Greetings everyone! Thank you so much for all the love and affection the story is receiving! I know that a lot of you have been wondering why Twinkle lied to Leela time and again – that she was ready to get married, and that she had already found herself a groom. But hold on, the answers to that too will be revealed when the time is right. Happy reading!
Twinj: Meant to be: Episode 15
A quick recap: Yuvi appears to have come up with a solution for either Twinkle or Kunj’s problem. While Twinkle actively ignores Leela, she also finds
herself conflicted between liking and disliking Kunj. She ends up slightly more disappointed right at the beginning of her two-day long work at the venue.
Looking into the wedding preparations only made Twinkle more nervous about the trouble awaiting her whenever she encountered Leela next. She sighed as she willed herself to reject Leela’s call yet again and pretend she hadn’t received a series of angry messages in response. If it hadn’t been for the number of calls that she would have to receive and make in connection to the wedding she would have probably dumped the phone someplace by now. Just as she turned around to inspect the curtains being put up behind the area where the Mandap was to be set up, the sight that awaited her left her confused.
“Kunj?” She called out, like he had insisted, refusing to accept her usage of ‘Mr. Sarna’ instead. He turned around on the last step of the ladder he had been standing on, and waved cheerfully at her. “What are you doing?” She asked, quickly glancing at the workers on his either side. “Trying to set this right! Look how ridiculous it looks – not pleated and elegant at all!” He complained, making her laugh and annoying him. “What?” He demanded, letting go of his hold on the ladder and crossing his arms in front of him. “I’m sure you or I won’t be able to do that, Kunj. Get down, we’ll ask someone else to do it!” She said with an amused smile, but he had accepted it as a challenge and turned back hurriedly, forgetting to grab onto the sides of the ladder, only to come hurtling down.
Kunj had seen Twinkle come rushing towards him, looking really worried, but he didn’t really feel the impact of the fall, and that came as a surprise. “Kunj! Thank goodness for all these cushions and drapes piled up here! What if – God forbid – you had hurt yourself badly?” She gushed, holding her hand out to him, helping him get off of the mountain of soft material he had landed on top of. His eyes remained stuck to his hand in hers, none of her concerned prattle even entering his head.
Having ensured that he hadn’t been hurt, except for the small pulls his muscles had felt during his fall, she looked up at him. Following his gaze, she realized she had still been clutching his hand tight, as if the fall had frightened her more than him. She loosened her grip slowly, watching his eyes return to hers before looking away. They noticed all the people around looking at them, and nodded at them about him being alright and asking them to return to work.
Twinkle then strictly forbade Kunj from doing any work other than giving out instructions, because “It’s evident that you have no experience of all this, Kunj! We wouldn’t want one of your blunders end up making you the center of attraction at Yuvi’s wedding!” He had protested initially, only to give in later, for he knew she was right. “But it isn’t like you’ve been doing this all your life either, Twinkle! Unless your parents own a wedding planning business and you volunteer to help out there every now and then!” He had argued to prevent her from exerting herself, but the way she had looked at him told him he had been awfully wrong.
“Twinkle, I’m sorry about earlier.” Kunj said softly when he ran into her an hour or so later, right under the chandelier on which the lights were being tested out. She smiled at him with a gentle shake of her head, but he knew it wasn’t genuine. “Wait!” He said when she was about to walk away, and she stopped immediately, but didn’t turn back. “I really am sorry, Twinkle! I had no idea that that was a touchy topic for you. I promise I won’t bring it up ever again. But just know this, if ever there’s anything you think I’m doing wrong, just tell me so. I’m not really as great as Yuvi at reading in between the lines.” He said honestly, his head bowed, and so he hadn’t known when she had twirled back to him.
“You are terribly wrong right now, Kunj.” She said, and his head snapped up at her. She fought back a smile when she saw the terrified look in his eyes and spoke, “Those aren’t the colors that Aditi had finalized.” She pointed at the chandelier above, now twinkling alternatively in blue and white colors. He blinked at the light flashing on her face and smacked his forehead. She finally giggled, looking up at the chandelier to find that the work on it was almost complete. “See? That is why you need to just tell me!” He said matter-of-factly and she nodded with a small smile as he headed to turn those lights out.
It had been quite a long day, and yet, only half the work was done by the time the sun had set and the decoration team had decided to call it a day. “Whew! This marriage thingy is such hard work!” Twinkle heard Kunj comment casually as he slopped onto the groom’s chair in the middle of the hall, lolling his head backwards until it met the headrest. “You think so?” She asked, sitting on a guest sofa in the first row, looking up at him hopefully, unaware of what she wanted to hear herself. He shrugged, groaning when a loosely tied ribbon dropped on him from above.
