Hello all you lovely people! I missed you all so much, and it’s terrific to be back finally! I hope I didn’t make any of you give up on the story because of another of my oh so long breaks though. Thank you so much for showering the previous episode with so much love! Happy reading!
Twinj: My Lifeline: Episode 78
A quick recap (which might be really necessary now, right?) : Kunj apologizes to Twinkle for the hospital incident and she forgives him readily. However, when she hints at him backing off from his project with Krish, he ends up miffed, avoiding her for an entire night before finally dropping the information on her that he would definitely continue with it, and would preferably keep her out of it completely.
“I’ll be right here if your Ma needs something, you should go to bed now.” Manohar’s voice broke Twinkle’s reverie and she looked up at Usha sleeping peacefully before turning to look at Manohar who had just entered the room. She nodded at him, though hesitantly and had begun to walk away, even more unsure of everything when she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. “Papa!” She called out, and he shushed her, making her realize that she had been louder than she had intended to. She quickly glanced at Usha to make sure she wasn’t awake. She had convinced herself to voice her concerns to Manohar somehow, but there was no way she would be able to say all that to Usha. She had to do it now, she didn’t trust herself to muster all that courage again.
“Papa…” She repeated herself, keeping her voice carefully low. He nodded encouragingly. “I’ve been thinking, Kunj is doing so well now, with his new songs and all that. I figured it would it would be only fair that we appoint a professional to manage his schedules and work.” She gulped hard at Manohar’s confused look, wondering what else she could say to convince him. “Why is that even necessary?” He asked, evidently raking his mind to make some sense of the issue. “Because a professional definitely knows the work better, and …” She trailed off, lowering her eyes when she realized he wouldn’t buy any of her lies. “Misunderstandings and differences of opinion shouldn’t be deterring you from what you love and enjoy doing, Twinkle. Hard times test us for sure, but they also make us stronger.” He insisted, having recognized the coldness between Twinkle and Kunj all evening. “This isn’t about whatever is happening with Kunj and I, Papa. I just don’t understand some decisions he makes, professionally, and I just hate it when that starts to take a toll on our personal life, on our equations. Maybe this way would be better.” There. She had said it, but she couldn’t herself deny the way her voice had faltered midway, giving away her façade of determination.
“Perhaps a professional would understand his decisions better and support him through them, not quarrel pointlessly.” She added as a final attempt at patching the mess she had just created. She cursed herself mentally for not running through this clearly instead of acting on impulse like she just had. She shut her eyes and struggled to keep herself calm when she heard Manohar sigh. He beckoned her to sit on one of the chairs beside the coffee table before settling on one himself. “Don’t worry, just hear me out once. You’ll still be free to make your own decision after this.” He assured her and she nodded slightly before gingerly sitting on the chair beside his. She returned Manohar’s kind smile with an unsure one of her own, making him chuckle a little. “First of all, I’m really glad you trusted me enough to be discussing this with me.” He informed her, glad when her smile just brightened at that. In all those months of living under the same roof, they had become really good friends to say the least. And now that she came to think of it, Manohar had pretty much become a fatherly figure to her, and not just a father-in-law. Time however, had made both of them realize how strong their relationship actually was, when her mind had involuntarily reached out to him right then. She was glad she had.
“I’m not like Usha evidently, and I’m not going to even try to convince you that my way is better.” He said casually, giggling with her. “I am going to confess something that I never thought I would though.” He continued, catching her off-guard. “Months ago, when Usha had first come up with this seemingly crazy idea of making you, a totally inexperienced …” He paused, watching the curious look in her eyes. He smiled reassuringly at her as he found the right word. “… girl Kunj’s manager, Kunj didn’t protest much, he probably didn’t even mind much, but I did. I argued vehemently against it, but Usha remained unfazed. She believed in you, way more than I had initially thought she did. But you proved me wrong, and I couldn’t have been happier with it! We watched you handle everything seamlessly, standing by Kunj through his highs and his lows, exceeding our expectations every single time. In fact, we grew so used to it all, that we always just assume that if you are with Kunj, he ought to be doing just fine! And we hoped, that you would always be there, for him, for us.” Twinkle suddenly felt weighed down by her emotions and quickly wiped away a stray tear from her cheek before speaking, in rather a whisper, “I didn’t know you had so many expectations of me!”
Manohar let her take a moment to process all that she had just heard, knowing that she needed it. “I agree, Usha would too, that a professional might understand the profits and losses better, but there could be no way that they would understand Kunj’s heart, his mind and where his happiness truly lies better than you do.” She heard Manohar say and nodded, appearing more resolved now. He was right, nobody could ever understand her Kunj like she did. “I’ll never disappoint you, Papa.” She promised, and the reply came in a flash, “Like I didn’t already know that!” She smiled, gratefully this time. She couldn’t wait to return to her Kunj’s arms, for like he had said before as well, together they could take on the whole world. They had had enough time apart now.
Twinkle walked into her and Kunj’s room, standing a few feet away as she observed Kunj pacing up and down impatiently. She wondered what could have gone wrong, unaware that he had eavesdropped on her and Manohar’s conversation a few minutes ago, but only partially, which now made him fear she would be quitting. “Kunj?” was all she had managed when he came rushing to her and pulled her into a tight hug. They sighed in unison, so glad to have found each other again. Like Kunj would have chosen to say, the last few days had them trapped in a maze, and they had lost sight and hold of each other before they could have even realized it. But those seemed to be such far-off bygones now that everything else just faded into nothingness. It was them, just them, and nothing else mattered. “Twinkle, I’m … you … all this …” He stammered as they parted later, struggling to voice his thoughts. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, and he relaxed instantly, as if on reflex.
“Twinkle, I know everything is just going downhill, but we can’t be giving up!” He said finally, but she didn’t seem to detect the cause of the worry in his voice. “We won’t. Not for anything in the whole world!” She whispered back, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry but it’s too late to change my stance on the project with Krish though.” He said when he detected the hope, the longing in her eyes. Her eyes flickered away from his at that, disapproving herself for even thinking that way. Nevertheless, Kunj could have sworn that when her eyes returned to him, there had a different look in them – not disappointment, far from that; he might as well have said she looked determined. And he was absolutely right. She had decided, that if she couldn’t keep Krish away altogether, she would do her best to keep him from harming Kunj again. He had done it before and she hadn’t been able to help much back then, but now she could and that was exactly what she would do. Whatever it took.
Things seemed sorted, at least until the next morning when Kunj had finished dressing up for work but Twinkle didn’t seem to be in any hurry at all. She was still in her home wear, and he just couldn’t see why. “Twinkle!” He burst out finally, tired of waiting for her to explain it by herself. “Yes?” She asked calmly, annoying him further. “We’re going to get late!” He protested, making her raise her eyebrows questioningly, and then the realization struck her. “Kunj, I won’t be accompanying you to work.” She stated, and he looked struck. “Somebody needs to stay by Ma’s side until she recovers completely.” She defended herself quickly, but the damage had been done. They both knew that Usha felt much better now, and her decision was solely to avoid any further arguments with Kunj when she would see Krish at the studios. She knew she hated the guy enough for every single thing he does to seem wrong to her. So, for now at least, avoiding the possibility altogether seemed the best choice. “Right.” He said curtly before turning around and leaving.
That’s it for now, guys. I know this was a very mixed episode, and again, we don’t know much about Krish yet. But better things and revelations are coming soon! Also, the comments on the previous episode are closed, so sorry for not responding but I did read each one, thank you! Until next time, much love!!