With Every Gaze And Touch...

Before London - Part 1

A/N: Hello! I wrote this one months ago when I was looking for ideas for potential fanfictions. After reading @millie2wolfhard 's one-shot about EdSer meeting before his trip to London, I decided to complete and modify it. So this is my AU version of EdSer meeting before Serkan's London trip, with a twist. Enjoy!

Looking at the night-sky, her hands wrapped around a steaming cup of tea, Eda Yildiz sighed. The warmth coming from the mug soothed her agitated mind. What a crazy couple of days she had had! If someone had told her not even a week ago that she would now be involved with Serkan Bolat, the man she despised the most on earth, she would have laughed at them wholeheartedly. She extended her arm in front of her face and looked at the gleaming engagement ring adorning her finger. It was shaped as a flower and – even though it pained her to admit it – she loved it.

She sighed again. Engaged. To Serkan Bolat. How was that even possible?

Settling in the settee and covering herself with a soft blanket, she started recalling how she had come to that point.

It had all begun when the girls – namely Melo, Fifi and Ceren – had wanted to go to Serkan Bolat's lecture at the university. How could she have passed such an opportunity to finally meet him and give him a piece of her mind? The man had had the pretence of offering scholarships to students and then cut them off from one day to the other. What she had not expected though, was for him to be so breathtakingly handsome. Of course she knew he was, from the countless pictures she had seen of him, but those had done him no justice at all!

The man had entered the conference room as if he owned the place, filling it with his presence and mesmerizing more than one in attendance. Eda had been awestruck. Handsome wasn't even close to describing his looks. He walked with ease and confidence, impeccably dressed in his blue suit, hands casually resting inside of his pockets. He had greeted the audience with his charming crooked smile then sat across the moderator. His voice was deep, smooth, like a caress sending goosebumps on Eda's skin.

She had shaken her head to get rid of that weird sensation. Fortunately for her, as he had started giving his speech she had also remembered why she even disliked him in the first place. He had had the audacity to mention the university scholarships that his company supposedly gifted to top promising students. That much was a lie because Eda herself had been a victim to that fraud.

At one point, she had not been able to hold it in any more and had confronted him. He had then dared asking her to come into the light and show herself. Of course she had. She wasn't afraid of him or anyone for that matter. She would gladly confront him a million times if she had to. What an insufferable, egocentric man!

The atmosphere had been electric as they had looked at each other, every person in the room holding their breath as to what these two would do or say to each other.

"Well, to date we have given scholarships to 27 students from six universities."

"You didn't. Or rather, you gave them and then canceled them."

"Maybe there was an error in registration. May I have your name?"

"No. You can't. You don't deserve to know my name."

With one last look into his hated – but beautiful – eyes, Eda had stormed out of the conference room. She wanted justice to be done but she didn't want his pity. She had always wanted to become a landscape architect and had dreamt about this scholarship in Italy for a long time. Nevertheless after graduating at the top of her class and being accepted as part of it, they had decided to cut it short. She had had to abandon her studies and work with her aunt Ayfer who was a florist. At least she was among her beloved flowers and nature but it had left her with a sour taste. All she had wanted was to make her family proud. What would her parents think were they still alive?