Summary: Hamid’s deepest wounds reach the surface when Raisa arrives.
It was still dark outside when Daphne woke up. It wasn’t easy to be sure what time it was just by looking at the fogged window. She shifted her position on the bed a little and smiled as strong arms pulled her back, pressing her against and large chiselled torso hidden under designer pyjamas. She caressed her boyfriend’s arm and sighed. It was odd to think that both of them managed to spend the whole night on that bed and she was fine, despite the lack of sleep in the last couple days. However, she wasn’t sure Hamid could say the same, given how tall he is. I bet he’s going to get stiff neck or back pain. Pushing down the covers just enough, she carefully tried to lift one of his arms to get out of the bed.
“Leaving so soon?” Hamid’s morning voice rumbled in her ear, making her skin tingle.
“Hey,” she turned around and gave him a quick kiss. “Did I wake you?”
“Yes. Are you trying to run away from me?”
“No. I was just want to give you space on the bed so you can rest properly.”
He rubbed a hand on one eye and inhaled sharply. “Why are we having this conversation again?”
“Because I’m worried about you. You have a serious ankle injury to recover from and you need to rest.”
“So do you. Do you think I don’t know you barely slept ten hours in the last three days?” He pointed out. “I’m medicated, I’m well-rested and I don’t want you to be concerned about me anymore because I’m following all medical orders I got. But this goes both ways. I need you to be all right as well.”
“I’ll be fine, I just want to be sure you’re feeling okay,” she replied, cupping his cheek.
“I am.” Placing his hand atop hers, he kissed her inside part of her wrist. “Now, will you please just stay here and go back to sleep?”
She nodded, then rested her head on his chest as his fingers dug into her hair, massaging her scalp. “Briar told on me to you, didn’t she?”
“No. Annabelle did.”
“Ann? When did you talk to her?”
“Yesterday, when you went out to have lunch with Sevim and Yusuf while I was watching the game. Though it felt more like a warning with an implied threat.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Ann.”
The two of them chuckled. Relishing on the warmth of each other’s bodies under the covers, the couple soon drifted off once again.
…
Sunlight brightened up the room when she began to stir up. She could feel Hamid’s arms tensing up, holding her protectively as a discussion in hushed tones reached her eyes.
“Bana meydan okuma genç adam!”¹ A contralto voice commanded.
“O zaman hayatımda bir kez karışmayı bırak, anne!”² Her boyfriend hissed.
Anne?! Shit! Daphne looked up at Hamid, then at the elegant woman in her mid-forties glaring at them and pulled away from his embrace before getting out of the bed, smoothening her hair in the process.
When he reached for her hand, she squeezed it gently. “It’s okay,” she mouthed to him then turned to his mother. “Raisa hanım³, forgive me for taking the liberty to stay with Hamid last night. I understand you didn’t expect to find me here with him, but I only came here to help and I assure you we simply fell asleep watching TV. Nothing happened.”
“‘Nothing happened?’ Do you think this is nothing?” She berated.
“Anne, don’t,” Hamid warned, scowling at his mother.
Raisa stepped closer to the young lady sizing her up. “Why would you think it’s okay for you to stay in bed with my son?”
“Because Daphne is my girlfriend and she can do whatever she wants with me,” he snapped, pulling the viscountess closer as he intertwined his fingers with hers.
His mother’s eyes burned with rage as she exchanged glares with him.
“I understand if this is too much for you, ma’am, but this is how we show affection to one another.” The young lady squared her shoulders, making eye contact.
Raisa shook her head, curling her lips in a scowl as she turned to Hamid. “I knew this line of work wouldn’t be good for you. You travel too much, you blend in too easily and you’re forgetting your own principles. You’re obviously corrupted.”
A sudden rush of anger raced into the lady’s body. “Excuse me?”
“Anne, enough!” Hamid shouted. “I forbid you to say such things to my girlfriend.”
