The Hidden Heir

03. The Watchful Eyes

"Bye dear, see you tomorrow!"
"Good night champion!"
Mrs and Mr Erol bid as they closed the bakery for the night.
"Good night! Take care you two", Eda called out, waving her hands and blowing out a kiss to them. She smiled and turned around as she began her walk home.
It has become her routine now. Eda loved to bake. The sweet aroma would always bring her an unsaid solace amidst the loneliness that she feels sometimes.
Back at the Orphanage, where she grew up, she didn't have any friends. She was bullied and treated so badly that she wanted to run away from that horrible place.
But the fear of having nowhere to go, or no one to help, she had tolerated her everyday's torture. Eda would have been completely lost, or might have been too wounded, even beyond repair, if it wasn't for Mr. Erol.
Mr and Mrs Erol, had been so caring, loving and patient with her. And it had taken a long time for Eda to grow out of her scared little nutshell.
Leyla, Eda's best friend, had helped her more than she could ask for. The independent self, the confidence in facing life, the strength to stand up for herself, were all the push that had come to her in the form of her best friend.
Eda didn't know what she would have done if it weren't for these people. She felt grateful with the thought of these three, as her eyes glistened with overwhelmed tears and her legs took her towards the path that had become etched down her memory and reached the building covered in white paint.
As she went to open the doors, she saw someone getting out and she paused to look at the person.
"You stink!", Eda scrunched her nose a little as she commented.
Leyla turned to glare at her best friend, after closing the door to the building, "Hey, I don't work at a bakery to smell like strawberries and cupcakes. I work in an Animal Clinic; Of course I freaking stink".
Eda pinched her nose tight as she asked, "did you get peed on by a dog or something?"
Now that was just utter disrespect!
"YES! And now, I'm gonna rub and wipe them all over you!!", Leyla shouted as she took fast steps forward to grab Eda's wrist.
"EWWWWW!!!", Eda shrieked as she tried to run away from Leyla.
"Get back here you brat!", Leyla shouted and she started chasing behind Eda.
"Don't you dare touch me!", Eda screamed and ran even faster down the road, that led them both towards the park, near Leyla's house.
"Wait till I get my hands on you!" Layla's taunt's came a little further away as Eda kept running faster.
"No.. do not touch me!", she screamed and giggled while running away from her best friend.
When she couldn't hear Leyla's footsteps behind her anymore, Eda turned her head a little to look behind her and all of a sudden, she bumped into something in front of her, causing her to stumble back.
She gasped and shut her eyes as she was about to fall down. But she never did.
Strong arms held her, around her waist, firmly and she could feel hot breath across her face.
She blinked her eyes open to a pair of dark brown orbs. She blinked again as she noticed black raven hair, contouring the handsome face.
The setting sun caused golden rays to peek through the valleys of the mountains and the strangers' dark eyes gleamed with unexplainable emotions, when met with the green emeralds of Eda's eyes. For a minute, neither of them spoke, unable to comprehend the situation.
"Woahhh!! Am I interrupting something?!", came the teasing voice of Leyla, from behind them both.
The stranger quickly withdrew his hands away from Eda's waist and she squeaked as she stumbled back a few steps. And the man, again quickly grabbed onto her elbows and Eda's fingers clutched onto his shirt to steady herself.
A relieved sigh escaped her lips, as she balanced herself properly. "Eda... Are you okay?", he asked, in his deep baritone voice, sending vibrations deep down Eda's spine and she raised her head to look back at the man who had helped her.
Unable to find her voice, with this close proximity, she blushed, as dark as the red sunset and nodded her head slightly.
When neither of them attempted to move away from each other, it became the duty of the best friend to always ruin the moment.
"Wait! You two know each other?", the surprised voice of Leyla, finally made him blink his gaze away.
The stranger then slowly let go of Eda's hands and turned to face Leyla. Putting his hands into his pockets, he finally introduced himself, "Hi! I'm Emir.... And I met Eda, just this morning, in her bakery", he said, smiling a little, as he turned to look at Eda, staring back at him, with pink tints around her cheeks and ears.
Layla followed his gaze and smiled, as she replied, "well I'm Leyla, Eda's best friend. Nice to meet you Emir".
"W-what are you doing here?", Eda questioned him.
"I heard screaming. You two okay?", he asked, eyebrows scrunched in concern.
Eda bit her lips in embarrassment, as she slowly mumbled, "It was us. we were just fooling around".
"Oh!", His shoulders seemed to relax down a bit and he looked around the park, through the bushes and trees, scanning through the area around them.
Meanwhile, Eda and Layla exchanged a quick glance between themselves. One with curiosity and the other, a bit flustered.
They both turned to look back at Emir when he spoke, "Well, in that case, I'll let you two be..", he said smiling a little at the two and turned to look at just one of them, his voice an octave deeper, "good night Eda".
Eda found it difficult to breathe when she uttered back a small, "good night!". He bowed his head a little and the two girls watched him leave.
"Okay!! I need each and every single detail, right now!!", Leyla demanded the minute they turned to walk towards Leyla's house.
"Oh... There's nothing to be detailing about..!", Eda said, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah right! And I didn't get Peed by a dog today!", Laila teased with sarcasm dipping her tone.
"Wait!!, did you actually get peed on by a dog?", Eda started laughing loudly. "Oh shut up you brat!", Leyla spat.
Both the best friends bickered, laughed and teased their way through the park, towards their home. All the while, oblivious to a pair of dark eyes, watching and following them throughout the setting sun and through the darkness of the night that followed.