Infatuated

December 2018

Thick clouds painted Istanbul’s skyline in grey as the SUV turned left to avoid rush hour traffic. From the backseat of his family’s car, Hamid looked out the city and its people, resting his chin on one hand. Despite the chaotic traffic and street vendors chanting, the familiar salty breeze, the smell of balik-ekmek¹, and the musky oriental perfumes coming from the streets brought him a sense of comfort he never felt anywhere else. It hasn’t been long since his last visit to his hometown and even though he was glad to be back for winter break, his mind still was somewhere else, longing for the one person who could put him at ease.

_____

Six weeks earlier

An Indie Rock song played in the background as Hamid walked into his closet and searched through the racks for a shirt when the sound of hurried steps and his sisters’ voices reverberated in the hallway. His lips curled into a smile. After months spending most of his days alone in hotel rooms or in his flat with Yusuf (who certainly was the quietest roommate he ever had), listening to his sisters fight about a missing curling iron was a nice change of pace. He missed being an older brother sometimes. However, he wasn’t so fond of the idea of staying too long in one place. Exploring new cities, meeting people and learning about different cultures was his biggest passion and it was only a matter of time before he jumped into another plane to travel somewhere else.

Looking through his shirts and the suit previously chosen for the evening, his eyes landed on the shirt among all the other dirty clothes inside the hamper. The shirt he was wearing on the night he went to a drive-in with Daphne and later on the impromptu birthday party he threw for her. He picked up the shirt and smiled as the fragrance of her floral perfume filled his lungs. Soon different memories of her took over his mind: her cheeks blushing when he complimented her choice for perfume, her melodious voice, her laugh, the little freckles on her nose, the way her eyes wrinkle when she smiles. He checked the time on one of his wristwatches in display on the closet, mentally calculated the time and wondered what she was doing, who she was with, if she was having fun wherever she was.

Picking up his phone from the side table, he tapped the screen a couple of times and looked at her contact photo. They met four days ago, yet every now and then he caught himself thinking about her. He even dreamt about her the previous night. His stomach fluttered as his fingers hovered the message button, a rush of uncertainty taking over him. Get over yourself. Just send a message! Shaking off the negative thoughts of his mind, he began to type.

Jackpot! Hamid opened the video app and called her, smiling as she promptly answered. “Hello there. You look lovely with glasses.”

“Hi! Thanks,” she grinned, blushing slightly as she unconsciously pushed the glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Are you growing a beard?”

“Yes,” his hand ran over his jawline and laughed, trying to hide his embarrassment. “I tend to stop shaving when I’m in Turkey or at any other Middle East country. Why? Do you think I should shave again?”

“I actually curious to see how you look like with a beard.”

“Are you now?” A corner of his lips quirked up.

“I saw you sporting a beard on some pictures of your Pictagram. You looked good.”

Snooping through my social media profiles, huh? “Thank you. I usually take it off when I’m working at Western countries to look the part.“

“Got it. You could leave it on a little longer though.”

“Is that so?” He smirked. “Alright, I’ll satisfy your curiosity, let it grow again and return to Ithaca with a beard.”

“So…” she shifted on her seat. “What do you need my help with?”

“As you know, my little sister’s graduation party is tonight and I haven’t decided a shirt to wear.”

“Is that why you’re shirtless right now?”

“Exactly.”

“Hmm…”

“What?” He arched an eyebrow, amusement playing on his lips.

“Nothing. Show me your options.”

He switched to the rear-facing camera, showed the suit, the shirts and pocket squares.

“I like the indigo and silver one. But I also think you look great in turquoise and all these options will work well with the pocket square you chose.”

“Is it okay if I try them on for you?”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“Hang on.” Attaching his phone on a holder, he switched to the front-facing camera again and put on each one of the shirts she recommended, talking as he tried then on. Despite her best efforts to look impassive, he noticed her cheeks flushing most of the time, but chose not to tease her about it. He simply smiled to himself, reveling in the moment. “What’s the verdict, Daphne?”