As mother and son glared at each other and began to argue, Daphne’s face fell. She couldn’t believe this was all her fault. Shaking her head, she put on her boots and made her way to the door in silence.
Her heels clicked on the marble floor as she ambled towards a floor to ceiling window at the end of the hallway and stared at the busy city. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks. She wished she had woken up five minutes before Raisa arrived. Or that she could have convinced her boyfriend that sleeping on the settee was a better option than giving in to the temptation of staying all night in each other’s arms. At that point, anything would be a better option if it meant avoiding a confrontation with his mother.
“I see you’ve met anne…” Sevim surmised, earning a small nod as response. “I’m sorry about that,” she gently placed a hand on Daphne’s shoulder. “She has always been overbearing with us, but she’s a bit worse with abi⁴. She can’t control him. Every now and then they have these fights.”
Daphne brushed the tears away and took a deep breath before speaking. “Of all the obstacles I’ve tried to anticipate, meeting your parents was the one that concerned me the most. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I didn’t expect a confrontation.”
“I can imagine. But I think you handled herself pretty well back there. Things could have gone worse pretty quickly but you left before. That was smart of you.”
“Did you hear the discussion?”
“I was trying to pretend I didn’t, but I was curious. Sorry,” Sevim scratched the back of her head.
Noticing the similarities between the young girl and Hamid, Daphne chuckled softly. “It’s fine…”
“I think anne was out of line but you didn’t offend her. That was nice of you.”
“I’m not going to lie, I thought about it. But things could have gone worse and this is not what I want. I can’t put him against her,” she shook her head.
“I know. Anne will come around eventually. She will see how good you are with abi and let you two be happy. Give her time,” the girl smiled reassuringly.
“Thanks, Sevim.”
“Of course. Now, judging by your face and your clothes, you haven’t had time to change clothes or take a shower, have you?”
“No…”
“And the two of them still dare to talk about my lack of hospitality. Ugh…” She rolled eyes. “Come. Let’s have breakfast. We can swing by your hotel later,” Sevim laced arms her brother’s girlfriend, leading her to the elevator.
…
The sound of the blow-dryer ceased as Daphne put it down and finished styling her hair. Sevim was right. Daphne did feel a little better after taking some time to take care of herself, even if all she could do was use a facial mask during a ten minutes bath. Yet, it seemed like no amount of self-care time could prepare her to face Raisa again.
“Hey, Daphne! Are you okay in there?” Sevim knocked on the door.
“Yes. I’ll be out in a sec,” the young viscountess shouted. Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and opened the door to leave the bathroom.
On the table by the window, Sevim and Yusuf chatted with their phones on their hands, exchanging glances before they turned to Daphne.
“Hey, Yusuf! Good morning!” Daphne smiled at her friend.
He stood up to greet her. “Good morning to you too. You seem a bit better today, more well-rested.”
“Yeah… Sort of,” Daphne shrugged.
“Hamid asked me to give you this.” He fished her phone out his jacket pocket and gave it back to her. “When you left the hospital, you forgot to take it with you.”
“Oh…” she received the device with several missed calls, mostly from her boyfriend and a couple from her friends and her father. “Thanks. I was a bit overwhelmed when I left earlier that I didn’t realize it wasn’t with me until I got here.”
“I’m sorry about what happened earlier. Raisa hanım is a bit intense, but she’ll see how fortunate Hamid is to be in a relationship with you.” He patted her shoulder.
“Thank you.”
“I told her she presented herself really well back there. I mean, it’s anne we’re talking about.” Sevim gave him a knowing look as she stood up and sauntered to them.
“She’s right. I’ve seen her crush many of the guys they dated. I remember this poor kid Malak went to a beach party with and Raisa hanım caught them trying to sneak out again. It looked like he was about to confess a crime he didn’t even commit,” Yusuf chuckled.
