“I never thanked you for taking the good care of these plants after me.” this was the first thing he said to break the silence.
“don’t thank me, anyone could have done that,” she replied caressing one of the variegated leaves of the pothos hanging on the entrance.
“so Kavya, let me introduce you to mimosa… and he walked to the plant kept in a shadowy far corner.
“here say hello to touch- me- not… and with the touch of a soft finger, Mimosa collected all the leaflets and shied away from giving a moment of horror to little Kavya and she hid herself to Kunj’s chest.
“it is nothing dear…okay let’s try one more time,” and he guided her little finger to the other leaf of the plant and this time baby girl stood the sight for a while longer.
“careful Kunj, she would harm the leaves…” Twinkle warned him.
“she won’t, I am here to tell her what to do and what not to do,” he spoke taking the girl to other corners to let the mimosa sleep for the day.
The orange glow of setting sun was visible on the face of the father-daughter duo and together they were seeing and examining the plants, talking incoherently and giggling on something visible only to them.
Twinkle felt left out, she was the mother and suddenly all the attention was given to someone else. A part of her was feeling some sort of jealousy creeping inside her and she tried brushing it away.
Ignoring all sort of discomfort she sat on the wooden swing fixed on the terrace and stared them.
“dont you think Bebe took so long?” she asked after a while unable to fight the aloofness.
“hmmm.” he hummed from the other side of the terrace and it irritated her.
Thinking to water the plants she grabbed the water hose and connected it to the waterline but the free end was not in the sight, she walked here and there holding the other end to keep the track of the free end but it was not there.
“perhaps it is to the other side, I’ll grab it going to the other side.” thinking to herself she turned the knob and suddenly she heard a
“what the…”
Anticipating a mishap she walked to the other side hurriedly and there stood Kunj rubbing his eyes, the free end lying on his feet wetting his pajama.
“Hey…what happened?” she ran to his side.
“I had been holding the water pipe and water went inside…. tsk” he swore some words under his breath.
“i am sorry, I didn’t know…come to this side,” she spoke guiltily.
“i can see,” he said annoyed when she offered her arm.
“okay..at least give her to me,” she said half scared of his response.
“Twinkle, just don’t talk..my eyes are burning like hell…if can do anything then help me.” he scoffed on her.
“yeah.” and grabbing the water hose she moved to him. “wash your eyes,” she instructed him.
Sun was already down the horizon and moon was visible in the sky and giving the company was a few stars, a same scene from the past opened on her retina.
“Yuvraaj, are you sure you can water the plants?”
“what do you think about me Twinkle?”
“Bebe cannot come because of the pain, and I can not leave you alone to do this.”
“i can do on my own Yuvi… you go and have rest for a while.
“Twinkle, now let’s just start..the sun is already going down.”
And Yuvi finally grabbed the water hose but what he couldn’t grab was Twinkle’s intentions and in no time he was drenched wholly.
“what is this Twinkle?” he asked annoyed.
“actually I thought to water a man who is sweaty and tired and he also needs to be watered.” twinkle giggled before turning the knob off and disconnecting the water hose.
“oh, is that so…and with a flick of the moment she was being drenched because of his wet shirt.”
“Yuvi stop.. Yuvi…
“actually I thought there was a woman who was equally in need of being watered,” he smirked evilly hugging her close to him.
Playful yelps turned into hearty laughs which were to echo not for long.
“Twinkle I am done… you can turn off the knob,” said Kunj wiping his face but she kept offering water to his side.
“Twinkle…Twinkle
“yes.. she came back to present with a jolt and water line went to a forbidden bush.
“are you okay?” he asked concernedly.
“hmmm, I am fine.” she was starting to feel sweaty all of a sudden, the dark evening was taking a toll on her current condition.
And she turned to walk back to the door when she noticed some strange lights above her…Craning her neck she tried seeing it and the twinkling light took her heart away…
“Kunj…what is this?” she whispered with an awed voice.
“you watered the wrong bush… he whispered coming closer to her.
Hundreds of fireflies were hovering over them coming out from the big pot of a certain dense bush, gradually they were covering them.
“it is so beautiful…
“they are…
“how come the fireflies here suddenly?”
“i bought this bushy plant where fireflies love to live…
“you did a wonderful thing.” still awed by them she spoke in a dim voice so the fireflies won’t get scared as if they would.
“look at Kavya, how much happy she is…
And Twinkle turned to see her girl and she indeed was so happy, with her eyes glittering with the show of fireflies she was trying to touch it.
Her gaze fell to the man who had been staring her with so much love and affection… and she could not stand his beautiful stare and turn back.
“i didn’t know such a beautiful moment would be created here but before going I want you to give us a chance.” his voice was dim yet powerful.
“Kunj… she tried to ignore the question but today was not the day.
He held her arm with his free one … “why are you denying me, together we would be content if not anything else.”
Closing every distance between them he waited for her answer.
“but?” her brows were creased.
“i won’t be able to make Neha happy knowing you are not happy… Neha is destined to meet someone else and she already is accepting my decision,” he spoke with authority.
And this decision maker moment was broken by his phone’s ring.
“Kunj where are you son? I am ringing the bell for five minutes, even Twinkle is not picking her phone.” his mother was back.
“i was on terrace Ma, twinkle would be with Kavya.” ending the call he turned to the door.
“it would be hard for me to accept you as my husband,” she said in a shivering voice.
He stopped hearing the words and soon everything was clear and he smiled.
Without looking back he muttered a “THANK YOU” and only the sound of him skidding the stairs were heard.
A big weight seemed to cut down from her shoulders but a new question started to take shape inside her gut.
“was it too soon to start a new relationship and leave the old one?”
The sudden guests had already made their way to the nearby plants making them glow in the darkness, their arrival had helped this awkward couple to cut a few of their worries.
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Hello everyone, so here is the next part. I hope you enjoyed it.
So with the proposal finally accepted, we are to see their budding romance in the coming chapters and also the wedding but before that, a few stigmas of society has to play their role.
With the next part see you soon.
With love Morusya.