Hello everyone! Thank you so much for all the love the story is receiving!! I hope you’re all as excited as I am, as we begin a fresh journey with this story that we’ve grown so fond of over time. Fingers crossed! Happy reading!
Twinj: My Lifeline: Episode 73
A quick recap: Twinkle and Kunj rejoice in celebration of the overwhelming response their song receives. Usha then reveals how she had crossed paths with Twinkle several times in the past, surprising them.
“Ooh, Twinkle Kunj Sarna! Are we going somewhere?” Kunj questioned Twinkle with a wolf-whistle, making her roll her eyes at him, but she still failed to hide the slight blush that took over her face. She quickly straightened out her Saree one more time and glanced at herself in the mirror before turning back to him. He grinned at her, unaware of the teeny tiny prank that her mind had been quick enough to come up with. He watched her carefully, almost recognising the look in her eyes but she was smarter at masking it this time around. She stepped towards him slowly, laughing internally as she reckoned how he fell for that trick every single time. She was just inches away from him when she raised herself on her toes, her hands resting firmly on his chest to give her some leverage over him. She breathed heavily against his cheek, smiling as his hands came up to her waist, but he didn’t try to pull her closer, he had subconsciously decided to let her take the lead. “Not us, me.” She whispered before pulling away and standing just inches away from him. She burst out laughing at the confused look he had on, as he muttered something incoherently. “Wait, what?” He called after her as she turned and began to walk away. She stopped in her track and twirled in her spot, throwing him an enquiring look. “You ought to stop playing that trick, Twinkle. Also, I kinda didn’t process whatever you said..” He grumbled, following it with a whisper of “How could I? You had me in a daze after all.” His voice had been so low that she had to strain her ears to listen. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.” She offered, but he didn’t look like he needed it. “You don’t have to.” He whispered when he had got to her and his arms were around her again, they belonged there more than anywhere else after all. He smiled to himself as this thought crossed his mind, knowing that a year ago, he would have only said that about his guitar, but his wife had sprinkled her magic all over him, changing things for the best.
“Kunj, I need to get going now, else I’ll be late!” Twinkle reasoned half-heartedly a few minutes of peace later. Kunj had been unusually busy recently, and although they worked together, they hadn;t been able to sneak away much time together, even for one of their random conversations of anything and everything. “But where are we going?” He asked, trying to sound as tired as he could, wishing he could just get to sit back and relax for a while. He couldn’t recall anything he had to get done for the rest of the day. “Please don’t tell me we have some family function to go to!” He fussed, making his guesses by looking at her Saree. “Not us, me, Kunj Sarna!” She repeated, smacking his head playfully and he frowned promptly. “Ma insisted that I accompany her to a relative’s place, and I had been putting off so much for weeks now, so.. I need to..” Her explanation was cut short by Kunj narrowing his eyes at her as she shot his observation, “Ma didn’t look like she was in a hurry to be anywhere when I met her downstairs a few minutes ago.” She smiled at him and shook her head, annoying him. “Kunj, I’m speaking of Leela Ma!” She stated, placing her hand on his cheek. He mouthed an “Oh!”, flinching at the realisation that she hadn’t met Leela for really long, making him feel guilty for never considering it. “Not your fault. Stop that right now!” She demanded, gauging just by his changing expressions. He threw his hands in the air in defeat, returning her the bright smile she had on a few moments ago. “But you’re not taking me along?” He asked with a pout, making her giggle as she pulled his cheeks.
“Kunj?” Usha’s voice suddenly breaking into the perfect silence made them jump up, but she quickly added, “I’m sorry I came in unannounced, I just had to give Kunj his tickets!” Twinkle smiled at her, grateful that she hadn;t chosen that very opportunity to begin teasing them, when it suddenly struck her. “Tickets?” She wondered out loud, glancing alternately between Kunj and Usha. Usha nodded with a smile, and Twinkle figured that she assumed she was already aware of this trip. “Kunj, are we going somewhere?” She asked, an echo of his question to her earlier. “I am.” He replied, emphasising on the fact that he alone was taking up the journey. She nodded, her first thought being that that happened ever since they had got married. The understanding that he hadn;t even as much as hinted at it, let alone informing her, came later. She felt Usha’s probing gaze on them, she was probably puzzled by the awkward silence that now prevailed, as opposed to the comfortable peace she was welcomed by. “There’s this meeting at..” Kunj tried to speak in defence, but failed, suddenly feeling guiltier than ever. “It wasn’t necessary for you to come along.” He said finally, hoping that would sound better than he intended it to. She gulped hard before putting on her bravest smile, fighting the tears that were threatening to pour out of her eyes. She didn’t mind that he was leaving her behind. It was the wrenching thought that he had begun keeping things from her, and didn’t even seem to have a good enough explanation. Her phone rang right then and she was more than grateful for it easing some tension in the room. “I’m leaving right now, Ma.” She spoke into the phone and put it away before smiling at Usha and turning back to Kunj. “When do you have to..” She began and he quickly answered, “Tonight.” She nodded, responding with a quiet, “I’ll try to be back by then.” He nodded, looking up at her finally. “How long..?” She asked yet again and he hesitated before mumbling, “One week.”
