My Brightest Star | Bolum 5

1 | Star Light, Star Bright

"Look, Serkan!" Eda squeals excitedly, pointing to the shooting stars that magically appear at the exact time he promised they would. The fallen meteor splinters into fluorescent showers of sparkling light, as they scour rapidly across the vast obsidian sky. They both peer up at the endless night sky, presently illuminated by thousands of twinkling stars. It's a balmy summer night and Eda is ecstatic to be spending this moment with Serkan, in Side, a breathtakingly picturesque ancient city that was once a prominent port town in antiquity.

Serkan had originally planned a solo trip to the Temple of Apollo and the Temple of Dionysus, but Eda's irresistible pout and her beguiling puppy-dog eyes make it virtually impossible for him to exclude her. In hindsight, he's glad that he acquiesced to Eda's exhaustive plea to accompany him on his excursion. Serkan's willpower is no match against Eda's persuasiveness. He ends up caving in more frequently to her than his ego cares to admit.

"Stars give us a sense of hope, you know," Serkan says, candidly.

He's not an intrinsic optimist per se but any inkling of hope between Eda and him seems to put a boyish grin on his handsome face.

"Did you know that the Greek astronomer Ptolemy, theorized that shooting stars was evidence of the ancient gods prying open the cosmic realms to peek down on Earth?" Eda explains enthusiastically, her sultry voice now an octave higher.

"The ancient people believed that if their gods were looking upon the Earth at that particular moment, then they would be more susceptible to hearing and granting the people's wishes," she continues on, with childlike ebullience.

Eda's excitable voice steadily fades into the background. Serkan's preoccupied mind can only capture random staccato words, here and there. His thought is fixated on kissing Eda's luscious crimson lips, perfectly crafted just for that purpose. In Serkan's mind, Eda and him have exchanged a thousand passionate kisses. The imagination of him nibbling on Eda's full bottom lip and kissing her satiny smooth shoulder, makes Serkan flush profusely, while accelerating his pulse to a dangerous level. His rebellious brain refuses to cooperate, as all cerebral function seems to be geared towards admiring Eda's mesmerizing beauty.

She would've caught him with his hand in the cookie jar, for staring at her studiously, had she turned to look at him. It's indisputable that Eda's beauty has bewitched him from the moment he laid eyes on her, at the auditorium. Her delicate and perfectly sculpted features, now irradiated by the gentle moonlight, seem even more angelic to him. Serkan had no doubt that her striking beauty would have served as an inspiration in one of Da Vinci's commissioned paintings during the Renaissance.

Eda infiltrates Serkan's every thought, night and day. Despite how vigorously he has fought to subdue his primal attraction for her, he doesn't seem to have the fortitude to eradicate the burning desire that has found a niche deep in his soul somewhere. It is unequivocal that Eda is as stunning as they come, but her timeless beauty is not the only thing that's making him fall in love with her. Her spirit, her essence, and all the other amalgamated components make up who she is, and contribute to the blossoming love he has for her.

"Serkan...are you listening to me?" Eda's voice punctuates the silence.

"Mhm, yes...I'm familiar with Ptolemy the astronomer." he replies, dubiously.

She cocks her head slightly to one side and looks at him quizzically.

"I said we should close our eyes and make a wish," she quips. Serkan is delighted to oblige; he knows exactly what to ask for, when he closes his eyes and wishes upon a star.

Serkan and Eda are awakened by the glorious sun, blazing through the cloudless Mediterranean sky.

"Whoa...we must have dozed off last night," Eda says, in between yawns, her sleepy brain barely lucid.

Her friends and family often tease her about the state she's in, first thing in the morning. She's been lovingly compared to as one of the characters from "The Walking Dead". Serkan's promise to take Eda on an adventure energizes her to jump start their day.

"Can you just give me a little clue, pretty please?" Eda implores, in a state of utter fascination.

She feels like a kid in a candy store and nothing can curb her enthusiasm, at this point.

"You will find out once we get there," replies Serkan, sardonically.