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Twinj: My Lifeline: Episode 43
A quick recap: Kunj manages to convince Twinkle and then even Chinki and Leela that he is indeed sorry and aware of his folly and that he intends to set things right. He tries to cheer Twinkle up later by recreating a memory, and apologises yet again to her.
“Good morning, Kunj. Come quickly, there’s something important that we need to discuss with you.” Chinki greeted Kunj the minute she saw him walk towards the dining table where Leela and Yuvi were already present. Kunj smiled brightly at them as he sat down opposite to Chinki and nodded, indicating his willingness to listen. “We can’t send Twinkle with you.” Chinki stated calmly, looking down at her plate, making the smile on Kunj’s face fade away immediately. “But why?” He retorted with a look of horror on his face, one that quickly changed to suspicion when he noticed Chinki and Yuvi exchange a quick glance and giggle quietly. “Look at him!” Chinki exclaimed and burst out laughing when he questioned them what they were up to. “Stop troubling him!” Leela chided Chinki as she brought him his breakfast. “But aunty, hadn’t you promised me that Twinkle would be here for every little and big ritual of my wedding?” Chinki reminded Leela disappointedly, to which Leela responded “Things were different then, Chinki. Twinkle has stayed here for a week already, I don’t think we could..” Kunj cut her short with, “Ma, it’s absolutely fine. If Twinkle wants to stay here, she definitely can. I’ll pick her up after the wedding.” Although the thought of staying away from Twinkle anymore seemed impossible for him, he knew that it was equally important for her to be present for Chinki, and he would definitely not want to ruin things for her more than he already had. “Aww! How sweet! I told you he would agree Chinki. He’ll do anything for Twinkle!” Yuvi quipped in, evidently stifling his laughter. That was when Kunj realised that Yuvi hadn’t been able to keep Kunj’s little secret to himself, he had told Chinki and now the two of them were teasing Kunj, in a way that only the three of them understood.
Yuvi winked at Kunj, breaking his reverie right in time for him to hear the chair beside him being pulled. He glared at Yuvi, who was still having trouble holding back his laughter and turned to look at Twinkle, who smiled sweetly at him as usual, bringing back the brilliant mood he was in ever since he had woken up to the sight of her by his side. “Twinkle, Kunj has agreed to let you stay here till my wedding.” Chinki declared cheerfully, making Twinkle look up in disbelief first at Chinki and then at Kunj. She had believed that he had missed her just as much as she did, and this bit came unanticipated. “Enough already!” Yuvi nudged Chinki a minute later as both of them burst out laughing. “Alright, you can take her along, Kunj. You need to make sure though, that she’s here whenever I need her. She’s my best friend before yours after all!” Chinki said finally, and Kunj nodded earnestly, he knew she was right. What he was glad about was that he would finally be taking Twinkle home, the home that had been left lifeless and eerily quiet when she had left. Things were finally falling into place perfectly.
Twinkle had been smiling to herself and having a hard time trying to hide her blush from Kunj ever since he had held open the car’s door for her and helped her with her seatbelt before walking over to his seat. It was something he had never done before, but again, he had never chosen her over Alisha before either, so she supposed many things were going to be different now. “Twinkle!” Kunj called out impatiently, jerking her out of her thoughts, and she realised that she had not heard at least twice before he had lost his temper. She turned to him quickly, only to find him looking at her curiously, and smiled her best before he returned his attention to the road. “What were these plans that Chinki accused me of ruining?” He asked, glancing over every now and then at her. He had overheard Chinki murmur her disappointment about something like that earlier at the breakfast table. Twinkle giggled and shook her head, realising that he would probably find it dumb, but he insisted, surprising her. “Nothing in particular, Kunj! Just a bucket list kind of a thing, something that me and Chinki had always wanted to do before either of us got married.” She answered diplomatically, annoying him. “Nothing in particular? Do I know you or what, Twinkle Kunj Sarna?” He countered, and she raised her hands in defeat, smiling to herself. Her happiness knew no bounds after all.
