Hello everyone! Thank you so much for all the love and affection this story has been receiving! Happy reading!
Twinj: My Lifeline: Episode 47
A quick recap: Kunj dramatically confronts Twinkle for deciding to leave him with Alisha just because she believed it was right. He then calls her his favourite person in the world, leaving her in deep thought. She begins to feel guilty when she realises how much her absence has been affecting him.
“Wait!” Kunj called after Twinkle as she freed herself from his arms and began to walk away. She stopped, but didn’t turn around, not able to make peace with the fact that she had caused him so much pain. After waiting for a moment and realising that she wasn’t prepared to face him, he walked over to her and stood in front of her crossing his arms. “Who are you?” He asked, making her look up at him in surprise. What was he up to now? “Where is my brave best friend who would have taught Alisha the lesson of a lifetime if I hadn’t stopped her? Who is this sulking person that’s replaced her?” He added, and she shook her head disinterestedly. “Twinkle!” He exclaimed, reminding himself to be patient. “I don’t think it’s right to prioritise someone so much that they effect you negatively, Kunj!” She argued, unable to get the idea of how excited Kunj had been about the award show out of her mind. She knew that it had meant a lot to him, he had even gone to the extent of using his tricks to get her to agree to accompany him after all. Perhaps back then, neither of them had even imagined that Alisha would turn up abruptly, but what mattered right now was that it had led to what she feared could be a blow to his career. “It’s not like either of us had any control over all that happened, Twinkle. You might as well stop blaming yourself now. These feelings didn’t pop up out of nowhere because I wanted them to! I can’t deny the fact that you leaving like that without bothering to listen or understand left me dejected. You had been there for me for so long, that things did feel empty without you! What could I do about it? The truth that things changed for me significantly with you becoming an inseparable part of my life still remains!” He spoke slowly, holding her hands in his as he watched her contemplate, her eyes widening as she did.
Twinkle could not afford to disagree right now, whether or not he had intended that way, his view on the issue had caused her thoughts to go hazy and she felt the heat rise to her cheeks. She didn’t even dare to look into his eyes, worried that it might reveal her feelings for him. He caught her nervous, but still shy, quick glance at him just before she hurried away, leaving him confused. Had she just blushed because he had told her she was important to him? Or was he just imagining things? She had remained carefully away from him for the rest of the day, although they were together, she stayed aloof, looking away quickly whenever she found him looking at her. He couldn’t stop grinning either, he didn’t know why, but something told him that things were more favourable to him than he knew already. And now as she stood in a corner and watched him work on a song, she sighed and allowed herself a small smile as she thought of all that he had said that morning yet again, a stark contrast to the times when he didn’t even know the girl he was getting engaged to. His growing warmth and fondness for her had only made her fall deeper for him, and for the first time, it didn’t scare her. She believed in him more than herself and knew that if he had promised a forever, he intended to keep it. It was then that she finally decided to act on the idea that had been brewing in her mind for some time now. She had admired him for taking a stand for her, and it was now her turn to step out of her comfort zone to do a little something for him that she was sure would mean a lot more to him. As if he had heard her heart call out to him, he looked up at her at that instant and raised his eyebrows in a ‘What?’ and she shook her head immediately, looking away. When she returned her eyes to him just a moment later, he was still looking at her and giggled when she quickly looked away again, his voice amplified by the mic grabbing him everyone’s attention. She laughed this time around, before returning to the papers in front of her. What neither of them knew though, was that everyone else had observed the changing equations between them too, for they were too lost in each other to notice the muffled giggles and gossip.
