It had been a few days since Esra had moved in. The apartment had an en-suite which was Ozan's room, one more bedroom and an extra bath between between both rooms. Ozan was fine with her putting her things out in the extra bathroom. He claimed to never use it, since he had his own.
For Esra t was kind of like living the dream - on borrowed time. Her bedroom was much larger than the one at home, she didn't have to share a bathroom with her brother or an annoying roommate, there was a fancy kitchen at her disposal that Ozan barely used, a nice view of the city, and a job that she loved. She knew that she would have to move into a humbler space soon, and she was totally fine with that, but this was a nice little escape - until she could make her own dreams a reality.
They had fallen into a routine of sorts. He would usually be out of the house before she was even ready for work. Sometimes they would drink coffee together in the morning, and talk a little about their day. Then she would take the train to work and back, and make herself a small meal. He would come back late, often after having already eaten, just like he said.
It was the first friday evening that she was at the apartment, and he came back a little earlier than usual.
"You're here!" Esra said surprised.
"Yeah there was an issue with the network at work. Nobody was being very productive. They decided the start the weekend early."
"Oh cool. By the way, my co-workers said there is a new bar around the corner, shall we go check it out?"
Ozan was looking forward to settling down on the couch and reading a book. "I think I'll pass."
"Come on Ozan, you never make time to do anything fun. They have karaoke and everything. And it seems it has an 80's vibe. It will be nice change for you."
Ozan sighed, why was it so hard to say no to her?
She could feel him caving, and clapped her hands in delight. "Yes! You're coming! Let me change out of my work clothes and we can leave."
"But I won't stay long," he warned, heading into his room for a shower.
"No problem, you can leave whenever you want. Worse case I can walk back later."
That didn't sit right with him, she was too trusting of the big city, but he didn't want to get into an argument with her about it.
He showered and came of out his bedroom and headed for the kitchen just as she stepped out of her room, "Ozan..."
He turned and looked at her expectantly.
"Actually never-mind," she muttered, walking backwards into her room, clutching her dress together under her armpit.
"Esra? What's going on? Iyi misin?"
She took two steps forward and then backtracked again, clearly conflicted.
"Hey, talk to me, " he said, concerned.
"It's just that..." she looked at him sheepishly, "my zipper is stuck? And I can't pull it up or down. I think the cloth got caught between the teeth. If I yank anymore I'll end up tearing the dress."
She held the dress together with one hand, and waved him away, "But it's fine, it's fine. So what if I tear a brand new dress I have never worn," she said, trying to sound convincing.
He chuckled mentally at her obvious despair and internal struggle. "Here," he walked towards her, "let me see if i can get it."
"Only if you don't mind...I mean, I don't want to impose..."
"Esra," he interrupted her impatiently, "let me see."
She held the top ends together and watched as his hands jiggered the zipper, his brows creased in concentration, and his head so close that she could feel his breath against her face.
His fingers brushed against her bare, sensitive skin, and she looked away briefly, almost hissing at the intense heat of his touch. Damn, his hands were so sexy. Why had she never noticed? Long fingers, taut veins popping along the back of his hands, his arms all muscled and sinewy.
And what was that scent? she inhaled deeper - so fresh and woodsy and manly.... Her brain screeched to a halt. Wait, what now? Where had those thoughts come from? She shook her head, excusing herself. No big deal, I'm just a normal human reacting to something attractive, that's all.
"There!" he said triumphantly, as he pulled the zipper free and all the way up. He looked up and found his face dangerously close to her flushed face. The stood still for a hot minute, both holding their breath, the air between them crackling with a strange new energy, before she took a step back.
"Thanks!" she said breathily. Too breathily, dammit Esra, she cursed herself.
She cleared her throat and tried again, "Thanks. I'm glad you were able to fix it and I didn't have to tear the dress."
"Me too," he said, "I mean, I'm glad you didn't have to tear the dress. Because it's nice and it looks nice on you. And the red color...it is... also very nice," he ended lamely.
Ah yes, perfect timing for verbal vomit, Ozan, he slapped his head mentally, remembering why he had distanced himself from her in the first place.
They walked the three blocks to the new bar and sat down and ordered drinks. It was clear that there was no karaoking to be had from Ozan, but maybe if he downed a few drinks. Hmm Esra wanted to see him let loose. One of these days, she would make it happen, she thought mischievously.
