"Let's get married Serkan, today, right now."
I felt my throat go dry and didn't know how to respond. It was all I ever wanted her to say and I was so happy that she had finally said it. Eda Yildiz wanted to marry me, I thought to myself and the mere notion of that was so powerful that it made me feel like I ruled the world.
"But E- Eda you're sick..." I stuttered out. I couldn't believe what I was saying, if this were any other day, I would have carried her to the marriage office myself but for some reason, it didn't feel right.
"It's just a fever Serkan, I'll be fine!" She said, with a sudden spark of excitement in her eyes.
"No Eda," I said as I gulped nervously. It was as if my mouth was moving on it's own. She looked at me sadly, her tired eyes getting the better of her again.
"Not this way," I pleaded as I held her hands.
"I want to get married to you right away Eda but I want to do it properly- I want to give you the wedding of your dreams, and I want you to be in your right state of mind," I said as I tucked in a loose strand of hair. For some reason, this made her smile, and she looked at me with her big brown eyes like I was her whole world and this made me so happy that I could barely contain it within me.
"Evet Serkan, I wanted a fancy wedding but that's before I realised how transient life can be. I don't want a big ceremony anymore, I don't want people and I don't want large cakes. I only want you," she finished as she stroked the side of my cheek, making me shiver with awe.
"And I might be sick Serkan, but that's an even better reason to get married today. You're here for me at my absolute worst, and I want to remember that Serkan, for the rest of my life I don't want to forget that my husband was there for me when I was at the lowest point in my life." I felt a chill run down my spine when she called me her husband, it was even more beautiful than I'd imagined it to be.
"Eda..." I started off, the tears welling in my eyes. She was so perfect, so wonderful. How could I deny such a beautiful woman anything? Especially when she was willing to give me everything I've ever wanted.
"Wait here for a second," I said as I got up from the bed.
"Serkan where-"
"You'll see!" I smiled as I turned around and sprinted out of the room, failing to read her face as I did so.
-*-*-*-*-
"Serkan," she sighed as she stood in front of me, holding what appeared to be a long black dry-cleaning bag. She probably bought me another suit, in spite of me asking her not to, I thought.
"Yes annem, what now?" I asked her, tired of all her antics.
"Are you serious about Selin? She's such a bitch." My mom said in a single breath, not wasting any time beating around the bush.
"Annem! Language!," I said as I glared back at her.
"What? I said what I said. And just because I don't call her a bitch it doesn't mean that she ceases to become one," my mom finished, making me facepalm myself in desperation.
"Why are you here annem?," I asked when I knew that I couldn't change what she was thinking when she'd made up her mind already.
"This is why I'm here," she said as she threw the large bag on the sofa.
"Did you buy me a suit again?" I asked, I didn't want to be one of those men whose mom still bought their clothes for them.
"No Serkan, you're not worth my time," she replied nonchalantly as she waved her hand, making me sigh. My mother had an air for the dramatics alright.
"What is this then?" I asked as I tried to get a peak in.
"It's Eda's wedding dress," she said and I could feel myself go pale in the face. Eda's wedding dress? My mother went shopping for Eda's dress? I was so annoyed.
"Why do you have Eda's wedding dress?" I dropped the words casually, pretending not to care.
"It's her wedding dress from when she was going to get married to you," my mother offered as an explanation as she looked at me knowingly.
"Oh," was all I said as I breathed a sigh of relief.
"The day you went missing, she was in such a mess, we all were. So much happened that night by the end of which her dress was completely ruined, so I got another one made because I knew that you were coming back and you wouldn't want to waste any more time," she smiled as she unzipped the front of the bag.
"There's no need for the dress now Annem," I said dismissively, afraid of what I might learn if the conversation went on ahead. For some unknown reason, I felt a sharp pain in my chest, I didn't want to talk about it anymore.
"Listen well Serkan, you can't keep going around your life like the past year never happened, you may have forgotten, but I and everyone else haven't, you may have forgotten that Eda's your bride but I have never forgotten for even one second that she's my daughter, you understand?" She said accusingly as she pointed a finger at me.
"This dress is for my only daughter, Eda. I thought that this would help you come to your senses, but since you're going to be such a prick about it, I'll go give it to her myself. At least she can wear it when she's wedding Deniz," my mom said icily, turning her face back to the dress I still hadn't seen. For some reason I felt irked with what she'd said.
"Annem wait," I called out immediately.
"Leave it here, I'll give it to her," I lied as she turned around again.
"Come on Serkan, we both know that you won't be doing that," she said as she looked at me knowingly. She picked the dress up, held it at arm's length and made me look at it, like she was proving her point.
The long white dress caught my attention, my whole undivided attention. It was gorgeous, The satin fabric looked so touchable that I immediately wanted to reach out and run my hand through it. The bodice of the dress had specks of silver glitter that only annotated it further, A deep neckline ran through a third of it's length that'd make any groom jealous. It was simply stunning. The lower part of the dress flowed effortlessly like water, and it's flares were so elegant and graceful that I was at a complete loss of words to describe them. I controlled every muscle fibre in me from going up to touch that dress and a fleeting thought crossed my mind that I quickly brushed aside as fast as it had come- I'd die to see Eda in that dress.
