A Cinderella Story - ZeyBar

Chapter Twenty-three

The flight to Sofia went by so quickly. We landed in the capital of Bulgaria just an hour after taking off from Istanbul. Fortunately for me, my first plane ride was for such a short distance, although that didn't stop me from panicking when the plane's wheels left solid ground and I found myself in the air, tightly clutching Barış's hand, who I know secretly laughed at me but never let go of my fingers.

When we left the Bulgarian airport, the sun greeted us and a car was waiting for us in front, which took us to a tall and new residential building, where Barış's apartment was located.  It smelled amazing inside, as if the place hadn't been uninhabited for months, quite the opposite.

"I called to have the rooms cleaned and prepared before we came, don't look so surprised." - laughed the man next to me.

"I hope you told them to cook something because I'm starving!" - I exclaimed, and dropping my suitcase by the door, I collapsed onto the soft couch in the middle of the room. Barış laughed again and sat down next to me.

"What do you want to eat, shall I order something? "

"What do Bulgarians eat?"

"They have quite similar cuisine to ours, actually. And quite tasty."

"Okay then, surprise me. Just let it come soon!"

...

After lunch and the little time we had to rest from the trip, Barış had a business meeting, so we headed to his office. I couldn't wait to see it.

"We've arrived, küçük hanım, welcome to my first office!" - Barış parked in front of the building and we headed towards its entrance.

Perhaps out of habit, he reached out to take my hand, and then I thought about it

"Barış. Are we entering hand in hand?"

"Why not?" - he shrugged as if I was asking a stupid question.

"Everybody knows you here. They also know their colleagues in Istanbul, who know me. It will quickly become clear who you entered hand in hand with!"

"Ugh, Zeynep, why do you always think so much? Okay, good, here." - he let go of my hand and walked towards the building again. I didn't like it either, but what could I do?!

"Wait!" - I caught up with him and kissed him on the cheek, not paying attention to the fact where I was. - "Please, don't be angry..." - I whispered to him. Again, the guilt hit me like a hurricane.

"Not angry. You're right" - his hand went up, but he lowered it. It was as if he wanted to show closeness, to touch me, but then he realized that he shouldn't. - "You know that in Istanbul we make eye contact a lot. Leyla certainly knows about us. Perhaps there are others who have noticed it. But it hasn't reached our parents yet."

"I know. I know, but that's not what I mean. I don't want to be known as their boss's girlfriend, Barış. I'll feel better if they consider me one of them. Lawyer, colleague, friend..."

"Aha I get it." - he laughed. - "You don't want them to envy you, do you?"

"Şuna bak, you think they'll be jealous? "

"Okay, okay, come on, Mrs. Zeynep, let's not be late for the meeting!" - he winks at me once and crosses the threshold of his company, and I follow him, looking at the incredible atmosphere and interior that surrounds us.

Barış received a greeting from every person we passed before we reached the huge room with hundreds of desks, full of people fully engaged and engrossed in their work. No one noticed us until Barış spoke.