After She Said Yes

by Kaya Gravitter

  “I am so happy you said that.” Aurora looked at him and smiled with a sigh of relief. “I feel the same way. By the way, that is a deal breaker for me with a guy.”

  “Vell, I am glad ve got this conversation out of the vay.” They both laughed. The waitress came with their food and they started to eat. As soon as Aurora took her first few bites, she saw how happy she was with Melih, but she remembered she had to tell him that she would be moving to New York.

  At the same time Melih and Aurora both said in sync, “I have to tell you something.”

  “What is it?” Melih said.

  Aurora pointed at him and said, “You go first.”

  “Vell, my dad is really sick, Aurora. I may have to go back to Turkey for a vhile,” Melih said. “My mom really needs me there and my older sister has kids and cannot be vith him all da time. My mom is so emotional, too.” Her heart then sank to her stomach. I thought he was going to say he loved me. Silly me.

  “Oh wow, Melih.” She took a big sigh with a concerned look on her face. “I am so sorry, Melih.” She was concerned for her future with Melih and concerned for Melih’s father. “Well, Melih, I guess I have something similar to tell you.”

  “Oh, Aurora!” Melih exclaimed, “Is your dad not going vell?” Aurora put her hand to her forehead. He is too innocent.

  “Well, no,” Aurora said. “My dad is fine. I meant that I am going to be leaving too.”

  “Leaving to vhere? Is everything okay?”

  “Everything is fine.” Aurora sat up straight and said, “Everything is great, actually.” Melih was staring at her, waiting for her to continue, and she said, “Well, I am moving to New York. I got a pretty good job offer after one of the articles I just wrote.”

  “Vell…” Melih said. “Dat is good, but vhere will you be working? Vill you be a journalist?”

  “Not really a journalist but somehow, I assume,” she mumbled humbly but he was listening close enough to understand her. “I am going to be assistant editor-in-chief at The New York Times.”

  Melih said shocked, “You are not too young for dat?” If I hear that one more time!

  Aurora rolled her eyes. “Everyone says I am too young,” Aurora said. “But they know I am a hard worker and my writing skills. I turned down an editor position with them once but Ga…. Well, I got married and never pursued it.”

  “Vell, I am happy for you,” Melih said as he looked down at his coffee. “Vow, Aurora.. That is amazing news.”

  “Melih, I am sorry though.”

  “Why is that?” Melih replied.

  “What about you and me, Melih?” She could handle a long-distance relationship between Wisconsin and New York, but she didn’t think she could handle his being so far away.

  “Vhat about us? You haven’t left yet, and I haven’t left yet. We can still hang out now,” Melih said. “Anyvay, I am sure that if vee are meant to be, Aurora, nothing vill get in da vay of dat.” Melih took a deep breath as if he were going to say something very serious but he held back and said, “Aurora, I can come visit you, too.” Aurora thought that he was going to say something else.

  “Yes, I was thinking we could visit each other but you are going to Turkey for a while,” Aurora said. “That is pretty far away.”

  “Yes, that is far avay, but love can overcome all of dat distance.”

  Aurora said with a screech in her voice, “Love?” Aurora could not wrap her head around why he had said love, but she had been waiting for him to say it.

  “Yes, Aurora. I love you.” He looked into her eyes and smiled. Aurora felt like she couldn’t breathe or speak when the words came from his mouth. Still shocked, she looked in his eyes and tilted her head to the side, like she was examining him. He said, “I thought it was obvious.”

  “Not really. You went a while without talking to me.” She didn’t think he showed he loved her because he talked to her on and off for months. “Or did you forget about that?”

  “That is because I love you, Aurora.”

  “That makes no sense to me,” she responded, shaking her head. “Because I love you and I think about you day and night. I always want to see you. E-e-ever since the first time you took off my jacket at the coffee shop, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I didn’t feel you felt that way. I thought this was a one-sided love.”

  “Really, Aurora? I felt it far before that. Since I first laid eyes on you, but I didn’t know that I vas in love then.”

  “Yes, Melih.” Perfect Timing…. “We love each other, and now we are leaving one another. That doesn’t help us. Love has only brought pain to my life.”

  “Aurora, I am not Gannon,” Melih said. “I am different. I vant you to pursue your dreams and I vill always support you in vhatever you do.”

  “I guess I don’t need anyone’s support.” She continued, “I made it this far on my own; I don’t need anyone’s permission.” Why am I getting so defensive… It’s like I want to push him away.

  “Aurora…” Melih replied in a very silent voice as if he were embarrassed by how she was acting. Aurora then realized the way she was talking to him and felt guilty.