"So tell me what's new with you, I feel like I've known you all my life, but also don't know you at all." she said, once they were done with what they had ordered. "Do you have a girlfriend? Anyone interesting at work?"
He grinned at how she dove right into the topic. "There's this one girl who I think is coming on to me, but I'm really not interested."
"Well you should tell her that," Esra countered.
"She hasn't said anything yet, so I don't want to make it awkward. Even though she's acts really strange around me."
He put his hands in either sides of his head, "I'm just going to wear blinders and avoid her as best as I can."
"Typical," Esra laughed and shook her head.
"Ok so definitely not her, but are you interested in anyone? I could help you you know. Be your wingman, or wingwoman in this case. I'm good at that stuff," she brushed at her shoulders in a self-congratulatory tone.
He huffed out a laugh at her antics, but then looked away, not saying anything.
"Oh my god! There is someone. Come on you have to tell me now," she slapped at his wrist excitedly.
"I don't know how she feels, though. I don't want to ruin our friendship."
Esra sat back in her chair thoughtfully. "Yeah I get that. You don't want to make things weird if you are not sure how she feels."
Ozan nodded, relieved that maybe she was moving on.
"Is she also at work?"
Nope, not moving on yet apparently, he thought, tensing up again. Maybe it would be for the best if he said that he was referring to someone at work. He didn't want her to have even the slightest inkling that he might be talking about her. "
"Yeah, yeah, she's from work."
"Oh I see, then you definitely don't want to say anything yet. I would not want someone at work to say something to me if I'm not interested in them. It totally messes up the whole vibe, you know?"
"And you?" he asked, attempting to change the topic, "still think that love and marriage are not for you?"
"Totally!" she replied vehemently. "I mean just look around us. Your parents, my parents, every third family in the mohalle. Why bother to put myself through that. I don't want to be a burden to anyone, and I don't want to spend my life carrying someone else's burden like my mother."
"Maybe if you fall in love with someone..." he offered.
"Yeah, no," she shook her head absently as she scanned the room, "not likely."
"Omg!" her eyes widened as she looked past his head, "they've started fighting. The bouncer is taking them outside." Her eyes followed the men out the door and she half-stood to see what was happening outside through the glass windows.
"Alright," he stood, "I think that's our cue to head back."
They gathered their things, he helped her on with her coat, and they walked about a block, only to find that the brawl had moved away from the bar to the sidewalk and a crowd had gathered to watch the show. Ozan held her elbow to guide her on an alternative route.
"Hold on," she grabbed his sleeve, "do people fight in the city like they do in the mohalle? Can we watch for a few minutes? I can't wait to tell Eko about it."
She sounded way too excited about watching a fight. But this was Esra, of course she would get a kick out of it. He shook his head in resignation. "Fine, then stand behind me, I don't want you to get hurt if things get out of hand. Also, do you see why it's not safe for you to walk the streets alone at night? It's not the mohalle Esra."
She bristled, ready to say that she was used to defending herself. She had done it all her life! But she realized, much to her own surprise, that a part of her liked the feeling of being protected - that someone was willing to put themselves physically between her and potential danger.
"Tamam," she said, stepping behind him, and resting her chin on his back so she could watch over his shoulder, her body almost touching the length of his.
He turned to look at her, amused by how she had slide behind him without even putting up a fight, like he was expecting. It struck him then that he would actually put himself in harm's way for her, without a second thought.
She looked at him and smiled, and it warmed his heart at how comfortable this felt. It was like they had fallen back into the old easy friendship between them that he had so sorely missed.
Yeah, he would never want to ruin it by telling her how he really felt about her...
to be continued
Notes (2022-01-17)
I know that not much happened in this chapter but i wanted to lay some groundwork for what's to come. Maybe a visit from the girl that's been coming on to him at work? And maybe Esra helps him set her straight? I have the scene laid out in my head, so I hope i can get to it sooner than a week from now.
And you know the bar will be the place that will lead up to drunk scenes. So that's coming too :)
I can't tell you how much I love this picture of her behind him, her chin resting on his back. It has such a bodyguard vibe to it and they look so beautiful, I really wanted to include it in a fic somehow. So here it is lol.
Also is it even a fanfic without a stuck zipper scene, especially since we already have a scene I can gif???