One Last Game

2. Game Over

A small yellow lily fell to the ground, danced a little with the soft morning wind, and finally stopped upon Serkan's feet.

It was more than half an hour he was standing there, under the oak tree, watching her. His figure, dressed in black, holding now the yellow flower with an extreme care, was barely noticeable as he was half-hidden from the tree's large body.
Eda wouldn't have seen him either way, though. The young woman had her fingers tangled with the flowers in front of her, morphing the chaos of colors and smells into a bouquet. She had her long hair tightened in a messy bun, and on the table there were many roses, lilies and other flowers their names Serkan didn't know. She was murmuring a song and she was so beautiful. The man's heart clenched painfully in his chest.

He took a deep breath before he stepped on her sight, and then another. It was time to start this game. No contacts would be signed this time, though.

Eda lifted her head, sensing him coming close.

"Oh! Serkan! It is already time?"

He smiled, a little.
"Yes. Are you ready?"

His eyebrows lifted, exactly as they did every time he was amused by her. She smiled back at him. It was one of those smiles he loved so much, one of those smiles that made it really hard not to hold her close and kiss that little dimple on the corner of her lips.

"I am ready! I just wanted to make one last bouquet for my aunt and the girls. As a goodbye gesture. Wait for me here? I will be back shortly."

"Ok. Where do I put this?" He showed her the yellow lilly.

"Keep it", she shouted and then run towards the house.

With quick moves Eda changed out of her work clothes and put on jeans and a t-shirt. She had already filled her suitcase last night. Serkan would tease her immerselly if he knew that she didn't care much about clothes, instead she filled it with pictures, her two favourite books, her dad's diary and his guitar pick. A sweet wave of melancholy overtook her suddenly. Her gaze swept the room one final time. And then, closed the door and went out.

Serkan was standing by the red table she used to sit with the girls every day. Now they would all still sit there, but without her any more.

One summer, Eda remembered, Melek brought a knife and they engraved their names in the wooden surface. She didn't know but the man's fingers found her name there, and started tracing the little scratches absently.

"I am ready. We can go now."

Serkan lifted himself from the chair and started walking towards her. Green eyes met brown, and she started walking too, meeting him half-way. He was the same, yet so different these last days. Sometimes he would be cold, and the next moment he would hold her tight in his warm embrace all night, whispering soft nothings in the skin of her neck.

Look a person straight in the eye, her father had written in his diary. There, you will find their soul and their longing.

But Serkan Bolat's eyes held their secrets perfectly imprisoned in their green depths.

She had said her goodbyes to the girls and her aunt already, but she knew that it wouldn't be the last ones for today.

They were standing so close right now, but she felt that they were hundreds of miles away, like the moon and the stars.

Serkan put his hand in the inside pocket of his suit and took out a white envelope.

"This is for you. You will know when to read it."

"You won't come with me to Italy, I know it."

"Eda...." The pain that ringed on his voice made her shiver. Yet, she held her head high, her gaze never wavering.

"It's okay, Serkan. I always knew you wouldn't come. I told you so, remember?"

He didn't reply.

"Here."

"What's this?"

In the palm of his hand she put another little flower.

"It's called baby's breath. They symbolise eternal love."

Again, he stayed silent. He had to play the game till the very end. Two months ago, when Ferit revealed the role his father played in Eda's parents death, a storm started raging in his heart and never once stopped. His mind, though, was totally clear. He knew now that he couldn't have her.

The sun was at its highest peak on the sky. The car was passing through the Bosporus' bridge, while the rays of light were painting a golden path on the surface of the crystal blue waters.

Looking out of the window, Eda counted in her mind all the memories that were connected with this magical place of Istanbul.

Her hand came on her lips, as she recalled their very first kiss. They were standing in front of Bosporus, two bodies united in one, drenched in gold, and the sun was falling over the blue sea's embrace. It was a memory she would never forget.

The car stopped as it reached the airport sooner than Serkan wanted and they both came out.

Time, like a river that flew towards the seas and took over everything on its way, moved impossiblly fast. It never bowed to the will of the mortals.

Firstly, their gazes met.

"Goodbye Eda Yildiz."

Then, their bodies entwined in a tight, desperate hold. He felt her tears in his neck and he wanted to cry too.

But he couldn't. Robots don't cry. Robots don't have a heart.

And finally their lips met in a soft kiss that slowly it transformed into something much more intense. And then, it was over, like a sudden lightning that hits a sky full of dark clouds.

"Goodbye Serkan Bolat."

Those words were ringing in his ears until the airplane was lost from the skyline.

Eda had left. Game over.

When he got back to his car, he found the two little flowers she had gifted him, in the backseat. He took them on his palm, and for a moment he run his fingers over their fragile petals.
Tears filled his eyes, but he didn't allow them to fall.

Robots don't cry. Robots don't cry. Robots don't cry.

He should throw the flowers away.

Robots don't need flowers.

But he kept them inside his palm, and when he reached his home, he hid them inside the pages of the Little Prince book.

In the airplane, Eda took his letter out of her bag, and started reading.