“Anne’s threatening demeanour can be helpful sometimes. My interpretation of Mother Gothel inspired on anne at the school play was legendary,” the girl grinned.
“Wait, that was inspired by your mother?!” Daphne’s eyes went wide. “Oh my god, Hamid showed me that performance! You were fantastic!”
“Why thank you,” Sevim pretended to curtsy. “He should’ve shown you our rewrite of Mother Knows Best. We made a video of our duet when he came over last month.”
“Oh, that video is a masterpiece! Hamid could make a living as a Broadway singer if he wanted to,” Yusuf guffawed.
“Please… As if I’d ever let him take the spotlight from me,” Sevim scoffed.
The three of them laughed when the sound of a message notification pinged on Sevim’s and Yusuf’s phone.
“Abi has been discharged. We should go back,” the girl informed. “But we won’t cross paths with anne. She left the hospital earlier.”
“Are you ready?” Yusuf asked, placing a hand Daphne’s shoulder.
“Yes,” the lady replied and grabbed her travel bag.
“Good. Then let’s go before abi sends a search party for you again,” the young girl rolled eyes and the three of them chuckled as they made their way to the door.
On the lobby, Sevim waited for Daphne to check out of the hotel while Yusuf went outside, carrying her travel. As the two of them stepped outside the building, two cars with Turkey’s flag on the bonnet were parked right in front of them. Recognizing the black one, Daphne walked towards her friend’s car when her boyfriend’s sister touched her shoulder.
“Not so fast, Daph. We’re taking this one.”
Her brows furrowed in confusion. “Why?”
“You’ll see,” Sevim smirked. “Take the passenger’s front seat.”
“Okay,” she replied, still finding the girl’s behaviour a little suspicious. As she reached for the handle and opened the door, a familiar face smiled at her. “Hamid?”
“Hello, my lady.”
“I thought we’re going to pick you up,” her eyebrows went upwards.
“I called in a few favours so I could get discharged earlier and leave the hospital to find my runaway girlfriend,” he taunted.
“You did what?” Daphne turned to Sevim, when she noticed the girl waving from Yusuf’s car as he drove into the street. She glowered as her boyfriend waved back to his sister. “What are you even doing behind the wheel? You can’t drive. And where’s your boot?”
“Yes, I can. What I can’t do is make long travels, but the drive to the place I’m taking you takes less than fifteen minutes. Besides, this is automatic. And the boot is right there,” he pointed to the backseat. “Now, get in. It’s cold out there.”
Daphne folded her arms.
“Please?”
She pressed her lips together, but climbed into the car, putting her seatbelt on and crossing arms again.
“Are you mad at me?” Hamid glanced at her quickly.
She remained in silence, looking out the window.
“Daphne?”
“I’m not talking about it now. Eyes on the road.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he nodded. Pressing a button on the wheel, he activated voice control system and spoke. “Aşkım müzik listesi.”⁵
A Blues song began to play and Daphne’s eyes darted to the car stereo screen. As she recognized some of the songs in queue, she gave him a sideways glance and pursed her lips as he replied her glare with a smirk.
Hamid drove into a calmer avenue near the seashore and smiled as Daphne’s features softened looking at the mesmerizing view of Bosphorus Strait and the parks along the coast. “I knew you would enjoy the scenic route. It’s one of my favourite places here.”
“It’s stunning,” she commented.
Switching lanes, he drove into a parking lot and killed the engine, stopping the car in a spot close to the shore, where people passed by jogging and kids played on the sandbox.
“Why are we stopping here?”
“We need to talk.” As she pressed her lips together again, his jaw clenched. “Why are you mad at me? What did I do?”
“’What did you do?’ Are you kidding me?” She snapped as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “You found a way to get discharged earlier, you’re driving and you’re not even wearing the boot!” She pointed to his injured ankle without the CAM boot. “Can’t you see you’re putting yourself at risk again?”
“Daphne, I’m fine. Nothing happened.”