“Look what I finally managed to find!” Kunj announced cheerfully as he walked into their room one evening. Twinkle, who had been discussing her schedule with Chinki so that they find some time out to go shopping for the wedding standing by the window, peeked at him and then returned to her call, wondering why he was fussing over a piece of paper, until the realisation struck her and she scrambled over to his side and snatched it from him. He gave her an amused look, and informed her, “Too late, I’ve already read that love letter of yours!” She stared at him with a confused expression and glanced at the note to make sure she had guessed rightly about it. “This isn’t a love letter!” She protested as he burst out laughing. It was the note that she had left for Usha and Manohar before leaving, the one that had given him the courage to barge into the Taneja mansion and bring her back. Although she knew that he already read it, she found it too expressive about her feelings, and wasn’t sure if she wanted to him know yet. “Don’t laugh at it! What else would I do? Alisha was waiting to throw me out, Ma’s emotions were all over the place and there were so many things that I had to say..” She began defending her actions, trailing off when she saw his gaze focused on her as he lay on the bed on his side, propped up on his elbow and listened to her carefully. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to turn that into a joke.” He replied, well aware that she didn’t want to speak about it yet, patting in front of him for her to sit down. She complied a little hesitantly, keeping her eyes lowered. “Just that someone has written very lovey-dovey stuff for me in it, but handed it over to my parents.” He said, knowing exactly how to brighten the mood. She gave him an uninterested look and shot back, “At least it isn’t like the cringe worthy fan mail that you receive!” He laughed wholeheartedly, driving the butterflies in her tummy crazy as she threw caution to the wind and watched him without a single blink. “But you’re the one who sorts through those and filters them before bringing only the ‘deserving’ ones to me, aren’t you? So you would know better about those!” He responded, and added as an afterthought, “Are you jealous of all those girls and the stuff they write though, Mrs. Sarna?” He smirked at her, only knowing that he was teasing her, unaware that her heart quickly answered “Those girls are the ones who are jealous of me, you’re mine after all!” but she only said aloud “You wish!”. As he gave her a challenging look, she smiled at him and returned the note to him, her mind fighting her heart against it, but something had been different in his warm gaze recently and it gave her the courage to go with her heart. “I do wish.” He muttered, hoping she wouldn’t hear, but she had, and it had left her confused this time around. What was going on?
Twinkle was greeted by a pleasant surprise the next day. When Yuvi and Chinki had come to Kunj’s workplace to pick her up, Kunj had accompanied her to the parking area to see her off despite her insistence that he didn’t have to, and he and Yuvi greeted each other warmly with a handshake and a hug, exchanging pleasantries like good old friends, making her jaw drop. When had the two of them become close friends? Chinki laughed at her too, and didn’t seem startled either, which obviously meant that she was the last one to know. “I’ll see you at home.” Kunj told her as they parted ways, and she nodded with a smile, at which Yuvi asked Kunj, “You haven’t told her yet, have you?” Twinkle’s glance now shifted quickly from Kunj to Yuvi and then back to Kunj. “What is this secret that everyone knows except for me? Or are there multiple secrets that you’re hiding?” She asked curiously as she watched Kunj pass Yuvi a death glare and Yuvi giggled in response. “There is something that I’ve been meaning to tell you. For quite some time now, actually.” Kunj began and looked at Yuvi, who was watching anxiously. Although Yuvi had convinced himself that he would have to be the good friend to Twinkle that he has always been and not let his feelings overpower him, he definitely hadn’t gotten over his feelings for her and wasn’t prepared to see this. Kunj seemed to understand, and told Twinkle, “We’ll speak when you get home today.” Twinkle didn’t seem enough convinced though, and looked at him questioningly. “I promise.” He assured her, and sighed deeply as Chinki managed to pull her along.
Chinki had always been a very sorted person, and seemed to know exactly all that she had to buy, so that didn’t take very long, besides it gave Twinkle and Yuvi the opportunity to click fun pictures together and with Chinki, and ensured that Twinkle had enough time to ponder over Kunj’s secret, her wish to make it up to him for missing the award show and his changing attitude towards her, and she hadn’t been able to figure anything out yet. As the trio sat at a café, waiting for their coffee, they casually caught up on all that was happening in their lives, when Yuvi suddenly asked Twinkle, “Has Kunj been nicer to you recently?” She looked up at him suspiciously from the catalogue that she and Chinki had been swiping through, when she heard Chinki scoff, trying to change the topic of discussion. Twinkle had recognised the tone Yuvi had used, he was only trying to tease her, but she already had so much on her mind that it seemed to prick her. “What is it?” She asked impatiently, making both of them laugh. “Is he hiding something big?” She questioned sounding irritated and he replied “Maybe” making Chinki laugh yet again. “What kind of an answer is ‘maybe’?” Twinkle demanded, glaring at Yuvi, who answered, “It’s a safe answer, no? It’s neither a yes nor a no. It’s more of like an ‘I don’t know’ which is a ‘Please don’t ask any more questions, it’s a secret!’” Twinkle blinked at him for a moment, as she tried to process what he might have actually meant, snapping out of her thoughts when she heard him laugh. She smiled as she dismissed her impulsive agitation, reminding herself that they were only kidding with her, although some part of her knew that Kunj would have to hear an earful when she got home. She was his best friend, right?