Hello everyone! Thank you so much for the love the story is receiving, although nothing’s like before anymore. Things have changed drastically, which is really disappointing. Anyways, happy reading!
Twinj: My Lifeline: Episode 71
A quick recap: Kunj continues his pretence of forgetting their wedding anniversary for some more time, but finally discloses his surprises for her, and she’s happier than ever with them. Midway through their celebration, Kunj walks off miffed and Twinkle tries to pacify him.
“What exactly are your intentions, Kunj Sarna?” Twinkle’s voice came out as a mere whisper although she had intended to sound demanding, the look in his eyes so intense that she might as well melt down. “Don’t you know already?” He murmured, eyes never leaving hers, so focused that she couldn’t bring herself to turn and look where they were headed to. “You’ve known me for a year now after all!” He added with a mischievous wink, surprised when she returned a smirk. He hadn’t expected her to recover so quickly from the spell he knew he had her under. “Much longer than that, Kunj. You seem to forget!” She teased, making him giggle with realisation. “Right. My bad!” He said in his best pestering tone as he seated her on the table where they had cut their cake a few minutes ago after having pushed off everything on top of it to the ground. Her eyes widened at the clattering that followed, but when they returned to him after having surveyed the situation, his face still held an unaffected expression that implied he had obviously imagined doing that before. “So, Mrs. Sarna, what your experience of knowing me for so long tell you now?” He asked, stepping in between her legs that were hanging off the table. “That I should leave when I still can.” She answered honestly, simultaneously making a move to get off the table, but he obviously wouldn’t let her do that. “Not so quick! We still have scores to settle, you know?” He whispered, leaning close to her, but teasing with a little distance, watching lovingly as she shut her eyes in anticipation. Her eyes flew open when she felt nothing even after a couple of minutes, signs of disappointment crossing her face. “Do you have to annoy me all the time, Kunj!” She complained with a soft whimper, looking so adorable that he chose to pull her cheeks instead, letting her rest against him, even as she continued to disapprove of his deeds.
“Kunj, we should get going now..” Twinkle suggested only half-heartedly, wishing she could just stay there with Kunj for longer, preferably forever, just the two of them at perfect peace, but the release event was to begin anytime now and they had to be there. He groaned unhappily, knowing that she was right. She smiled at his reluctance, not telling him right away that her mind had already begun spinning a little surprise for him too. He had his turn and he had done so well; it had blown her mind. Now it was only fair for her to return the favour. Only, she didn’t know a lot was still awaiting her. She smiled brightly at him as they stood at the top of the stairs, exchanging an understanding glance, now feeling the full force of anxiety take over them. “Are you ready?” She heard him ask as he held her hand, leading her slowly to the dias. She chose to let him take the centre stage and had only been looking for as secluded corner as she could despite all the eyes being focused in that very direction, when she felt Kunj grab her hand, entwining their fingers together. “Kunj..” She tried arguing, but all he had to say to convince her was, “Trust me!”, for the look in his eyes took her back to what was definitely one of the most special nights of her life, the one in Greece when she had been struck by the sweet shock of his confession. She tightened her grip on his hand, stepping closer to him, earning an appreciative grin from him. As the song was launched and played on the big screen set up nearby for the very first time for the world to see, Kunj let go of her, saddening her, but it was only momentary, as almost immediately his arms sneaked around her, pulling her into his embrace, dropping a gentle peck on her forehead, both of them watching the video over the corner of their eyes. Perhaps things couldn’t get more magical.
Twinkle and Kunj had been so absorbed in themselves that they had no idea they were being clicked incessantly, and so, the plethora of questions that were then shot at them about their relationship, their marriage and their love story became unavoidable. When Twinkle turned to look at Kunj, hoping he had a way out of this like earlier, the smirk he returned only told her that he knew this was inevitable for a long time now, and the way he picked up the mic placed on the table in front of him was the last sign she needed to figure out that he had all this planned, and perhaps had an entire speech prepared. “I met Twinkle for the first time when I was grieving over a loss that I had assumed I would never be able to recover from..” Kunj began, causing a number of gasps and hushed opinions to erupt among the guests, but he remained unfazed. “She had been kind enough to offer her friendship to a lousy, despicable Kunj. I had no idea back then that she was all I was missing in my busy, eventful life that hardly left me enough time to even listen to my own heartbeat, my own thoughts, but again, I never realised when I grew used to her, fond of her and then fell so hopelessly, head over heels in love with her. I’m so glad she was my best friend first though. She’s been teaching me to value the little things in life for just a little over a year now, and I must say, life has never been better!” Twinkle watched him in a daze, still unable to see how he could be so full of praise for her, the loud cheering and hooting not even reaching her ears anymore. All she knew was Kunj, her Kunj, the one person other than her Ma that she loved more than her own life, her entire being, and the moment he looked at her and flashed her his signature grin, she felt herself go swooning after him yet again like it was the very first time. She had been amazed at how he had presented their relationship to the world, covering up her and his own folly, making it seem more of a fairy tale than it already was. Maybe if someone had suggested to her a year ago that they would end up so closely knit, she would have laughed at the proposition, but here they were!
