Twinkle sighed for the millionth time that day as she made her way to rhe room, holding a tray with Kunj's tea.
The way he talked to her the previous night had scared and angered her; Kunj was never the type to threaten a girl and deep down she knew that even though he had said it, he would never kick her out of the house but she couldn't digest the fact that Kunj was defending Yuvi, the man who made their life a living hell along with his mother. And he wasn't ready to believe her, even though he himself knew that she was right every time.. at least most of the time.
With these annoying thoughts, Twinkle entered the room to see Kunj texting, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.
"Kisse baath kar rahi ho? [Who are you talking to?]" Twinkle asked out of habit.
"Tumse mathlab? Twinkle, tum apne kaam se kaam rakha kar. Meri personal life main dhakal dhene ki koyi zaroorat nahi hai! [What does it have to do with you? Twinkle, mind your business. You don't need to interfere in my personal life!]" Kunj replied coldly, not even looking up at her.
Twinkle felt tears prickling her eyes but she held them in. She kept the tray on the side table and said,
"Arey, mein toh vaise pooch rahi thi. Nahi bathaana hai toh math bathaao, aur chaai katham kar dena. Mein ghar jaa rahi hui Bubbly se milne. [Arey, I was simply asking. If you don't want to tell then don't, and finish your tea. I am going home to meet Bubbly.]"
Receiving no response from Kunj and feeling more hurt at being ignored, she was about to leave when Yuvi came in.
"Dosth {friend} Dosth, good morning Dosth!" he bellowed, hugging Kunj. "Dekha Dosth, Yuvi good boy ban gaya aur apne room pe soya. Ab aap Twinkie ko bathaao ki Yuvi ko paagal khaane main math bejna! [See Dosth, Yuvi is a good boy now and slept in his room. Now tell Twinkie to not send Yuvi to mental asylum!]"
Twinkle stiffened, she knew very well that Yuvi was acting and he was taking advantage of Kunj's goodness. But she decided to play along. Who knows, maybe being friendly with him, she may get a chance to expose him as well.
Before Kunj could talk, she said,
"Of course tum yahi pe rahoongi and I am sorry mein tumko mental asylum bejne ki baath ki. Mein dar gayi thi but ab tum good boy ban gaya hui aur sharaarat bhi nahi kar rahi ho, phir tum mental asylum ya kahi pe jaane ki khoyi zaroorat nahi hai. [Of course you'll stay here and I am sorry I talked about sending you to the mental asylum. I was scared but now that you are a good boy and not doing any mischief, you don't have to go to any mental asylum or anywhere.]"
Twinkle smiled cheekily at the both of them. She noticed a glint of vicious victory in Yuvi's eyes while Kunj raised an eyebrow at her unbelievingly.
Tum kitne bhi koshish karo Yuvi, tum mujhe bewakoof nahi bana sakthi. Tumhaari maa sahi kehthi hui, mein hui bahuth chaalaak. [How much ever you try Yuvi, you can't fool me. Your mother is right, I am very cunning.]'Twinkle smiled to herself.
"YAY TWINKIE MUJHE PAAGAL KHAANA NAHI BEJOONGI. Dosth aapka phone dho, isi baath par ek selfie ho jaaye! [YAY TWINKIE WILL NOT SEND ME TO THE MENTAL ASYLUM. Give me your phone Dosth, let's take a selfie!]"
Yuvi took Kunj's phone and asked the both of them to pout. Twinkle and Yuvi pouted for the photo while Kunj looked uncertainly at Twinkle.
"Okay, ab Twinkie Yuvi keliye yummy yummy breakfast banaaongi! Chalo Twinkie? [Okay, now Twinkie will make yummy yummy breakfast for Yuvi! Let's go Twinkie?]" Yuvi asked, holding his hand out.
"Tum jaao, mein abhi aathi hui. [You go, I will be right there.]" Twinkle smiled and Yuvi left.
"Tum ab kya plan kar rahi ho? [What are you planning now?]" Kunj asked.
"Bubbly ko phone karke bathaane waale ho ki mein kuch dher se hi aaongi, gabraana math, aur kya? [I am going to call Bubbly and inform her that I'll be a bit late and not to worry, what else?]" Twinkle shrugged and fished out her phone from under the blanket.
