"Hi Reema," said Ayedah in a weary voice, not even attempting to hide her annoyance, especially as she and Burak were interrupted. Burak nodded politely as Reema came out from the dark passageway up to the rooftop, but he too seemed annoyed- yet he hid it better than Ayedah did.
If she had sensed their discomfort and annoyance, Reema did not do anything to apologize for it and ignored it completely; instead, she smiled at both of them, but gave a wide-eyed and confused glance toward Burak. "Who's that?" she whispered to Ayedah, as if Burak were somebody they were looking at from afar. "This is Burak, my colleague and friend," said Ayedah, forcing herself to sound casual. "Er- Burak, this is my cousin, Reema." "Hi," said Burak, smiling courteously, though not too widely- he never did with strangers, and he knew to be cautious after what Ayedah had told him. "Ayedah's told me a bit about you, Reema." "Aw, how sweet," said Reema, with a tinkling laugh. "All good things, I'm sure. My cousin- and future sister in law- is really the kindest. I'm sure you know that by now, though."
Ayedah felt her stomach lurch as she sent an apologetic look toward poor confused-looking Burak's way, before Aarif appeared at the door to the dark stairway down back to the courtyard. "Oh, hi Aarif," said Ayedah. "Hi," he said, and went over to shake Burak's hand. "Hey Burak." "Good to see you again, Aarif," said Burak with a friendly grin. "I'm glad you enjoyed Turkey enough to come back." "Thanks to you, Buddy," said Aarif, smiling back, but Ayedah noticed a considerable change in demeanour toward the way he was with Burak since the first time they met. But perhaps he was tired, for it looked like Reema had dragged him all over the city.
"How did you even find us here?" asked Ayedah, looking confused as she turned to her brother. "I didn't even tell either of you where Burak and I were going-" "Oh, coincidence," said Reema with a laugh, and Aarif couldn't help but roll his eyes playfully. "She's joking, we followed you both," he admitted. "We saw you drive up here and followed you into the courtyard, but we took a bit of time looking for where you had both gone to." "Oh, I see," said Ayedah. "Did the nice man downstairs tell you that we were up here?" "Had to wake him up, but yes he did," said Reema. "He recommended for us not to interrupt the both of you, for perhaps something important was happening, but I couldn't wait." "Yeah, she just tore upstairs," said Aarif, smiling embarrassedly. Ayedah gave him a grim smile back, before Reema turned to Burak.
"Why don't you come for dinner back at home with us, then, Burak?" she asked. "Surely you don't mind bearing us for a little while more." Both Ayedah and Aarif gave her weirded out looks, though Aarif looked more alarmed than anything- but Burak casually replied with, "That sounds great. Thanks for the invitation. I'll have to ask Ayedah though, it is her house when Gabriella Teyze isn't around." Reema's jaw twitched slightly but she kept a smile on her face when she turned to Ayedah; "What do you think, Cousin?" she asked. "I'm sure he could stay over for dinner." "I was honestly going to ask him that myself," said Ayedah not-so-honestly, though she made her voice sound convincing enough to sound as if she were actually going to. "Would you like it, Burak?" "That sounds good, Yazar Hanim," he said, giving her a smile. "I'd like that." His smile brought relief to her tight chest, and she returned it gratefully.
"Okay, then!" exclaimed Reema, snapping the two away from each other. "Should we go, or not?" "Um, yes, sorry," said Burak, blinking profusely in the blur of the minute. "We can take my car." "That's sweet of you," said Reema, and actually went up to pat his arm, taking him aback. "Ayedah's talked quite a bit about you too, actually- tell me how you got to know her." Ayedah glared at her as a hot bubble of annoyance made her stomach squirm, before Burak coughed politely and drew himself away. He went into the passageway and down the stairs, Reema following closely behind to pester him with questions. Aarif was about to go down with her too, before his sister stopped him. "I need to talk to you," she said firmly. "What's up?" asked Aarif, looking slightly put off.
