Too Little, Too Late

29

August 25th was a Wednesday and in the early hours of that morning, Bella and Ibrahim returned from Fiji while the others came back to Aomi from Costa Casa.

As the chartered vehicle neared Downtown Aomi, Bella sighed deeply. "Back to our day to day lives and lies."

Ibrahim, who'd held her hand throughout the ride from Raven Isle to the capital city, squeezed gently. "We'll be fine."

She turned from the tinted window, towards him. "I know. I just really had fun with you since we left and it's going to take more than twenty-four hours for me to get back into the Bella who's happy for you and Ayra. It's getting tiring."

"We knew what we were signing up for."

She sighed again. "We did...Well, you have it harder. You have to bounce out of Serkan mode in less than an hour." She smiled devilishly. "Sucks to be you, Serkan."

"You don't have to rub salt on my wounds."

She laughed, the sound blissful to his ears. "You know I love you." Her mood dampened as The Oasis came into view. "That reminds me. I should call our other Serkan to come down for a bit. It's been a while and I need to remind Ayra that he's alive and well before I start getting paranoid each time she decides to stop by because you're in."

"And maybe we can introduce him to Ibty this time. To solidify everything."

Bella nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like a plan. I'll deal with it later when I wake up. Expect me up later tonight. Let it not seem like I didn't miss her."

"You and I both know you didn't."

She smiled easily. "I didn't. But it's thrilling, you know? How gullible she is. How gullible she's been. She makes it really easy and when we're all together, I sometimes wonder how dense she is that she doesn't notice that there's so much going on in front of her. She really loves you."

Ibrahim's smile was gone and there was a slight furrow of his brows as he wondered why there was a very little part of him that felt as though something was wrong. He shook it off and smiled at Bella. "She really does."

"You good?"

"Yep." He stole a quick kiss. "I'm perfect."

By the time they got out of the car minutes later, both their masks were back on. Gone were Serkan and Bella who had a perfect time in Costa Casa and Fiji. Back in place were Bella and Ibrahim; Co-CEOs of The Hexad and the best of friends amongst the members of the squad.

The reception staff were more than happy to have them back and they – Bella and Ibrahim – played their roles well, stating they were glad to be back too as "work was so stressful" and "there's really no place like home". They took the elevator up, to Bella's floor, and once the door of their apartment shut behind them, Ibrahim's lips were on Bella's. He kissed her long and hard, taking everything he could before he had to head up. Understanding perfectly well, Bella gave him all she had to offer.

When they both pulled apart, Ibrahim focused on catching his breath for a long minute before he kissed her hair. "Be good."

"I could say the same thing to you."

He chuckled. "I'm always good."

"Get lost."

Five minutes later, he was in the elevator with a small box he hadn't travelled with; just so Ayra didn't suspect anything. When the carriage stopped on the tenth floor, he breathed in and out, told himself to get back into the role of being Ayra's husband, and then he got out. The floor was peacefully quiet and it was fine by him. Stopping in front of the door he'd gotten used to, he inputted the passcode and pushed the door open once it unlocked.