Kunj watched Twinkle stealing glances at him all the way through the rest of the event and the drive back home, but remained silent, knowing that she would open up herself when she was ready to. He was also aware that she would have lots to question him about, and that he wasn’t really prepared for, since he himself didn’t know why or how he had decided to speak out about their marriage, it just seemed the right thing to do, and with Twinkle, he had learnt to just go with his heart, so he had. That was partially the reason he hadn’t stopped her when she had gone running to their room as soon as they had got home, while he stayed to chat with his parents about how the song was already doing so well, with so many people sending in love and appreciation for it. No wonder he had been pleasantly stunned when he finally got to the room some time later to find it lit up only by tiny fair lights that glowed like fireflies since they had been suspended loosely by threads and the windows were thrown open, letting the breeze in. “Twink..” was all he managed to get out for the sight of his wife had left him tongue-tied. “Oh my God! Is that the same dress?” His mind was screaming, but only a soft moan was voiced, making her cheeks redden some more, a stark contrast to the white knee-length dress that he had bought her a couple of months ago. She had sternly refused to wear it back then, citing what he thought were a hundred different stupid reasons, but now she had pulled off the look and how! “Are you just going to stand and stare?” She questioned with a hint of playfulness in her voice that made him gulp hard. When he still wouldn’t budge, she took it upon herself to close the distance between them, standing on tiptoes to gently peck his forehead when she got to him. “You could say I look nice, you know?” She nudged him, unaware that her actions had just caused the last thread holding Kunj’s sanity together to snap, and now he had this smitten look on his face as his arms reached out to her, hastily yanking her. She crashed into him just like he had intended and he appeared satisfied with it as he placed a sloppy kiss on her cheek, glowing with a victorious smile.
“Did I already mention that you actually, literally stunned me?” Kunj breathed a few minutes later, the two of them gasping as a result of their initially passionate kiss that had gone crazy before either of them knew. “Your eyes did.” She responded honestly, making him laugh as he rested his forehead and the hand that wasn’t on her waist on the wall behind her, making sure he wasn’t crushing her in between. She felt a chill run down her spine as he began dropping feathery kisses on her shoulder that quickly shifted to her neck. By now he knew each one of her sensitive spots like the back of his hand, and had grown used to tending to them carefully, well aware that it would make her grab the nearest thing in an attempt to anchor her senses to something, anything, just like she was pulling onto his shirt right then. He felt her knee buckle when it got too much for her to take, and so he dutifully picked her up, carrying her to bed. He had just laid her down when they heard the first rain of the season pattering against the windows. When his eyes returned to her though, he found the spot empty, making him look around quickly, only to find her already out in the balcony, drenching in the rain. “Twinkle, get back in!” He called out, but he knew it was going to be a vain attempt, so he didn’t push it much. Instead, he stood by the door and watched her, confirming his older observation – one that he chose not to speak about, for he had still been struggling with his feelings for her when he had noticed it first – that she looked so stunning when she got back in, completely soaked and hair a dripping mess. Evidently he didn’t mind, because it also meant she would feel colder later and would snuggle even closer than usual, so it was a win-win for him.
Twinkle had finally walked in about an entire hour later, after Kunj had rejected each of her attempts to get him to join her, chirping happily about how great the rain had felt and what he had missed. Although he had grabbed a towel for her, she dodged it to walk straight into his arms, hugging him tight and now he was entirely wet. However, before he could complain, she was already reaching out to undo the buttons of his shirt. “Twinkle?” He managed to question her intentions, earning a quick, “Shh, Kunj Sarna! Let me thank you ceremoniously for all that you’ve done for me all day, each day for the past year.” He let her proceed, helping her out only when she needed it but before she could ask for it. “I love you!” He heard her whisper before she had pulled him into bed with her, it was going to be one long night.
That’s it for now, guys! I really admire the fact that a few of you figured this story is approaching its end, and I would really like to reconsider the decision for your sake, but let me warn you all beforehand, the continuation might get painful at places. So it’s really up to you all to choose. Without any further subplots being included, the story will be wrapped with the next episode being the epilogue. Lots of love!!