Twinkle’s head wouldn’t stop running over the last few minutes of conversation she had had with Kunj before she had abruptly left under the pretext that staying any longer would delay her return. He had obviously run out of patience at Usha’s repeated attempts of finding out why he hadn’t informed Twinkle of all people, and almost screamed, “It isn’t a fun trip! I need to get there to get work done! They would only allow one other person than me to come along, and I needed my producer there!” Twinkle’s eyes had widened at that, she had never seen him like that before. “What makes you think I wouldn’t have understood if you had told me this, Kunj?” She had asked, in a whisper. He had snapped his head at her and simply stared with a blank look, his breath still just recovering from the shouting. She had walked out quickly after that, ignoring him and Usha calling after her. Now that she had mentally analysed the situation repeatedly for what seemed like a hundred times, she had come to fathom that it wasn’t an issue that deserved to be blown up, making her shift uncomfortably in her seat. “Twinkle?” Leela reached out to her from the adjacent sofa and she quickly shook her head, now hoping they could leave soon. She didn’t want him to leave with that little misunderstanding between them. That would only worsen the distance separating them for a long, tedious week.
Leela patted Twinkle’s shoulder gently, making her straighten up away from the pillar she had been leaning against. “Ma? Should we get going now?” She asked as cheerfully as she could, and Leela nodded quietly. She knew her daughter, she would speak up only if she wanted to. No amount of coercion could persuade her otherwise – Kunj, of course, was an exception. He seemed to know how to get her to speak every single time. She drove in silence to Leela’s place, having to drop her off before she could go back home. “Twinkle?” Leela spoke in a small voice before getting out of the car. Twinkle turned to her, regretting that she hadn’t put the previous few hours with her mother to good use. “If there’s something that you wish to speak about, I could just listen. In perfect silence. No judgements, no blaming.” Twinkle knew it was Leela’s desperate attempt to make her feel better, not a suggestion. Because of course Twinkle was aware she could always turn to her mother. Perhaps all she needed was a reminder. “Can I stay back tonight, Ma?” She asked, and Leela nodded, more than happy to have her daughter to herself after really long.
“That’s absolutely alright, Twinkle! I was going to ask you to stay there myself. Leela Ji must have missed you!” Usha had been the most understanding when Twinkle had called her up to let her know that she wouldn’t be returning that night. Usha then turned to Manohar who had been listening in on the conversation and sighed deeply. He nodded at her with a comforting blink, but she wouldn;t be convinced until she herself was sure that things had gone back to normal between Twinkle and Kunj.
Leela was surprised to find the lights already turned out in Twinkle’s room when she got there after changing and freshening up. She had hoped the mother-daughter duo could stay up late into the night like before, just chattering randomly until Twinkle would – hopefully – let her know of whatever was troubling her. She was about to shut the door when she spotted Twinkle’s silhouette in the balcony. “The stars are beautiful tonight, aren’t they?” Leela quipped in, settling in Twinkle’s three seater swing. Twinkle nodded, smiling as she slouched onto the swing beside Leela and resting her head on her lap. “You’re missing your moon though.” Leela spoke, it was a statement, not a question, and it made Twinkle sit upright immediately. “It’s a new moon tonight, Ma.” She answered, carefully dodging Leela’s reference to Kunj. “Does that mean the moon isn’t there anymore?” Leela questioned, making her sigh. “We just can’t see it tonight.” She replied finally, beginning to make sense of what Leela was trying to make her see. “Exactly! Now that doesn’t imply that the moon won’t return back to its glory. Relationships are like that, Twinkle. You can’t always expect things to be going great, you’re both human. You’re bound to make mistakes. What’s important is that you bounce back and take it back to where it was. The moon never let’s the waning phase steal from it’s majesty a fortnight later, does it?” Leela’s advice always set Twinkle at ease and that night was no exception. She nodded understandingly, wishing Kunj a good night in her head, hoping it would somehow reach him.
Kunj finally pulled down the shutter on his window on the plane, feeling weary of the journey already. He turned to be faced with just pitch darkness everywhere. Everybody else seemed to be having absolutely no issues falling asleep, including his producer friend beside him. His mind inadvertently went back to Twinkle. She hadn’t returned home before he had started. He had waited for as long as he could too, but she hadn’t as much as called either. His phone pinged a notification right then – the time read 00:00 in block figures right above the bright box – it was his gallery reminding him that it had been an year since he had taken the pictures it displayed below. He smiled momentarily when he spotted Twinkle in one of them. They hadn’t really been on ‘clicking pictures together’ terms back then, but communication had never been a problem, so unlike right now. He sighed as he ran his hand over the picture before shutting his eyes, his phone held close to his heart, trying to make up for her missing warmth.
That’s it for now, guys. I’m really looking forward to hearing from all of you on this. Until next time, much love!