Greetings everyone! Thank you so much for all the love the story is receiving!! It’s really overwhelming to hear from you all again, just like before. Happy reading!
Twinj: My Lifeline: Episode 79
A quick recap: When Twinkle expresses her doubts over her abilities, Manohar manages to fully convince her. On the other hand, right when things begin to look up a little for Twinkle and Kunj, her reluctance to accept his work with Krish creates a wall yet again.
Kunj had been excessively busy over the next couple of days, so the fact that he had stringent working hours and hardly got enough sleep remained, and so did the almost radio silence between him and Twinkle. Not that either of them was enjoying it though, and so, when Kunj returned home tired at the end of the first set of his sessions with Krish, he hadn’t even realized what he was doing as he walked into their room and slouched down on the couch beside Twinkle, his head resting on her shoulder of its own accord. “Kunj?” She called out, making his eyelids fly open, although he couldn’t remember closing them. He decided to take his chance though. Pretending everything was alright seemed to be the easiest way to solve the problem to him right then. So, he simply hummed in response, letting out a tired sigh. “All okay?” She asked, deciding to play along with his pretense. Besides, she didn’t really want to bring up Krish yet again, even when she was desperate to know how the sessions had been. “Tired” he mumbled, pushing his luck and nuzzling closer to her.
“Twinkle!!” He protested when she suddenly pulled back a couple of minutes later. “I’m not going away!” She informed him, directing his head to the back of the couch. “But you are…” He began, but she shushed him with a strict, “Close your eyes, Kunj!” He obeyed immediately, having learnt from experience that he was better off that way. “Trust me!” He heard her whisper a split second later, her breath hot against his cheek. He didn’t need to be told to trust her. It was something he just did, like it was a way of life. He never knew what it was like to not trust her, and he planned on sticking to it. Forever. A moment later he felt her cool hands on his forehead and purred contently, earning a soft giggle from her. She watched him smile, feeling at peace herself as she continued her massage. It almost felt like ages since they had last spent time together in absolute peace, with nothing in the world to bother them. They both knew the issue wasn’t over yet, it would return time and again, but for now, all they yearned for was each other. Probably they would be better prepared the next time.
“Better now?” She asked sometime later, and when he did not respond, she wondered if he had fallen asleep. She smiled at him, and assuming he was asleep, leaned closer and quickly pecked his cheek before moving away. She was caught off-guard when he grabbed her wrist just as she stood up, for it made her realize he had been wide awake all along. She turned to him quietly, only to see that he hadn’t budged from his place at all. In fact, he still had his eyes shut. But he somehow knew she was looking at him, for just then he spoke, “I can’t manage work without you anymore! Please come back!” She sat back down beside him and he straightened immediately, waiting for her response. “I will.” She assured him. “I’ve missed you too!” He shot her his signature grin, one that he had tricked her into confessing that it made her heart flutter. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks as he closed the distance between them. She shut her eyes in anticipation and heard him murmur “I love you!” against her cheek right before his lips met her skin. Before she knew it, her hands were around his neck and he had her lying on the couch beneath him.
“Kunj!” He heard her muffled voice less than a minute later, but he was in no mood to listen. “Kunj!” She sounded angrier this time and he looked up from her neck half-heartedly, disappointed at being interrupted. “Twinkle!!” He said in a poor imitation of her tone, which brought him a playful smack. “What is it?” He asked when she looked so lost in his eyes that she had forgotten whatever it was that she had to say. Her eyes widened in realization and she looked away, making him laugh. She chose to hide herself in his embrace to save herself the embarrassment and he laughed some more. “So… did you have something to say, or?” He asked finally, his eyes searching hers for answers. “Yes, I did.” She hit back, raking her mind to recollect what it was, since his proximity had robbed her of her thinking capabilities. “And you forgot?” He guessed, judging by her expressions, smirking as he leant back towards her, and she suddenly recalled her protest.
