Greetings everyone! Thank you so much for all the love and affection this story is receiving! I did read all of your comments, and am very grateful for each one, but haven’t been able to reply due to some issue with the website, but I will get back to those real soon. Happy reading!!
Twinj: My Lifeline: Episode 59
A quick recap: Kunj’s attempts to get closer to Twinkle are ruined by Usha’s call, and he ends up annoying her instead. He manages to convince her nevertheless and they end up sharing their first kiss after he drives away her fears regarding their future.
“Kunj, it’s almost time! Should we get going now?” Twinkle’s voice echoed through their now empty suite as she had just got their luggage sent downstairs to be put in their taxi. They were flying back home in a couple of hours from now, and despite being occupied with packing, it hadn’t gone unnoticed by her that her husband seemed to be in no mood to leave, and presently he seemed to have disappeared. Taking a quick walk through the suite, she found him in the balcony, well, that was new. She walked to his side and stood quietly, glancing at her watch to make sure they wouldn’t get late. “I can’t believe this trip ended so quickly!” She heard him complain a few seconds later and had to fight back her laughter. “Ma has already called up four times today, Kunj! She’s really missing us, if you aren’t!” She responded, knowing that she was annoying him, because of course he missed home too, and no one knew it better than her. She laughed freely this time, and he shook his head before letting out a little chuckle. “Never realised when you caught this habit of watching the view from the balcony!” She commented, not knowing how she had to tell him that they had better get going now, he looked so peaceful there after all. “Caught it from you!” He answered, turning to her and grinning, for that definitely wasn’t one of the at least hundred responses her mind had been prepared to retaliate to. Although she looked dazed for a moment, she hit back almost immediately after with, “At least someone’s rubbing off ‘not glamorous, but still worth it’ habits on you!” She taunted, and it was his turn to be left spell bound. It was the first time ever that she had taken a direct jab at Alisha, it was a taunt directed at his own confession to her about how Alisha only believed in ‘glittering’ things to bring true happiness, and she appeared to regret it immediately. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean.. That was better off in my head!” She lamented, lowering her eyes, while he tried to figure out how exactly he had to respond to that, but his heart seemed to know the answer, like always.
He took a step towards her and held her hands in his own, leading them to his shoulders and then put them on her waist, pulling her close. “Look at me!” He spoke in his low, grave tone that she knew he reserved for situations when he was extremely disappointed. She mentally cursed herself for spoiling his mood, only to be taken aback when she heard him laugh. She looked up to find him looking as cheerful as ever. “Do you know how much that scared me?” She exclaimed with a deep sigh, and he stilled, realising that whether or not they accepted it, there were still things that they couldn’t speak openly to each other about, and he would do everything he could to change that. “I’m sorry, I just forget how hard it must have been for you all these months, living with me as my wife, but with the burden of knowing that my heart belonged to another. Knowing that you were in love with me all along makes me realise that it must have been even harder! How could you bring yourself to forgive me each time? How could you be so selfless?” He had finally brought himself to raise the questions that had been troubling him for days now. She shuddered at the waves of memories his words had invoked in her, those had been testing times for sure. There had been several nights when she had managed to convince him that his troubles weren’t anything he couldn’t get over, succeeding in getting him to sleep, while she twisted and turned restlessly all night due to the fear of losing him herself. “Maybe because I never had any expectations off our relationship, Kunj. Right from the day I was told of your love for Alisha, I had begun preparing myself for a hard life, knowing I would have battles to fight every single day. What made it hard was that I would always have you so close to me, but only physically. Your heart? That was never mine!” She uttered emotionlessly, her eyes locked with his, but her sight elsewhere, causing a sharp stinging pain in his heart. The fact that he hadn’t intended to would in no way make up for how much he had hurt her.
