Twinj: My Lifeline

Chapter 2

Greetings all you lovely people!! To all those who have been sending in tremendous love and support, thank you so much... You all brighten my day!! Happy reading!

"Twinkle, I would like you to meet Mrs. Usha Sarna" Leela spoke quickly, trying to bring the situation under control. Twinkle smiled at Usha hesitantly, which Usha acknowledged with a warm, more genuine one. Glancing over at Leela, Usha spoke, "So Leela, I've presented my terms before you, and you are well aware of how this deal will bring drastic changes in your life." 

Twinkle was now sure that something was fishy. She looked at Leela questioningly. "Mrs. Sarna, like I've already said, I do not carry out business related work at home. I'll need some time to consider this issue. I'll get back to you once I conclude something. Thank you. I'll see you" Leela spoke, evidently in a hurry, while Usha burst out laughing.
"Sure. See you real soon... Else, you know too well" Usha spoke, and walked right out of the door.

Twinkle watched awestruck. She found everything very suspicious. She had never seen her mother trying to hide anything from her, not that she was ever interested in the business, but her mother's behaviour that day shocked her.
"Ma? What was that?" Twinkle asked, standing up to block Leela's way.

Leela looked up at Twinkle with tear filled eyes. She cupped Twinkle's face, and spoke slowly, "Twinkle, I need you to remember that come what may, every decision I make will always be for your well being. We never know what destiny has in store for us, we are mere playthings in the hands of fate... If you ever feel that your Ma has done something wrong, just remember that I would never do anything that would turn out against you eventually... I promise"
With that, Leela walked away, while Twinkle tried to make sense of what all that meant.

Twinkle's train of thoughts was broken by Chinki. "Twinkle!! That was Usha Sarna!!!" She almost screamed, drawing Twinkle's attention back to their visitor. Her eyes widened as she processed what had been told to her. "The Usha Sarna?" She questioned anxiously, adding, "But what was she doing here?"
Chinki giggled, and mumbled "Who cares!" earning a glare from Twinkle. But it was just a few moments before they gave each other an understanding look and smiled mischievously, racing to Twinkle's room.

Usha entered the Sarna mansion with a victorious smile. She gave Manohar a thumbs-up, and was about to speak, when they noticed Kunj rushing down the stairs. "Kunj, you seem pretty excited! Recording a new song, are you?" Usha asked, while Kunj showed her a ring. Usha remembered and recognised it well. It was the same ring that Kunj had bought for Alisha, and would present to her every time he proposed to her.
Usha smiled at her son. She wasn't unaware of how Alisha had been hesitating to accept his proposal, and was extremely worried for him. "All the best!" She whispered to him, while he gave her a quick hug and walked out.

Manohar and Usha watched him go. Usha gave Manohar an assuring smile, and walked away herself, hoping Leela would call her up immediately. She knew she had held Leela in her weak spot now. Leela could not but accept her terms, even the mere thought of refusing Usha would bring her huge losses. Usha alone knew how this would actually effect their lives though.

Usha stood in front of a picture of their small family, and watched tearfully. "You don't have to worry. I have everything under control. I'll never let anything go wrong... It's just that I can't reveal anything now... You both have to believe me, trust me blindly for now... There's no other go... When the time is right, I'll reveal everything... I promise" She spoke to Kunj and Manohar in the picture.
Meanwhile, Manohar was listening to her, standing hidden from her view. "I am confident that you will take care of everything, Usha... But, I'll have to find out what you are up to. I would never want you to end up in trouble yourself..." He whispered, watching her wipe away her tears.

On the other hand, Kunj was waiting for Alisha at their regular restaurant. He ended up calling her when she was late for more than an hour. "Kunj!! I'm coming... Just give me ten minutes..." Alisha spoke, he could make out the difference in her voice, which she was obviously putting in lots of efforts to hide.
Kunj restlessly tapped on the table, wondering what the reason for the difference in her behaviour was. He had known her for a pretty long time now, and never in all those years had she sounded so confused. He just hoped she would be fine.

Twinkle and Chinki had been browsing something on Twinkle's laptop, gossiping about this and that when Chinki's phone rang. "Yuvraj" Twinkle read aloud, at which Chinki snatched the phone from her, and quickly tried to cover up, "I'll just call him back later." Twinkle found that extremely fishy, but she decided not to ruin things by expressing her doubts.

"I'll just see if Ma is fine" Twinkle said abruptly, and walked out of the room, but she stood within eavesdropping distance, sure that Chinki would call Yuvi back right away.
"Yuvi!! I know I promised you that I would try my best, but you need to have some patience!! Stop calling me like this!! What if Twinkle had recieved your call today, and you had uttered all that to her.." Chinki spoke, trying to keep her voice down, sounding like she was rather threatening, than warning him.

Twinkle looked on surprised. She was taken aback at the developments. She had never even dreamt that Chinki and Yuvi would have something to discuss that would be kept hidden from her. She knew she had to put on her detective mode now.
She watched as Leela stepped out of her room. Just one look, and she knew her Mumma dearest was in need of her. "Ma..." She called out, rushing to Leela with outspread hands. She quickly gave her a tight hug. "Ma... I really don't know what got you so worked up that you had to reassure me of your concern... But I am sure that my Ma knows what's the best, and she'll never go wrong in any of her decisions... So whenever you need me to do anything, I'll never deny... I promise..." Twinkle spoke, assuring Leela of her support, unaware that she had just relieved Leela of a huge burden.

That's it for this chapter, the plot will get interesting now. Stay tuned!