Few days later..
It was early Saturday morning, when she woke up to the sound of her doorbell ringing continuously. She tried to remember if she placed any online orders recently. She opened the door yawning and was shocked to see the stranger with a baffled expression on his face.
She rubbed her eyes to check if she was dreaming but he was still there. It was the stranger she saw on the bridge!! The stranger in her dreams!! She touched his cheek and reality hit her. He was for real. She could not recollect where she saw him or what his name was but this face haunted her dreams for a long time.
"Deniz's cousin" was all he said.
"OMG" she thought. She left the door wide open and went in search of the robe to cover her pyjamas.
As she disappeared out of his sight, he wondered what to do. Not wanting to stand in the doorway, he dragged the suitcase in and closed the door. He was impressed with the apartment, it seemed bright and smelt good. She had good taste, he thought as he looked around the living room. His thoughts went back to her. It felt as if she was freaked out to see him.
He was here to attend a few business meetings and decided to surprise his cousin who was like his little brother. Although he was happy to him, Deniz told him that he will be away for 2 weeks and his apartment had been rented out to a couple in his absence. He could have easily found a hotel to stay but Deniz talked him into staying at his friends' place. When he said friend, he never expected to stand at the doorstep of a girl. Knowing Deniz, he should have thought twice about it.
"Sorry" She said, coming out of her bedroom covered in a robe hiding her cute mickey pyjamas. Even with her messy bun and sleepy face, she seemed to have a certain charm about her.
"I'm Nazli... Deniz didn't tell me you'll come today" She said trying to strangle Deniz in her thoughts. When Deniz asked her to host someone, she never expected it to be a man... let alone his cousin.
"What did you do Nazli?" She mentally kicked herself.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you early morning. I'm sure I can find a hotel somewhere..." He sensed she was a tad uncomfortable and offered to leave, only to be cut off mid-sentence.
"No... It's okay." She thought she screamed seeing him startled.
"I mean Deniz is a very good friend of mine, I can't let him down. You're his cousin... I mean he must have felt bad to leave you all alone... ". At some point she lost track of what she wanted to say and just kept blabbering whatever came to her mind.
"I'll prepare breakfast. Why don't you freshen up...?" She dragged her sentence trying to recollect his name. Did he say a name or was she so shaken up that she didn't remember?
"Which room is it?" He asked and she pointed to the room at the end of the hallway.
"And I'm Ferit...Ferit Aslan" He said while dragging the suitcase in the direction of room.
FERIT ASLAN!!! It rang alarm bells in Nazli's mind, and she grabbed her mobile. She looked him up and immediately dialled her sister.
"You woke up so early?? It's going to rain today" Her sister asked her chuckling.
"When does it not rain here Asuman?" Nazli was eager to share the news.
"And before you say anything Asuman.. You know that stranger in my dreams it's Ferit and he's here!!" Nazli said holding her breath.
"Ferit... Who's Ferit?" Asuman asked her sister.
"Ferit Aslan!! Remember that business magazine we bought last summer when I was home... It's that guy. Ah it makes sense now... I could not just dream of a random face, had to see him somewhere." She explained to her sister.
"Ahh yes, I remember now. Didn't you buy that just for him? I mean you were bowled by that cover... How did he end up there?" Asuman teased her. Nazli informed her about him being Deniz's cousin and she was hosting him at his request.
"Abla... Didn't I tell you this Deniz guy is nothing but trouble???" Asuman did meet him a few times when she was visiting Nazli. He seemed to be always getting in some trouble or other flirting with girls, messing up with their boyfriends. However, she was happy to know that he kept her sister happy and entertained her like she does.
"What do I do now Asuman?" Asuman could sense the excitement in her sister's voice. She knew her sister admired him the moment she saw him on the cover. However, there wasn't much talk about him after that.
Lately, Nazli kept on talking about how a stranger haunting her in dreams and her numerous attempts to recollect who he was.
Before Asuman could say anything, she said "Bye.. Call you later".
Nazli heard the sound of door opening and footsteps approaching and immediately went to the kitchen.
"Sorry, my sister called" She said as he stood near the breakfast bar. She promised him breakfast and here she was still thinking what to do.
"Do you talk daily?" Nazli heard him say as she was trying to think what she can prepare quickly. As she saw eggs, bread she gleefully said "YES" and then realised he asked her a question.
"Sorry, yea I talk to her almost every day" She said kicking herself for her abnormal behaviour today.
"Your family must be missing Deniz as well considering how entertaining he is!!" Nazli said.
"Well that's a very polite way to say what a brat he is" Ferit smiled and Nazli agreed that he is.
"Didn't expect him to stay away from home but then it's his choice. Our family always encouraged us to do our own thing." He seemed quite proud of his family.
As Nazli was mixing eggs and milk, he offered to help even after her constant denial.
"My friends say I'm a great cook, so please let me show my skills Nazli" He said.
She let him while she was lost in the thought whether her name always sounded that poetic.
"I need a walk" Nazli sighed as she felt stuffed and went to her room to get ready.
Ferit stood there unsure of what to do but Nazli quickly returned after she changed, asking him to join her.
As they walked along the riverside, Nazli found out Ferit hasn't done much of the touristy stuff and encouraged him to come along with her post lunch.
xxx
It was Sunday evening and they were pretty exhausted with all the sightseeing. Ferit spotted a Japaneese restaurant as they were walking in a busy shopping street.
"I need some good katsu curry" He said, pointing Nazli in that direction.
"Let's go" She said, running in the opposite direction towards the tube station.
"It's this way Nazli" He was pointing in the opposite direction but followed her anyway.
"Where are we going?" He asked as she sat down beside her on the tube.
"To eat" She declared.
"But the restaurant was down the road" It didn't make any sense to him that they were taking a tube for it.
"Didn't you say you wanted a good katsu curry?" She was annoyed at his questioning.
After probably changing two tubes and what seemed like an hour, they finally got off.
"Will you just tell me what is happening?" Ferit was famished at this point.
"This is where you get the best" She pulled him along inside a restaurant.
Once they were seated,
"We traveled all the way for this" He never met someone so crazy.
"You'll know once you try it" She said confidently.
"Your usual" said the waiter to Nazli and asked Ferit what he wanted.
Once the waiter left, he was surprised to see other staff waving to Nazli and saying hello as they passed by. It seemed a very basic place although he could see a lot of Japanese which made it seem a bit authentic.
"How many times have you been here?" He was curious to find out.
"Let's say enough times for the staff to know me by name but not that frequently to get discounts like Deniz" She giggled.
"So this is your favourite then?" He said.
"Maybe for Japanese food" She took a bite.
"I need to be careful before I say I want to eat something then" He laughed wondering where she'll drag him if she has one for every cuisine. As he took a bite, it all made sense.
On their way back home in the tube, Nazli was animatedly explaining something to Ferit instead of holding on to the rail. She went crashing into his arms as the tube came to a sudden halt.
"Not again" She thought.
She felt goosebumps when he whispered close to her ears, his breath fanning her neck. "You better take this seat"
Earlier that morning when they were on way to a a museum, she got a text from Asuman.
"Someone seems to be having a fun time" Asuman texted Nazli and as she was busy typing a retort, she lost balance when the train halted. Ferit supported her by holding her shoulders as her back hit him.
And now she went straight into his arms. Embarrassed Nazli took the empty seat beside her and avoided looking at him for the rest of the journey.
xxx