Safe Haven

chapter five

TW:
Early parts of this chapter mentions about abuse and domestic violence. Reader discretion is advised.

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While Eda did her laundry in the sink and after she had taped Aylin's picture to the refrigerator, the ceiling in the living room had begun to leak.

She'd placed a pot beneath the drip and had already emptied it twice.

In the morning, she planned to call Mehmet, but she doubted whether he'd get around to repairing the leak right away. If, of course, he ever got around to fixing it at all.

In the kitchen, she sliced small cubes from a block of cheddar cheese, nibbling as she moved about.

On a yellow plastic plate were crackers and slices of tomatoes and cucumbers, although she couldn't arrange them to look the way she wanted.

Nothing looked quite the way she wanted.

In her previous home, she'd had a pretty wooden serving board and a silver cheese knife with an engraving of a cardinal, and a full set of wineglasses. She'd had a dining room table made of cherry, and sheer curtains in the windows.

But here the table wobbled and the chairs didn't match, the windows were bare, and she and Selin would have to drink wine from coffee mugs.

As horrible as her life had been, she'd loved assembling the pieces of her household, but as with everything she'd left behind, she now viewed them as enemies that had gone over to the other side.

Through the window, she saw one of Selin's lights blink out. Eda made her way to the front door. She watched as Selin splashed through puddles on the way to her house, umbrella in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other.

Another couple of stomps and she was on the porch, her yellow slicker dripping wet.

"Now I understand how Noah must have felt. Can you believe this storm? I've got puddles all over my kitchen."

Eda motioned over her shoulder. "My leak is in the living room."

"Home sweet home, right? Here," Selin said, handing over the wine. "Just like I promised. And believe me, I'm going to need it."

"Rough day?"

"Like you couldn't imagine."

"Hadi, gel."

"Let me leave my coat out here or you're going to have two puddles in your living room," she said, shimmying out of her slicker.

"I got soaked in the few seconds I was out there." Selin tossed her coat on the rocker along with the umbrella and followed Eda inside as she led the way to the kitchen. She immediately set the wine on the counter.

As Selin wandered to the table, Eda pulled open the drawer by the refrigerator. From the back of the drawer, she pulled out a rusted Swiss Army knife and readied the opener.

"This is great. I'm starved. I haven't eaten all day."

"Help yourself. How did it go with the painting?"

"Well, I got the living room done. But after that, it wasn't such a good day."

"What happened?"

"I'll tell you about it later. I need wine first. How about you? What did you do?"

"Nothing much. Ran to the store, cleaned up, did my laundry."

Selin took a seat at the table and reached for a cracker. "Neyse, memoir material."