New Beginnings: ZeyBar One-Shots

Something Good

Barış stood up at his desk and stretched, rubbing his eyes. He'd been sitting for hours, and he felt like he couldn't focus one more minute without caffeine. It was late, and he was still at the office, wrapped up in a case he'd been working on for the last week. He was meeting with the client in the morning, and he had a lot of work to do. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, already weary. He still wasn't back to 100%, but he was much better than he had been yesterday. Getting sick had really set him behind. He'd missed half a day of work, and that was something he never did.

He walked out into the bullpen in search of coffee and looked over at Zeynep's desk. It was automatic now; his eyes sought her out all the time, craving her smile, the sparkle in her dark brown eyes. Of course she wasn't there, but her work was still spread out over her desk, as if she'd left suddenly, and he worried something might have happened.

He walked over to her desk and looked at what she'd been working on. It seemed she was in the middle of translating something for the case he was currently working on, something he urgently needed. He'd given it to Seyhan to translate, and he thought she'd finished it. Why was it now sitting half-finished on Zeynep's desk?

It wasn't at all like Zeynep to leave something half-done and not let him know, especially when she knew it was urgent, which made him worry even more. He was about to go back to his office to get his phone and call her when the sound of Zeynep's voice surprised him.

"Barış Bey?"

He looked up to see her walking toward him with two mugs of coffee in her hands. His eyes lit up and his lips pulled into a wide smile. "Zeynep? You're here."

She returned his smile. "Yes, Seyhan had a family emergency and she had to go. She's covered for me so many times, since my life is such a disaster." She let out a self-deprecating laugh and Barış was again amazed that she could still smile after everything she'd gone through. She shrugged. "I wanted to do this for her to repay her."

"That's very kind of you, Zeynep. I know Dilara just got home and you'd like to be spending time with her." He looked down at the two mugs of coffee she was still holding, raising his eyebrows. "And you must be really sleepy."

She laughed again. "No," she extended one of the mugs to him. "One of them is for you. I saw you in your office working, and I know you're still not feeling well. You haven't moved for such a long time. I thought you could use one."

He took it from her and took a sip, closing his eyes in appreciation. She'd made it just the way he liked it. He loved the way she paid attention to him. "Mm. That's perfect, Zeynep. Thank you."

She blushed, pleased by his praise. "You're welcome. And don't worry, I'll have this finished soon."

He took another sip of his coffee and nodded. "I know you will, Zeynep. I trust you."

They'd come such a long way from when they first met. She laughed out loud thinking about it, and he looked up at her with a puzzled smile on his face.

"What's funny?"

"I was remembering the first time we met."

He chuckled. "Ah, yes. When I fired you. Good times."

She laughed. "I deserved it. I still don't know that I deserve to be working here after all the trouble I've caused."

He took her hand and squeezed her fingers. "Of course you do, Zeynep. You have earned your place here; don't you ever doubt it." He let go of her hand and changed the subject to diffuse the sexual tension that was building between them. "Why didn't you tell me you were still here? We could have ordered dinner."