Same, same but different!

Part 7

"To live a lie may allow us to avoid the truth, but the real lie lays in believing that we can avoid the truth in the first place."

The days that followed moved like a blur. Kıvılcım and Ömer had perfected the art of pretending. No glances were exchanged except for the one where they had to greet each other leaving Alas bey's ranch. No misplaced word. They went on as if that kiss never happened. As if the walls hadn't trembled and cracked. As if Mavi hadn't walked in and almost caught them kissing. But the silence between them now felt louder than they wanted to admit.

Kıvılcım sat alone in her office, the early afternoon sun casting long streaks of gold across the wooden floor. Her elbow rested on the armrest of her chair, fingers fiddling with a pen in her hand. Her other hand held a half-empty cup of now cold coffee.

She wasn't really seeing the view.
Not the busy street below. Not the leaves dancing in the wind. Her eyes were fixed outward, but her thoughts were inward. She was stuck in a moment that she both wished never happened... and yet couldn't stop reliving.

His lips on hers. His hands in her hair, his touch. That sigh he let out mid-kiss. The hunger in it. The restraint.

And the fact that she didn't stop him. Not immediately. Not when she should have.

Kıvılcım (softly to herself): What am I doing?

She squeezed her eyes shut, rubbing her temples as if that would chase away the memory. But it wouldn't. Every time she closed her eyes, she felt the imprint of his mouth on hers.

A soft knock is heard at her door. She straightened immediately, hoping her expression didn't betray the chaos inside her.

Fatma peeked in.

Fatma: You've been sitting here for hours in your own little world. Canım are you okay?

Kıvılcım nodded a little too quickly.

Kıvılcım: I'm okay... Just overwhelmed with work. Working on the schedule for the exhibition.

Fatma stepped in anyway, closing the door behind her. She tilted her head, her gaze narrowing.

Fatma: You've been too quiet these past days. And stop telling me it's work, because we both know that's not true.

Kıvılcım smiled faintly. She knows Fatma won't leave her alone. And maybe, just maybe confiding in someone will help her calm the storm inside her head.

Kıvılcım stared at her absentmindely for a few extra seconds.

Fatma: If you tell me, I can at least try and help you.

Kıvılcım: Ömer... Ömer kissed me.

Fatma's face went blank. Her words came to Fatma as a shock.

Fatma: What did you just say?

Kıvılcım: Don't let me repeat it again, Fatma.

Fatma pulls herself together.

Fatma: When?

Kıvılcım: At the ranch.

Kıvılcım stands up out of her chair and throws herself down on her couch opposite from Fatma.

Fatma: How did this happen? Where were we all.

Kıvılcım: You were at the dinner table. Mavi came over to you and Can at that moment. Ömer was doing that stupid stare again and I started to get uncomfortable, so I got up and left. He followed me to my bedroom...

Fatma stopped Kıvılcım mid sentence.

Fatma: Wait, I think I'm going to faint.

Kıvılcım: Fatma don't be ridiculous.