  “I am sorry, Melih. I am screwed up from since I was a child. I don’t even know how to love.” She laughed hysterically and continued, “Are you sure you love me?”

  “Yes, and you do know how to love, Aurora.” He took her hand as he looked into eyes.

  “How do you know?” she replied.

  “You are doing it right now.”

  She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

  Chapter 31

  Melih with the subject, “This is what my boring day looks like.” Though she was excited for the day ahead of her and did not think it would be boring at all. She thought it would be full of fun and exciting new beginnings.

  Melih called her.

  “Hey, Beautiful.”

  “Hey, Melih.”

  “Guess I will catch you for a late dinner around 7:00?” Melih said.

  “Sounds perfect,” Aurora said. “Enjoy your day and see the city.”

  “Look at the photo I just sent you,” Melih said. He sent a selfie of him with Times Square in the background with the caption, “Already one step ahead of you.”

  “Enjoy your time,” Aurora said. “I have some work to do before my lunch. Check out the photo I just sent you.” She sent a picture of her living room and view, with the caption, “This is my office space for now.”

  “Vow!” Melih said, “Is dat your new place?”

  “Yes, Melih, but really, I need to work for now. I am sorry. Talk to you later.”

  “Talk to you soon.”

  --

  It was 12:30 and the car was waiting outside for her. The driver was holding a sign showing “Miss Tousey” in bold font. That’s cute.

  She said to the driver in an annoyed voice, “I am Aurora.”

  “I am sorry, Madam.” Embarrassed, he said in a light British accent as he opened the door for her. “We must get a move on.” She slid onto the black leather seats into the back of the black car with tinted windows.

  Aurora said to the driver, “Where are we going, Mister?”

  “Paige. Paige is my last name, but you can call me Edward.”

  “Okay, Edward,” Aurora said. “Where are you taking me for lunch?”

  The driver responded, “We are going to meet Mr. Banquet at Jean-Georges.”

  “I bet this will give L’Etoile a run for its money,” Aurora muttered under her breath, as she thought about how whenever she would meet her old boss, they would always go there.

  Aurora arrived at the New French-cuisine restaurant and smelled duck roasting in a wine butter reduction sauce. She heard silverware scraping against plates and the sound of a knife slicing vegetables. The ambiance made Aurora feel like she was walking into a modern version of Julia Child’s kitchen. She could see Dean Banquet sitting at a table. She felt nervous as soon as she saw him, and her cheeks grew flushed. The hostess took her coat and brought
Aurora to the table. This is the big moment, she thought.

  Dean stood up and reached out his hand to shake Aurora’s.

  “Nice to meet you, Mr. Banquet,” Aurora said. She felt like they shook hands for two minutes.

  “Likewise,” he said as he smiled his cheeky smile. “You can call me Dean.” He was wearing a gray suit and a dark blue textile tie. Aurora was also wearing a suit. It was dark blue with a white blouse underneath with a pussy-bow.

  “Well, Aurora, we don’t have much time,” Mr. Banquet said. “I only have an hour. So, I did the honor of ordering for you.”

  Aurora replied, “Well, thank you for meeting with me.” The waitress came and almost poured wine in a glass and Aurora signaled that she didn’t want any.

  “So, Aurora, tell me, how are you liking the city?”

  “I love it. I have been here a few times. I lived here for a while when I interned a couple summers.”

  “Oh!” Dean replied. “That is right!”

  “Yes, that was before you were working here,” Aurora said as she took her napkin and folded it into a triangle on her lap.

  “So, I heard you ran the Happy Living magazine and revamped the whole thing. That is impressive. Good Housekeeping probably would love you to work for them, as well.” He laughed, and Aurora echoed an awkward laugh.

  “Well, I am sure they would love me, but they are not The New York Times.”

  “I am glad you took the position. I am going to get straight to the point here. I hired you because I have been following your work and you are an underdog like me. I believe in your work, and I know your previous boss very well. He was always raving about you.”

  “From The New York Times?” Aurora said as she raised her eyebrows.

  Dean replied, “No.”

  “Oh, you mean Mr. Fratzenburg?” What? How does he know him?

  “Yes, the George Clooney look alike. He is a big investor who is always throwing parties. I have been to a few of them myself. However, the parties are not really my taste.”

  “Well, he is a bachelor and acts like one,” Aurora said.

  “That is very true.” Dean took a sip of his wine. He continued, “So, like I was saying, you are an underdog like me. You have only an undergraduate degree and have found success. That and the Ochs-Sulzberger family was looking for someone who is younger because we are in the computer age. So, essentially, we know how hard you work and one of the members of the family loves your work. She also just went through a nasty divorce.”