"I'm sorry Aarif, but what the hell?" hissed Ayedah, taking him aback as she lost her cool. She recognized her tone and inhaled deeply, composing herself. "What is it?" he asked, looking rather surprised with her tone. "Look, I think you need to teach your fiancee some manners," his sister said bluntly. "What do you mean?" he questioned. "She didn't-" "I'm sorry but please, don't try and defend her now," snapped Ayedah. "I could tell you yourself was uncomfortable with the way she was talking." Aarif was silent, so Ayedah continued to speak. "I've actually wanted to talk to you for a while about all this," she began, and Aarif interrupted her; "Can't it wait?" he asked. "They may be waiting for us already-" "It has to be now. And I'll make it short," said Ayedah firmly, and fixed her younger brother with a look to not be questioned. Aarif sighed, and nodded.
"Look, I'm glad you're here, Aarif," said Ayedah. "But you can't keep showing out of the blue without permission. And I thought we had a deal- how could you bring Reema into this without letting me know?" "She's my fiancee, Ayedah," pleaded Aarif. "And...well, she found out herself that we were communicating." "How so?" asked his sister. "She looked at my phone, she has access to it," said Aarif uneasily, making Ayedah's eyes widen in amazement. "She has access to- wait, how long have you been engaged exactly?" asked Ayedah. "Since I got back from visiting you," answered Aarif. "And well...you know what she's like." "I don't, actually," said Ayedah. "I haven't spoken to her or seen her or been with her for almost seven years, not counting Abah's funeral. I have no idea who she's grown up to be."
"Well, she's kind of possessive," said Aarif with a chuckle, scratching the back of his neck. "So I gave her access to my phone- she gave me access to hers too, it was fair." "I thought you were more careful, Aarif," said Ayedah disappointedly. "I'm sorry, I know this hurts you but you already knew that I didn't want anyone else knowing about how and where I am, plus you promised not to tell or let anyone know." Aarif sighed, bringing his hand up to his face and pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry," he said. "She...she really wanted to come and make it up with you, once she found out that it was you I was speaking to." Ayedah raised an eyebrow; "Why, though?" she asked. "I don't know, she didn't really explain it," said Aarif. "But I couldn't really stop her either, you know..."
Ayedah sighed; she had been afraid of this, though she had really trusted Aarif and his maturity. Her younger brother had always been quite a susceptible and submissive person to those he cared about, and even though she did her best to never try and control him- for she herself hated being controlled- he could often go as far as being on his hands and knees for people, doing things for them and submitting to their dictating. Especially their late mother and from what Ayedah remembered, Reema. He was there for his sister at times, but he never had the courage to stand up for her or speak for her. Just like their father.
Ayedah sighed, and looked up into her brother's eyes. Though she had been at home with them for a while- thus delaying her original plans with Burak- she had been avoiding properly talking with either of them, even Aarif. Her poor aunt had to deal with them most of the time, and Ayedah knew it was her turn to handle them. "Aarif, believe me, I'm happy we're on good terms again," said Ayedah gently. "But...you do need to be more mature about this." "How am I not?" demanded Aarif, and it was clear he was offended. "Aarif, you forget that it isn't my house, but Aunt Gabriella's," said Ayedah patiently. "It's honestly out of line to keep showing up without a word, and expecting us to take you in. Our aunt is very kind, but can't you think about how she feels too? She's busy, and so am I. I honestly don't think we can be around all the time to take care of the both of you."
"So you're saying that Reema and I should stay at a hotel, and that will make it easier for you?" he asked, though his voice was rather short. "Maybe not now, but it's in the air," said Ayedah truthfully. "I don't know if we can pay for it, Ayedah," admitted Aarif, his voice curt. "We can take care of the house on our own, you don't have to be there all the time." Ayedah shut her eyes and inhaled deeply, before
"I am being careful," protested Aarif. "Well I don't trust Reema," said Ayedah shortly. "But I do," said Aarif. "Don't you trust me?"
