"Psst! Twinkle!" Kunj signalled at his wife from the top of the stairs whilst she sat surrounded by Bebe and his mother, who unfortunately noticed her darling son's hovering presence before Twinkle had a chance to.
"Kunj, kuch chahiye tumhe? Wahan kyun khare ho?"
"Kuch nahin Maa. Woh main... Woh..." he trailed off as Twinkle looked up at him distractedly.
"Woh, Twinkle mere books hamesha utha ke idhar udhar rak deti hai. Bas wahi poochne ki koshish kar raha tha usse.." He managed to stammer out before he looked even more ridiculous in front of his family members.
Twinkle sighed frustratingly and walked up towards the room. Pulling out the roughly stacked books from underneath the shelf on the night stand, she dropped them on to the table in the middle muttering loudly to herself making sure that Kunj could hear, "Kudh nahin dekh sakte theh. Main Kuch Kuch Hota Hai dekh rahi thi. Rahul aur Anjali phirse milne vale theh aur tumne sab kharab kar diya!"
"Twinkle!" Kunj called out behind her as she pushed him aside to leave the room.
"Twinkle, sun na... Thodi der ke liye mere saath room mein rukh jha na!" He desperately pleaded reaching for her arm in an attempt to stop her from leaving
She glared at him, pushing his hands off her. "Tumhara dimag toh teekh hai? Main movie dekh rahi hoon, woh bhi Shahrukh Khan ki. Baatein hum badh mein karlenge!"
"Twinkle! Arreh sun toh..." he called after her but refusing to listen further to his pleads, she walked out of the room haughtily.
***
Half of the family members silently sat together out in the lawn drinking tea and munching on biscuits that evening. Kunj sat quietly, cringing at Cherry's behaviour as he continuously eyed the model on the cover of Cosmo that Twinkle was flipping through, while simultaneously stuffing his mouth with more than two biscuits at a time. Kunj rolled his eyes in disgust as he heard Cherry let out wheezing whistles and hisses every now and again.
"Twinkle!" He whispered at her about half an hour into sitting idly with a cold cup in his hands.
"Kya hai?" She replied irritated, annoyed at the fact that she had to stop her reading midway.
"Dekh nahin rahe ki main article par rahi hoon?"
"Meri chai thandi ho gayi hai." He tried to defend himself.
"Toh apne saar pe daal do. Garam ho jaye gi!" She let out exasperatedly as she directed her attention back to her engaging piece of reading once more.
"Yaar abhi tu jhagda mat shuru kar dena!" He pleaded to her softly instead, swallowing the sassy spiteful remarks he had come up with initially.
"Twinkle!" he whispered at her again noticing the end of the magazine nearing. Finishing the last paragraph, she looked up at him.
"Acha sunn na! Upar chal na." he spoke quietly with a teasing smile.
She shot him a scandalous look before frantically looking around. Mummyji and Bebe were busy discussing the summer shopping trips that they needed to make while Manohar and Anand were engaged in conversation about something related to London. Cherry was occupied with either staring at her hands or staring at the woman on the front of the magazine in her hands.
"Tum pagal ho gaye ho kya? Yeh koi time hai Kunj?" She gritted back inaudibly before pulling the magazine back up at her face.
***
Twinkle was in the kitchen preparing dinner for tonight with Usha and Bebe. Bebe was giving instructions to Usha regarding a new dish that she wanted to try whereas Twinkle had taken up the duty of clearing up and washing the dishes. Kunj entered the kitchen.
"Arreh Kunj, kuch chahiye puttar?" Bebe asked him causing him to look away from Twinkle.
"Haan bas, paani peene aya tha Bebe, main kudh le lunga." He made his way to the fridge and opened the door. Checking to make sure that Bebe and his mother were occupied, he motioned to her again. "Twinkle! Psst!" He hurriedly whispered receiving a death glare from his wife.
"Kya hai?" She mouthed, her annoyance evident on her face.
"Sunn naa..."
"Paani nahin mila kya Kunj?" His mother interrupted, her sudden voice causing him to fumble with the bottle in his hands.
"Haan Maa, mil gaya!" He replied as he gave the two ladies an appreciative nod and left the premises.
***
Trying to keep his calm, Kunj silently sat through the dinner before pulling Twinkle towards him, encircling his arms around her waist while she stacked empty dishes in her hands.
"Tumne aaj kuch ulta seedha toh nahin khaa liya tha? Koi dekh lega Kunj, chodo mujhe!" She whispered a warning to him.
"Tu meri biwi hai! Koi crime nahin commit kar raha hoon, legally allowed hai!" He replied back taking the plates from her hand and placing them back on the table. "Accha sun na..."
"Phir se?"
"Twinklee!" he whined.
She brushed his hands off her, picked up the plates and entered the kitchen.
"Twinklee! Yaar acha sunn na, please!" He exclaimed softly walking behind her.
"Twinkle puttar, iss ki baat sun le. Subha se pareshan lag raha hai." Bebe spoke intervening in between the two cheekily.
"Bebe..." Twinkle spoke throwing him a daggering glare.
"Jaa jaa puttar, main aur Usha rani hain na. Sab sameth jaye ga, tu fikar mat kar." She said instructing Twinkle to walk away. Kunj felt the fireworks exploding in his heart. For the first time today, someone had sided with him without even asking for an explanation.
"Ji Bebe." Twinkle replied softly, placing the dishes on the counter top before walking away with a blush creeping up her neck.
"Aur Kunj puttar!" Bebe called from behind as Usha stepped in the kitchen.
"Ji Bebe?" He quickly turned to ask her, unable to hide his growing smirk.
"Puttar sabr karna seekh! Aana toh usse tere hi paas tha na!" she teased him.
Kunj scratched the back of his head in embarrassment before he turned to run after his wife who he had last seen making her way up to their bedroom.
***
Entering the room, Kunj found Twinkle pacing the floor mumbling something to herself. Seeing him walk through the door, she fired away at him.
"Seriously Kunj, tum kitne gande ho! Kitna embarrassing situation the neeche kitchen mein, ab Bebe kya soch rahi hogi mere bare mein?!" She sulked as she dropped down on the edge of their bed.
"Kya sochengi? Biwi hai tu meri yaar!" He said trying to justify himself. When he noticed that her anger had begun to fade, he walked towards her and pulled her up in to his arms.
"Acha, ab toh sun naa..."
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