Luce di Stella • Kenan Yildiz

Chapter 58: What Next?

🎶 Ava — Famy 🎶

"Kenan said there was someone picking me up, but I definitely didn't expect you" Kenan's mum said as she walked over to me with her trolley in hand.
"Surprise" I replied and smiled sweetly at her before I started walking. I had tactically parked at the lot that was furthest away from the arrivals. It was a hot day and when we stepped outside, I put on my sunglasses and lit up my Iqos.

"I never liked you smoking" she commented and I rolled my eyes, which she thankfully couldn't see behind the glasses.
"You never liked me in general" I countered.
"That's not true, I just didn't like the idea of you and Kenan together" she tried to correct me, but I shortly stopped in my tracks and raised my eyebrows at her.
"That didn't really help through our issues" I scoffed before continuing to walk, sure as hell not offering to push her suitcase.

After a nice ten-minute walk in the 30° heat (I loved late summers), we arrived at my car and I left her to load up her trolley alone.
"Oh, the aircon's not working by the way" I told her as I buckled up and started the engine. She seemed close to being exasperated and knew I was just doing all this to wind her up, so she wisely just changed the topic.

"How is he?" she asked.
"Worse than when we broke up" I just commented.
"I doubt that" she chuckled. "The first six months at Chelsea... It was hard to see your son hurting" she sighed.
"You could have just told him to come back" I scoffed.
"I did when the offer came in a year ago" she replied and smiled. My head shot right to look at her, not believing my ears.

The rest of the car ride was spent in utter silence, more to the fact that I was speeding at my usual 190-200km/h and she seemed to be close to throwing up any minute though. We arrived at Kenan's apartment and I opened up with the keys I had stolen, which definitely didn't go unnoticed by my possibly future mother-in-law.
"Mama!" Kenan exclaimed as she walked in and she immediately hurried to the couch to engulf her son in a tight hug. My eyes watered a bit - how much would I give to receive such a warm hug from my parents from time to time. But they were far away and we had lived apart for such a long time now that we had all gotten used to the distance.

"Alright, if you give me a grocery list, I can hop out to get that while you two catch up?" I offered and she looked at me confusedly.
"Oh, right... You don't cook" she commented.
"No, I don't. And I'm not your son's employee, so be happy that I miss out on work right now to do this" I snapped back, the rest of my patience hanging by a thread. She nodded and grabbed some paper and a pencil on which she quickly scribbled a lot of words while I already started panicking how I would get all the wrong stuff and she'd think I was even more incompetent than she already thought I was.

"Thanks for doing this" Kenan whispered as his mum was coming back and I shot him a small smile before wordlessly taking the list and heading out. At the store, I panicked and even called by old nanny Donatella to help me out because I didn't know what Beate had meant when writing "salad" - there are like a million types of salads. I was close to a mental breakdown, and bought more stuff than necessary, with the cashier giving me a weird look, but I was still proud that I managed to get this done.

However, when I was back in my car, I just realised how pathetic I was. I was 25 and didn't even know how to do a grocery run. I usually lived off takeout or just went to restaurants and had absolutely no idea of how to run a home. No wonder Kenan's mum wasn't a fan of mine.
"I'm back" I announced, carrying up the first two bags, because I was too weak to carry them all at once. Kenan immediately stood up from the couch and hobbled over, but realised he could be of no big help.

"Where's your mum?" I asked.
"Doing my laundry, she'll start cooking soon now that you have returned" he replied and shot me a small smile. "Thanks, by the way. Did you buy me some sweet stuff?" he asked, his face hopeful.
"Excuse me? I am the sweet stuff" I chuckled and he did too, looking at me adoringly.
"Ah, there you are!" Kenan's mum interrupted our moment and I quickly walked back downstairs again to get the rest of the groceries.

"I'll... just leave you guys alone for dinner..." I said at some point and Kenan was about to protest when the doorbell rang. I furrowed my eyebrows and walked to the door to open up and see who it was - only to be met by my cousin.
"Hey, hey, hey! I heard I'm going to take care of a poor, injured, single guy!" he exclaimed and clapped his hands as he walked inside. "Kenan, my man!" he chuckled and they shook hands and hugged. "By the way, don't worry, we'll hit all the clubs and I'll get you the best girls when- oh, hello, you must be the mum! I'm Umbi, nice to meet you, hey- you guys have got the same eyes! I'm Bea's cousin by the way, but I'm way cooler, I'd never let myself get dumped by Kenan, pah! Ohh, nice, there's dinner, can I stay over?" my cousin brabbled leaving me and Beate with our mouths hanging, while Kenan was looking very amused.

"Of course, the more, the merrier. Bea was just saying that she'd love to stay too" Kenan replied and smiled sweetly as I shot him a deadly glare, squinting my eyes at him, but he just winked back.
"Um... fine... whatever..." Beate mumbled and I hurried after her into the kitchen.
"Can I... help?" I asked nervously as she raised her eyebrows in response.
"You can just set the table" she replied. "Thanks" she added after a second and I took a deep breath to keep myself as calm as possible.

After a bit, food was ready and I almost threw up at the smell of the sauerkraut, which Umbi however seemed to love. It was mostly him chatting animatedly with Kenan and his mum looking at my cousin as if he was an alien creature, while I just swallowed the German food, hoping that I could get home soon to brush my teeth and get rid of the bad breath I was getting from that. My phone suddenly vibrated and I pulled it out from my back pocket to read the notification on my lock screen.

"Your surgery is scheduled for Wednesday next week" I announced, interrupting their conversation. "Can you be there for him?" I asked his mother.
"I'm... Kenan... I have to get back to Papa in a few days, I'm sorry, I..." she mumbled and took her son's hand, and he gave her a reassuring smile.
"It's ok, Mama" he replied and stroked his thumb over her hand.
"Fine! Thanks for your help, I'll go" I scoffed, annoyed as hell by this whole situation. "Good night" I announced as I stood up and grabbed my bag before leaving, and maybe slamming the door behind me a tad bit too strong.

I knew that I was overreacting, while I was still in the dark about what the deal with Kenan's dad and his sickness was. But here I was, having to clear my busy schedule when I didn't even know what the situation between us currently was. And asking now definitely wasn't the right moment, because his head was full with other thoughts right now, more important ones about his career and fitness. I just didn't know what to do next.