The Business Trip Part 2

Realizations and Amendments

Dejectedly, he starts walking out towards the car and as he passes her, he hears her tummy growl, realizing how hungry she must be. "Let's get my baby something to eat first, and then get some groceries. Your kitchen was completely bare, did you survive on air this last month?" He queries. "Like you care" Hayat mutters under her breath, not wanting to get into another argument with her, he drives towards a salad and soup place for dinner. Hayat did not realize how hungry she was until she starts eating, after licking the last spoon of ice cream, she catches Murat staring at her, his plate untouched, he had been intently looking at her and enjoying every second watching her focus on the food. How he had missed her, her lustrous long hair, the scent of which made his heart skip a beat, her dimple flashing smile, which could stop traffic, but had faded away now, all thanks to him, her non-stop chatter which he longed to hear, now quiet, all because of his big fat ego. Like it was the most natural thing to do, he reaches out his hand and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and lets his fingers linger a tad bit longer. Hayat looks up at him and they are both caught in the moment, each reminiscing the beautiful times spent in each other's company, they were always so in sync with each other that words were never required to express themselves, a touch, a look, a smile conveyed all their feelings for each other. Murat pulls his hand back, it was time to repair the damage. Better late than never!!

"Aren't you going to eat anything?" she asks, he shakes his head, " No, I'm not hungry", to which she quickly reminds him, "there's nothing at home to eat, unless you want to just drink a glass of milk? It's better if you take some food out for later." she couldn't mask her concern, even now, even after everything he had put her through, she couldn't deny the fact that she would never be able to stop loving him or caring for him. After boxing his untouched food and taking care of the check, they head towards her home, if one could call it that.

It seemed like her apartment had shrunk even more since the last time he was there, with the two of them together it seemed like a tiny match box, Hayat couldn't have been more aware of its shabbiness and magnitude after just having come back from the luxury of Murat's house. Well, she better get used to it.

After wandering around and taking a recce of the rooms, he concludes that he would survive on the sofa unless she preferred for him to join her on the bed, to which Hayat simply rolls her eyes, turns her back to him and walks into the bedroom, he follows right behind her just in time to see the door being shut on his face. "Please do not cross this line, stay out of my way as much as you can, and we should do just fine!" she yells out so he could hear, There was only one small problem in this arrangement, the bathroom was attached to her bedroom and the only way anyone could use it was by going through her room, so she could not lock the door, lest he needed to use the bathroom. After changing into her night clothes, Hayat cautiously walks towards the kitchen to get some water, looking from the corner of her eye, she catches Murat following her with his eyes, with a sad look on his face, before she could attribute the look to him having to make do with the poor living conditions of her small apartment, he quickly says, "I won't bite, you know, Hayat, you don't have to be so cautious around me, I don't mean to stress you out anymore, please relax!" "Relax" she jumps  "Relax, you say, and how am I supposed to relax with you watching my every move? With you hovering around me like a helicopter?" Just then she feels some movement in her lower abdomen, was that the baby? And there it was again, another small flutter, " what is it, Hayat? You look perplexed, are you ok?", he says, feeling guilty, encroaching on her privacy, was he pushing her too much? He was quickly by her side, with a look of concern. " What is it?", "it moved, the baby, it just moved." she whispered, and as if it was the most natural thing to do, she pulls his hand and places it on her slight bulge, and there it was again, he felt the flutter and went in a state of shock, they stood there for God alone knew how long, savoring the moment, each engulfed in a feeling of joy and elation, he draws her close to him and she is unable to pull away as he bends down and kisses her softly on her lips, what starts off as a gentle kiss, rekindles all the hidden passion and love and Murat starts kissing her passionately, she is surprised at her own response, after all that he had put her through, she couldn't pull away, she responds with an equal fervor, how she had missed him, his scent, his touch... the ringing of the phone startles her and she pushes him away, feeling like a child being caught with her hand in the cookie jar, she answers her phone without looking at the caller ID, Emre's voice jolts her back to the present, "Yes Emre, I have those letters with me..... No, no you need not come here to pick them up, I'll drop them off in the morning." she hangs up. Unable to look him in the eye, after their little encounter, she quickly rushes to the restroom, closing the door and leaning on it, she realizes she was shaking, her confidence shattered, her heart broken into pieces, how was she going to make it through, with him in front of her, reminding every minute of what they had shared, of the betrayal, Oh god, it was going to be impossible!

The soft knock on the door brings her out of her reverie, " Hayat, are you ok, you have been there forever, and I really need to use the bathroom." quickly wiping off her tears, splashing some water on the face, taking a deep breath, she opens the door, to find him with a genuinely concerned look on his face. " I'm fine, I keep getting these bouts of nausea a lot", she says walking past him, she gets into her bed without turning back, the day's events and exhaustion getting the better of her, she falls into a deep sleep. She was so tired that she did not even realize when Murat comes out of the restroom. He walks out to find her fast asleep, the soft snoring sound making him realize that he needed to tread cautiously around her and admonishes himself for putting her through so much, gently tucking a strand of hair that had fallen on her face, behind her ear, he leans down and gently kisses her forehead. Hayat lets out a sigh, and out of habit, grabs his arm and brings it to her chest, turns and goes back to sleep. Murat does not know what to do, he doesn't want to wake her up, so he just lays down beside her and falls asleep.