These Lies Between Us

Chapter 2

Stay with me, Ada.

Bora's words repeated in Ada's head as she lay in bed beside Selin, who lightly snored as she slept. For hours Ada had looked up at her bedroom ceiling, hoping sleep would overtake her, but it hadn't come to free her from Bora's words echoing in her head.

She sat up and rested her face in her palms as she let out a heavy sigh. Ada looked over at Selin, who looked peacefully sleeping and was envious that her friend had quickly fallen into a deep sleep.

Ada slid her hands through her hair and looked at her bedroom window. The rain patted noisily on the glass, the thunder more aggressive with each hour as if the universe sensed how deeply Ada felt and released that back into the world. Ada removed her covers, delicately got out of bed so as not to wake Selin, and tiptoed toward the window. She sat on her bedroom nook, hugged her knees to her chest, and stared down to the street below.

She could see the heavy rainfall illuminated by the streetlights. A couple sharing the same umbrella ran past her window, laughing as they rushed to get to their destination and out of the rain. And in the middle of the sidewalk below was where she and Bora had been a few hours ago.

Ada turned away from the memory, briefly closed her eyes, inhaled a deep breath, and as she opened them again, she met the memory and returned to Bora's words...

"I don't want to hide from it anymore, Ada, because when I see you, I see my dream."

Ada stared up into Bora's midnight eyes, mesmerized by their intensity. No man had ever looked at her the way Bora stared at her at that moment. With desire, longing - desperation. Their lips were mere inches apart, sharing one breath. Ada could feel her body trembling - from the coldness of the rain on her skin, from Bora's proximity, she couldn't say. Her eyes shifted between his eyes to his lips. She could feel herself being drawn in towards him, wanting to meet his lips with her own.

Their mouths were so close that if either of them moved an inch, they would lightly brush the other's lips. But Bora made no sudden movements towards her, allowing her to decide if she wanted to meet him.

Ada could see Bora's chest rapidly rise and fall as if it was taking all his restraint not to have her. She stared up at those intense piercing eyes of his, but the longer she looked at them, the clearer she saw the softness behind them. Ada could feel her heart beating heavily inside her chest, each beat pulling her towards the man she was falling in love with, and as she stared into his eyes - observed the softness of them as he gazed at her - she decided she wanted to meet him.

Ada lifted herself on her tiptoes and felt her lips lightly brush his before she hesitated. They stood frozen, their breathing in sync, neither of them moving.

Then slowly, Ada pulled away from him.

Ada's hand, which Bora had been holding, was no longer joined with his. Her chest ached as she watched him stare down at his empty hand and gradually grip his palm before looking up at her. The eyes that looked at Ada were neither intense nor soft as they were moments ago, but instead, his eyes were now filled with hurt and emptiness.

Rain covered them as they stared at each other, neither of them saying a word, the rainfall hitting the cement floor the only noise between them. Finally, Bora opened his mouth to speak but promptly shut it. He looked away from her and stared out towards the night.

Ada observed the way Bora's shoulders, earlier tall and powerful, now drooped. His arms hung loosely at his sides, and his expression as he stared out towards the darkness was withdrawn. She could see raindrops sliding down his face, and she then, too, felt the rain prickling her skin, the way her wet clothes clung onto her body.