Red shoes

''Here, wear this'' Ferit took off his trench coat and handed it over to Ozge.

''No need, I'm fine''

''You don't look fine…'' Ferit replied and looked at her blouse. Following his gaze, Ozge looked down and saw that her blouse had become wet and was stuck to her skin, showing clearly the shape of her breasts. It didn't also help that her bra was red and didn't cover every part. It exposed more than enough details.

Ozge flushed and snatched the coat. She put it on and wrapped it around her body securely. ''It's raining, where will we go now?'' she asked.

''We go shopping. We are standing in front of a shopping mall, let's go in'' Ferit said and Ozge turned and saw that they were indeed in front of a shopping mall.

''Let's go in, I could feed my eyes a little'' Ozge turned towards the entrance as she spoke. Ferit hurried to catch up with her.

….

Ozge stopped in front of a department store inside the mall. She looked at a pair of red shoes that were inside a glass box and spoke.

''Do you know why a lot of women love red shoes? It's not just about the color. The boldness of red shines so bright that no other color can taint it. When a woman is in red shoes, then it means she is ready to fight either for her peace or family. The power of red shoes cannot be underestimated because it makes a woman feel strong, confident and importantly, secure. When a woman weas a pair of red shoes, it means game over for whoever tries to stop her''

''That perfectly defines you''

''No. Maybe back then… but now, I hate red shoes. What is the use of them if I can't even wear them or use them to fight for my peace?'' Ozge turned to look at Ferit.

Ferit walked into the store while Ozge waited. She looked at Ferit as he spoke to the manager and after a while, he came out with a box of the red shoes.

''Here…''

''Why?''

''If you ever feel suffocated and want to fight back. If you ever feel that you are ready to be that woman that you spoke about, wear these shoes and meet me wherever you want. When you do, I will make sure that no one is able to look down on you again''

Ozge chuckled, ''you look so serious right now''

''I am always serious when it comes to you, Ozge''

Ferit took a deep breath and took the shoes from him saying, ''I will remember your words clearly. Don't also forget about this day, Ferit''

''I won't'' Ferit replied as they looked into each other's eyes.

''Ozge? Director Ferit?... what a coincidence to find you here'' Hassan and Andy walked over to them.

''Senior, Andy, what are you doing here?'' Ozge asked.

''We could ask you the same thing. I didn't expect to see you here'' Andy said as he looked at Ferit and Ozge with a suspicious gaze.

''It was raining so we decided to take shelter inside here'' Ozge explained.

''Where are you going next? I came with Hassan to check out a new restaurant inside the mall here. Their food is to die for''

''You can join us. You barely ate after the seminar'' Hassan suggested, ''you can join us too, Director Ferit. Since you won't be having your team dinner obviously'' Hassan added with sarcasm.

''You didn't eat anything too, let's join them'' Ozge turned to Ferit.

''Sure, let's go'' Ferit replied and looked at Hassan meaningfully.

….

After settling in their table, Hassan took the menu and looked at it asking Ozge first, ''Ozge, what would you eat?''

''This is a themed restaurant, are you going to let them cook whatever Ozge wants to eat? Hassan, why do I feel the clear discrimination? I am here with Director Ferit but you only asked Ozge. This isn't fair at all to us'' Andy spoke.

''You can make the decision, Senior, sorry, Hassan. I am not a picky eater''

''I heard Director Ferit was a picky eater? You don't like carrots in your food and…''

''You seem to know me better than myself, Director Hassan. What else did you find about me after asking around?'' Ferit said with a straight face.

''I didn't say that to offend you, Director Ferit''

''But you are saying it which is an offence in itself because you didn't ask me what I wanted to eat first''

''That's enough! Two grown men acting like teenage boys. It's blinding to the eye. Ozge, just pick the one you want so these two teenage boys can stop messing with each other''

''Can we order the food now? I am really hungry'' Ozge said as she looked at the two men.

Hassan lifted her hand and called over the waiter. He picked a few dishes from the menu and handed it over to the waiter.

Ozge felt extremely awkward being surrounded by three men. But what was even more awkward was the fact that two of the men were actually looking at her. Ozge's eyes remained on the table cloth. She didn't want to look up or meet with their gaze.

When the food was finally placed in front of her, Ozge wasted no time in eating. She sipped water first before eating the bowl of mushroom soup noodles with sprinkled parsley that Hassan had ordered for her.

Andy watching her chuckled and spoke, ''Ozge, easy on the food or you will get indigestion. Eat slowly'' he teased and laughed.

Ferit looked at his bowl and frowned. His food was seafood pasta, mostly crustaceans with cut parsley and sprinkled caraway seed. He didn't like caraway seeds because of their powerful smell.

''Director Ferit, is there something wrong with your food?'' Hassan asked and Ozge turned to look at the bowl of food by her side. She saw the caraway seeds and remembered Amanda telling her once that her father didn't like caraway seeds.

Without much thought, Ozge picked her chopsticks and spoke, ''Director Ferit doesn't like caraway seeds. I will pick them for you''

Ozge started picking the caraway seeds with much thought. She ate them right from Ferit's bowl which shocked everyone on the table. It was more of a subconscious act on her part.

''Done!'' Ozge smiled and looked up finally but her smile froze halfway when she noticed the eyes on her. Her face flushed and she turned red.

''I'm sorry'' she apologized and looked down at the bowl.

''Aye, why is the table so tensed? Let's eat. Is normal for an employee to want to suck up to her boss, right?''

''She wasn't sucking up to me. She was helping me. Thank you, Ozge'' Ferit defended it vehemently.

''Okay…'' Andy smiled awkwardly.

''Let's eat'' Hassan said.

….

Ozge clasped her hands nervously as they walked out of the restaurant. She was still feeling conscious of her actions. She was walking behind them all.

''Ozge…'' Hassan called.

''Huh?'' Ozge looked up immediately. She looked extremely nervous.

''Relax, I wanted to ask if you will drink some milk? The ones they used to sell at our campus. I saw some when we were coming in''

''Oo, I will have some'' Ozge replied and forced a smile.

''Wait here, I will get some for you''

''Get some for me too. I missed having it'' Andy spoke.

''Go and get it yourself. Ozge, come with me'' Hassan held Ozge's hand and pulled her along as he walked away.

Ferit looked at them and smirked. He had a funny smile on his face which surprised Andy. He thought Ferit would be jealous but he didn't seem jealous at all.

''Director Ferit, are you not jealous? He just took away the woman you like. Are you not hurt or angry?'' Andy asked.

''Why should I fight for something that is already mine. Ozge and I can never be separated''

Andy's lips parted speechlessly. He had never seen a man as narcissistic as Ferit. Andy shook his head and looked at Hassan and Ozge returning with the paper milk that they had bought. Ozge was holding two more while drinking hers.

''Here…'' Ozge handed the paper milk to Andy first before giving the other one to Ferit. Their fingers brushed against each other as he took the milk which was intentional on Ferit's part.

''Oo, there's a magic store…'' Andy suddenly exclaimed as he pointed at a stall at a distance and the others turned to look at the stall.

''Ozge, let's go and take a look. There are a lot of people there'' Hassan said and Ozge nodded her head.

''Ferit, let's go and take a look'' Ozge turned to Ferit.

''Alright''

The magic stall was a small stall erected inside the mall just by the staircase. In the stall were all kinds of objects which, some originated from generations and could be traced back to their ancestry. Some of the objects are things that were used to sustain relationships like the magic ring which is believed to break barriers and make even enemies fall in love.