Twinj: It’s Always Been You: Episode 6

Hello everyone!! A big thank you to each one of you for the immense love and appreciation that all of my stories are receiving! However, I would really appreciate if each one of you also told me which one, out of my three stories you like the most, so that I can work some more on the one that is lagging behind, which I’m pretty sure is this one by the way, which is a wee bit disappointing. Anyways, stay safe, happy reading!

Twinj: It’s Always Been You: Episode 6

A quick recap: Kunj confronts Twinkle on Yuvi’s revelation that Twinkle had been in love with him. She finally accepts it to be true, but dismisses it as a thing of the past, disappointing Kunj for reasons he is unaware of himself. Kunj and Usha’s deep rooted friendship is introduced, he pours out the whole day’s occurrences to her. She herself is extremely fond of Twinkle, and appears to be aware of Kunj’s affection for Twinkle. She asks him to accompany her to the Gurudwara citing that Twinkle would be coming too. On the other hand, Leela manages to bring Twinkle out of her melancholy.

Leela and Twinkle had hardly walked a few steps into the Gurudwara when they encountered Usha and Kunj. “Twinkle! It has been so long since I saw you last! How have you been? You have no idea how much you’ve been missed!” Usha said, all in one breath, and Twinkle smiled warmly at her, greeting her with a hug. Usha then exchanged pleasantries with Leela and took her along, intentionally leaving Twinkle and Kunj a few steps behind. “So now we won’t even speak to each other, is it?” Kunj asked, when he had had enough of her ignoring him. “Of course not!” Twinkle replied, but didn’t even look at him. “I thought you said you had left it way behind in the past?” Kunj asked when she didn’t say anything further. She was obviously shocked by how he had stated that, so she stopped walking and looked at him momentarily, but chose to keep quiet. Instead, she walked a little faster and joined Usha and Leela.

When they had finished praying and come out, Leela saw some of her friends and went to speak to them. Twinkle now had nowhere to run to. “Twinkle, I see that you and Kunj seem to have had a little fight?” Usha asked, and Twinkle responded, “Aunty, Kunj tells you everything, doesn’t he? He should have also told you this then.” Usha had always admired Twinkle’s diplomacy, and this response only added to that. She smiled at her and said, “You know better that he’s horrible at sorting out quarrels.” Twinkle smiled in response. Usha then whispered to her, “He didn’t even realise that you had been hopelessly in love with him for so long, did he?” Twinkle looked up at Kunj immediately, and saw him trying to hear them. She then looked at Usha, her eyes beginning to fill up with tears again. “He wouldn’t have. He was head over heels for Alisha wasn’t he?” Twinkle managed to say, staring at Kunj directly now. “Is that why you left?” Usha asked as Twinkle slowly wiped away her tears. Kunj was about to speak, but Usha motioned him to remain silent. “Did he not tell you what happened the night before I left?” Twinkle asked, flashes from that night and the morning after coming rushing to her mind. She glanced at Kunj, as he watched her in a daze. As Twinkle turned around to walk away, he asked, “How do you know about that?” Usha looked at her son, desperately hoping he hadn’t caused any blunder. Twinkle turned around right then, and said, with a humourless laugh, “Oh right! You didn’t even remember anything afterwards!”

Twinkle got to the car quickly, and shut her eyes to get the images off her mind. She wasn’t aware till then that she clearly remembered each detail, and had it locked up in a corner of her mind. As she sat exasperated, she saw Leela head there. She quickly put on a bright smile. She couldn’t worry her mother, who had been extremely supportive, even when she thought her world had come crashing down. She had stood firm by her daughter’s side and helped her land herself that job that became her excuse for leaving. She had seen Twinkle crumble when she had got home that day, she didn’t want things to be further ruined at any cost, and sent her away, even if it was a heart wrenching decision for her. She knew what had happened. In fact, she was the only one Twinkle had told. Contrast to Twinkle’s expectations, Leela had completely understood her and not hurled any questions at her either. Leela told Twinkle about the gossip that she had just caught on as they drove home, and Twinkle tried to indulge herself in it as much as she could. Leela also told Twinkle how Usha had become a dear friend of hers after she left, while Twinkle just nodded in response.

On the other hand, Usha didn’t speak a single word to Kunj as he drive her home. Both of them were lost in their own thoughts. Usha couldn’t bring herself to terms with the idea that Kunj could have hurt Twinkle so much that she had no choice than to leave. She had seen Leela suffer in loneliness and some burden over heart that she had never revealed, and thus she would never be able to forgive Kunj if he had been behind all that. Kunj couldn’t figure out how Twinkle had found out the secret that he had buried deep inside his heart, the secret that he hadn’t told even Usha. He feared even imagining how she could have found out and how it must have affected her, given that she had also lost her dream job just then. Apart from it all, somewhere in a dark corner of his mind was a thought that he was struggling with. Could it have been her? He dreaded to even think of it. Can’t be, he told himself repeatedly, but the worry was eating him up. As soon as they entered their house, Kunj was about to run up the stairs when Usha stopped him. He gulped knowing he couldn’t hide it any longer. Manohar walked in right then, but didn’t speak a word sensing the tension in the air. “What have you done?” Usha’s voice thundered through the house. Kunj looked down, not being able to face even himself anymore.

Twinkle prepared breakfast for Leela when they got home, as Leela continued to tell Twinkle all that had changed since she left. Twinkle propped up questions randomly, just to indicate that she had been listening. Leela went off to work immediately after breakfast since some urgent attention was needed for some project, asking Twinkle to enjoy her day off that she had asked for. Left alone, Twinkle wondered if she was right, crying over something that had happened years ago. She had already accepted that she still loved Kunj, but she could never forgive him. She would have lived with unrequited love, but the wounds that had been inflicted upon her soul three years ago showed no sign of getting healed. She looked up her previous workplace on the internet, and wondered if she had taken the right decision, picking something else over her dream job. She recalled the day she had been accepted there. She had jumped around the house excitedly, dancing with Leela and RT, and had made Leela cook all her favourite delicacies to celebrate. Her thoughts obviously then led her to the day when she lost her job. She had walked in through the doors, completely heartbroken, when RT handed her the papers that the company had sent her, stating that she had been fired due to highly unprofessional attitude and sheer negligence towards her work. She missed her father, who was now on a business trip. He had accompanied her to Mumbai, helped her set up a decent apartment with a lovely flatmate, and stayed with her for a few days to comfort her.

Twinkle had just hung a picture of her, Leela and RT back in the happier times, on the wall, when the doorbell rang. Opening it, she was greeted by her father, whom she was seeing for the first time since he had left her in Mumbai. She hugged him tight, and he reciprocated it with a loving kiss on her forehead. Twinkle was surprised to see Leela standing beside him. They then revealed to her that Leela had gone to the airport to pick him, on the pretext of work, so that they could surprise her. Twinkle didn’t need to fake her smile anymore, her father’s presence made things brighter for her automatically. Leela sighed in relief, her daughter’s grief had never gone unnoticed by her; she just didn’t want to speak about it and make her brood. She knew she didn’t have to worry anymore. She could feel better times approaching.