Chapter 8

I didn't tell Ezgi about this strange situation I had. I didn't want him to worry about me. It had been a week since the incident. Erhan Bey had turned my shift into the morning. I would go at eight in the morning and come home at two, and I was not working on the weekends. In this way, we were able to spend time with Ezgi.

It was starting to gnaw at me that I hadn't seen Cesur yet, but I was trying hard to ignore this feeling.

Ezgi enthusiastically told that she had met Tolga two days ago and drove her home. Especially when he realized that I had not asked about Cesur, he did not need to give any information about him. What an understanding friend.

" You need to draw my picture too," I said, looking at the pictures Ezgi had drawn. His talent had truly manifested in two weeks.

Ezgi tapped her chin a few times to give the appearance of thinking. Then a huge smile spread across his face. "Actually," he said when he started to take all his pictures from me. "I can draw now."

I shared his excitement and smiled. I nodded eagerly. "But not here. It has to be a nice place," he said.

"Let's go to the lake," I said immediately. Ezgi had never been there before. I hadn't been in a long time. "It has a unique view, you should see it."

"Wouldn't it be better if I sat down?" I said, Ezgi was trying to find the most beautiful place.

"Olmaz!"

"How long does it take you to draw on average?" I said. I had to convince her without letting Ezgi go.

"I am trying to create an art here, you are talking about getting tired, Asli." he said, grabbing my shoulders and pulling me. After I set my exact spot, he moved away from me. The buyer took a glance at it. He placed his white painting right in front of me. Ezgi is looking at a wonderful lake, I was looking at the huge forest behind Ezgi. Wherever you looked, our eyes were accompanied by the magnificent view.

I don't know if it's been close to an hour or if it's just me, but I could feel my legs starting to hurt. Standing like an idol made me feel bored.

"Bitti mi?"

"It's almost time, be sure it will be worth your tiredness."

I started to watch the sky with boredom. Birds alighted on the branches of the trees that stretched into the sky and kept chirping. With the activity I saw in the forest, I started to wander my eyes among the trees. I was trying not to spoil my stance.

I started to focus on the back of the trees. I could see something moving, but because of the distance, I couldn't see very well what it was. I turned my head slightly to the side and started scanning a wider area.

I saw someone standing between two trees looking this way. I raised my hand and shielded my eyes so I could see better.

"Don't move, Asli!"

"Brave," I muttered. The person who stared at me through the forest was definitely Cesur. I did not expect to see Ateş that suddenly appeared behind him. I never thought of the possibility of Ateş and Cesur to be friends.

He took his brave eyes from me and looked at his friends who appeared behind him. I could see that he was pointing his head vaguely back. Then he turned his head back to me. After looking at me one last time, he turned and started running. The fire followed him and ran after him.

At first, I looked around me with excitement. Then I started running. towards the forest.

"What's going on?" Ezgi shouted behind me in bewilderment. "Where are you going"

After running for a while, I was able to get to where Cesur had been a few minutes ago. I put my hands on my knees. On the one hand, I was trying to catch my breath, on the other hand, I was looking around.

The idea of Cesur following me brought to light my perverted or serial killer thought of him. Then I gave myself suggestions not to be silly. I didn't even care why brave would follow me.

Ezgi came to me out of breath and looked at me strangely. "Are you out of your mind?"

"I saw Cesur," I said. I've definitely seen it.

"You're really crazy," Ezgi said as she folded her arms over her chest. "Do you see it in your dreams or something?"

"He was with him," I said. I kept looking around again. "And the boy from the Red Seal ."

"Fire? Who is that?" ' he asked, frowning.

"A friend from work," I said. "Maybe they've come to listen."

We went back the way we came. No one was in sight. After a short walk, we were both shocked when we came to the painting where Ezgi painted me.

"Yok!"

I looked around, expecting to see something strange, but it wasn't there. The painting was in front of us with a blank page. It was impossible for someone to steal my picture in such a short amount of time. But I couldn't see anyone suspicious around.

"They stole it," said Ezgi, looking at the blank page of the painting in bewilderment.

"Maybe it has flown," I said, now looking for a large piece of paper floating on the ground or in the air.

"Uçamaz Asli," said Ezgi, "Someone stole it. Dirty, labor thieves." Aggressively, she began stuffing her brushes into her bag. We were under the wrath of the naughty children playing around. My beautiful painting is now long gone in any garbage container. Everything was going very strangely today.

The next morning I woke up early to go to work. This town really pissed me off. So I tried to be careful.

"Good morning, Fire," I said in a suggestive tone. As Ateş was undecided as always whether to ignore me or not, he must have finally decided, without looking out of the corner of his eye, "Good morning," he said.

I hung my bag and coat on the hanger. I went over to the counter and tied my apron, which I took out of the drawer, around my waist. The fire was taking the dust of the glasses in his hand and putting them back in the same place. I knew they were the people I saw in the forest yesterday. I don't know if I should bring up the subject. It scared me to see Cesur just standing in the forest watching me, and then seeing Ateş behind him like a predator.

I was pretending to dust around with the cloth in my hand, but all I did was stare at Ateş.

"Is there a problem Asli?" I felt like I was forgiven by Ateş's question. He had taken me by surprise.

"Actually," I was able to say after a small, hacking cough. "I saw you yesterday."

"Is that so?" I had absolutely no idea whether Ateş was surprised when asking this or was he trying to imply something.

"We were there sometime yesterday with our children."

"On the lake," I said curiously.

"Do you know Cesur?" As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I wanted to give a big smack in the middle of my forehead. Don't confuse brave. Don't confuse brave.

Even though I couldn't see Ateş's face, I could see the stinging smile on his face. "Well do you know?"

Did I know? Maybe I just know your name. He used to be my childhood friend, long, long ago, but does that mean I really know him? No, I didn't know Cesur. The last thing I wanted was to draw attention to myself by asking questions about him.

Since we answer the question with a question, "What were you doing in the forest?" I asked.

Ateş's smile was replaced by his lips that had become lines. The muscles in his jaw were exposed. "We were just minding," he said, "a kind of meditation."

"Meditation," I mimicked Fire. "This meditation made you look pretty fierce."

Ateş, who did not look at me throughout the conversation, was now examining my face with great attention. While this speech made me very nervous, Ateş's sharp gaze nailed me to where I was. I could see his gaze drifting from my eyes to my lips. I wanted to get away from this situation immediately and not to bring this subject up again.

"This is our purpose," he said, not taking his eyes off my lips. "We do it to be predatory."

The bell that opened the door had become my salvation bell. I averted my eyes from Ateş and tried to focus on who the incoming people were.

I could feel my lips getting dry. I was unnecessarily excited. I hoped my cheeks weren't red.

Being careful not to look at Ateş again, I took a few of the menus on the counter inexperienced and started to deal with the customers.

We ran around with Buse all day. He left work early because Ateş had a private job. It was great for me not to see Ateş around me for the rest of the day. In the afternoon, I filled my hour and left work. I wanted to go home, take a hot shower, and spend the rest of the day lazing around.