“Seriously? Like in DDLJ?” Kunj asked astonished when after a lot of persuasion Twinkle had finally let him in on her and Chinki’s long dwelling desire to go on a long sightseeing trip by themselves. “Exactly!” She responded cheerfully, trying to decipher why he had that unbelieving look on his face. “But you could do that even now, after getting married, I mean.” He replied assuringly, wondering why she had never told him about her wish before; had she told him, he would have done anything to fulfil her wish, wouldn’t he? She nodded, knowing that he was right, he would never stop her if she set out after all. “That’s because you are such a caring and concerned husband, Kunj. What if I had ended up marrying someone shrewd?” She blurted out without giving it much thought, only realising the implication when he snapped his head to look at her. “I mean..” She began in her defence, but failed to find the right words, and hence looked away. “You think about things like that?” He asked after a few moments of awkward silence, disappointment evident in his voice, surprising her that he had even thought of things that way. “Not anymore. Maybe before I knew I was marrying you.” She answered in a low tone, not venturing to look up at him. She couldn’t tell him that she had always dreamt of a happily ever after with him, but was afraid she would end up marrying someone who wouldn’t care one bit about her feelings or her happiness. She couldn’t tell him that she was now the happiest person on the planet since he was, blissfully unaware of it or otherwise, fulfilling all her dreams one at a time. So she chose to answer only partially honestly, she was sure he had found it unreal, which he had, but he wouldn’t say anything, because he knew, that had she wanted to speak about it, she would, he wouldn’t have to compel her to do so. He knew she would tell him someday, just not today. “What if you had found someone else on the trip like in the movie?” He asked instead with a wink, and she playfully smacked him, asserting that the chance of her finding ‘someone else’ and falling in love with them was nil.
Usha opened the door the moment she had heard the car pull into the driveway, having been exhausted of waiting for her daughter in law to come back home and bring back the peace and happiness that had left the house with her. “Promise me you’ll never leave like this again!” She demanded as she hugged Twinkle, who assured her that she wasn’t getting rid of her anytime soon. “Twinnkle! Thank goodness you’re back! We can go back to solving the crosswords on the newspapers together now!” Manohar greeted as he walked down the stairs and approached them. “Not fair! Not fair at all. Nobody’s even looking at me!” Kunj protested, making all three of them turn and look at him even as they burst out laughing. He let go of his pretend anger and joined them in their laughter almost immediately, for he knew that his family too had grown as fond of Twinkle as he had and her mere presence seemed to brighten up everything yet again. Just then they heard a door bang open upstairs and a screeching voice go, “Usha Sarna! How dare you mix glue into my shampoo?” Twinkle and Kunj exchanged a shocked glance and then looked at Usha who owned up the act, but didn’t look even a little guilty. Instead, she pushed Twinkle and Kunj to a dimly lit corner and strictly warned them from stepping into view until and unless she asked them to. Although Kunj protested a little since he was desperate to know what was going on, Twinkle was too shook to say anything in response. Although she hadn’t given Alisha much thought since when Kunj had turned up last evening, some part of her had already assumed that Alisha would be gone before she got there, and now she was faced with the idea of Usha being mean to her, which was definitely unexpected.
Kunj held Twinkle’s hand in his as they waited with bated breath and watched as Alisha walked down the stairs hurriedly and stood before Usha who was waiting calmly for her. Twinkle gasped when she saw the horrible state Alisha’s hair was in and Kunj placed his hand over her mouth to prevent Alisha from hearing her. He would have burst out laughing himself if it wasn’t for Usha’s strict warning, that clearly meant that she had something to say and she would prefer things be carried out the way she had planned them. Twinkle turned to find Kunj standing so close to her that she could feel his breath fanning against her cheek, but he didn’t seem to be aware of it. She followed his eyes to focus back on Alisha who had just pushed away the large vase and it had come crashing down to the ground. “I had warned you that I would throw you into the servants’ quarters if you acted too smart, Usha! Despite that, you won’t give up on your petty tricks, will you?” Alisha screamed as she fisted her hands stiffly. “I had told you that your little antic of making me trip in front of your guests the other day better be your last prank, hadn’t I? Enough already! You will pick up your belongings and shift out of your room immediately, get that? I know exactly how to deal with Kunj, which I will. So don’t you try to act too smart now!” She thundered before turning back and stomping off, muttering to herself. She had just climbed up one step when Usha called out, “I’m not done yet, Alisha.” Alisha turned around and looked at her uninterestedly and Usha held up a phone, confusing everyone. Twinkle had been as taken aback as Kunj was, but she had finally realised that Usha had been right about Alisha all along, and so, when Kunj tried to step forward in his anger when he heard Alisha speak so lowly about his mother, Twinkle held him back and reminded him to trust Usha, for she was now sure that something big was coming up.
That’s it for now, guys. Tell me what you thought about it. Lots of love!