With Love, Nuri [1] ✅

3. Bar War

[•Nuri's POV•]

Alcohol has never even crossed my mind, and let alone 'visiting' a bar. My father does drink and my mother hates him for it, "I hope I don't get in trouble" I mumbled to myself. That was the only thing I was worried about. All my past experiences while trying new things ended up in a disaster. I didn't want to repeat them tonight.

I could smell the light nauseating scent of alcohol as we entered the place. There were red lights all around the room, it was fairly crowded with teapoys and a small stage at the end. Most of the people were dancing to an upbeat song in the background. "I will go find Deren. You can get a table for us" Yeşim disappeared into the crowd. How was I even supposed to find a table when every single one of them was occupied? My eyes scanned the place thoroughly. I finally caught a glance at an empty one near the stage and headed towards it.

Suddenly, my top got pinned on one of the tables. I tugged hard but it didn't want to let go. On my last try, my leg slipped and my ankle struck the teapoy, resulting in me crashing down. Exactly at that time, some fellow came walking behind me and I tripped over him causing the glass in his hand to practice for Olympics high jump. The glass came straight down on us and I couldn't avoid the refreshing bath of alcohol that followed. My face was wet, so were our clothes.

My leg hurt so much and I cried in pain. He grumbled something in Turkish but I didn't understand anything. Seeing no reaction from me, he switched to English "Will you get off of me!" I rolled over to the side. Yeşim and some other girl helped me stand on my feet again. The music stopped, the dancing ended and all eyes were fixed on me and that man. I turned to look at him. He was undoubtedly stunning but equally angry, even I was angry.

"Are you okay?" Asked Yeşim. Let me guess, I am soaked in liquor and I have hurt my ankle... No! I am certainly not okay, but before I had the chance to answer, the man turned to me trying to dry his wet sleeve. "Deli kız!" He said with cold eyes, "Ne yapıyorsun lan?" I didn't understand anything except 'kiz', he called me something... Definitely bad, and his expression didn't seem as if he was trying to say sorry.

"Speak to me in English if you are a man!" I said challenging him though Yeşim tried to stop me, "Türkçe bilmiyor musun? Tamam... What the hell do you think you are doing, huh girl? What if the glass broke? It would have fallen all over my face!" he yelled. I didn't expect that but I wasn't backing off soon. "If you hadn't asked for that glass then my clothes would still be dry!" I said yelling right back. "I will drink when I have to and when I want to, who are you to question me?" He asked coming closer.

We looked at each other's eyes furiously and as I was about to reply, the bar manager came and asked us to break it up. So we headed outside to prevent further humiliation. I tried walking but my leg hurt so much that I had to lean over Yeşim and the other girl's shoulder. I was so angry at him. We went outside and as we did that, he took a fancy amount of money from his wallet and handed it to me, "Take this and leave me alone" he said, "I don't want it!" I retorted. He glared at me as he kept back the money.

I tried walking but it was difficult for me to even limp. "Your leg seems pretty bad, it needs a doctor's attention" Yeşim couldn't have said it louder. The man sighed, "Fine, I will take you to the hospital... Go on, get in" He took his car keys and unlocked a posh blue car that was parked right next to us. "Yeşim, I can't come. The next show is mine" Said the other girl. "Okay, I will go with Nuri... See you tonight" she said as the girl was about to run back in.

"Hey!" I called after her and she turned to me, "Thanks for helping me up" I said and she smiled, "Your welcome, get well soon. See you!" And she went back in. The car ride was silent but so comfy. I loved his car- fragrant and luxurious. I was sitting in the back with Yeşim and he glanced at me through the rear view mirror.

When we reached the hospital, Yeşim and the guy exited the car but I struggled to get out of my seat. Yeşim tried helping me up but I slipped and as I was about to kiss the ground, he caught me by my waist and gazed at me. Our lips were inches apart till he broke the silence, "Will you hurt your head too, deli kiz?" I have never let any stranger touch me before or save me as he did but that didn't change anything between us. 

My anger hadn't dissipated so I pushed his hand away and sat on the wheelchair that Yeşim had brought. "Thank you, sir" She smiled at him, "Thanks..." I mumbled and he nodded. Yeşim rolled me inside the building then. The man seemed very depressed about something but why should I care?

All eyes turned to me as we entered the hospital. I realized that I was soaked in alcohol. This was a lot more embarrassing. I tried my best to look down and cover my face in shame. Yeşim handed me her scarf and smiled.

I loved this girl.

The doctor said that he would take an x-ray of my leg just to make sure that nothing else was wrong. My ankle was slightly dislocated like my temper. The doc tied a bandage around my foot and asked me not to move it much for two days. Thankfully I was discharged that night. It was pretty late already and surprisingly, we found the same guy at the reception keeping his wallet back in his coat. I stopped in my tracks though Yeşim went ahead and thanked him.

She motioned me to come over and I reluctantly walked towards them. I wasn't interested in their conversation but I picked up that he had paid for my check-up. "He will drop us home" She beamed at me. "No Thank you, I am not yet bankrupt... I can hire a cab" I replied arrogantly and walked away without giving them a last glance. "I am very sorry for the trouble we caused... İyi geceler!" I heard her say and the clicking of high heels towards me.

She caught up with me, "What are you doing?" She frowned. "It's pretty late... We shouldn't get into an unknown man's car without a good enough reason... Keep walking, don't look back" I said. She chuckled and turned around again. I couldn't believe that she just waved at him. Even I ended up glancing at him because I was curious about his reaction. He didn't look much interested in us, he just did a hand gesture and turned back to go to the parking lot. 

He could've smiled at us...

He seemed physically alive but mentally dead.

A strange man...

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 Last Edited: 12th May 2021