"Stop gaping Serkan," my mother said as she brought me back to my senses. I hadn't noticed that my mouth had dropped and I quickly shut it back, embarrassment radiating from my face.
"It's pretty," I said simply, as I turned my gaze back to my mother.
"Yes I realized," annem drawled as as she put the dress back in the bag.
"Eda'll look so pretty on her wedding day," she said again as she stared at the dress, making me freeze inside.
"You're not giving her this dress," I said almost immediately, making her turn her head in surprise.
"I- She already brought her dress a week ago, she has no use for this," I said, not lying entirely.
"If you're planning to slip this on that whore-"
"Mom it's not for Selin!" I said immediately and I felt a little guilty that I knew straight away who she was referring to but my mom thankfully didn't comment.
"What are you going to do with it?" she asked as she studied my face carefully.
"I'm not sure yet," I replied, being honest with myself for the first time.
"You better decide fast then, Serkan there isn't much time," she said as she started walking towards the door. I knew what she was talking about and she knew that I knew what she was talking about so I didn't even bother feigning ignorance.
Once I was sure that my mother had left, I walked up to the sofa where the dress lay in it's casing and opened it up again, feeling every fold and crease, examining every nook and corner. It felt like my hands had a mind of their own when it came to that dress, and when I was satisfied inspecting it, I put it back in the cover and placed it carefully inside my cupboard, knowing that the dress was very important to me but having no idea why.
-*-*-*-*-
I pulled the black cover out of my cupboard and looked at it for a split second, smiling widely as I did. Quickly, I rushed back to my room to find Eda exactly how I'd left her, sitting on the bed, her eyes eagerly meeting mine.
"How's the fever Eda?" I asked, knowing fully well that she wanted this wedding to happen no matter how bad she was feeling.
"The paracetamol helped, I'm fine now," she replied and surprisingly, I was convinced. She sounded a lot better, and when I reached out to feel her skin, it wasn't hot like earlier. While I was busy examining her, she was busy checking out the bag I was holding and I immediately felt very self conscious.
"This is for you," I said shyly as I handed it over to her.
"Serkan what is this?" She asked as she already made her way to the zipper, pulling it down slowly. I watched as her expression slowly changed from curiosity to that of awe. Her hands traversed down the length of the gown and a gasp escaped from her lips as she explored further into it, reminding me of the first time I'd seen the dress, I probably looked just as mesmerised, if not more.
"Serkan thi- I-" she was at a loss for words as her gaze stayed on the beautiful garment.
"Is this for me?" She asked finally as she turned her head up for the first time since she examined the dress.
"Of course it's for you Eda!" I smiled as I saw the tears in her eyes.
"Not going to let you cry on this one as well," I whispered jokingly as I took the dress from her hands and placed it to the side. A small laugh escaped her lips and I engulfed her lips in a kiss, sucking at her bottom lip, something I had only recently discovered that I had a passion for.
"What's that for?" She whispered as she pulled apart, smiling from ear to ear.
"Just practising how to kiss my bride at the altar," I smiled as I held her arms in mine.
"What makes you think that your bride wants to be kissed?" she said cheekily, making me smirk widely.
"Oh trust me, she does," I said, making Eda laugh out loud.
"When did you buy the dress Serkan?" she asked as her fingertips danced on my bare arms.
"I di- didn't, my mother did," I confessed as I saw the happy tears run down her face. She was so touched, and I was so glad that I had someone who'd wear the dress for me, that Eda would wear the dress for me.
"It's beautiful," she said again as her fingers continued to play with my skin.
"I'd stop doing that if I were you," I said as my voice dropped dangerously low.
"Doing what?" She sounded clueless as her fingers kept tracing my bones, giving me all kinds of tingling sensations.
"Take your hands off me Eda, otherwise I won't be able to keep mine off of you," I warned as I looked straight into her chocolate brown orbs. Her hands immediately flew off my body, and with them the heat and warmth that I'd felt earlier left too, leaving me more than a little disappointed.
"The only reason I'm listening to you now is because we're getting married today, and I'm going to have all the time in the world to feel you down tonight and every other night that follows," she said seductively, making my hair stand up and before I had the chance to reply, she got off the bed and looked at me teasingly, knowing fully well what she was doing.
"I need to get ready now, please leave the room," she smirked down at me and I had the strongest urge to take her then and there but I kept it reigned. Standing up, I walked closer to her so that we were only an inch apart and I bent down to inhale her neck.
"I'll call the lawyer to get a marriage certificate ready," I whispered in her ear, my lips grazing her earlobe.
"Ta- Tamam," she replied as she turned her face the other way and I smiled at myself for getting the job done.
I watched as she removed the trench coat off her shoulder and hung it on the door. Next she put her hands underneath the hem of her blouse and looked at me undauntedly.
"Are you going to watch me undress?," She quipped as she started lifting off her blouse and I felt my cheeks go red with embarrassment as I turned my head away, not yet- I told myself.
"I'll meet you outside when you're done, let me know if you need anything," I said quickly as I shut the door without looking behind me, unable to bring myself to respond to her taunts. I heard a laugh on the other side and it took all the courage in me to not barge in there and kiss her already.
"Be patient Serkan, just a little while longer," I muttered as I made my way towards the dressing room. I'm going to enjoy lifting that dress off of Eda Bolat tonight, I thought to myself as I smacked my lips with delight.