Anything Could Happen

Really?

Chapter 20.

Delnaz's POV

"Hello, Delnaz." Fuad's toothy grin caused me to laugh. Despite his exhausted, stressed out tone over the phone, he seemed genuinely happy to see me.

"Hi, babe. I'm sorry about getting you caught in the rain. It's just that the cab driver dropped me off right there," I pointed to the path near the park, "It started to rain so I just kinda stood here..."

Fuad's amused look caused me to shrink away, "What?"

"You just stood in the rain? Delnaz, you should've gone into a building or something." Fuad was now frowing.

"Forget it. You're here now. Let's get to the restaurant." We began to walk in the opposite direction of the path I'd chosen to initially follow and made our way through streets mainly lined with tall buildings. Turkey was just so beautiful. I loved it even more when it rained. In that moment, everything seemed so perfect. Fuad's hand gripped mine as if to say that he would never let me go. I couldn't help but smile as we looked for Paşa Cami Street.

~●○●~

"Ladies first," Fuad said. I entered the restaurant, astounded by his polite gesture. We walked over to the reception desk and waited for a secretary.

"Good afternoon, I'm Nadia and you are?"

"Fuad Altan and Delnaz Aliyeva."

"Table for two next to the window overlooking the river? Good choice," Nadia commented after finding our names on her reservations list, "Take this table number with you, your order will be ready in a while," Nadia handed Fuad a metal table number with a small stand to hold it up and we went to find our seats.

"Fuad, it's beautiful!" I gasped when we arrived at the reserved table.

"Just like you," He winked at me, causing me to blush furiously and giggle.

Wow, Delnaz, why so mature today?

"Take a seat," Fuad pulled out a chair for me and waited for me to sit. I was amazed at how polite he was. His mother really raised him to be a gentleman, I had to admit. I wondered when I'd be able to meet her...

"Thank you, Fuad."

"It's my pleasure."

We waited for our meals. I whipped out my phone to check if the place had free wifi.

"It does, Delnaz."

"What?"

"This place has useable wifi."

Unbelievable. It was as if Fuad read my mind. He might have gussed what I was doing, considering that he also had his phone in his hands.

"Fuad... What was the need to make a reservation?" I carried money with me to pay for both of us, if need be. I had only come here once, on Mevlüt's 18th birthday.

"You deserve to be spoilt from time to time. There's no harm in having a bit of luxurious time in life, is there?"

"I guess not..."

After a short while, the waiter served us our food. The pizza was piping hot and smelled so good. I was really hungry by this time, anyway. We continued to eat in silence for a short while, till Fuad spoke up, "Delnaz?"

I chewed my food, then spoke, "Yup?"

"I was wondering... Well, this morning... Um..."

I waited for Fuad to get his words strung together, trying not to giggle at his frustrated expression. He looked so cute when he was trying to figure something out.

I sound like a typical girlfriend. Wonderful.

"This morning, actually, my mom... She... Well... How do I say this?" Fuad massaged his temples in frustration.

"Just tell me, Fuad. What's on your mind?"

Fuad's words came out rushed and nervously, "But I don't want you to think that I'm moving to fast in this relationship because it's not me, it's my mother and I'm sorry for telling her but I needed to share my happiness with someone and-"

"Fuad Altan, what are you trying to say?"

"Delnaz, my mother wants to meet you, properly. She spoke about it this morning. She asked if she could meet you on Wednesday..."

This was big news for me. My boyfriend's mother wanted to formally  meet me? Wow... Now it was my turn to shock Fuad.

"I would be honoured to meet your mother. She must be lovely," I smiled, then continued to tell Fuad about Aunt Hamida's comment at breakfast this morning and about how both my parents would also like to meet him. That meant Father as well. Fuad listened to my every word, intently.

"Don't worry about anything. I guess I should meet your parents first, then you can meet my mother.

~○●○~

The rain pattered against the car roof as we drove towards my home. Fuad offered to drop me off some way down the street. I didn't want my parents to see him just yet. The highway was busy and the roads were wet and slippery. The red traffic lights brought us to a stop. He turned to face me and held my hand for a brief moment before going back to driving. I smiled at his sweet gesture and closed my eyes.

Before I knew it, we arrived at my stop. I jumped off the car, thanked Fuad for the ride, gave him a hug and told him to drive safe. As I walked down the street, I couldn't stop thinking about how Fuad's mother actually wanted to meet me. My parents didn't know that I actually had a boyfriend but at least they wanted to get to know the guy if I did have one.

Knock knock.

"Coming! Who is it?" Aunt Hamida opened the door and let me in, "Where have you been?"

"I was with Yıldız."

"Dinner's ready, come in and freshen up first."

I walked up to my room and flopped down on my bed. I was tired, had a headache and needed a friend to talk to. Suddenly, I felt as if Fuad and I were moving too fast...