“Kunj, get off!” She demanded, pushing him away with all her strength. When she had succeeded in forcing him back to his sitting posture from earlier, she began yet another attempt to flee. But Kunj knew his wife too well to be tricked into this again. He pulled her back in one go, making her land on his lap. He winked at her, fighting back his smile at the shock evident on her face. “Kunj, what if someone comes by?” She asked, but her eyes never left his. “Not this excuse, Twinkle! Think of something creative next time, please!” He teased, only tightening his hold on her as he spoke. “Creative?” She asked and he nodded sincerely. “But that’s your job! You are the artist here, you see? I’m only your boring manager.” She reminded him, but that only made him shoot his ‘Not funny!’ look at her. “Aww!” She cooed, pulling his cheek as he pouted, both relieved to no ends that things were finally getting better between them.
The next morning had been pretty eventful. Kunj had been more excited than he had been in weeks as he pranced around the house happily. Twinkle kept her eyes carefully off Usha and Manohar, well aware of the teasing glances they would be throwing her. Her blush only intensified as Kunj dragged her along and twirled her around. “Kunj, Ma’s really watching us now.” She tried freeing herself, but in vain. “I’ll listen to you when you come up with a creative excuse, Twinkle!” He pointed out, making her shake her head in disappointment. She would have to work on a ‘creative excuse’, and soon, she mentally noted as she quickly waved at Usha and got into the car to save her from further awkwardness.
Walking into their workplace, Twinkle was bombarded by people they worked with, all of them mostly telling her how much they had missed her, an occasional one or two letting her know that Kunj had missed her presence too. She smiled politely at each one, patiently telling them about Usha’s health needing attention, up until someone mentioned that she had just missed meeting Krish. “He’s such a big name in our field of work after all!” Another girl chirped. One thing led to another and now all that everyone spoke about was Krish, his style of working and whatnot, annoying her. She glanced at Kunj who shrugged his shoulders indicating his helplessness. “Excuse me, I’ll catch up the rest of the gossip later.” She said suddenly, making everyone go quiet for a minute before they nodded meekly at her and went their own ways.
Twinkle could never be sure if Krish turning up less than an hour later was a mere coincidence. The one person she definitely did not want to see! Kunj had told her that the first schedule of his work with Krish had just been wrapped up and he wouldn’t return for days, but there he was. And to make matters worse, one of the musicians came rushing into her cabin to announce that Krish had come, insisting that she came along to meet him. She hoped he wouldn’t come there and decided to keep herself occupied in some way or the other until he had left, but that didn’t seem to turn out in her favor either, for just a minute later, the door to the cabin swung open and in walked Krish. “Hello Twinkle!” He greeted cheerfully, which Twinkle returned with a curt nod and a forced smile.
“I never got to see you here although I almost lived here for the past few days! I did hear a lot about you though. People here love and adore you, don’t they?” Krish spoke conversationally and Twinkle just smiled some more at him, desperately wishing he would just go away. She didn’t want to let her anger take over and utter something she would regret, or worse, would impact Kunj. “Usha Ma was unwell, Krish. I’m sure you were aware of that? I saw you at the hospital that morning.” She stated, turning to look for Kunj in the rehearsal area through her window, but failing. “Yes, of course. I also know she got home an entire week ago. Are you lying to me?” He enquired in a sing-song fashion as though the two had been good friends for ages. “No, I’m not. I’m not among those people who lie to and cheat their dear ones, Krish. That would be you.” She taunted, and Krish glared at her, wondering if Kunj had let her in on the details of his betrayal.
“Well, you need to learn a thing or two about professional ethics, Twinkle. This isn’t really the best way to be treating your husband’s coworker.” He ridiculed. She let out a sarcastic laugh at that and shot back, “I do know how I’m supposed to be treating whom. Anyone here could second me on that, but you do need those lessons.” Krish was positively fuming by then. “That’s enough, Twinkle! You don’t know what happened so many years ago, so stop accusing me! All you might have heard is a story someone told you and you think you have the liberty to point fingers at me? Do you even know who I am?” He almost screamed but she stood undeterred. “I watched it all happen, Krish. I was in the same college as you and Kunj. I know what you did! You’ve done it and gotten away before, I won’t let you repeat it though.” She said calmly, making Krish bang his fist on the table.
That’s it for now, guys. I honestly don’t know why I stopped this episode here, but like I promised things are getting better and like you all might have already guessed, we’ll be finding out all about Krish soon. Until next time, much love!