A Tempting Offer

Yara's body squirmed at the pain that gnawed at her shoulders and back; her shut eyelids slowly peeled and let her see her surroundings. The cozy wide room with its freezing air conditioning came into her green pupils. Her eyes stopped on the desk and chair behind it then moved to the cabinet and bookshelves leaning against the wall on the right side which faced the sofa and table on the left. 

Her gaze stuck and found her body resting on the big fluffy chair in front of a long sofa with a beige cover. Yara carefully lifted her back away from the seat while enduring a wince of pain on her lips left by the punch on her shoulder despite no bruise on her skin.

She could not digest what had occurred to her as her brain still fought against the piles of things loading in every corner of it. It only showed the last memories of her standing before the lift and two strangers came to her; they hit her as she refused to follow the order written in the short message.

Yara staggered up to a steady standing position and immediately walked toward the door. She knocked on the door until her knuckles turned blue and black in bruises. Her mouth screamed randomly to whoever was outside, hoping someone would hear her.

"Hey! Please get me out of here!" Her voice roared until it became raspy. Her torso swooped down, giving up to her weak shriek "Please….open the door. I need to see my mother in the hospital." She cried over, kneeling at the doorway with his face up and her hands smashing the door. "Please…"

The nothingness slowed her yell; until it disappeared, no sign of help came to her. She was left here with hopelessness. Sitting on the floor, her back turned to the door and her legs stretched out. The murmur sometimes softly escaped her mouth but it got stuck on her lips.

At the peak of her exhaustion, Yara surrendered in their effort of making any voice for help; leaning against the door, she crawled on her butt to the wall next to her and rested her back there with her eyes shut.

Cry stirred the agony and remorse within her chest; did those who abducted her members of the debt collectors? Her lips cringed at the fact that her mother had put her deeply into trouble.

***

A tall, around-fifty-year-old man in a fancy gray tuxedo just entered his office room with a dark haze of resentment on his expression. His feet stomped the floor and carried him to his seat as quickly as the door slammed behind him. 

He plopped down to his chair after smashing the paper in his hand with a red flame of outrage colored his face. His teeth clattered at the hate his chest bore. 

"How could he bequeath fifty percent of the property to his daughter while I, as his brother, inherited nothing but twenty percent of it." He complained to the bank wall in front of him.

His voice echoed to his own ears; only he sat inside the quiet wide room lit by only a huge lamp above which clearly highlighted his annoyance. He placed his hands on the desk, reached the paper, and crumpled it before throwing it into the trash bin.

He rubbed his face, calming the turmoil in his chest when the knocks on the door bumped repeatedly. Tidying his appearance, he cleared his throat and let someone out there.

A young woman's head hovered through the half-opened door; as soon as her eyes spotted the man, she smiled and entered. 

"Esma….."

"I am so sorry for bothering you, Uncle Emir." Her stiletto kicked the tiles and sent its sounds to the ears of the people in the room. The knocking stopped once Esma dropped on the seat across from her uncle; her legs under her long summer flower dress crossed.

"No, it's alright. What brings you here?" His eyes sparked with enthusiasm he faked because his heart filled with inconvenience with her presence, instead. Both of his hands curled on the table and his gaze fell on her fully.

"As you just returned from your business trip in China, you might not yet hear the good news." Esma took a pause for a second. "Erhan and K are getting married next month." Her mouth opened into a big smile, showing her white teeth with her arms stretching out in an expression of her joy. It had been a habit for Esma to share her happiness with her beloved uncle; to her, Emir Ozkas was like a father as that man himself didn't possess a child.

"What great news! Congratulations!" Even though it sounded like a hypocrite to him for lying in front of his niece about his sham excitement, Emir exclaimed, pretending to be excited with the news he heard. That man's hand raised, ready to shake Esma's hand but the ringing phone in his pants pocket drove him to pull it back. "Sorry, I need to answer the call."

Emir rose from his seat with the phone in his hand and walked outside, avoiding Esma. Closing the door behind him, that man clicked the received button and talked to the caller on the other line.

"Have you done what I assigned you to?" He spoke in murmur as if afraid of being caught by anyone else.

"Everything is clear, Boss."

"Great?"

"Who called you, Uncle? Why did you call him far from your office uncle?" Esma's suspicious eyes shot at him who stood by the emergency exit, a few meters away from the door of his room.

That man's expression changed awkward; he stroked his hair in confusion to respond to his niece's question. A random answer spurted out of your mouth.

"No, it's just a business partner."

***

Yara jumped up to her feet as soon as the stomps of shows echoing outside got closer and closer to the room where she was detained. Were they her kidnappers? 

Yara hid behind the door in panic, reciting a prayer that they would not kill her. The creak of the door open compiled her eyes shut in dread. 

"Why are you standing there?" Yara wondered if the man's question went to her. "Don't worry as I don't have a bad intention for you. You are my guest. So, have a seat. Make yourself at home."

Yara's eyes jolted open in surprise at the man's warm welcome; who was the man? Her gaze met the brown eyes of a bearded and mustache man in his gray tuxedo sitting relaxedly in the seat behind the desk.

That man's hand wiggled, giving her a sign to take a seat in front of her. For the sake of her safety, Yara obeyed the man's order, claiming the chair his finger pointed to.

"You are Yara Baiq, aren't it?" That girl nodded in perplexity; she was guessing in her heart how this man discovered her name. 

"Why did you hire someone to kidnap me? What is my fault to you?"

That man's back tugged away from the backrest. "No…no…I hope you don't get me wrong. I am here to give you an offer." Yara's eyes narrowed, questioning his statement. "I know you live a hell, having a toxic mother and working like a slave. And I can help you change your fate and future."

"What is it all about?" Yara chuckled. "I mean what do you want me to do? As a girl growing up in poverty, I believe that there is no such free lunch in the world."

"You just need to be someone."

A tempting offer sounded like the freshwater to her thirst for bliss in the drought. One part of her heart urged her to scoop every single drop of it.