Love Me, Istanbul

#3: All I Need Is A Chance

Selin had a busy start to the day. She had contacted her representative lawyer after Ayda informed her about a certain customer who was arrested the night before because he couldn't pay the bill. Although she felt annoyed by the way her employees handled the situation, Selin informed Ayda to put the bill on her tab so she could pay for it later that evening when she drops by. After interviewing a handful of chefs at the Ataşehir branch, Selin made her way back to her apartment that afternoon. Picking up the note she left for herself, she made a phone call. After a few rings, the line connected.

"Allo, Leyla Teyze?" she said. "Nasılsınız?"

"Allo, Selincim," Leyla said, sounding her usual cheerful self. "Iyiyim, siz?"

"Ben iyiyim," Selin said. "Leyla Teyze, I need to ask you a small favour."

"Tabi ki canım," Leyla said. "Söyle bakim, ne bu küçük meselesi?"

Selin took a deep breath. "I want to look for a house."

There was a momentary pause on the line. "Selincim, are you not happy with your apartment?"

"Aslında...hayir," Selin said. "I have a friend who just got transferred to Istanbul for work. She needs to rent a house but she is not good in Turkish."

"Öyle mi?" Leyla said. "Is your friend single or married?"

"She's married, with 4-year old twins," Selin lied.

"Maşallah, Maşallah," Leyla beamed. "Does she have any preferences? Furnishing, designs, falan?"

"She had always wanted a house with a backyard and an attic for her kids to play."

"Tamam. Backyard...attic," Leyla said as she wrote down the details in a small notebook, oblivious to Selin's plan. "Where is she living now?"

"Hong Kong."

Selin could imagine Leyla scrunching up her face in dismay on the other side of the line. "Hong Kong?" she said. "Poor kids, it must be hard being cooped up in a tiny apartment."

"Yeah," Selin tried to sound sympathetic as not to be obvious. "She wants me to help her find a house as soon as possible because she will be starting work once she arrives in Istanbul. I hope you'll understand."

"Tabi tabi," Leyla said. "Firuze and I will sort this out and we'll bring you to the houses. Then you can take some pictures to show your friend, olur mu?."

"Olur," Selin said. "Çok sağol, Leyla Teyze."

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*Flashback*

Altinkaya was stunned. "How did you..."

Demir smiled. "Ekrem amca," he said. "You are my father's closest friend. You are also like a father to me. Do you think I will never find out?"

The older man sighed. "I had to. It's for your own safety," he said. "Ayrica, the case is closed."

"Ekrem amca, the case is closed because you couldn't solve it. Değil mi?"

Altinkaya said nothing. He just simply couldn't bring himself to talk about it again. That moment when he saw the oil barrels fall off the cliff and not being able to do anything about it. The moment when the forensic team pulled Attila's decayed body out of the oil barrel - two weeks after his death. And the woman who died with him...

Demir cannot know this, he told himself. He won't be able to take it.

"Give me Operation Cheetah," Demir said. "I need to know what happened 20 years ago."