“The indigo shirt is my favorite. But you look great in any of them. Gray, blue and green are definitely your colors. Black and turquoise too, but I’m sure you already know that.”

Hamid adjusted the lapels of his jacket in the mirror and looked at the phone again. “The indigo shirt it is. And I’ll remember what you said about the colors. Thank you.”

“No problem,” she beamed.

“Oğul!²” A contralto voice called from his room as a strong knock on the door echoed in the closet.

“Bekle bir dakika, anne,³” he shouted through the door then turned to Daphne with a shy smile. “Sorry. That’s my mother and her lack of respect for her children’s privacy.”

She giggled. “She’s probably wondering why you’ve been locked in your closet for the last forty-three minutes.”

“Really? I didn’t think I was in here for so long.”

“Me neither. I just checked the timer of the call.”

“Oğul, kapıyı aç!²”

“I have no idea of what she said, but that tone wasn’t as nice as the first one.”

He chuckled. “Let’s just say my patience doesn’t come from her side of the family.”

“I can imagine,” Daphne grinned. “You should go. We can talk later if you’re not too tired. Or at night. In the morning for you.”

“I’ll take you up on that.”

“HAMID!”

“Okay, that wasn’t friendly at all. Good luck with that.”

He laughed. “I’ll be fine. See you later?”

“See ya,” with a smile, Daphne disconnected.

Hamid quickly picked up his phone, placing inside his jacket and opened the closet, plastering his best smile. “Anneciğim⁵, you look marvelous.”

Raisa narrowed her eyes. “Don’t try to charm your way out of this. Why was the door locked?”

“Because I need privacy to get dressed and you always barge in since you have the keys to my bedroom.”

“Of course I do. It’s a safety measure.”

“That you never use for safety not even once,” he pointed out.

“Because Allah blessed us,” she said, cupping his face affectionately. “Ah, you look so handsome, my love. Blue is definitely your color.”

He smiled, remembering Daphne’s advice. “Thank you, mom. Like I said before, you look beautiful.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” she replied, intertwining her arm with his. “Now then, let’s join everyone downstairs. You can talk to your new lady friend after dinner is served.”

“What?” He feigned shock, escorting her out of his bedroom. “What are you talking about, mom?”

“It’s fine. If it isn’t serious, you don’t need to tell me,” she waved her hand dismissively.

“You’re going to ask Yusuf about it, aren’t you?”

“You give me no other choice,” Raisa joked and marveled at her son’s laugh as they walked down the stairs.

…

The night had deepened and a few guests began to leave when Hamid got into his study with a glass of a transparent drink in one hand. Taking a seat on the couch, he fished his phone out of his jacket pocket and started another video call.

“Hey there,” Daphne beamed.

“Hi.”

“Is the party over?”

“No. But some of my parents’ most obnoxious friends are still here, so I’m pretending to be working on a paper right now,” he answered, sipping his drink.

“And you’re drinking water to pretend you’re trying to sober up?”

“It’s rakı⁶, actually, but let keep this between us,” he gave her knowing look.

“Your secret is safe with me.”

“Thank you. So… What are you doing right now?”

“I’m watching a movie with my one true love,” she heaved a content sigh.

Your what?! “Excuse me?” He furrowed his brows.

“Yeah! He arrived here yesterday and he’s spending a whole week with me before going home with my brother. Wait up, I’m going to introduce you to him,” she said disappearing from the screen.

Ugh… How did I not see this coming? Rubbing the back of his neck, Hamid faked a smile before starting to speak. “Uh, please don’t worry about it. You don’t have to—” he trailed off as she returned holding a male pug.

“Hamid, this is my baby, Dr. Drake Ramoray.”

“Oh,” he smiled, his features visibly relaxing as he watched her scratch the puppy’s fur. “Hello, doctor! He’s younger than I imagined he would be.”

