Hello!! Healtfelt gratitude to all of you for the love and affection that you’ve been showering on my work. It means way more to me than I’ll ever be able to express. Thank you so much! You guys keep me going even when it gets hard. Let’s go then. Happy reading!
Twinj: My Lifeline: Episode 8
A quick recap: Yuvi’s resolve to never get in the way of Twinkle’s happiness, Twinkle finds out that Kunj has asked to meet her the next day.
“Twinkle!!!” Chinki’s screech managed to disrupt Twinkle’s sleep and she slowly sat up in her bed, yawning. “What is it?” She asked, being annoyed, but no single word of Chinki’s response entered her head, for she had sighted her engagement ring and now all she could think about was the prince of her dreams, who she still couldn’t believe would be hers soon. “Twinkle!” Chinki jerked her, earning her glare, but Chinki wouldn’t stop. Twinkle stared at Chinki, who was still saying thing that weren’t entering her head, and finally said, “Stop it already!”, that came forth more of like a scream. “I had such a hard time falling asleep last night because of my excitement, and look at you, waking me up so early, so unpleasantly..” She stopped mid-way as she noticed the clock on the wall opposite her that told her she had only an hour to the time when she had to meet Kunj. She looked at Chinki, throwing a desperate SOS signal, while Chinki sighed and nodded in agreement to helping her.
“Drive faster!!” Twinkle told Chinki the hundredth time, as they later drove to the café whose address Kunj had sent her early that morning. Chinki, however, kept her cool and did not respond, knowing no amount of convincing would do any good. Twinkle jumped out of the car as soon as they had reached, and quickly said a goodbye to Chinki, who laughed at her excitement, and sincerely hoped that nothing would affect the smile she had on. On the other hand, Twinkle rushed in through the door, and looked around. Surprisingly, the café was empty except for someone who sat in a far corner. She quickly walked to him, and said “I’m so sorry! I got..” She stopped her chirpy talk when she noticed her surroundings for the first time. The place had been decorated for sure, but it wasn’t done for that occasion evidently, all the ribbons were beginning to drop from where they had been stuck, the balloons were deflated and the flowers had wilted. On the table in front of Kunj, she saw a picture of him with a girl, whom she was sure she had seen before, just that she couldn’t recall where.
As Twinkle stepped out of the café about an hour later, Chinki was waiting for her anxiously, leaning against her car. Chinki’s smile disappeared as soon as she noticed something had been amiss. Twinkle’s face was tear-stained, and she was muttering something to herself continuously. Chinki immediately came forward and held her by her arm, supporting her, lest she should trip and fall. No amount of attempts by Chinki could get Twinkle to speak a single word. She just sobbed continuously, making Chinki decide to drive her home first. She carefully watched Twinkle all through the drive, knowing that although she didn’t know what had gone wrong yet, she was somehow aware that at that time, her bestie needed to be alone, to pull herself back together.
Chinki held Twinkle close to herself as they walked into the Taneja mansion. Chinki was hoping they wouldn’t have to encounter Leela, else explaining things would break Twinkle further. She mentally cursed, as they saw Usha Sarna in the hall talking to Leela. Chinki managed to get Twinkle to make herself presentable as they walked towards them. Twinkle’s eyes began to flood again as she saw a picture of Twinkle and Kunj from their engagement ceremony in Usha’s hands. She was telling Leela about how great a couple she thought they were, and was assuring Leela that Twinkle would be extremely happy with Kunj. Seeing Twinkle standing nearby, she came over and pulled her along to sit with her, and continued chatting excitedly. Chinki knew Twinkle wouldn’t be able to hold in her emotions for too long now, and took her upstairs quickly, citing some silly reason, making the two older ladies laugh.
Chinki closed the door as soon as they entered Twinkle’s room. “Those girls were right, Chinki! The Kunj Sarna would never marry some Twinkle Taneja unless there was something fishy going on!!” Twinkle sobbed, and Chinki knew something terrible must have happened. “Twinkle!” She called out, hugging her tight, patting her back, trying to calm her down. She held her close as she cried her heart out, repeatedly uttering the same few words that she had managed to get out, until she was too tired to speak anymore, and fell asleep on Chinki’s lap. Chinki didn’t know what she had to do. She decided to wait for Twinkle to wake up, and she herself weighed the options she had before her until then.
That’s it for now, guys. Tell me what you thought about it. Hope I’m not boring you all.
Lots of love