A Turkish Delight☆

Chapter 1: From Karachi, With Love.

14th October, 2022

Nadine:

"Call us when you reach Istanbul."

"Don't worry Amma, I will."

As difficult it was for Nadine to leave everything, her bestfriend-her mom, her family, her friends, and her most prized possessions, her cats, she was more than excited to go to the place she loved ever since she was first introduced to the colourful world of Turkish soap operas.

Like a typical desi family, her entire family had come to see her off as she departed for her morning flight at 5 a.m. for Istanbul, Turkey. Her parents, grandparents, cousins and her best friend of twenty years, all were there to see her off at the airport. It was too crowded but everyone wanted to see her off before she left for good.

"Don't worry guys! As soon as I get my citizenship I'll be sponsoring all of you! Then we can all live happily together in Turkey!" She jokingly said before she went in.

Having attained an MD in Internal Medicine, at only 25 years of age, Nadine was going to practice medicine, and settle in Turkey. All the paperwork was done, all what was left was for her to reach the land of her dreams. Although she loved her own country, Pakistan, more than anything, she had always dreamed of living in a place surrounded by peace and calmity, where she was a complete stranger and everyone was a stranger to her too. She went through a rough patch the year before, and so she wanted to start anew. She had a confusing personality. While she prefered isolation for the most part, whenever she was with friends or with her family, she would be the centre of attention, the life of the party.

She was everyone's favourite, especially her grandfather's. He would go to extremes to do things for her and so it was very difficult for him to let her go so soon. He was genuinely happy for her, they all were, but they were equally sad at the same time. She was loved by all, her fun and chirpy nature kept everyone's lives, lively. Maybe that was the reason that the entire army came to see her off at 3 a.m. in the night.

"Wear warm clothes, the weather's quite chilly these days! And don't take anything from strangers!" A curious father advised.

"Don't worry Baba! I'm not a baby anymore, I'm almost 27."

"You're still a baby for us." Said her grandfather, whom she called Nana.

As she proceeded towards the check-in counter, she turned back to say her final goodbyes, "I'll miss all of you, I'm really grateful for you to give me this opportunity, I hope I don't let you down. I hope I become the person you all want me to be. I love you all so much you have no idea!" With tears rolling down her cheeks. Goodbyes were never her thing, she would always get very emotional, although she promised herself she won't today, but she did. Up till now she was very excited and happy about the whole thing. Just the idea of going to a place where no one knows you, being all by yourself, living independently, was so exciting that it elicited a sympathetic response in her everytime she thought of it. But at this point she had a sinking, gut-wrenching feeling. Like the one you have before an important exam. She was caught in a dilemma.

"Okay okay come on Rudolph. Stop crying." Her brother said teasingly as her nose turned red, trying to cheer her up again. "You're ruining all your makeup."

"Bhai!" That's what she called him, "spare me for today at least."

"Haha I'll miss you my baby sister." He says while messing up her perfectly blow-dried hair.

"Bhai! What did you do! It took me 2 hours to get this done!"

"I'll miss all of this." Her mom whispered, not wanting Nadine to hear this and get emotional again.

"Final call for all passengers traveling from Karachi to Istanbul through Turkish Airways are requested to proceed towards Gate Number 7 for boarding."

"Is it 4:30 already?! Oh shoot! I'm late! I have to run!" She exclaimed as she hurried her way to the ticket counter to get her boarding pass

After bidding farewell to everyone she rushed towards the gate. Looking through the glass windows she could see the beautiful red and white plane, which would take her to her destination.
By this time, her adrenaline rush had kicked in, she was charged up like an Energizer bunny. She Snapchatted the picture of the beautiful candy cane resembling plane. "Istanbul buraya geldim!" meaning "Istanbul here I come!"

"Looks like watching all the Turkish soap operas has finally paid off." She chuckled as she boarded her plane, looking at Karachi for the last time.