"Hmm? What do you say?" Serkan asked Sirius. "I think tonight. You'll see, tonight she'll come. I'm sure of it. I know Eda well, that's why I'm positive, tonight, for sure, she will knock on my door. I feel it...the feelings are here." He tapped his chest with his first two fingers.
At that moment the doorbell rang and Serkan turned his head to the door in surprise. His heart rate picked up. She was really here. She really came. "I knew it. See? I knew she'd come. I just know these things." He got up and sauntered toward the door, feeling cocky about winning the battle of wills that had been going on between them for the last two days. "Eda Yıldız." He smiled confidently, but when the person who stood on the other side of the door became visible he stopped in his tracks and his smile faded. "Balca," he said, disappointed.
His enthusiasm deflated, he opened the door. "Balca."
"Hello. I got your address from the office. And I live nearby..."
"Ah..." he said, pretending it all was very normal, even though he didn't feel like it was. Wasn't it strange for this woman he barely knew to show up at his door at this time of night? "Is that right?" he said, trying to act natural.
"I left the party early and decided to do some work. I sent you an email, but I thought I'd bring the files to you myself. If you have time tonight, you can take a look."
"Okay," he said, taking the files from her. "Of course."
"We can talk about it in the morning, then."
"Okay, sounds good," Serkan said, already starting to close the door. He wanted her to leave. He still hadn't given up hope that Eda would show up tonight. He knew she would.
"Oh! By the way..." Balca said, stopping Serkan from closing the door. She dug into her coat pocket and brought out a small ball. "I brought this...for Sirius."
"Thanks." Serkan forced a smile. How did she know about his dog? "He'll love it." Again, he started to close the door, anxious for her to go away.
"Hey." She tried a different tactic to keep him from closing the door. "I saw a pizza place down the street. Is it any good? I'm really hungry."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I don't eat pizza. I couldn't tell you. Maybe try Yelp!?"
Balca looked disappointed. Serkan sensed she was trying her best to be invited in, but there was no way he was going to do that--first of all, he had no desire to spend time with her outside of work, second, he didn't want to have to explain to Eda why Balca was in his apartment if she showed up...WHEN, he corrected himself...WHEN she showed up.
"Okay." Balca hesitated. She didn't want to give up yet. She made one last effort to get into Serkan's apartment. She just knew if she got in, she'd be able to get him to ask her to stay. "I'll definitely check it out." She gave him her best pleading look. "Hey, Serkan, I hate to ask this of you, but I came here straight from the office and I want to grab something to eat before I go home. Would it be okay if I used your bathroom really quick?"
Serkan looked down at the floor and sighed. He really didn't want her in his apartment, but it was unreasonable of him to not let her use the bathroom...wasn't it? He looked back up at her. "Yes...yes, of course." He stepped back and opened the door wider to allow her to enter. "Come in. It's right under the stairs, to the right of the kitchen." He pointed in the general direction as she entered.
She walked over to the sofa and set down her purse and took off her coat and looked around. He thought she was getting too comfortable, but he didn't say anything. "Nice place. Did you just move in? You don't have your artwork up on the walls yet."
