Twinj: My Lifeline

Chapter 25

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for all your love and affection for this story, which has slowly begun to make its place in so many of your hearts, and I'm extremely grateful for that. Also, it's chapter 25! We've come a long way, and I'm so excited!! Happy reading!

"This trip is definitely going to be one of the most memorable ones I ever went on! Thank you, Twinkle!" Kunj spoke dramatically as he and Twinkle strode through Amritsar airport, having just landed. "You are welcome!" She responded with a little bow making him chuckle, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Hi Yuvraj!" Kunj greeted as sweetly as he could, although he was annoyed for some reason at encountering him, which he himself was surprised about. "Yuvi!" Twinkle greeted excitedly, and he waved at both of them. "We just got back from Udaipur." Twinkle informed Yuvi and he nodded, replying "I know. Chinki told me you were going there." At that, Kunj giggled and asked, "Didn't Chinki tell you we were going on our honeymoon?" Both Twinkle and Yuvi looked at him in a shock, making him realise he probably shouldn't have said that. "Isn't that what she had texted you?" He asked Twinkle, trying to ease out the tension in the air. When she didn't respond, he turned to Yuvi and smiled awkwardly at him, hoping he could just run away instead. His wish was granted immediately, for he received a message right then, asking him to come to the studio for a recording. He showed it to Twinkle, who said, "You should get going then. I'll just take a cab and get home." Kunj would have agreed to that had it not been for Yuvi who quipped in, "I'll drop you!" Before Twinkle could even consider it, Kunj responded "I'm not in any hurry, you know? I'm going home anyways, you don't have to take the trouble." He noticed that Twinkle and Yuvi gave him the same weird look again, but he quickly bade farewell to Yuvi and got going, with Twinkle following him close behind.

"Twinkle, you really didn't have to take all this trouble of going to the market by yourself, although I absolutely love these!" Usha said when Twinkle brought out the gifts she had bought as they all gathered for dinner. "Wait. What do you mean alone, Ma? I went along too!" Kunj protested, making Usha and Manohar look at him surprised. "You did?" Usha asked, turning to Twinkle to make sure she had heard him right. Kunj nodded, returning his attention to his food. "Kunj agreed to come along?" Usha asked Twinkle again, keeping her voice low and Twinkle nodded again, giggling. "How come you never agreed to come even when I almost dragged you along, Kunj?" Usha complained, and added, "It's a good development though. I see Twinkle's company is making you a much better person!" She then smiled sweetly at Twinkle, her eyes showing how proud she was of choosing the perfect girl for Kunj, but Twinkle looked away immediately. Usha didn't seem to have had enough of it though. She made it a point to thank Twinkle later when the two were alone, for she had tried to get Kunj to go out and enjoy himself once in a while for years now, but had failed horribly. Although Twinkle had agreed that Kunj needed to stop overworking himself, Usha's words made her wonder if Kunj would have accompanied her if it hadn't been for her crying the previous night.

"I hate it when I'm so excited about a project but something comes in the way like this!" Kunj grumbled when Twinkle told him Usha was expecting some guests over and had asked them to be at home the next day. "But we just got home, how could we just stay put like this?" He continued, as Twinkle smiled to herself, speculating if it hadn't been a week and a half since they had returned from Udaipur, but she wouldn't remind him, for she was sure he would be annoyed. "You could work here, right?" She asked suggestively instead, making him look up at her. "I'm only saying. Your home studio has been idle for some time too, after all." She defended herself quickly, hoping he wouldn't be angry, but he walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders, appreciating the idea heartily. "You're a genius! I wish you were here all the time!" He blabbered without realising and Twinkle smiled at him, 'all the time' echoing in her mind. "Twinkle!" He called out from the adjoining home studio, breaking her trance. He was asking for her help to dust it in order to have it ready for his session. She agreed readily, deciding that it wasn't the right time for her to drown in her thoughts. She also noticed his and Alisha's picture wasn't with his guitar anymore, but decided to keep the idea to herself, for she didn't know why he had put it away and when.

