Your Grace - Burak Çelik

CHAPTER 23

"Um...would you like anything to drink?" Ayedah asked timidly, her tone making Burak smile at her. "No thank you, Yazar Hanim, though it was kind of you to ask," he said gently. "I'm just here to talk for a short while- and to convince you to come out walking with me." Ayedah nodded, and furrowed her brow a little; "Why do you want to go out?" she asked. "It's late- and freezing outside." "I always take late evening walks," explained Burak casually. "During the nights where I can't sleep." "I assume tonight is one of those nights," said Ayedah, and Burak nodded his answer. "Why can't you sleep? Aren't you tired from travelling, then going out to dinner?" "It's not because I'm not tired," answered Burak. His voice was melancholic and cautious, like he was afraid of what he was going to say next. He opened his mouth, hesitated a while and shut it again; "I don't want to be alone," he said finally, after what felt like forever.

"Then why don't you ask Yigit, or Ozcivit?" demanded Ayedah, though part of her was longing to tell him that yes, she would go with him. But she was still a little wary to be around him; she was still unsure of what he truly thought of her, especially by what he said during the night's previous events.

"Please, Ayedah," said Burak. "I want- I need it to be you." The pleading look in his eyes had her heart in an iron grip as she looked into them, and she was forced to look away as emotions began swirling through her body like hurricanes. "Can't it wait?" she whispered. "It's late and- it's probably freezing outside, I don't want you to catch a cold." She blushed lightly when she spoke of her concern for him, which made his own pained, pleading expression soften into a more hopeful one.

"I don't mind if I do. Please," he begged, and once again, he held out his hand to her. "I promise it'll be worth it- I'll make it worth it. You won't regret it." Ayedah looked at it for a while, feeling the sudden urge to accept it- though she didn't. But instead, she sighed, and looked back up at him. "If I come, may I keep my hand?" she asked warily. Burak's expression lightened up, and he even managed a smirk; "Only if you come willingly," he said with a wink. "You're an insistent one, aren't you?" murmured Ayedah. "I doubt I have much of a choice, do I?" Burak shook his head. "Don't think so," he said cheekily. Ayedah sighed again, shutting her eyes for a while, wishing she could get some more sleep- before she reopened them and said, "Let me change first." Burak nodded. "Okay," he said, and sat back in his chair. Ayedah raised an eyebrow at him.

"Er...do you mind waiting outside?" she asked, and his eyes widened as he blushed. "Oh- sorry," he said, flustered as he was about to get out of his chair- but Ayedah stopped him. "You know what, it's cold," she said. "And as we're going out anyway, you should just keep warm till then. I'll change in the bathroom." "A-are you sure?" Burak asked, looking uneasy. Ayedah too, felt a little embarrassed but she nodded; "Yeah, it's fine," she said. "I just need to change my trousers anyway."

Without another word, she turned her back on him and grabbed a few things from her suitcase, entered the bathroom and closed the door. She took off her sweatpants to put on a pair of warm, neat-looking trousers and grabbed her faux-fur lined coat. She figured her sweater was decent enough to wear outside, and left the bathroom after putting on a bit of lip balm to protect her lips from the cold. She gestured to Burak for them to leave the room, as she slipped on her boots, grabbed her keys, phone and wallet, and locked the door behind her as they exited.

"Alright, let's go," she said. "But er- where exactly are we going?" "Just for a normal little walk," said Burak as they walked through the hall together and entered the lift. "A 'normal little walk'?" asked Ayedah, scoffing slightly. "Not that I dislike going out on walks, but in my opinion a walk at this time of night isn't very normal to me." "I think you'll enjoy it nevertheless," said Burak. "Haven't you gone out on night walks before?" "Not really," answered Ayedah. "I've had trouble sleeping since I was in my teens, so I never really had time to try out walking at night by myself. I'd just force myself to sleep until I put myself on medication for it." "It helps you know," said Burak. "Taking regular walks in the evening. It helps with sleep, you should try it more often." "Yeah well, even if it does, this isn't exactly evening, is it?" joked Ayedah. "I believe it was around 11PM when you woke me up."