must comply!” He said, flashing a victorious smile, knowing that she couldn’t refuse that, and he was right.
“These ancient ruins? This is what your plan is all about?” Kunj asked confusedly when Twinkle brought out her list of places she wanted to visit, mostly consisting of palaces and forts. She insisted they weren’t ruins, but he evidently didn’t see why she was so interested in them. Twinkle felt sudden bouts of pain attack her. So far she had managed to pretend nothing had happened, but Kunj arguing with her brought back the memory from an hour ago when they were helping the pianist. Just as they were about to leave her room, they had heard her speak in her sleep. “Kunj, how could you say that you don’t love Twinkle? She’s so sweet! Anybody could be in love with her!” she was saying. Twinkle felt her world come crashing around her. She had known that truth all along, but was never prepared to hear him saying it. She felt vulnerable when Kunj’s eyes had shot up to look at her when they heard that, but had managed to hold back her tears. But she couldn’t keep her calm anymore. “You don’t have to come. I told you that already!” She said emotionlessly, walking to her side of the bed and pulling the duvet over her head. It took Kunj a minute to fully analyse whatever had just happened. He quickly got onto the bed from his side and inhaled deeply before gently tapping on her shoulder. “Twinkle! Would you listen to me for a minute, please?” He asked, keeping his voice low but persistent. He waited patiently, giving her enough time to wipe away her tears and sit up. He hugged her tight when he saw her looking grief stricken, his action surprising both of them, but he tried to calm her down nevertheless. He knew something was terribly wrong, and even if she didn’t want to discuss it, she needed comforting, and he would do it for his best friend, she had done so much for him after all.
That’s it for now, guys. I had intended for Twinkle’s side of the last conversation to be included in this episode too, but it has already run too long with me getting carried away in the concert part, so you all will be seeing it in the next one. In my defence, this wasn’t an intentional cliff hanger. 😛 Lots of love!