My Turkish Heart

Chapter 41: Time to take a step back..

Izzy sat on her bed, sobbing softly into her pillow, she felt so crushed by the call. She was doubtful before, but had faith that Burak would never do that to her. Once is explainable , but why twice would this woman have access to his personal phone. Burak was someone that wouldn't let his personal belongings lay scattered anywhere for anyone's perusal, so Izzy found their relationship more convincing because of how easily this woman had access to his things.

Still stuck in her wave of emotions she got a call from Rachel. It had been a long time since they spoke as Rachel took her kids away for a vacation and wanted to be off the radar for a bit.

"Hello stranger, do you still remember me?" Rachel said cheerfully.

Izzy hurriedly wiped her tears away, cleared her throat and took a deep breath before answering her.

"Who is this I am speaking to?" Izzy teased.

"Funny! Why do you sound so strange? "

"I have some bad hay fever" Izzy lied.

"Ahhh! Get well soon! Did you miss me?"

"Who could not miss you? Also what happened to staying off the radar, you probably made everyone jealous with your island holiday images"

"Isn't that the point?" Rachel said and laughed so hard.

Izzy felt a bit better hearing Rachel's voice, as it was so cheerful in the moment when she felt so sad.

"Ok, back to business. I'm actually calling you for a favor" Rachel's tone changed to a more soft and sweet appeal.

"If you start changing your voice like this then its a big favor! I won't do anything illegal!" Izzy joked.

"Funny, funny! I really need your help please...."

"Tell me what it is first"

"I was supposed to be back this week and work on an event out of town, but my daughter got sick and is recovering here before flying back. Everything is already arranged, literally just need someone I trust to oversee the final details" Rachel explained.

"Is your daughter okay? Hmm.. doesn't sound as illegal as I thought" Izzy said sarcastically.

"Yeah, she's doing better than yesterday. I just didn't want her to do a long flight in this condition, so I changed the flight. The "illegal' part , might be the venue, but as far as I remember you should be more excited about it than me"

"The venue? Why would I be excited about it? We work at various venues in general, I don't really have a favorite" Izzy said, trying to figure out which venue was exciting for her.

"The lodge in Knysna silly! The one where you met your Turkish Prince Charming" Rachel teased.

Izzy froze in the moment thinking of going back and reliving some of the memories. Right now that is the last thing she would be excited to do , on the contrary the less she thought of Burak would be more exciting for her. Unfortunately, Rachel did not know the latest news and she didn't want her personal issues to affect her professionalism.

"Izzy are you still there? " Rachel called out.

"Yes, yes.. When do you need me to go?"

"In the next two days I need you to arrive there and check how far things are. It's quite an expensive client so feel free to splurge if you need anything last minute and the company will reimburse you. Is Burak still there? You can ask him to tag along" she suggested.

"No, he headed back home to do some business" Izzy said coldly.

"What a bummer! Thought you guys could treat it like a romantic getaway, well hopefully next time"

"Yeah, next time.." Izzy forced a sympathetic tone.

"I'll email you the details and ask the secretary to share the planner we worked on to you. Thanks! You're a star!" Rachel said before she hung up.

After the call, Izzy sat in a daze in her room. She was experiencing mixed emotions regarding everything that happened in the last few hours. Thinking about heading to the lodge, she felt reluctant, but tried telling herself that it might be a nice short break. Heading to bed that night, she tried clearing her mind of all thoughts, hoping that it would reduce her chance of dreaming about Burak.

The next morning, she was woken up by a very familiar scent. A scent that reminded her of her childhood vividly and she knew that only one person could create that aroma. Stretching herself out, grabbing her gown and heading downstairs, she saw that her guess was right. Her mother was home and cooking up their childhood favorite breakfast meals.

"Mom! You're here!" she said excitedly and ran over to give her a tight squeeze.

"You're awake!" her mother smiled brightly at her.

"I thought I smelt your cooking and wanted to see if I was dreaming" Izzy explained.

"Have a seat kiddo! You want juice or coffee?"

"I'll have some juice please"

" I came home to share some good news with you girls, but those other two sleepyheads aren't up yet. So I'll tell you first"

Izzy looked up at her mom surprised by the words " good news" she hadn't heard any of that lately, she thought.

"What is it mom?"

"Your father's surgery will be the day after tomorrow. And his vitals are looking good, so the surgeon is feeling optimistic about his recovery" her mom said delighted by sharing the news.

"Oh wow! That is good news.... but...."

"But what? What's wrong Iz?"

"I just remembered I need to go out of town that day for work. Rachel called last night and said she can't make it back in time and needed someone to head there as it's quite a big client"

Just as Izzy was explaining Emma and Daisy came downstairs to join them.

"Just in time!" her mother said to them.

"Where are you going Izzy?" Daisy asked.

Izzy explained to them about her business trip that she needed to go on that coincides with their father's surgery day.

" You should go kiddo! As I said the surgeon is optimistic about your dad's recovery, so don't worry too much. Also, your lives have been long on hold because of this and you know your father will be mad if he found out" her mother reassured her.

" Yeah Iz, we will be with mom in any case, so you should go" Daisy added.

"Okay..but I will leave the lodge's number on the fridge in case you can't get hold of me on my mobile"

Emma listened to all the arrangements and hid her sly grin on her face, she knew it was a perfect opportunity for Serkan to take action.

They had breakfast together and then had a girls pamper day at a nearby spa. It was Daisy's idea, as she told them that their father wouldn't want to see how haggard they have all become. So they took a day for a full relaxation treatment and then went to eat out for dinner. It had been a while since they all had such fun together, even Emma seemed more relaxed.

The next evening as Izzy packed up for her business trip, she felt a sense of deja vu. Reminiscing of how she met Burak and also all their little tiffs they had before finally getting together. Bittersweet memories that lingered in her mind, as she couldn't help but think about where he was now and tried not to imagine what  he could possibly be doing.

"Take  a step back Izzy.. Everything has it's time.." she told herself.