"Of course I do," said Ayedah. "But-"
"Um, excuse moi, but are we leaving?" asked Reema, poking her head out of the door to the rooftop. "Burak and I have been waiting ages, you know." Ayedah cocked an eyebrow at her in annoyance, but Aarif beat her to speaking; "Coming, Reema, we just had a talk," he said honestly, before he and Ayedah followed her down the stairs. Burak was waiting, and was talking to the old man at the entrance to the passageway whilst doing so. He ended their conversation and passed him a few liras before heading out of the courtyard with Ayedah and her brother and cousin. "What happened there?" he asked, taking hold of Ayedah's elbow to pull her closer so he could whisper. "Family business," muttered Ayedah, as if the word had a bad taste on her tongue. "I'll tell you later." "Okay," said Burak, before they reached his car and he got in, Ayedah doing so next to him.
"Oh, you're not sitting next to me, Ayedah?" asked Reema, but before Ayedah could retort, Burak stepped in. "I'd rather she'd sit next to me," he said politely, but firmly at the same time. "Oh, that's fine," said Reema. "Cute too." Burak's eyebrows twitched, as if he were holding back a frown, before he took off down the road. The drive home was not silent at all, for Reema continued on with her incessant chattering and questioning, with the excuse that it was the first time Ayedah was available to properly talk to her instead of being busy at work. "You know, I really expected you to have stayed behind with us, since it's a free day," said Reema. "But I suppose it's not wrong that you went out on a date instead." "We planned it a while ago, so Ayedah perhaps wanted to get it done as soon as possible," chuckled Burak, trying to keep the mood light. "And it wasn't a date," muttered Ayedah, though no one really heard her except for Burak, who gave her a worried look. He moved his hand so it would touch hers, and when she looked up at him he mouthed, "Are you okay?"
Ayedah nodded dishonestly, and though Burak could tell that she was faking it, the two of them simply put up with more of Reema's talk for the rest of the drive back, and felt relieved when they finally arrived. They entered the house with Ayedah unlocking the door, and she invited Burak in first. "Selam Aleykum," she called out, and Aunty Gab came down from her room. "Ve Aleykum Selam," she replied, and she smiled when she saw Burak. "Burak, welcome." "Thank you, Gabriella Hanim," he said courteously, a wide smile on his face. "Ayedah informed you that I was coming?" "Yes, she did," said Gabriella. "I am so happy you finally came to have dinner with us...I was waiting for Ayedah to bring you around to meet us. I still wonder why she did not do so earlier." "Maybe because we were busy," said Ayedah, giving her aunt a pointed look- which she ignored after winking at her.
"Well, you guys are free now," she said. "So just make yourself at home, Burak- I mean you should get familiar, if you're going to be my future nephew-in-law." "Aunt Gab!" hissed Ayedah, though Burak could not help but smile, amused. "Oops, excuse me, slipped out," she said, looping her arm through Ayedah's with a triumphant grin on her face. "Well, do as I say, Burak- make yourself at home. Ah, there's Stormy!"
Stormy the cat made his way pompously down the stairs and sashayed into the hall, stopping at the sight of Burak- he had never seen this man before. Who was he? "Stormy!" said Ayedah with a smile, reaching out for her cat. "You never come down to greet anyone-" But Stormy swept past his mistress and instead went and rubbed his body against Burak's long legs, surprising everyone. "Stormy!" groaned Ayedah, glaring at her cat as Burak laughed, taking him into his arms. "How could you?" "He seems to like you, Burak," said Aarif, laughing. "He isn't even nice to me, jeez," muttered Reema, though no one heard her. "He does, doesn't he?" said Burak. "Well, selam Stormy! We finally meet." Stormy mewed at him affectionately, making Ayedah stare at the sight. "He never does this to strangers," she said, bewildered. "He must really like you, Burak." "Well, I have my ways with animals," said Burak with a grin. "And likewise, Stormy. I like you too."