“None of this was your fault, Kunj! Stop being such a cry baby.. Let’s let the bygones be bygones, shall we?” She recovered quickly, smiling warmly at him, for she had figured out that it pricked him to even speak of this, and the last thing she wanted was to hurt him. “Besides, where’s the philosopher who taught me that yesterday? Did my vulnerable side rub off on him too?” She teased, earning a well deserved smile. He had just realised that they had spent more time in chattering and headed back in, when she called out to him. “What mattered most, Kunj, was that I loved you, enough for both of us. You were always my source of strength, never my weakness. Even if not the way my heart desired, you were always there for me, and I knew that despite any other thing that may change between us, that wouldn’t, and I could brave the whole world for it, let alone a little prankster like Alisha.” There, she had said it. She had finally said all that her heart was dealing with all alone for so long, and the look in his eyes, graced by tears by how overwhelming all this was to him, made it worth all the risk she had taken to put it before him. “I love you! And if I haven’t said this before, you’ve always been my pillar of support too, one I always knew I could lean back on and then jump back, better than ever. I am so, so thankful for having you by my side all this while, and now that I think of it, I don’t think I could ask for anything else! Also, I need you to remember that you could share anything and everything with me, even those little but dangerous jibes, and I promise I’ll always listen!” He spoke, his voice heavy with emotions, pulling her into a bone crushing hug, as they both let the tears flow. This trip would be memorable to them for several reasons, but most importantly because it had them opening up to each other in every possible way.
******************
“I’m hooome…” Kunj’s excited declaration was interrupted when instead of Twinkle he spotted Usha in their room. To make matters worse, she laughed at him and walked out, asking Twinkle to join her quickly. Kunj’s eyes then finally found Twinkle who was decked up in a really pretty saree, one he hadn’t seen her in before, and evidently in a hurry to leave. “Where to?” He asked curiously, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Usha was out of eavesdropping distance. “Ma wants me to accompany her to her friend’s place, Kunj. We’ll be back soon!” She answered promptly, throwing careful apologetic looks at him. “But you’ve only come from Leela Ma’s place just now!” He whined, as though she didn’t know how much he had missed her over the previous couple of days when she had decided to stay with Leela, right after they had got home from the airport. “I know, Kunj! I’m sorry, but how would I refuse when Ma seemed so excited to take me along?” She tried pacifying him, even when she already knew that he wasn’t one to listen. “I came home early assuming you would be here!” He argued, pulling out the flowers he had brought for her and had hidden behind himself when he had spotted Usha. She smiled as she accepted the flowers from him, and began to explain how helpless she herself was in the situation, but he shook his head disappointedly, stopping her. “I wish I could stay, I’m sorry!” She spoke nevertheless, a little surprised when she saw a hint of mischief in his eyes. “That is all I get to live by till you return?” He asked with a pout, his intentions clear, but she definitely knew better than to give in. She was well aware that if she did, they wouldn’t be able to part ways in time for her to leave with Usha, and that couldn’t be good, so she pretended to be looking beyond him at Usha, but when he followed her glance, she quickly pecked him on his cheek, grinning widely as he watched her, his eyes wide with surprise.
“Ma really has the worst timing of all!” Kunj whispered as they heard Usha call out to Twinkle impatiently yet again. She giggled at his comment and had just turned around to leave when she heard him gasp. She looked back at him questioningly, but he seemed too dazed to answer. “You look really pretty!” He said simply when he realised she was staring at him, preferring to keep to himself that it was the view her almost backless blouse offered that had startled him. “What is this event you’re going to, by the way?” He ventured to ask, only meaning to figure out who else would be there. He could feel the pangs of jealousy that he had first felt when he had seen her with Yuvi return to him as he wondered if he should go along too. He regretted it when he saw her suspicious look, but she answered patiently, “It’s a religious gathering of some sort, Kunj!” He nodded, partially relieved, and then in a flash, pulled her into his arms, while she glared at him. “Kunj! Let me go!” She protested, but he shushed her by a soft kiss on her forehead. When she looked up at him a minute later, he teased, “Wouldn’t you need something to remind you that your poor husband is waiting for you back home and that you are to return home to him quickly?” She shook her head quickly, unaware of the blush that had made itself evident on her cheeks, pushing him away when she heard him laugh. Damn, he could be really annoying.
Twinkle got back home late into the night, anticipating a long list of complaints from Kunj, which made her hurry down the corridor, but the sight that awaited her left her truly spellbound. She looked back towards the top of the stairs where Usha had got to, and quickly got into the room and shut the door behind her. Her mother in law had already teased her and Kunj enough since they had got back home, the last thing she needed was adding to it. And then Usha would inform Leela like she already had, and things would only get more embarrassing for both of them, so she did what she thought was best. She now looked around the room, ascertaining that it wasn’t a dream, when she heard a deep, low voice from beside her, “Welcome back, Mrs. Sarna!” sending shivers down her spine.
That’s it for now, guys. To answer a reader’s question, I will be posting according to my previous schedule, that is, once in every two days, or in unavoidable circumstances, once in three days, and will be wrapping up the story in a while. Lots of love!!