When he lowered his eyes after failing to spot where it had come from, he spotted her staring at him, still awaiting her answer. “Of course, I mean, there’s so much for everyone to do, and things just keep piling up. It’s a never-ending set of tasks, apparently!” He put forth his view and she nodded. She knew that already. Obviously. Even if Kunj had only been kidding back then, he had stated only the facts. The Tanejas did own a wedding planning company too – one among their many businesses, and she did work at a lot of weddings for them. Only that none of it mattered anymore.
The question that had been bothering her, however, was different. She wondered how much the bride and groom had to go through, perhaps just her mind preparing her for her own ‘apocalypse’ that she had begun to term it as, but she was scared nevertheless. It had been her impulsive jumping into action that had made her thoughtlessly accept Leela’s demand that she got married. It was yet another heat of the moment decision that had made her lie that she had already found a groom. She knew she couldn’t be discussing this with Kunj either, that would be the most ridiculous thing to do. He, however, seemed to be in no mood to drop the topic. “Have you ever thought about getting married?” He asked, suddenly sitting upright and watching her carefully.
“No.” She mumbled – an atrocious lie. She had been fretting over it just then. “I have. And I think Yuvi and Aditi were really smart to have decided they didn’t want a wedding that would extend for an entire week with so many rituals, cutting it to only the necessary stuff and just one day – and the night before, but ensuring the experience would be everything they ever wanted, and more. I would probably do that too.” He continued absently, only thinking about all that they still had to get done by the next evening. His eyes found hers when he heard her giggle softly. “You speak as though you have every single element of your wedding planned out and are only waiting for it to be executed.” She pointed out wryly, which according to her was the best way to find out about his lady love, already knowing that the answer would only bring her disappointment.
Kunj nodded, and she was positive she felt the familiar tinge in her heart – the one she had felt before too, when the guy she had had a minor crush on back in college had professed his love for another girl. And probably that was the moment she accepted that she had in fact, developed a certain liking for Kunj. But she knew the drill. Moving on got easier when such truths shook the very foundation of the feelings that had just begun accumulating. She chided herself at the reminder that Kunj was Yuvi’s friend, Usha Sarna’s son. This could have been way more embarrassing, and it was only for her own good that she had found out early on.
“I even know who I want to marry.” Kunj’s confession broke through the train of her thoughts, and suddenly she didn’t want to hear this anymore. “Good for you.” She said simply, getting up and gathering her belongings. “I’m going to drop you!” She heard Kunj declare as he sprinted after her. She waited for him at the door, making sure all the other doors and windows had been shut as well. She felt his gaze on her all through their walk back to the parking area and then during the drive back to the café, but they had both chosen to remain silent. While for her it was because she had finally given into the thoughts that she had avoided for unbearably long now, he took his time in just watching her, finding solace in her mere presence next to him.
Just as they took the turn that brought them onto the road where Twinkle’s café was located, she spotted Leela’s car in its regular spot, causing her to panic. “Kunj, stop the car!” She gasped, and he did, pulling over to the side and looking concerned. “Is everything alright?” He ventured, and she nodded, grasping her bag close to herself, her mind whirring as she tried to prioritize her tasks. She couldn’t get Kunj involved, he would have to leave first. She would also have to come up with satisfactory explanations for avoiding Leela’s calls and for returning on foot, not wanting Leela to find out about Kunj dropping her back.
“Twinkle!” She heard Kunj’s voice, soft and reassuring, breaking through the haze. “You’ve got this, don’t worry. I get it that you probably don’t want me meddling into your issues, so I won’t. But I do know, for a fact, that Yuvi doesn’t praise you for nothing. I’m sure you’ve dealt with worse, and you’ll get through this just fine as well.” He had to have no idea what the problem was, but he sure knew how to calm people down. Twinkle breathed deeply according to his next set of instructions and felt better almost instantly. “You might want to remember, Twinkle, that at times, we pretend to be stronger than we are to show the world, because we’re worried, scared even, that letting them know of our weaknesses, our emotions, could cost us heavily. But that is only causing us more harm than them. I’m sure you know what to do of this.” He said when she opened the door, and she flashed him a look of gratitude. What if he had not requited her tiny bit of affection? He had still shown her the way out. She did know what she had to do now.
That’s it for now, guys. The last bit – Kunj’s piece of advice may have seem unwarranted to most of you, but we’ll soon know how he knew exactly what to tell her too. Until then, let’s just trust him, and pay more attention to how right he is about things, shall we? Lots of love!!