Ayedah shook her head before trying to escape to the kitchen, but her aunt stopped her. "Ayedah, aren't you going to invite your guest in yourself?" she asked, faking a look of innocent curiosity on her face. It took all she had to not glare at her aunt, and instead she gave Burak a wide smile that even took him aback. "Come on, Burak," she said, leading him to the living room, her cat still in his arms. "You can sit here whilst we prepare dinner." "Speaking of dinner, do you mind getting a few things at the grocery store?" asked Aunt Gab, and Burak immediately stood up when he was just about to sit- but before he could say anything, Reema spoke up. "I can go with her too, and help out," she chirped, and everyone looked at her, surprised. "Are you sure, Reema?" asked Aunt Gab. "I'm sure Ayedah can handle it alone-" "It will be good bonding time, don't worry," she said, and looped her arm around Ayedah's, making her cousin stiffen up. "Come on! I've only been to Marks and Spencer's or Asda anyway. I've never been to a Turkish grocery store." "They're pretty much the same," muttered Ayedah, but she could not fight or resist as she was dragged outside again by her cousin, before the two walked out into the road and crossed the street to get to the nearby grocery store to do their shopping.
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"So, Ayedah, we haven't really chatted properly since, you know, I've arrived," said Reema as Ayedah looked through the vegetables. Aunt Gab had requested fresh tomatoes and carrots, as well as onions. "Yeah, sorry, I've been caught up at work," said Ayedah casually, not meeting her eyes. "Being a screenwriter isn't easy- I'm on set most of the time, sometimes even on weekends. We've had to sleep there multiple times as well." "Ah, I see," said Reema. "Well, of course! Though I am surprised that you're the one to land a good position to work in the end- it's a good surprise though, don't worry." Ayedah raised an eyebrow, though she still did not look at her cousin or meet her gaze. "Uhm...thanks?" she said, chuckling nervously. She was not in the mood to converse with Reema, even if her cousin really did mean no harm; it was not like Aarif, she had missed her brother and was glad that he was present once more in her life, even if she did not show it exceedingly...but she did not miss Reema one bit, and was in fact glad to be away from her. In fact, she had hoped she would never have to see her again.
"That's nice of you to say," Ayedah added half-heartedly, when Reema looked at her expectantly, as if she were supposed to say something more to her cousin's 'compliment'. "Oh, you're very welcome," said Reema, grinning. "You deserve it. I mean, you managed to weasel your way into getting a decent job. I've got to give you credit, even if it does keep you busy." "Weasel my way in?" questioned Ayedah. "What on earth does that mean-"
"Oh, come on Ayedah," said Reema, laughing. "I know you wouldn't have gotten the job if it weren't for Burak." "What are you saying, Reema?" asked Ayedah, looking confused. "I mean, he obviously worked his way to get you hired, didn't he?" she tittered. "Sweet of him...romantic too." Ayedah went slightly red, and coughed in a dignified manner. "For your information, I only got to know Burak when I started working," she said in a stony voice. "He never weaseled anything for me-" "Oh don't get your panties in a twist, I was kidding," scoffed Reema. "But seriously though, how did you do it?"
Ayedah nearly tossed the tomatoes she had put into a shopping bag out of annoyance, but remained composed as she finally gave her cousin her proper attention. She turned to look at Reema, her brow furrowed slightly. "What are you implying?" she asked. "What do you mean by, 'how did I do it'?" Reema smiled. She put a hand on her cousin's arm, and Ayedah nearly flinched. "Look, Ayedah, it was a bit obvious that you did not have success in your path," she said in a sympathetic voice. "Even though you were smart, you were just not built for it." Ayedah stared at her. "What are you saying?"
"Look, we all know you didn't do that well in school," said Reema in an obvious voice. "Though I would wonder why, it was pretty easy for me." "What would you know?" she demanded. "You were just a kid when I was in high school. It may have been different." "Well, we did live in the same house," said Reema matter-of-factly. "I could tell that you were struggling." Ayedah nodded at her, then gently but curtly took her arm out of Reema's grasp as she turned away.
