Leaving In the Wake of Lies - An AdBor Fanfic

Target 2: Bora

The morning following the Selin debacle, everyone starts arriving to work. All the employees are present, including Bora, Ali, Selin, and Ada.

Quite unlike the usual, Selin and Ada are found at their desks alone, as opposed to huddling at the coffee counter. Each desk sports a silent woman, who is studiously completing each assigned task in total silence, only speaking where necessary. Neither glance at one another nor pass messages to each other through others. They only approach one another when the task asks them to. The tension in the air is enough to smother any nearby passersby and high enough to catch Bora's attention.

Time seems to trickle by and eventually it is 11 o'clock. Selin seems to have reached the end of her patience and is now throwing covert glances every so often Ada's way. Glances that hold either anger or disappointment or even both, as opposed to those regular ones filled with easy smiles and joy. Those few glances are not so sly that they escape everyone's notice though. Both Ali and Bora notice, but choose to ignore them, deciding that it is something between the girls, and will give it some time to resolve itself.

During his lunch, Ali approaches Selin asking, "Would you like to accompany me for lunch? Let's eat together."

Selin follows, but Ali notices that even though she is physically present in front of him, her mind is not there with them. She is absent. Deciding to put an end to this show of ignorance, he questions, "Selin? What is wrong? Something seems to be amiss between you and Ada today. Did something happen?"

The questions pull Selin back to the present, and she takes a moment to ponder whether she should say anything or not. But reflecting on Ada's behaviour today encourages her to lay it all out, to tell Ali what she has suffered since yesterday.

"Oh Ali, you won't believe what Ada said to me yesterday!" Selin starts, then continuing with, "It was blasphemous. She was so ill-mannered, she was nothing like who she always is. If only you knew what she said. She said...," she trails off as she recounts the entirety of last night's events.

Now that she has started, she can't seem to stop herself. Talking about this is relieving, it is easing the burden off her shoulders.

Hearing the accusations, Ali feels shocked yet he tries to maintain his composure, knowing that it would do him no good to go and ask what Ada meant saying all this. He wraps his arm around Selin's shoulders and pulls her in for a side hug, pressing her to his side, trying to convey his apologies and pass some strength off to her. They then return to their desks and try to continue with their day.

An hour later, Bora finds a dejected Ali sitting at the office's coffee counter with a cup of coffee in front of him. The only thing is the coffee has gone cold, and Bora knows that Ali cannot stand cold coffee, that he needs his coffee hot enough to burn the roof of his mouth. He knows something is amiss, that something has been amiss the entire day, but now it seems to have also affected his cousin. He pulls up to Ali calling his name, however, he is met with silence.

"Ali," Bora calls whilst clapping Ali on his shoulder.

A relatively startled, "Cousin," follows.

"Ali, what's wrong? Why do you look so soulless? Did something happen?" Bora questions.

"No, no. Everything is okay. I'm fine. Selin's fine too."

"But I didn't even ask about Selin. I asked about you. There is something wrong. Tell me. Let's see if I can be of any help."

"Bora. Stop. Everything is fine. No lies."

"You normally don't keep stuff from me, so it must be something big," he trails off as he notices Selin approaching. Her eyes look swollen and puffy, and he realizes that she must have cried.