Don't Read (The Last Page)

i once believed (love would be black and white) - pt1

I saw this tweet 👇🏻

And this happened...

Enjoy!

Artistic liberties taken.

Ps. I know I have to write a sequel to my previous one-shot but creative juices are not flowing in that direction. So, for the time being, it will stay as a one-shot.

Also, this is on the short side but that is because I was short on time and I really, really want to get this out and see what you guys thought about it. I haven't been this excited about a chapter in months. Part two is coming soon. Well, hopefully🤞🏻

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29-year-old Serkan Bolat sat in yet another one of his business meetings with Mr. Birol and his wife.

"Eeee Serkan? How about you? Anybody managed the steal the heart of the country's most eligible bachelor yet? Any Mrs. Bolats in sight?"

And here we go again...

"Not really, no. I mean, love, family... For me, things like that are the stuff of fairy tales. They don't exist. They're just an illusion created by books, movies and TV shows to provide people an escape from reality. A chemical reaction in the brain. Nothing more. Nothing.. logical."

A tense silence took over the table.

Then Mr. Birol laughed knowingly.

"You sound exactly like me 20 years ago."

Anyone who has spent five minutes in Mr. Birol's presence would know, without the shadow of a doubt, that Mr. Birol was head over heels in love with his wife.

Which was why it was hard for Serkan, or anybody else who didn't know Mr. Birol before he met his wife, to believe that there was ever a time he didn't believe in the concept of love.

And when Serkan voiced that exact thought, the man laughed even harder.

"Oh there was. I was practically a robot. I wouldn't lift my head from my books when I was in school. I would study all the time. Then I started the company. A lot of women came at me but all they ever gave a damn about was what my looks, money, influence and surname could provide for them. Not one of them cared for me. I didn't feel any connection or attachment. Let's cut a long and painful story short and say that I got hurt a couple of times and decided that I was better off without all that stuff."
"Seems like a good reason to stay away from all of it."
"It was. And I did. For years."
"Well, something must have happened. I mean, you've been happily married for almost two decades now. What happened?"
"I met a woman. The right woman."
"Mrs. Sevil."
"Yes. It is all about the right woman, Serkan. The wrong ones will make you run as far as you can but the right one... The right woman will make you tear all your walls down. And she will do it despite all of your efforts to not let her in because you're scared. She will bulldoze her way in and never leave. You will fight back. You will try to drive her away. Maybe, you will break her heart. But then, when you realize she won't leave no matter what you do, you will do everything in your power to make sure she stays."
"It still sounds too good to be true. I mean... If you believe in it, then fine. It's your life. Do what you do with it. But I just don't see it. How I could let someone in that much. How I could give someone the chance to hurt me so deep. Deeper than anybody else. I'm just-"
"Scared. It's okay. Scared is human. So is love. Like I said. It is all about the right woman. Sevil and I met after I graduated. I was looking for an investor to start my company and her father took a chance on me. His one condition was that Sevil be his representative. We agreed and started the company. And we argued every single step of the way."

Then Mrs. Sevil joined in the conversation.

"We seriously argued over the smallest, most random details. I hated him."
"You weren't exactly my favorite person back then either."

Even when they said all these out loud, they were looking at one another with love.

"Yeah, we argued and argued and argued and months later we realized that we were only arguing because we liked to rile each other up."
"Our arguements weren't big, messy or hurtful. It was just how we communicated because we were too scared to come out and say 'I have feelings for you'."
"So, how did you get together then?"
"We got into this huge fight. It was really stupid. That was our biggest fight, I think. But things got out of hand and we started fighting in front of our employees and he got real quiet there for a minute. The next thing I knew he's smashing his lips on me."
"I still don't know what came over me that day. You were going on and on and on about that tiny little detail and I just tuned everything out and wanted to shut you up."
"And it worked. I was quite speechless afterwards."

And Serkan tuned out the rest of the conversation.

It was a nice story but...

He still didn't believe. Not really.

For him, it was still the stuff of fairy tales and movies. Maybe the lucky few found that kind of belonging in real life but not him.

He would never be that lucky.

Famous last words...