This chapter is dedicated to a special
someone, who recently found out about my stories. She is a pillow pal (She
knows what I mean) of sorts, a person whose expressions while reading these
stories restored faith in me about my writing. Dear 'Midnight Companion' here's
to you. I trusted you with this secret of mine and I don't regret it. Hope you
like it.
CHAPTER 2.
It was one of those nights were Twinkle curls up on the
chair by the balcony, nursing a steaming cup of hot coco wondering how she got
here. Her imaginations were so different than this reality that she was living.
Of course she always wanted to study in NYU but she wanted to study in NYU with
Kunj more. And it was going to be that way until, things changed. But now he was halfway around the globe
living with a girl that wasn't her.
Twinkle traces her fingers around the rim of the cup,
welcoming the warmth it provided. Her eyes were trained on the view her
apartment provided of the Central Park. The leaves were dazzling in hues of
oranges and yellows and red, looking almost like a wildfire waiting to be burn
the whole city down. And she smiles. It was verging to irony but it was a
smile. She always thought her soulmate would be here with her, next to her,
admiring all the colors that nature had on display. But he wasn't. And it made
things bitter sweet. Like a paper cut.
But these days the paper cuts were running a bit too deep
and she was left bleeding a little too much.
It was just another
day in college. Well at least that was what it was supposed to be. But that day
turned out to be the most memorable day of her life for Twinkle.
She never thought a
bunch of eve-teasers could elicit such a reaction from Kunj. Honestly as a girl
she was somewhat used to such cat calls and she had learnt early on to ignore
them. But then a group of guys took it a little too far and blocked her way to
the class room. The looks they were giving her were of the most indecent kind,
almost like stripping her down with their eyes. And she had her hand raised
ready to smack the living day lights out of them. But they really didn't get
the hint. Instead of shamefully backing away, they got hold of her hand and
made some comments that had her blood boiling in fear and disgust. She opened
her mouth, ready to scream and draw the professor's attention, but before she
could get her vocal chords to function, a loud thud resonated through the empty
corridors. The guy in front of her stumbled back with a bloody nose. The guy to
her right received her well placed punch to the eye. He yelped out in pain, and
the two other men surrounding her scurried away like the rats Twinkle thought
of them to be. She heaved a sigh of relief before turning around to face her
savior. "Kunj, kya zaroorat thi unhe peetne ki? Main handle kar leti unhe."
Kunj was fuming. In a
comical situation she could imagine the grey-black smoke emanating from his
ears. Alas, this wasn't a comical situation, and while Twinkle shrugged away
the whole incident away without a care, Kunj on the other hand couldn't. "Koi
tere saath aise zabardasti kare, yeh mujhse bardash nahi hota. Espeacially jab
aise lafunge tujhe pareshaan kare!" He says with clenched fists, his eyes still
trained on the corridor those guys escaped through.
It made Twinkle's
heart swell for some reason, and the butterflies in her tummy were unignorably
annoying too.
"Chal," he laces his fingers
with hers "Class ke liye late ho raha hai."
And just like that,
with one single touch of his, she was Iridescent.
A rude honk of a truck from the streets below break Twinkle
out of her trance. She lets out a sigh before deciding it was best to catch up
on her college assignments. She boots up her laptop and gets on with it.
Unfortunately, despite her best intentions she finds herself stalking Kunj on
Facebook. Of course it wasn't stalking if they consider themselves to be each
other's best friend, that's how Twinkle justifies this. She was merely catching up, right?
Well at least that's how she convinces herself. The past
week has been hectic for the both of them. College was back on for both of them
and the 10-hour time difference kind of sucked. She would wake up and he would
be preparing for bed. She would return home dead tired from University and he
would be having his breakfast.
But that didn't mean that they didn't talk. Quite on the
contrary, they managed to catch up-a lot. And if catching up meant that she would be
late for her classes the next day then be it. He was worth it. Their friendship
was worth it.
Friendship...
How she always wished that they were more than just friends,
has been wishing the same since she was 15. But she wouldn't be sitting here
alone in New York, if they were anything more than friends. It isn't meant to
be' she tells herself repeatedly, hoping that if she says it enough number of
times then maybe, just maybe her heart will be fooled.
Ping. A message.
Kunj: You online?
Twinkle: Hi! :)
Kunj: Ab tak soyi nahi??
Twinkle: Assignments... Kill me :(
Kunj: XD Enjoy!
Twinkle: Please...
Kunj: Acha okay! Okay! What's the assignment about?
Twinkle: Customer and Manager conflict in Event Management.
Kunj: Ugh! Why?!
Twinkle: If only I knew! Kuuunnnjjj! Help ME!
Kunj: Acha yeh sab chod, have a break, have a KitKat XD. Tu
kaisi hai?
Twinkle buries her head in the pillow on her lap, letting
out a groan in frustration. She was supposed to do her assignment! Damn it!
And here she was chatting with her best friend at 1 in the
night! And he wasn't helping!
Ping.
Kunj: You there?
Twinkle: Yea...
Kunj: Acha listen, I have just linked you a couple of
articles that could possibly help you with your assignments. WELCOME!
He always does this, teases her, mocks her, frustrates her
but by the end of the day he is the one who ultimately stands by her. Twinkle
finds herself biting down a smile, knowing how he knows just to push her to her
to her limits and then make her laugh.
Twinkle: Idiot!
Twinkle: Thank you.
Kunj: :D Chal ab jaa, apna assignment complete kar
Twinkle: You mean assignment start karu right?
Kunj: Tu kabhi nahi badlegi na? Ab tak start bhi nahi kiya?
Chal All the best anyway.
