A Turkish Delight☆

Chapter 9: In Search

Song: If I Could Fly (For Your Eyes Only)-One Direction

¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

Nadine:

So instead of going to the hotel, I took a detour to the renowned Grand Bazaar. The first thing I did as soon as I sat in the cab was to install the notorious 'Tinder' app in hopes of finding the Turk there. It was probably very foolish of me, but I wasn't thinking. The adrenaline rush had completely fogged up my thinking capacity. I had this unexplainable feeling. I now understood the correct meaning of the often used phrase, 'butterflies in your stomach'.

After about half an hour I reached my destination. It was around 11 in the morning, the weather was chilly, there was a hailstorm a few hours ago, hence the delay. I wore a hoodie that I had bought 6 years ago from one of the shops outside the crazy labyrinth. In fact I was wearing the same hoodie that eventful day, so I thought to myself that this might refresh his memory. The place was crowded, as usual. I see the same bench where I sat with my father and argued about bringing mom out of this maze. I see the stall from which we took 5 packs of Turkish çay (tea). I see the same grand entrance of the bazaar. Its as if nothing has changed in the past 6 years. And that was good, as it made things easier for me.

I hurried my way into the ever so confusing maze. Before entering, I opened Tinder as it would show me 'cute, eligible bachelors within a radius of 50 miles'. I was only searching for him, though. After swiping left for a good 15 minutes, with no luck, I gave up the thought of ever finding him there. So I went in, in hopes of finding him. As soon as I entered, the aroma of Turkish Kahve filled the atmosphere. I was yet again reminded of the encounter. My heart beat increased, my pupils grew bigger, my palms started to sweat as I grew closer to the shop. Even in that labyrinth, I clearly remembered where the shop was. And there I was. Standing in front of the shop saying 'Turkish Carpets- A Turkish Delight' my heart beating louder than ever, it felt as if it would come out of my chest. I stood there just looking at the sign. I ran a quick look around, but I couldn't see him anywhere. Actually there was no one there. Maybe they had all left for lunch. I knocked on the window, expecting him to come and see me and be just as excited as I was, but as fate had it, he didn't come. Rather a younger looking boy, probably around 15 or 16, came to the door. I was really disappointed, but I went onto ask him about the guy. The boy knew nothing about a guy who matched that description. And so I left half heartedly. But before leaving I did buy the turquoise shawl that brought me here, just as a souvenir.

But I didn't give up just yet. I was more determined to find him. I still had 37 hours to myself. That is a lot, so I asked my driver to take me to all the possible places he could. The cab was already paid for by the airport so I made the most of it. After staying in the cab for a good 8 hours, crossing the Bosphorus and checking the Asian side of Istanbul too, with no luck, I returned to my hotel. Was it possible he left the job? Was it possible he left Istanbul? Was it possible that he left Turkey? Sigh. But I still had another 29 hours, 8 of which were for my beauty sleep, although I knew I won't be able to get any sleep.
Once I checked into the hotel and got into my room, I started searching for him on all the possible social media websites. But no website could narrow my search down to him. I spent the entire night searching for him, but it wasn't fruitful.
The next morning, after I had breakfast, I again went in search of my Turkish cutie. If only I knew his name! Ugh! It would have been so easy to narrow him down! Any sane person would have given up by now, but I normally had a delayed response than the average individual. Finally it was time to go back to the airport. Sigh. With a broken heart, I took my carry on from the hotel, and proceeded towards the airport.