Yours, truly

Chapter 5

They sat at the best table facing the sea. Serkan took a seat in front of her, admiring her beauty as the wind messed with her hair. But that didn't seem to disturb her, in fact, it looked like she loved it.

"It's so calm here. I like it. Do you come here often?" he asked as he took a sip from his coffee which he really liked too.

"Yes, I do. Efe brought me here for the first time a few years ago on my birthday." Eda smiled, recalling the memory.

"You seem to have a good relationship with him." Serkan noted, having seen how they joked around with each other, making him recall and miss doing the same with his brother too.

"Yes, he teases me a lot. But I love him like a brother. I don't know what I would do without him and I'll forever be grateful to him for what he's done for me. Plus, I don't have anyone else left so we're kind of stuck with each other." Eda explained and Serkan didn't fail to notice the hint of sadness evident in her eyes even though she was doing a good job at hiding it.

"That's not true." He countered and then stopped to think a second. "I mean Art Life is your family now too."

"Yeah." Eda smiled. "Forgive me for the curiosity but I have to ask. How did you get stuck with Selin anyway?" she asked, making Serkan chuckle and cover his eyes with his hand. "Where do I start?"

"From the very beginning." Eda said and leaned her head on her palms, waiting curiously to know what he was about to say.

"Our parents are partners and her father helped mine a lot. Now, my dearest parents are trying to set me up with her not only because they feel indebted towards them, but because Selin pressures her father a lot on this topic." Serkan explained as Eda covered her open jaw with her hand.

"Damn. Believe me, I get it." Eda chuckled loudly, making him narrow his eyes. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"You can't even stand her." She laughed, her dimples showing as she smiled. "So why keep her around?"

"I can't get rid of her even if I wanted to. Apart from being a shareholder at Art Life, she's the best PR throughout Turkey. So I kind of have to put up with her." Serkan added.

"Yeah, we all do. So you've never, ever dated her?"

"I have. In the past. But didn't last long and I broke things off with her. Earlier, you mentioned that you get it. Why?" Serkan asked, hoping it was not too much of a sensitive topic to talk about, which it was.

"Well, my grandmother hated my mom's guts, but my father loved her. She wanted him to get married with a woman of her choosing, being the crazy, psychotic, maniac, possessive... and the list goes on and on. Long story short, she became the reason for my parents' death 5 years ago. And then she had the audacity to come to me and try to take me in and marry me with a man of her own choosing just like she wanted to do with my father. Efe is my aunt's only son, he took me in and helped me get my life back to normal. That's pretty much it. We've both cut ties with them." Eda explained, the lump of unexplained feelings already formed in her throat. She hadn't shared this with anyone, and talking about it for the first time in such a long time felt weird.

"I'm so sorry to hear that." Serkan uttered surprised as he took her small hands in his. "I may not know how you feel exactly but I do understand it, coming from a dysfunctional family myself. At least you know your parents loved you. And that love will stay in your heart forever, even though they're gone" he added, wiping a tear from her beautiful face. "I don't want to see tears in your eyes anymore. You deserve so much more."

"Yeah" Eda gave him a small and sad smile. "So do you. Even though I know you won't, don't let them try and control your life. And I'm not saying this because I hate Selin's guts but because I can see that you don't love her."