Mine

Chapter Twenty Four

It's like the walls are caving in...

Miray stays in the doorway to the prayer room. It's empty except for Boran on his knees, sobs shaking his long lean body. His head is down on the floor. His voice is low and hoarse, broken.

"I promise. I promise, I'll leave her alone. I'll leave them both and never bother them again. Please... just save my son. Please don't let my little boy die."

Miray's heart breaks and fresh tears spring to her eyes and spill down her cheeks. She's moving as she hears his continued pleas. She's down on her knees next to him before he notices her. "I made the same deal."

His eyes blink wetly when they meet hers, his face red when it crumples. She wraps her arms around him and they just hold each other for a while, tears rolling down their faces. "I'm sorry," he said a few moments later. "God, I'm sorry. I didn't know he'd taken off. I didn't notice he was gone until it was too late. I'm so fucking sorry."

Miray pushes aside her anger for the moment. She was too overcome to listen to either one of them before. "Tell me what happened."

"I let him push my buttons. It was my fault. Alihan and I had finished our scenes together for the day and he still had a few to go so I thought I'd stick around."

Miray didn't need to ask who him was.

"I made the mistake of suggesting we could out for ice cream the next time we worked together, when I knew you'd be the one on set with us. Alihan wanted to know we couldn't go today."

Miray closed her eyes, imagining how well that went over with Kubilay.

"Yeah," Boran remarks bitterly with a sniffle. "He said to him, how would you like it if Daddy took you out for ice cream today. He looked right fucking at me after he said too. I should have let it go, but just the way he looked.... I should have..." He covers his face with his hands. "Well, then Alihan insisted I come along. Kubilay got irritated. I tried to smooth it over and assure him we'd go another time but Alihan wanted to know why I couldn't come. He was confused and started getting upset asking me if I didn't want to be his friend anymore... and fuck..." He startles a little guiltily, as if remembering his surroundings. "Miray...I wanted to kill Kubilay then for putting that thought in Alihan's head."

Miray feels her own stomach tightening with rage at the idea as well but she urges him to go on.

"I tried to assure him that I would always be his friend but he must have been picking up on the tension between the two of us because he kept insisting he wanted me to come with the two of them. I'd never seen him like that. You know? He's usually pretty easy going and doesn't talk back or any of that-"

"Like you were," Miray says softly and he looks at her curiously. She gives him a sad smile. "Your mom told me."

"Kubilay snapped at him, scolding him for not listening and Alihan ran off." Boran closes his eyes. "I shoved at him, pissed off for what he'd done. I shoved at him first. It was my fault. Neither one of us noticed where Alihan ran off to. I think we just assumed he ran back inside. I shoved at him. He shoved back...and then it just started from there. We were too wrapped up in our anger to even wonder where Alihan had gone. I started it...I-"

Miray's anger dissipates, replaced with the urge to comfort him. Oh there was plenty of blame to go around but she knows there is a petty streak to her husband. Kubilay isn't usually violent. When he's angry he snaps back with disdain, derision, ugliness. His anger simmers until he fights back against his opponent with words meant to dig in and destroy.

Boran is slow to anger, but when he does, it's explosive. She remembers once when she, Pinar and two of his friends, went out together after they finished the first season. Two guys in the bar were trying to convince Pinar and her to give them their numbers and meet them privately for drinks. Miray had yet to turn eighteen and honestly neither she nor Pinar had any desire to go anywhere with two strange men.