Kiralik Ask One-shots

Part One: Lost

"And now with us, is this year's Logistics Excellence award winner. This smart and beautiful woman who is excellent in her field; has devised so many strategies for achieving the fastest delivery at very low costs. This woman also broke all the barriers of society telling women they cannot excel at their work and also be a loving mother who looks after their child. Let us have some words with beautiful Mrs Defne." announced the reporter on the screen. Omer's heart skipped a beat after hearing her name. This cannot be her. It cant be. His mind kept repeating this sentence as a mantra.

The reporter turned to her side and Defne's face came on his screen.

The bottle of cola slipped from his grip and his heart which he felt was dead a long time ago, came alive. He drank her in like he is a thirsty person in the middle of a desert and, her face is his source of water, his source of life. He couldn't take his eyes off hers. She looks so beautiful yet so different. She didn't feel like the old Defne. She looks so mature and grown-up. He ached for her. His entire being ached for Defne. He tuned out all the things the reporter was saying, only her voice was audible to him. Even her voice sounded different, somewhat hard and steely.

She thanked the reporter for all the praise and went on to thank her family.

Then she looked straight at the camera, he felt as if she is looking directly into his eyes and said,

"I dedicate this award to my little daughter, Emine. She is the love of my life and it wouldn't have been possible without her."

Omer was shattered after realising what Defne was saying. She has a daughter. She has named her daughter Emine, his mother's name. Defne is married. He closed his eyes and felt deep wrenching pain. The pain was so colossal, that he slumped his body on the couch and closed his eyes so tightly as if to forget what he saw and heard.

That little hope he held somewhere deep down, was extinguished. In all the years, he never once actually tried to find out what had happened to Defne. He had refused Sukru so many times from telling him anything about Defne. He never wanted to know if she is married or is with someone. And now, he cannot stop himself from feeling all the pain, all the regrets swimming through his body. Defne had once said, he is like Mr Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. The person who feels powerful by holding onto his pride. Well, she was right. He had never loved someone as he loved Her. Hell, he still loves her. Their love was once in a lifetime love.

Even after knowing about the Love-for-Hire thing, he never once doubted that Defne's love for him was fake. He tried being in a proper relationship after he gave up alcohol and meaningless one-night stands with strangers with a nice girl called Natalie. But he couldn't bring himself to share even a small piece of him with Natalie. He couldn't fathom the thought of loving her. Even the thought of opening his heart to Natalie suffocated him. So much so, that he knew she didn't deserve it. So, he broke up with her. From then on, he never even entertained the idea of being in a relationship. But now, seeing Defne moving on with her life, he felt hollow and bitter.

The very next day, Omer went to a therapy session. He knew he needed one or many. At first, he refused to open up to his therapist who was very patient with him. He still kept attending the sessions. His heart wanted to heal; his stubborn mind had different ideas. A month later, in his fifth session, he finally broke. He told Emma, his therapist everything about the Kiralik ask game his family played on him. Emma kept listening to everything he had to say with a neutral expression on his face. The burden of the pain he was carrying on his shoulders all these years, felt somewhat lighter after sharing it with someone.

Later, in his 7th session, Emma finally asked him the question he most dreaded ever since he had shared everything with her. She asked him if he regretted his choices. He wanted to lie, he wanted to say "no", and he wanted to say that he was completely right on his part. But he nodded in affirmative, words leaving him. 

Emma's face then changed. She looked at him with a kind smile on his face. She told him about her family. She told him how when she goes home, her four-year-old and her seven-year-old children welcome her with their little hugs and kisses. She told him how her husband, after a long day at work senses how tired she is, and makes dinner, helps in washing the dishes and even puts children to sleep. She told him that whenever she has any problem, she calls up her best friend. She told him how if she needs some kind of guidance, she calls up her mom or her uncle who helps her in making a decision. By telling him all this, she reminds him of the importance of having loved ones around.

Emma tells him, that even at the peak of his career, even after earning so much money, he is not feeling fulfilment and happiness because he doesn't have someone to share it with. Not a partner, a friend, or even family. Because he has distanced himself from them, and after that, he is not ready to form any kind of attachment with anyone, because of his old wounds.

He knows what she is going to say in the next session. So, he doesn't attend the next session and the next. After missing two sessions purely due to his stubbornness, he attends the next scheduled session after reflecting on all the things Emma had said, somewhat agreeing with her. Sitting on the couch facing his therapist, he informs her that he will not be attending her sessions from now on. Emma smiles a knowing smile and asks him why.

"Because I'm going back." He simply says with a tiny shrug.

With a steely resolve in his eyes, he continues, "I am going back to the place where I belong, where my parent's rest, where all the people I call my family are. I am going to ask for their forgiveness for so cruelly discarding them from my life at their first mistake and try to understand their part of the story. I am going to meet Defne, ask for her forgiveness and forgive her in return. Thanks to you, I am going to stop running away and possibly, if Sinan agrees; start Passionis from the scratch. I am going back to Turkey,"