Your Grace - Burak Çelik

CHAPTER 29

Ayedah, touched by his words, was determined to corner him and interrogate him on how he became such a poet, however she never got the chance to because she forgot the question soon enough; she, Burak and Aunt Gab jumped from topic to topic in conversation, and Ayedah did not say it aloud in fear of humiliation- but she was secretly happy that her aunt liked Burak, the way a daughter would seek her mother's approval of a man she brought home.

After Ayedah had waved Burak off, Aunt Gab had taken Ayedah aside, extremely excited. She told her how Burak was an even better man than she had thought, and that Ayedah had definitely not filled in all the details whenever she would tell her about him. Ayedah had to make a run for her room when she accidentally said: "Well, not even a writer like me could string words together to describe how truly amazing and lovely he is." She barely escaped her aunt's annoyingly knowing eye and mischievous comments as she tore up to her bedroom, where Stormy was waiting on the bed- looking just as sly as Aunt Gab did, but at least Stormy could not speak human language. Going to work the next day and the following weeks had the almost exact same atmosphere as it did with Aunt Gab. News that Burak Celik had dinner with Ayedah Harraz seemed to spread like wildfire over the cast and crew, and the poor screenwriter had to deal with the bombardment of questions from her colleagues, plus the sly comments that made her blush. She was very happy that Mehmet had assigned someone else to supervise the actors for a few weeks whilst she was entrusted to focus more on the script itself, as it would be barely another few months before Season 2 would end.

Ayedah knew that she was probably never going to escape the gossip, for just as Burak had planned with her earlier and confirmed it just days before, Ayedah was to leave that very evening for his house to have dinner with him and his family- something Ayedah was secretly very nervous for. By then, she had forgotten completely about wondering what people would say about it or if it would reach social media- she was more worried about meeting Burak's family themselves, and if they would approve of her.

"Alright!" exclaimed Ozge suddenly after she had nearly emptied Ayedah's wardrobe, making her friend jump out of her thoughts. She turned to glare at Ayedah, who stared at her in bewilderment from where she sat on the bed, next to a pile of clothes Ozge had dug out. "Ayedah Natalya Harraz, why do I not see anything suitable for a dinner with your boyfriend's family in this damned closet?" Ayedah rolled her eyes. "He is not my boyfriend," she groaned. "And I'm sure there's something- if not, I'll just put together a blazer and a blouse." "This is a dinner, not a business meeting," quipped Ozge. "I won't let you go to eat with them looking like someone from The Office." Ayedah raised an eyebrow at her, before Ozge sighed, muttering to herself, "Chill, Torer, Chill." She inhaled deeply. "Ozge, it's okay, you don't have to do this," said Ayedah, smiling appreciatively at her friend. "Please don't stress yourself out- besides, I don't dress that inappropriately- it'll be fine."

Ozge raised an eyebrow, and tutted slightly. "True- in all honesty, you don't dress awfully," she admitted. "But you need to wear something that will make a good impression on them. Plus, it's just simple manners- you know you should wear something nice, Ayedah, even if it's not a formal event. You'll be a guest at someone's house. Just don't wear anything that you put on to go to work or the park." Ayedah sighed, and nodded. "You are right, you know," she relented, dropping the act and making her friend smirk at her. "But then what can I wear, if apparently all my clothes resemble that of gangsters'?" Ozge's lip twitched at her friend's humorously exasperated comment, but she too was confused. "I suppose maybe a blazer won't hurt?" she wondered aloud, though her voice was skeptical.

"No, that won't do," said Aunt Gab, making both girls jump in shock, for they had not heard her come into the room. "Good Lord, Aunt Gab, do you mind knocking?" yelped Ayedah. "Burak does that to me enough." Her aunt smirked at her; "Then you should be used to it enough," she quipped, making Ayedah scrunch her nose at her. "But I do have a solution for your problems." "Do you, now?" Ozge sighed in gratitude and relief. "Of course, I shouldn't be surprised," she laughed. Ayedah smiled, secretly just as relieved as Ozge was- though she did not show it and pretended she didn't care how she dressed, she truly wanted to make a good impression on Burak's family. She hoped that at least they would approve of how she acted and how she dressed, if they were to be disapproving of her past or background- that was, if they ever were to know.