Behind The Glasses

Chapter 14

"The memories lingered on my skin, like scattered stardust.  -N"

Noah

I woke up to the sound of the alarm.The time difference between Turkey and Maldives was about three hours and normally, I would still be sleeping.

In the past week since I came here, things have been busy with helping my father at work and enrolling at the university.

The thought of my soft bed back in Istanbul made me feustrated. The secret ro its comfort was a cotton, hand woven bedspread from grandma. She loved knitting and most of my sweaters were her work, gifted on occasions.  Unfortunately, most of them would just remain in my closet, considering the tropical weather in Mladives, my actual home country. Although, it felt like a foreign place to me, my parents having moved to Turkey when I was just two years old.

Trying to stop the feeling of homesickness, I got up and did my daily routine.

My father had done all the arrangements since mother decided to stay with grandma for a while. I just had to attend the classes now.

As I walked down the stairs, I smelt frying eggs. Along with the aroma of coffee. In an instant, I was reminded of the tea mother brewed, the flavour perfected over time.

Oh! How I wished I could taste it before dealong with the mess called 'college life'.

Father sat at the head of the table, tablet in hand and his brows furrowed in its usual when it came to business. In front of him, an untouched cup of coffee sent up wisps of hot air, spreading the pleasing aroma of coffee beans.

"Gunaydin Baba." I greeted him.

"Gunaydin. " He smiled, putting the tablet away.

The small, unconscious action made a huge difference. Father was a workaholic. The week prior to our flight, he had collapsed from overworking.  I don't want a repetition of that helplessness.

"I hired a tutor today. He'll be here at around five in the evening. Make sure you're home by then."

With that the chatter died down. It was too quiet. Our meals were always accompanied by either mother or grandma and sometimes both, their laughter chased away the silence.

My dad has always been a man of very few words and ironically I was the same. Safe to say I am my father's son afterall.

The food was okay, other than the absence of tea. I couldn't make myself drink more than one sip of the coffee and neither could0 father.

When I finished packing my bag father was already in his work clothes, leather case in hand.
I joined him in the car, after instructing Ahmet, our butler to change the lights in my room. They were too bright.

2 Hours later

What an unexpected turn of events!

I recognized her, as soon as I saw her face. There was no mistaking those doe eyes and wavy hair. The surprised look in her eye amused me once more, reminding me of our first encounter. She had looked like a deer in headlights, eyes wide, hands against her chest, braced for impact.

Those eyes and dammn the way she unconsciously bit her lips!

I did my best to stop the smile, clenching my fists tighter. Even then, she would have seen the laughter in my eyes had she not looked away first.

I took one of the back seats and the class started. The students were loud and I understood only half of the words they used. I heard more than one dialect being spoken, a given considering it was a national university.