"Where are you going with this?" she asked in a murmur, her cousin barely able to hear. "Well, you got away with it, didn't you?" asked Reema. "You went to a good college then continued on with university, despite failing school. How did you do it? Raise money for it to pay your way into it?" A dirty look toward her cousin passed over Ayedah's face for a split second, before she replied with, "I took out-of-school exams. I did well, that's how I got in." "Oh," said Reema. "No wonder...though it is funny, you did well there and not in school." "I decided not to give a shit about my school exams, just on what would actually do me some benefit," said Ayedah. "Besides, I would have to go to Syria before I could study anywhere else if I properly passed the exams in TSOSA. I didn't exactly want that." "Obviously, if you were going to be sold off," laughed Reema, and Ayedah's eyes snapped to her, looking shocked and bewildered.
"Sold off...?"
"Oh, you didn't know." Reema hissed dramatically, as if she had accidentally given away a big, confidential secret. "Well, if you had gone to Syria instead of Oxford, they were going to marry you off to one of the friends of our relatives there. But they couldn't really do anything when you got your offer to Oxford instead, and failed the school exams- obviously on purpose, for what I can tell." She grinned at her cousin. "You really did know a way to get what you wanted, didn't you?" she giggled. "Ambitious, aren't you?"
Ayedah stared at her, her heart clenching.
Was I really that worthless? Did I mean so little to my family that they were going to sell me off like I was an object?
She had told her mum multiple times that she was planning to marry only after she finished her studies and got a stable job. It was one of the few things the two of them agreed on...or seemed to agree on. She was oblivious to the idea that her own family was planning to give her away, like she was nothing. She had already felt so unwanted, and she was relieved when they allowed her to go to Oxford- even if it was compulsory for her to visit them once a month, she was happy that she was elsewhere. But to know how she really was to them...it hurt, despite the fact that she had told herself that she did not care about her family.
"How did you know all this?" asked Ayedah slowly. "Oh, they were talking about it when you disowned us," said Reema airily, like it was the most casual thing ever. "I overheard." Ayedah nodded. She was determined to show that she really did not care about what their plans for her were, and that her life was her own. She had to have the courage to stand up to them, even if it was only Reema who was there...who was deemed trustworthy by her brother.
She turned to her cousin, and smiled at her the way Reema did her, taking the girl aback a little. "Well, Reema, ambition had little to do with it," she said truthfully, her voice sour yet sweet. "It was survival. I had to leave, if I wanted to live. Our family- excuse me, yours- wasn't going to let that happen. If you want to tell them when you get back, you can. It isn't going to hurt me." She snapped her attention away, and walked off to the dairy aisle.
"Hey, it's okay, you know," said Reema suddenly, catching up with her. "I don't think it was wrong at all for you to leave, if you were not happy with us." Ayedah raised an eyebrow at her, slightly skeptical.
Reema sighed.
"Look, I just want us to be friends, okay? If not family, friends," she said. "For Aarif's sake. I love him, and he loves you, so- I just want us to get along." She paused for a while, and when Ayedah did not respond, she continued. "I'm not that girl who made your life difficult by telling on you for the smallest things," she said. Ayedah furrowed her brow, and Reema nodded. "I know, it did make things difficult," she admitted. "And I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me, I promise I'm not the same anymore. I really and truly do just want us to be friends." Ayedah looked at her for a while, before she finally nodded. "Alright," she said. "But only for Aarif." Reema nodded, and was about to hug her when Ayedah stopped her. "Not here, please," she said, indicating to the store around them, and Reema chuckled embarrassedly.
"Oops, sorry."
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A/N: Hey y'all, I updated here hehe
What do you guys think of Reema? Do you believe her sincerity? Either way, Burak's going to spend dinner with them so...progress ;)
Lygs,
Ayesha <3