Twinkle's experience with Usha's guests went better this time than the first. She found that although they belonged to obviously filthy rich families, they didn't belittle her, giving her the ease to smile a lot more often than she thought she was permitted. Kunj had been telling her how they were related to him in whispers when they heard the old lady speak, "They look so adorable together! Kunj, now that you are married, could we expect good news in a short while from now?" Twinkle and Kunj exchanged a quick glance and looked away embarrassedly while Usha managed to handle the situation with a diversion of topic. Twinkle was helping Usha put away the crockery later when Usha asked her, "Are you alright? You look really tired." Twinkle nodded at her, but Kunj explained, "I kept your daughter in law busy yesterday, Ma. That is why!" He was innocently referring to their combined efforts in his studio the previous night, but Usha had taken it the way she wanted. "Really? So we can actually expect good news in a while?" She asked, holding back her laughter as she saw Twinkle's eyes widen. Kunj put the glass he had in his hand with a loud thud on the table and stomped off angrily. Twinkle excused herself and followed him, catching up just in time to him closing the door of their room. "Kunj!" She began, but he was in no mood to listen. "All these people have just one way of thinking, don't they? How annoying!" He fretted, walking away from her and sitting on the bed. "Kunj, this is how every newly married couple is treated. Little do they know that we aren't a normal couple, that we are just good friends!" She explained, making him look up questioningly. "I'm sorry, we aren't a normal couple?" He repeated, wondering what she meant. "Kunj, when two people get married, people assume that they dream of a future together, of having little kids and raising them, of loving each other forever." She stated, as though she was just narrating one of her dreams to him. "Right." Kunj said, walking into his studio and shutting the door, while Twinkle let out a deep sigh. They could never be a normal couple, was all she could think of.

Twinkle had thought that that awkward conversation would ruin things between them, but she was pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong. When Kunj stepped out of the studio hours later, she had been putting up the wind chime that she had bought for him; that had been postponed for days since they had been continuously occupied. "Need help?" His voice was soft as he held the step ladder and looked up at her, the sudden intrusion in the silence making her jump up. He giggled, asking her if she planned on jumping off the ladder this time like she had jumped off the stool the last time. She gave him an uninterested look, making him laugh harder. She got off carefully when she was satisfied with her work and he smiled at her appreciatively. She then opened the window to let in the cool breeze that made the wind chime tinkle soothingly. He put his hand casually on her shoulder and hummed a tune. "Is that the new song?" She asked excitedly, turning around to him. He nodded equally enthusiastically and she signed her approval. "People are going to love it!" She exclaimed and he smiled at how even the smallest of things could make her happy; he definitely needed to learn that from her, in fact he was sure that she would teach him eventually, even if he didn't ask her to.

Kunj then played the guitar and sang along as she insisted on getting to hear the new song before anyone else did. "Am I not your best friend?" had been her final argument and it had worked perfectly. He absolutely loved the dazed look she had on when she heard him sing, it meant so much to him than he would ever be able to tell her, so he chose not to, at least not right away. He was sure that some day they would be able to discuss everything freely, perhaps he would save this for that day. He had noticed though, that she always said that she was his best friend, not once had she called him her best friend, and he had tried to use that reason to explain to his heart the cause for his unease about her friendship with Yuvraj. Is Yuvraj her best friend? He asked himself and shook off the idea, ridiculing himself for over thinking such seemingly small issues, but he couldn't fully dismiss it either. She was his best friend and he wanted to be hers, and that was all he knew. Twinkle snapping her fingers in front of his eyes broke his train of thoughts. "Kunj, what are these thoughts that keep you occupied so much recently?" She asked curiously, and he absentmindedly blurted out, "I'm not your best friend?" She giggled at him, pulling his cheek and calling him 'Cute' before she got up and went to refill the water bottle so that he wouldn't see her blushing, leaving him cringing at his stupidity.

That's it for now, guys. Hope it wasn't a bore. Lots of love!