They bid each other goodbye. Twinkle yet can't focus on her
studies. She sighs, getting up and making her way to the kitchen to grab
herself a glass of chilled water. It clears her mind, jolts her awake and she
gets back to work.
.
.
.
Halfway around the globe, Kunj was faring slightly better
than his best friend. He flipped his laptop shut, and opened the menu of the
Chinese restaurant down the street.
"Maya!" he yelled
out, trying to grab the lady's attention.
"Lunch mein kya khaogi?"
"Chicken Lo Mein, aur fried rice. Oh, gravy mat bhool na!"
she yells back from the bedroom.
Kunj smiled. She ordered exactly what he knew she would.
The past six months were bliss and Kunj often lays awake in
bed thinking how moving to Mumbai with Maya to pursue their studies was the
best decision of his life. They had rented a 2 BHK apartment in Mumbai, half an
hour's walk away from their University and about an hour away from the beach.
Mumbai is magical. And maybe it has something to do with the
company he has with him and also a lot to do with the fact that he was with his
soulmate- Maya.
He remembers the day when he became Iridescent perfectly.
He had stupidly agreed
to a race with a few of his friends through the corridors of the college. The
race was simple. The first one to each the college library on the third floor, and
grab the last copy William's book was the winner. The losers were to pay for
the week's canteen expense of the winner. Simple.
So, On your marks,
get set, GO!' was called and Kunj was leading, until she popped in between the
corridor out of nowhere.
Well, technically she
had just come out of the computer lab, totally unaware of the race had stopped
in the middle of the corridor when she felt the strap of her heel come undone.
And then
BAM!
Kunj crashed into her,
the books she was holding were dropped mercilessly down on her foot and she let
out a pained yelp.
Kunj being the perfect
gentleman he is, stopped and decided to help the woman up. And their fingers
touched...
It sent a shot of
electricity through his veins, from the tip of his fingers to the dendrites of
his nerve cells. And he watched in utter amazement as colors starting seeping
in. First from the point of contact, and then from the corners of his
peripheral vision. His eyes shot up in surprise. And so did hers.
"YOU!" They both
exclaimed at the same time. Rosy hue taints both their cheeks and they lower
their gaze from each other, unsure how to proceed.
Surprisingly it is
Maya that extends her hand first, "I am Maya."
"Kunj." he
reciprocates with a firm shake. He helps her pick up her books, the race long
forgotten, "So...Coffee?"
Maya hides her blush
behind the curtain of her cascading hair and answers with a small yes.
The coffee date went
exceptionally well. They got along right off the bat and the shared the same
sense of humor. She was just the right combination of childishness and the
maturity. She was the perfect soulmate for him and this was only their first
date!
Kunj, fondly smiles at the memory. He had never been the one
to completely agree with the Theory of Soulmates' but then he met Maya and
well he had a change in perspective.
.
.
.
Kunj's phone had a bad habit of ringing at 2 in the night.
And the aggravation on his face for being woken up in the middle of the night
would soon be replaced with a sloppy smile when he read the caller ID with
squinted eyes. Siyappa Queen'.
He swipes his thumb across the green button, and places the
mobile against his ear. "Guess what?!" she says before he can even get a
hello' in. Typical Twinkle.
"What?"
"Nahi Kunj! Guess!"
"DDLJ phirse TV par aa rahi hai?" he says the first thing
that comes up in his mind.
Twinkle murmurs something along the line of him being a
Excitement Spoiler' and then clears her throat to let him in on the real
reason for her mirth. "I got an A on that freaking assignment, woh, Customer
and Manager conflict wala. Professor Miles bahut khush the mera assignment
padhne ke baad!"
He smiles because he can practically hear the happiness in
her voice. But damn him, if he is letting go of his opportunity to tease her.
"Toh tu indirectly yeh kehna chahti hai na, ki mujhe A' mila hai. Dekh tujhe
woh reference articles maine bheje the, so technically tujhe A' mere wajah se
mila hai."
"Oho, Mr. Sadoo Sarna, itna bhaav khana sehat ke liye acha
nahi hota hai okay? Mana ki tumne who articles bheje, par jaise tumne kaha, woh
sirf Refernace Articles' the. Sari mehnat toh actually mein maine ki hai,
samjhe?" She retorts back, but she knows how he is pulling his tongue in
between in teeth to refrain from laughing out loud. "Acha, who sab chodo. Tum
so rahe the?"
"Nahi Twinkle, of course not! Raat ke do baje maine toh
Banjo bajane ki practice kar raha tha!"
"Acha, phir theek hai. Agar tum so nahi rahe the, toh hum
abhi aur baat kar sakte hai." She answers his sarcasm with cheekiness. "Toh
bolo, tumhara college kaise chal raha hai? Professors kaise hai? Maya kaisi
hai? Mumbai kaisa hai?"
"Dheere dheere, meri Rajdhani Express!" he halts her train
of questions.
Hearing him call her Meri' just did things to her tummy,
and it made her cheeks heat up in a scarlet blush, even though the Meri' was
followed by Rajdhani Express'!
But before he could get a word of response in after that, he
heard someone calling out for her from the other end of the line.
"Kunj, I have to go, Yuvi bula raha hai. I'll call you later
okay? Sorry, bye." And the line goes dead.
It irks Kunj for some reason, having Twinkle abruptly cut
their conversation like that. She had never done so before, not even her mom
used to ask her. But, now this Yuvi,
whoever he may be had the power to make Twinkle end a call with him. Who was
this guy?' Kunj wonders, all traces of sleep being vanished from his eyes.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Well, how is it? I am experimenting with a non-liner
vignette style of writing, how are you guys liking it? I sit any good? Please
do drop down a comment. They are my biggest motivation...Please and Thank you!
Edited by neverlandspirit - 7 years ago
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