The girls were down at the hotel dining area. They were filling their plates and enjoying their lunch. Emilia waved at me.
"Derya! Hey!"
"Emilia." I walked over to them.
"Enjoy your meal."
"Thanks! Come on, grab a bite to eat."
"Thanks, but I'm not really in the mood."
"Oh, right! You were going to thank the doctor. Tell us, what happened?"
"Don't even ask... so much happened."
"What happened?" Sude asked excitedly.
"When I went to thank Doctor Jacob, Chris showed up too. Turns out, Chris was the one who actually bought the medicine for me. Can you believe it? I wanted the ground to swallow me up; I was so embarrassed."
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, Derya."
"You guys know I haven't exactly been nice to Chris, but for some reason, he always finds a way to do something kind for me."
"Um..." Emilia said.
"Yes?"
"Is the doctor's name really Jacob?" she asked shyly.
"Emilia, is that our biggest concern right now? Whether his name is Jacob or not?"
"But I was curious!"
"Didn't you already find his Instagram account?"
"I think I found the wrong person's Instagram account." While Sude and I were trying to hide our smirking faces, Kiraz burst out laughing.
"Oh, come on girls, stop it..."
"It's too funny, what can we do?"
"Come on..."
After everyone finished their meal, we strolled along the beach for a bit. It was almost evening, and the sun was beginning to set. Since Sude and Emilia had a few things to do at the hotel, we headed toward our room. I needed to tell the girls that I was having dinner with Alex, but I had no idea how to say it. Time was ticking. I was restless, my heart was racing, and I didn't know how to explain it to them.
While Sude was taking her phone off the charger, Kiraz was washing her face in the bathroom, and Emilia was picking out her clothes, I was muttering to myself, "How am I going to say this now? I have to tell them because I don't know what to do..." Suddenly, I blurted out, "GIRLS, I'M GOING OUT TO DINNER WITH ALEX TONIGHT!"
Everyone stopped in their tracks. They approached me with shocked expressions on their faces. "What?!" Sude exclaimed. Yeah, that was exactly the reaction I expected. "How did this happen? Tell us everything, right now!"
After I explained the whole story, Sude walked into the room and swung open her closet.
"Then we must find you a chic outfit."
"No, I don't want that. Besides, it's just a friendly dinner; I don't want it to be misunderstood."
"Fine, then we'll pick out a 'friendly' outfit."
"Are you joking, Sude?"
"Not at all, I'm dead serious. Come on girls, get Derya over here!"
The girls grabbed me by both arms and slowly led me toward the room. "Girls, stop, I..."
8:00 PM
A message from Alex:
(I'm waiting at the restaurant.)
I turned off my phone. As I walked toward the restaurant, the sound of my high heels echoed on the floor. Cold and serious. I walked through the entrance and looked around. People were eyeing my outfit, giving me long stares. I felt embarrassed. Alex was sitting at one of the terrace tables, waiting for me. He saw me. He approached and offered his arm. I didn't want to take it; it felt like it might send the wrong message. I hesitantly reached for his arm. He took my hand, and we walked toward the table. He pulled out my chair for me, and I sat down.
"How are you?"
"I'm fine," I said with a slightly shy smile.
"Waiter, excuse me?"
"Yes, sir."
"Could we have the menus, please?"
"Of course, sir." He placed two menus in front of us.
Alex looked at me while scanning the menu. "Is there anything you like?"
"I don't know, let me see." I checked the menu. "Could I have the Souvlaki, marinated in olive oil and chicken, please?"
As the waiter took notes, Alex said, "Then I'll have the same as the lady. But could you marinate mine in wine?"
"Certainly, sir. So, Souvlaki marinated in olive oil for the lady, and Souvlaki marinated in wine for you, sir."
"Great, thank you."
When the waiter left, I started watching the beach. Alex was fidgeting with the things on the table; there was a complete silence between us.
"Thank you for not turning me down and coming tonight."
"I couldn't turn down this friendly dinner."
"Friendly..." Alex muttered softly. The food arrived. "Actually, I wanted to..." At that moment, Chris walked into the restaurant with a girl by his side. Alex looked at me. "Derya, are you okay?" He focused on where I was looking. "Chris? What is he doing here?" Chris and his date sat down at a table. The girl was looking at him with a smile. "Does he have a girlfriend?"
"It looks that way."
If he had a girlfriend, why did he care about me? I couldn't make sense of it. "Derya, let's eat our food before it gets cold," Alex said.
"Okay..."
"Actually, I wanted to give you something." said Alex.
"What?..."
He stood up and came close to me. He brushed my long hair off my shoulder. I felt a chill on my skin. Running his hand along my shoulder, he fastened a heart shaped necklace around my neck. What was this now? Some kind of confession of love? He straightened my hair. "This is for you," he said.
Involuntarily, my eyes were drawn to the table where Chris was sitting. He was looking right at me. His gaze was sharp and serious. I turned back to Alex. "Thank you," I said. After we finished our meal, Alex paid the bill and reached out his hand. I looked at Chris and the girl sitting next to him, then I took Alex's hand. We left the restaurant.