“But it could have!” Her eyes welled up. “You can’t bend the rules all the time just because you want to. You broke two bones in your ankle. You hit your head on a tree and you were unconscious for two minutes! Do you know how dangerous that accident could have been?”
He unbuckled his seatbelt and reached for face, brushing away her tears.
“I almost lost you, Hamid. I can’t go through that again,” she sobbed.
He draped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer. “You won’t lose me.” he murmured.
“Please, don’t drive around the city every time you feel like it. You have a long way until your ankle is fully recovered,” she sniffed and looked up at him.
“I’m sorry, aşkım. I’ll do my best tone down my impulsiveness. I promise,” he answered, kissing the top of her head.
“Thank you,” she replied.
“And here I thought I was going to apologise for the fight with my mother earlier,” he ran his fingers through her hair absentmindedly.
“Why? That wasn’t your fault. You got into a fight because of me.”
“Daphne, that fight wasn’t about you. Obviously, my mother knows exactly what to say so you would think it was your fault and make you believe everything would fine if we weren’t dating,” he shook his head, gritting his teeth.
“How come?”
“I was bumped heads with anne. When I was a kid, I did it to get her attention. It was fun to have her chasing me around in front of everyone,” a hint of a smile played on his lips. “But when I grew up, I wanted to follow my father’s footsteps and see the world. So I pursued the same career he did. She didn’t like it. To her, I could do so much more if I went to Law school. She said it would open my eyes to many possibilities.”
“So you applied to Cambridge Law,” she concluded.
He nodded. “In the beginning, I did it to please her. But she was right. There were so many things I could do with a law degree. I was fascinated by what I learned and what I could do to help people. And it brought me closer to her. After graduation, she thought it would be a good idea having me working for her and so I could take over the family law firm while she studied for her exams to become a prosecutor. It was a nightmare.”
“You started arguing again.”
“Every single day. Every little thing became a reason to fight. She wanted to control every step took in my career and in my personal life. And I couldn’t even go home and forget about work because I lived the same roof my boss did.”
“How long did you work for her?”
“Six months. After I quit, we barely talked to each other, so baban⁶ invited me to travel with him to China. That’s when I fell in love with his international relations again.”
“Did your relationship with Raisa get better?”
“Yeah. She wasn’t and still isn’t happy to see me spending so much time away from home and disapproves many of my choices, including anyone I may have any sort of relationship, but it definitely got better.” He looked out the calm waters of the sea for a brief moment. “If I knew I could’ve avoided all those fights doing what I always wanted to do in the first place, I wouldn’t have worked for her,” he smiled ruefully.
“You didn’t know, Hamidciğim. You just wanted to close to her. But some people we love don’t understand us,” she cupped his face, stroking her thumb on his cheekbone.
“This sounds familiar, huh?” He gave her a knowing look.
“Way too familiar,” she made a face.
He chuckled softly. “I’m still sorry you had to witness that fight. This is why you can’t blame yourself for what happened this morning. It was not about you. The same way that fight you had with your grandmother wasn’t about me.”
“I guess you’re right,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder. “What are we going to do about them?”
“I don’t know. But since we’re on the same boat, we could find out together.”
“Sounds good to me.” Daphne smiled and closed the distance between them, kissing him softly. “It’s so unfortunate we’re in public and I can’t kiss you properly,” she uttered between kisses.
“Perhaps it’s time for us to go home then,” he whispered as the corners of his mouth curled up.
“I second that,” she beamed.
“Does it mean you’re not running away from me for the third time today?” He teased.
“I did not run away! Stop it!” She pushed him playfully.
He laughed, pulling her close to kiss her temple before both of them buckled up again and he started the car, driving back into the avenue.
_______
¹ Don’t defy me, young man!
² Then stop meddling in my life for once, mother!
³ Mrs Raisa
⁴ Brother
⁵ My love’s playlist
⁶ Dad
