2. boarding to Turkey

Blair

I hurried into the Briefing room where the flight crew was assembled. This kind of meeting was common and necessary, as we often met the crew only an hour before boarding. 

" You're late," Frank Carson, the captain, with whom I had flown a few times before, warned me as soon as I entered.

" I had a little accident on the way, I'm sorry," I offered with a warm smile, using all the diplomacy I have been forced to learn since I chose this profession.

" Go meet the rest of the crew," he nodded, letting my little slip slip slip.

I followed his directions, and a little less than an hour later I was greeting the boarding passengers.

I loved this job, it was much more than flying, it was as if for a few hours I was some sort of diplomat, trained to ensure the comfort and safety of all passengers on the aircraft.

As soon as everyone was seated and the captain activated the door locks, I and a few other flight attendants began to perform the safety demonstrations before take-off. 

I felt that feeling of pleasure growing inside me as the airplane took off.

 I love my job. 

The trip was relatively uneventful, with only turbulent instability that hit us a few hours after take-off. Fortunately, eleven hours after take-off, we were successfully landing at Istanbul International Airport to the cheers of the passengers.

" So you want to share a cab to the hotel? " Meredith, one of my colleagues on the flight, asked as we picked up the trash left behind after the passengers had disembarked.

" I'm not going to the hotel this time, I'm going to visit my parents," I explained, picking up a glass of juice from under one of the seats. “they could return everything when we passed by collecting it the first time, instead of just leaving it on the ground.”

" Really? Your parents live in Istanbul? " she ignored my previous complaint.

" Yes, they moved to my father's home country when I graduated from high school. I had decided to go to an aviation school in California, so I stayed in the United States, and since then this has been my routine," I said, pushing the cart down the aisle of the aircraft. 

" Sounds interesting," she closed one of the cargo compartments that had been left open, "it's good that you got this flight, then.” 

" They usually put me on a flight to Istanbul every one or two months," I explained, "We ended up here.”

We both disembarked, and as soon as we got our bags, we went side by side through the big Istanbul airport.

" My parents live in Texas, and I don't have that many chances to see them," my colleague commented.

" I am lucky in this area," I assured her as we left in search of a cab.

I said goodbye to her before getting a car to take me to my parents' apartment in central Istanbul.

It was after ten o'clock at night when I disembarked at the door of the condominium where they had both lived for ten years. I would have gone straight into the building if the doorman, a young man I did not know, had not stopped me.

" Excuse me, miss, are you a resident? " he interrupted me.

" Ohh, my parents live here. I'm Blair Ozkan," I explained, walking back over.

But to my surprise the young man moved from his post and stood in my way, blocking my path.

" I am sorry, but Mr. and Mrs. Ozkan left earlier and I cannot allow you to go up without permission.”

" Permission? Did you miss the part where I said I am their daughter? " I blinked in a daze, "I am allowed in whenever I come.”

" Miss, I've been working here for almost two months and I don't know you," he was emphatic.

" That's because I don't live in the country " I rolled my eyes " Look, I can call my father.”

" I can't authorize it without one of the two of them being present," he insisted, to my utter frustration. 

Great, what does he expect? That I sit here at the door and wait for them both?

" I just spent over ten hours standing on a plane," I crossed my arms and stared at him, "do you really want me to wait for them to come back from God knows where, when I have the password to get into my parents' house? 

" I'm just following protocol, miss," he assured.

" To hell with protocol, I've always been allowed up there," I raised my voice.

" Ms. Ozkan, how nice to meet you again," a familiar voice sounded, to my relief.

I turned around in time to see Yanis, one of the oldest security guards in the condo, approach our little commotion.

" Why are you still carrying that suitcase? " he smiled, while the young doorman looked disconcerted. 

" But…”

" He won't let me in because my parents are not at home," I explained, staring at the man.

Yanis gave the boy a sharp look, before forcing a smile, and then picking up my bag.

" Nonsense, Samir is new here, it was just a misunderstanding, Mr. Ozkan will be overjoyed by your presence," he assured me, already carrying my luggage toward the elevator.

A smile of relief adorned my face as I left all the confusion behind. I was exhausted, all I wanted was to take a long shower and fall into bed for some rest.

I took advantage of the fact that the place was deserted and followed my plan. I didn't even hear my parents come home, only waking up the next day with the sound of knocking on the bedroom door.

" Blair? " my mother's voice sounded.

" I'm awake," I groaned, still lying there, enjoying the total darkness of the blackout curtains.

My mother opened the door to the bedroom and turned on the light as I sat up in bed.

" What time did you get in last night? You should have called us," she opened the curtains, letting the sun flood into the room, giving us a view of the bay of buyukcekmece.

" I arrived shortly after ten," I reported as I stretched my legs.

She came over, sitting on the edge of the bed, still looking at the view of the bay. 

" Go get dressed, your father wants to go out for breakfast at privato," she winked at me. 

Privato was a small cafe a few blocks away from the condo, my father took me there for breakfast whenever possible. 

" I'll be there in a minute," I assured her as she left the room.

I rummaged through my suitcase for something suitable to wear. In the end, I chose jeans, a red turtleneck sweater, and a pair of boots to face the Turkish autumn. The temperature was not yet that low, it was about fifteen degrees and a fine drizzle was falling outside.

I proceeded to meet them in the living room, and soon we were on our way to the café. Even with the unstable weather, the streets of Istanbul were as captivating as ever, with all its contrast between old and new, West and East. 

" I want to know every detail about your flight," my father warned as we walked to avoid the chaotic city traffic.

" It was the same as every other flight, Dad. You know, it's not the first time this has happened.”

" Come on, there's always something you can share," he teased me.

" You don't stop being a gossip, do you? 

" Come on Ayeleen, we have a long day ahead of us," he laughed beside me, using my middle name, opening the door for me to enter the cafe.

" The closest to gossip I can tell you is that I gave a Matcha bath to a commander before he boarded," I said after we settled down at one of the tables. 

" How's that? " my mother was surprised.

" I was in a hurry and bumped into him.”

" Could this get you into trouble? " my father frowned.

" Luckily he had just disembarked," I sighed, "and I gave him a package of homemade cookies as an apology.”

That information caught my mother off guard, probably because she knew that the most advanced thing I made in the kitchen was spaghetti.

" You made cookies? " Her tone was incredulous. 

" Don't be silly, Lauren. Do you remember when she tried to make that macaroni? It was unpalatable. She must have bought it," my father sneered.

" Thanks dad," I rolled my eyes, "but Abby made it, I was supposed to give it to Noah.”

My mother's expression changed from incredulous to exasperated.

" See, she didn't make it," my father pointed out. 

" And you don't see anything wrong with what she said?  " she returned.

" You know she gets along with her friends later."

I couldn't help smiling at this little clash between my parents; although I saw them quite often, I missed being close to both of them.