A FEW YEARS BACK ISTANBUL It rained the day before, and the day before that. The roads are slippery. Warning signs were made everywhere to limit the speed. Jayden spotted a few areas where the aftermath of accidents had prevailed. It was a bad day indeed. No pleasant weather after rain, no cool breeze, and no warm sun could change that. They have traveled for miles in silence. He didn't know where he was going. He only knew they had not reached the place where he wanted to stop. She was asleep on his shoulder. Her long red hair swayed to the wind as they drove on the highway. He attempted to put her hair in place but relinquished it in the fear of waking her. That could be her only sleep for the coming months. She didn't hold him, not even for support. And that said it all. She woke up when their undecided ride finally came to an end. They stopped in the middle of a bridge overlooking the sea. The sun was right above their head. "It wasn't this hot w
PRESENT DAY "So, did that Ayla had gone back to him?" I asked her curiously. "Stop talking about her as if she was someone else. It was you. She is you. You are her. I know it's hard but if you can't accept that fact, it will be much harder to do whatever you have planned to do." Yeona told me for the third time. I have been asking her about how I handled my mom's death. Whenever she mentioned that Ayla as 'you', I feel like shouting that it was not me, at least not the me I knew. "Yes, she did. She came back. Aigoo." She sighed. "You," She stressed the word, "You came back." "So, Blake wasn't there with me when Anne died?" I asked her. She shook her head again, followed by a sigh, "I know it's hard. But when you first came to Nottingham, he avoided you. We two had a bad reputation, and don't ask me why. Why do people bully? We were weak. So during our sophomore year, he was our greatest villain from whom Jayden saved us."
PRESENT DAYAYLA I shouldn't. I shouldn't. I shouldn't feel this way. God is so so cruel. Once again, he left me alone with my ex- the ex I have not remembered in a very confined place. I am trying hard to not stare. But he is wearing a black shirt revealing a great amount of his hard chest. I have a chance to check if he still has the tattoo or not. If only he removes the third button too. Uff, shit, Ayla. You can't be so pathetic. Yesterday I came to a firm determination that I don't have to know about anything, that I should quit and give up on finding out about her. Too many people were involved in her tragedy. I thought I had no strength to deal with it. And now, I would do anything to have a peek at his tattoo. I was so confident when we were alone last time because he was a stranger to me. Now I know that he was my ex I can't put on a stranger's face anymore nor can I treat him as I always did; like my boss. It was getting awkward and heated. He raised
FEW YEAR BACK He didn't know that waiting is so tiring and it can get vicious over time. One part of him selfishly imagined the good days they were going to have, what he was going to do, how things would unfold to his favor, how he'll be able to sit under the sky and talk about stars as boring as they seemed for Mason and Yeona, and how they'll become one as if it was meant to be. The other part of him was afraid she wouldn't come back and that would be the end. That wouldn't break him. He may feel awful but it would go away. But he hoped for her return. And she did. It was like releasing the breath he never knew that he held till then. Watching her standing under the tree, so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't realized that she was shivering. "You should start using your phone again, Surgeon." He commented, walking towards her. She wasn't surprised to see him there. Her eyes didn't brighten like they always did at his sight. The same girl with red hair, a sle
A FEW YEARS BACK "She is avoiding me." Jayden placed his glass tankard filled with beer on the table. "Trust me. That's for good." Mason said as he sipped on his beer. He rolled his eyes at that. "Why are you against us?" He asked him. "Because it's a fool's errand, Jayden. Her mom died. She is so vulnerable right now. And if you are near her, she will depend on you. Do you love her?" "Mason, I.." "It's so easy, Jayden. It's a yes or no. Do you love her?" His question was a bitter pill to swallow. He asked himself the same question more than a thousand times, and he always got only one answer. "No, I don't think what I feel for her is love. It's just....." "You pity her, Jayden. As awful as it may sound, you pity her. There are many girls who loved you before. But Ayla became an exception because she was different from them. It's not love. You know that too." No, it's not pity. But there was no good reason to justify what he
A FEW YEARS AGO Because it was raining. Because she needed space. Because she thought that's what happened next, or she thought it was high time she did things as others did. Whatever reason she gave to herself, nothing kept her at ease. "Stop fidgeting, Ayla. I won't eat you." He took her hand in his hands and walked to the bedroom. As always, his flat was a complete mess, a clean mess, she would add, because things were out of order but never dirty. To go inside his apartment along with Mason is one thing and to go along with Jay is another. She still had no idea how she put herself in that position- following a man to his after kissing for god knows how many minutes. His bedroom was an exception. There's no spot in there. The king-sized bed, the grey curtains, the walk-in closet, and a mini couch. It looked like it was never touched. Then she realized that he never really use his bedroom. He always works in the second bedroom which he made into a mini-of
PRESENT DAY AYLA My phone rang for the third time and I silenced it by clicking on the volume button. "So nothing happened that night?" I asked Yeona, trying to sound so casual as if it doesn't affect me. "You never lied to me because you were really bad at lying and pretending just like how you are trying to act normal now with everything I said. By the way, that was the only night when nothing happened. Ever since then, you guys were head over heels for each other. Come here," She whispered while leaning towards the table. The restaurant was not much crowded. But she called me as if we were discussing the nation's security. I leaned forward to hear her out. She covered her mouth as she whispered, "There were days when you were not able to walk properly." We may not be discussing the nation's secret. I didn't know that we can be discussing things that oddly seemed dirty. I never once had passionate sex as far as I remember. Hearing her say t
AYLA PRESENT DAY Everything happened in a blink of an eye. What's taking time is processing it. Yeona is with the cops explaining to them everything that has happened. I was too terrified to speak a word. Maybe terrified is not the exact word. I am shocked. Why would any want to kill me? How come I had become responsible for another person's death whom I didn't remember? Jayden walked in with a glass of water in his hand. "Drink," he ordered. That's what he has been doing since he came to my rescue. He was furious, and I am not in the situation to comprehend to whom this rage is directed and why. I raised my head to look at him, and another tear slipped my eye when I noticed the scar he got on his palm because of me. He still had the cloth I tied to stop the bleeding before. Once again, the moment of horror played in my mind. A man I had never seen before tried to attack me in my own house, and somehow Jayden came to rescue me. Not even once did he hesitate before he put my