Same, same but different!

Part 17

Ömer: (softly) I’ll always love your mom, Mavi. She was my first love. And she gave me the most wonderful thing in my life, you.

Mavi’s eyes filled with emotion as she wrapped her small arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

Mavi: (muffled against his shoulder) I love you, baba.

Ömer: (holding her close, whispering) I love you too, kuzum. Always.

For a long while, they stayed like that father and daughter, hearts quietly mending what the world had once torn apart.

Veritas Gallery:

The hum of quiet jazz and the faint scent of paint filled the gallery. Afternoon light poured through the wide glass windows, gliding over unfinished canvases and half-cleaned brushes. Kıvılcım stood before one of the paintings, in the break room, as if she was analysing it but her mind was elsewhere.

Fatma was perched on the counter, legs crossed, sipping her coffee like a queen, watching her friend struggle with the thoughts in her head. Then Kıvılcım's phone rings, she doesn't pick up.

Fatma: Why didn't you pick up?

Kıvılcım: Because it's an unknown number calling me on my personal phone.

She goes silent.

Fatma: You’re either thinking about a man or having a mid-life crisis. Which one is it? I bet it's the first one.

Kıvılcım: Fatma, please don’t start.

Fatma: Let me guess, lunch with Ömer and his father didn’t go as planned.

Kıvılcım groaned.

Kıvılcım: You have no idea. It started with his father accidentally mentioning I was joining them. You should’ve seen Ömer’s face when his mother arrived. I thought he was going to faint right there.

Fatma’s eyes lit up with amusement.

Fatma: Please tell me you didn't flip a table.

Kıvılcım: No, obviously not... then Mavi arrived... the moment she saw me, she screamed my name like we were in a movie and ran straight into my lap.

Fatma gasped dramatically.

Fatma: Wait, in front of everyone?”

Kıvılcım: Yes (Kıvılcım said, half laughing, half mortified) His parents, the waiters, the entire restaurant. She wouldn’t let go of me. It was… sweet, but also completely chaotic.

Fatma: I sense there's more.

Kıvılcım turned, arms folded, trying to maintain her composure.

Kıvılcım: It wasn’t supposed to happen. We were just talking... Then...

Fatma: (very curious) Then what? Talking? Right. With your lips?

Fatma teased, biting back a laugh.

Kıvılcım shot her a glare.

Fatma: Mavi caught us.

Fatma choked on her coffee.

Fatma: What!

Kıvılcım’s voice rose as she buried her face in her hands.

Kıvılcım: She walked in right as it was happening. She covered her face immediately. Like... like she was witnessing a crime.

Fatma burst out laughing.

Fatma: Oh, this is too good. So what did she do? Cry? Run? Tell her teacher?”