Looking For His North Star

Chapter seventeen

"I won!" He announced. "I always win!"

"No, you didn't," Yusuf shot back. "That's cheating!"

Yaman chuckled and kissed Yildiz's forehead.

"Let's go intercept your brothers before they drive your mom crazy," he said. "Come on."

************************************

"We're going out."

Yaman looked up from his iPad, blinking.

"What?"

Seher regarded him. Lately, he hadn't been himself. He'd doubled the security in the mansion for some reason, and he'd even placed his men around Yusuf's school, until his classes ended. Sometimes, Seher would wake up in the middle of the night to an empty bed, only to find Yaman sitting at his desk, checking up on CCTV footages. She'd inquired about it, but so far he'd been vague and evasive.

Seher didn't mind. She knew that if it was something important, he would tell her. But after four nights of insomnia in a row, it was obvious that he was under a lot of stress. Something needed to be done immediately.

"We're going out," she repeated. "Come on."

"Am I missing something?" He took out his phone, checking through the reminders. "Today isn't our anniversary, is it?"

Seher laughed.

"No. It's just, we haven't gone out in a long time. The kids are napping and later, brother Ziya and Çiçek are going to take them to the park. We have free time today. Come on."

A tentative smile pulled at his mouth.

"Alright then, where are we going?"

"Nowhere specific," she said, mischievously.."We'll walk around and have lunch. Just the two of us."

She hadn't given it much thought. Definitely nowhere fancy. She'd put on an old blue summer dress, comfortable sandals and tied her hair back with a scarf. After several days of walking around in high heels and tight skirts, it felt good to have the steady ground under her feet again. She grabbed her purse and led the way out of the mansion.

They drove around for a while, mostly talking among themselves. Then Yaman parked the car at the beach. Seher shot him an assessing look. Already, the tight set of his shoulders was loosening and the dark look in his eyes had vanished.

Good.

They walked along the beach, holding hands. In this April, the summer heat was becoming unbearable. Her dress stuck to her body with sweat, stray hair curling wildly at her nape.

Yaman had slung his jacket over his shoulder and rolled the sleeves back to his elbows, exposing his strong forearms. It was extremely distracting. From time to time, he would wipe at the sweat on his brows and she blinked at the way the muscles rippled under his white shirt.

That was also distracting.

You're going to make me lose my mind today, aren't you? She thought, trying to concentrate on her surroundings.

"What did you say?" Yaman looked down at her.

Seher clamped her mouth shut, realizing that she'd said those words out loud.

"Nothing!" She chirped. "Actually, I'm hungry. We should find some place to have lunch."

Small food huts dotted the beach, but they were mostly selling fast food. Finally, they found a charming cafe at the far end, with wooden tables and benches placed outside. The huts shading the tables filtered the sunlight, bathing them in a warm glow.