Kunj yanked her around and pinned her to the wall.
"Twinkle, no more plotting and planning! LEAVE. YUVI. ALONE." He barked.
"Arey, mein uski kyaal nahi raki toh tujhe problem hai, ab rakh rahi hai toh usse bhi problem. Mr. Kunj Sarna, aap yeh batao ki aap chaahti kya ho?[Arey, if I don't take care of him you got a problem with that, now that I am taking care of him you got a problem with that as well. Mr. Kunj Sarna, tell me what do you really want?]"
Kunj was at a loss of words. For once, Siyappa Queen had shut him up with practical reasoning. Usually he was the one to do that and it more or less shocked him to the core.
"Ab mein jaa rahi hui, varna tu baadh main kahengi ki mein Yuvi se wait karvaaya. [I am going now, else you will later say that I kept Yuvi waiting.]"
"Arey, aaj hum baahar jaakar nashta karthe hai na? Bahuth mann kar raha hai mujhe Suminder Saab ke dhaabe se kaane ki.! [Arey, we will go out to eat today na? I really want to eat from Suminder Saab's dhaaba]" Cherry exclaimed, keeping aside the toast he was having.
"Nahi, bilkul nahi. Aaj Yuvi Twinkle ka haath ki khaana hi khaaongi! [No, absolutely not. Today Yuvi will only eat food by Twinkle's hand!]" Yuvi chimed in.
Kunj looked up; Yuvi had said Twinkle' instead of his usual Twinkie'. But he didn't have time to dwell on the matter as Twinkle entered just then, with a tray full of delicacies - French toast, cocoa muffins, raspberry pie and pancakes with options of honey, hazelnut or chocolate toppings and strawberry shake.
"Wow Babhi ji {sister-in-law}, hum ko bhi yeh sab khilaao! [Wow Babhi ji, make all of these for us too]" Cherry exclaimed while the others also looked impressively at the masterpiece.
"Sorry Cherry Bhaiya {brother}, I made these exclusively for Yuvi!" Twinkle laughed.
Surjeet expressed his approval of what she was doing now and forgave her for her mistake'. Bebe was also happy. Usha was as usual, well as usual.
But poor Kunj felt left out. All through the breakfast, Twinkle didn't even look up at him. She had sat beside Yuvi and across from him. Every time she looked up, he would stare expectantly at her but she always smiled at Yuvi, Bebe or Cherry and resumed her meal.
Usha, who was noticing all this, whispered in his ears,
"Dekha Kunj, mujhe shuru se patha tha ki yeh ladki acting kar rahi hai. Woh ab bhi uss Yuvraj se pyaar karthi hui. Dekh kaise uski kyaal rakh rahi hai. Usko sirf bahaana chaahiye tha.] [See Kunj, I knew from the very beginning that this girl was acting. She still loves Yuvraj. See how she is taking care of him. She just needed an excuse.]"
"Enough Ma, meine hi Twinkle se kaha tha Yuvi ke kyaal rakhne ko. [Enough Ma, I myself had asked Twinkle to take care of Yuvi.] You don't need to overreact." Kunj shut her up but her words seemed to repeat in his head and got him angrier by the minute.
"Twinkle, mujhe tumse kuch baath karni hai. [Twinkle, I need to talk to you.]" he said finally.
Cherry cleared his throat and the rest laughed.
"We can talk later. Mujhe meri behen se milna hai. Vaise, mein jaa rahi hui, bye! [I need to visit my sister. By the way I am leaving, bye!]" Twinkle said, still not looking at him.
"Twinkie, mein bhi aathi hui na?[Twinkie, I'll also come na?]" Yuvi pouted.
"Sorry Yuvi, we are going to have some girl time. Par kal hum pakka baahar goomne jaayenge. [But we will go out tomorrow for sure]"
"REALLY?? PINKIE PROMISE?" Yuvi clapped.
"TWINKIE PROMISE!"
"Aaram se jaana puththar {child} . [Be careful puththar.]" Bebe called as she made her way out leaving behind a not so happy husband.
To be continued...
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