It was the weekend and Esra had spent most of the day looking at apartments. Ozan insisted on accompanying her and although she didn't want to inconvenience him, she was glad he had come along. He knew all about what was acceptable, how to check that everything worked as they had advertised (spoiler alert, it did not), how far the nearest train station was, what was reasonable rent for the space, and so much more. They had eaten an early dinner outside and were back in the apartment.
Esra's phone was completely out of juice, and she remembered that she had left her charger at work. Her battery pack had served her during the day, but that was out too.
"Hey Ozan," she said, walking out of her room and spotting him in the kitchen, "can I borrow your charger? I left mine at the office."
"Sure," he said, waving in the direction of his room, it's on my desk, just go in and take it."
"Thanks!"
The doorbell rang just as she unplugged his charger from the socket, and she stilled at the sound of a female voice.
"Ozan, I hope you don't mind me stopping by. I know it's late, but I was in the neighborhood and I thought I'd come and pick up the project files."
"Oh...., umm.., yeah sure." Esra heard Ozan stammer in response.
"And I also brought us some takeout dinner, we could go over the files as we eat."
"There was no need for that Cagla." Ozan replied.
Cagla, hmmm, Esra wondered if this was the girl he liked or the girl who was bothering him at work. She couldn't quite figure out yet.
"Let me get the files, it's in my room," she heard Ozan's voice approaching the room and she hid behind his door, half afraid that Cagla would follow him in.
Ozan entered his room and closed the door behind him, almost jumping when he saw Esra hiding behind it.
"Esra?" he squeaked, "napıyorsun?"
She held up the charger, "You said I could borrow it?"
He looked confused still, like it didn't explain what she was doing behind his door.
And he was right, it didn't.
"I heard a female voice. If I had walked out of your room she would have seen me. I didn't know if she'd be okay with seeing a woman in your bedroom."
Understanding dawned on his face.
"Why didn't you tell me that you were having a "girl friend" over, I would have gone out and left you guys alone." Esra whispered, air-quoting the "girl friend".
He shook his head, "She's not my girlfriend!" he said, sounding affronted.
"Oh she's not the one you're crushing on?"
"Hayır!" he said vehemently.
"Is she the one who's coming onto to you and not getting the message to back off?"
He nodded and sighed. This was the first time Cagla was showing up at his apartment, and that too at night, she had clearly decided to escalate her pursuit.
"Ozan! " Cagla called from outside, "is everything ok?"
"Evet, evet! I'm just searching for the files!" he shouted back.
"Do you want me to help?" Esra asked.
"Help? How?" Ozan didn't know what she was thinking and he wasn't sure he wanted to.
"Do you want to get rid of her, and send her a permanent message, or no?" Esra asked impatiently.
"More than anything," he said intensely.
"Do you trust me?"
"Uhhh..."
She slapped his arm, taking mild offense. "Ok, go out, and give her the files, and I'll follow you in a minute. Just play along ok?"
"I don't know about this Esra..."
"Yaaa Ozan, just go." She opened the door and pushed him out.
Cagla was standing a few feet away, looking annoyed. "I heard voices. Is someone in there?"
"Umm, actually.." Ozan stuttered.
Esra opened the door and walked out....in Ozan's t-shirt...and nothing else.
Cagla's eyes widened as she scanned Esra, doing a double take at her bare legs.
Ozan's own jaw dropped. What the....
"You must be Cagla," Esra said with her brightest smile.
Esra gestured to at her own under-dressed state apologetically, "I'm sorry we weren't expecting company."
Cagla's eyes narrows, and her lips twisted in annoyance, "And you are?"
"Esra, I'm Ozan's girlfriend."
Cagla turned accusing eyes at Ozan, "You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend."
I didn't know myself, Ozan thought to himself, rather pleased at her annoyance.
"It's all quite new," Esra interjected, linking her arms around Ozan's waist and looking up at him with adoring eyes, "right, bitanem?"
She had said to play along, so..... Ozan wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gathered her close to him, smiling as he saw her eyes widen in surprise ever so slightly.
"Evet. it's new, but also a little old. Esra and I have been friends since we were kids. We finally realized it's more than that."
"Clearly," Cagla's eyes ran up and down Esra's t-shirt clad body with barely concealed derision. "Well, I should leave you two to it..." she waved in the general direction of the bedroom, trying to embarrass them.
"Aww, thank you, that's so considerate of you," Esra replied cheekily, "although I can see you brought dinner for us. You are welcome to stay."
"I brought it for .." Cagla stopped herself, she didn't care anymore. She wasn't going to humiliate herself, Esra was welcome to Ozan. He was too much of a nerd for her anyway.
She turned on her heel, "No thanks. Goodnight. I'll see myself out."
Ozan locked the door behind her and turned around to face Esra, "Esra what are you doing in my t-shirt!!!"
"It's not a big deal Ozan. It's just a t-shirt."
She rubbed the fabric against her arm, "And it's so soft! Where did you get it from?" she said temporarily distracted.
"Anyway, did I get the job done or what?" she brushed her shoulders in a self-congratulatory manner.
"But..but..it's..." Ozan eyes fell to the the edge of his shirt now grazing her bare thighs, and his brain short-circuited. Never in a million years did he ever imagine Esra wearing his clothes. He would carry the mental image to his grave.
"Hey! Don't look at my legs!" Esra said indignantly.
His eyes immediately shot upwards, "Sorry!"
"It's fine," she teased, "it's not every day you have a half dressed woman in your apartment." She hesitated only briefly, "right?"
"RIght!" he agreed immediately.
Thank you though," he rubbed the back of his neck, not fully sure if all of this was a good thing. "I think...."
"She's going to tell everyone in the office I have a girlfriend now. And I'm going to have to pretend at work too," he continued.
"She will also have to explain what she was doing alone in your apartment on a late Saturday evening. No one will buy her excuse about picking up files." She patted him on the arm, "Trust me, it will be ok."
He smiled then, maybe she was right. "Same old Esra, always up to something," he said affectionately, ruffling her hair. "Can I have my t-shirt back now?"
He was never going to wash it, he thought to himself, ever.
"Tamam," she said, reaching for the bottom of the shirt, like she was going to take it off right there.
"Hey!"
She laughed out loud at his shocked face. "Kidding!" she grinned, disappearing into her room.
Ozan shook his head in amusement, she had made his life ten times more interesting, and he had no regrets. He sobered at the thought that all of this was temporary. She would find her own place soon and move out. He needed to delay the process as much as possible.
Esra sat at her desk lost in thought, her fingers unconsciously playing with the t-shirt she had not yet taken off. It smelled of Ozan...and of comfort and warmth.
That moment when he had pulled her snug against him, and grinned conspiratorially- his dimples digging into his cheeks, it replayed in her head, and she fanned herself. Whew, she had felt positively weak-kneed in that moment. That was a first. She didn't like losing control of herself like that. And certainly not with Ozan! He was her childhood friend! She could never ruin their friendship because of her silly hormones. Yeah, she needed to move out of here as soon as possible.
Notes (2022-01-30)
I loved this scene in ep7 so much, I really wanted to incorporate it into this story :)
Might have a drunk Esra scene coming up next. Stay tuned :)
I've always italicized the Turkish words and phrases, but I think we've all been in dizi fanfic long enough that I don't have to do that anymore. So I'm going to leave them as regular text going forward :) Let me know if you ever need anything translated or explained.