“Ah yes. But Drake is one of the brightest minds of Salem,” she beamed.

“So I’ve heard. He doesn’t have an evil twin, does he?”

“I don’t think so, but I’ll have to check that information with Annabelle. Her sister gave him to me.”

He chortled. “You didn’t tell me you have a dog. I wish he could stay a bit longer so we could take him for a walk in the park.”

“He would love that. Some other time, maybe,” she suggested, putting the dog down on her lap.

“Maybe… Anyway, I want to apologize for the way I had to finish the call earlier.”

“No worries, Hamid. I get it. We met four days ago and we went out twice. It’s not like I was expecting to meet your mother so soon.”

“Were you expecting to meet my mother?” He smirked.

“Well, yeah. You know my father.”

“Do I?”

“Yes, he told me he worked with you in the Parliament in London.”

“Wait, you’re Lord Vincent’s daughter?!” He said as realization dawned in his face. “And you’re a lady.”

“Yeah,” she simpered.

“Were you going to tell me this eventually?”

“I was. But I—” she cut herself off as if searching for the right words to explain. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hide it from you, I just… I like being just a regular student like everybody else, not worrying about courtly etiquette or gossip,” she bit her lip, looking down.

“I understand. Being the daughter of an English nobleman and politician can’t be easy.”

“No, it’s not. Especially after I inherited my father’s title as Viscountess Foredale.”

Hamid pondered for a second, trying to recall why her title sounded familiar to him. “It’s okay. We will have time to talk about all of this some other time, right?”

“Preferably in person. Over coffee. Or chai.”

“Are you asking me on a date, Lady Daphne?” He joked, but as he noticed her blushing, his smile grew wider. “Oh, you did ask me out!”

She looked down, fiddling with a button of her cardigan.

“And here I was this whole time looking for an excuse to ask you out next Saturday in a way that you couldn’t refuse it if you find out I was planning a date,” he teased.

“Stop it,” she nagged.

“I will if you ask me out again.”

“I just did and you didn’t even answer!”

“I didn’t answer because it wasn’t a question,” he rested his chin on one hand and lowered his voice. “Ask me out again.”

“Are you doing this just to tease me?” She narrowed her eyes.

“No, but I’ve never been asked on a date before. And after our two non-dates, I think I deserve a moment to savor this.”

“Fine…” she took a deep breath before speaking. “Will you go out with me next Saturday?”

“Yes,” his lips curled into a slow smile. “I can barely wait for it.”

“It’s a date then,” she uttered, a timid smile spreading on her lips while cheeks turning crimson.

“See? It wasn’t that hard,” he mocked.

“Hey! Give me a break. I never asked anyone out before. I just asked again because you said no one had ever asked you before.”

“Well, technically I’ve been asked on dates before. Several times, actually. I just never been asked by anyone I would have said yes to. Until now, of course,” he winked.

“Oh my god! Will you leave your ego at home and will I have to ask for a table for three?” She taunted, making him laugh before they continued chatting for a while.

_____

Hamid smiled fondly at the memory. Much like the last visit to Istanbul, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. Yet, this time, things have changed for the best.

“Hamid bey?”⁷

“Huh?” His eyes went wide as his driver’s voice pulled him out of his reverie.

“I’m sorry for taking a longer route, but I assure you, you’ll be home soon, sir,” the driver informed.

“Okay. No problem, Emre,” Hamid answered absentmindedly.

“Is everything alright, sir?”

He was about to reply when his phone buzzed, biting his bottom lip as he tapped the screen to check the notification:

“Yes,” he sighed contently. “Everything is just fine.”

____

¹ Baked fish sandwich

² “Son!”

³ “In a minute, mom!”

⁴ “Son, open the door.”

⁵ My dear mom

⁶ Turkey’s national alcoholic beverage

⁷ Mr. Hamid