  Aurora took a sip of her water as Dean continued, “Don’t worry about your age, though. Mark Zuckerberg was only twenty when he created Facebook.” Finally, someone who doesn’t say I am too young!

  “Oh!” She laughed and raised her water glass to toast herself, “Well, I guess that is good for me.”

  A few waitresses arrived at the table with the food. Dean had ordered Aurora a roasted Maine lobster, which came with a side of artichoke gnocchi tossed with a sweet onion Meyer lemon sauce.

  “Wow. This looks almost too good to eat,” Aurora said as she saw every piece of food that was perfectly set on the plate, resembling a work of art.

  “Bon Appétit!” their waitress said.

  “So,” Dean took a sip of his wine and said, “you are going to be here permanently beginning next weekend?”

  “That is the plan.”

  “Very well,” he said as he drank the rest of his wine. “Well, it was nice meeting you in person. I have to go.”

  “What?” Aurora said, shocked, “You didn’t eat yet.”

  “I ate before you came here. I am a busy man. You will be like this once you move here,” Dean said. “There is no time to stop in this city because the world is always moving.”

  “Ah, okay. Well nice to meet you.” She flashed him a smile as the waitress came with his coat and he walked out of the door. She muttered to herself, I wonder if I am paying for this, or if it is already paid.

  The waitress came and Aurora asked for the bill because she wanted to be early for the next item on her itinerary. The waitress said that the meal was already taken care of. Aurora finished up what was left of her meal and walked to The New York Times building. The walk there reminded her of when she had been an intern. She was so happy she had been given the opportunity again. During that walk, she knew she was exactly where she wanted to be.

  Aurora was able to meet Melih at 7:00 for dinner that night. They met at a restaurant called Mu Ramen. Customers sat at large brown maple wooden tables with benches. They reminded Aurora of picnic tables. The ceiling was covered in stringed lights and the walls were made of brick. She loved the feel of the place, which she had found from Google.

  “I am sorry this was a bit of a drive here to Queens, but I thought it was worth the drive because I wanted to try authentic Japanese ramen noodles – not like the noodles my dorm mate used to eat out of a Styrofoam cup in college, then leave the empty cups out and not throw them away,” she said as she looked at the menu to choose what type of ramen she wanted.

  “It is no hassle,” he said as he looked up from his menu and smiled at her.

  “So, how was your day today, Melih?” Aurora said. “I am sorry you came all of this way to New York, to not even spend much time with me.”

  “Don’t worry, Rora. Dhere is plenty to see in dis city,” Melih said. “I did all of da stuff tourists usually do. I went to Ellis and Liberty Island, too.”

  “Oh yeah? I remember vising there as a teenager with my grandma,” Aurora replied. “My great grandma and grandpas’s names are on one of the giant marble slabs outside.”

  “Oh, really! How cool,” Melih said. “Vish I knew beforehand. I could have searched for da names.”

  Aurora said back, “I thought it was cool when I first saw it too, but I think it is normal for people to find that someone in their family was an immigrant. Everyone in this country is the product of an immigrant, unless you are a hundred percent Native American.”

  “Very true,” Melih said

  Melih and Aurora ordered their food. They each got traditional miso ramen with chicken fried in tempura on top, an egg, and scallions. Melih tried to use the chopsticks. Aurora was trying hard not to laugh at him. He then asked for silverware.

  “You know,” Melih looked at Aurora and smiled, “I missed you today.”

  “Aww,” Aurora said. “I missed you, too.” I was so busy, I never had the chance to miss him, but I don’t want to tell him that. I feel guilty, but I am happy for the job position I have. I worked so hard to get here. She felt starstruck. She thought at first that the job was like a newborn baby, but then she realized it was far more precious than that. She felt so happy about it, and it was all she could think about.

  “Aurora, it is going to be so hard being vithout you,” Melih said. “I vaited too long to be with you. I am sorry.” Aurora slurped up some of her noodles and made a splash. How romantic and attractive I probably look right now. Aurora then wiped the miso broth off of her chin.

  “Melih, it is okay,” Aurora said. “There is nothing we can do now. We just need to move forward.”

  Melih looked disappointed with what she said. He is falling hard for her me, but it’s like I am putting my heart on hold. She wasn’t doing it on purpose. It was out of defense against men and for her not wanting to let anything get in the way of her future.

  “I guess we are just at a bad time,” Melih said, as in agreement with what Aurora was thinking. “I mean, you are moving. I am going to Turkey.”

  Aurora looked sad and said as she grabbed his hand, “Melih, it’s not like that.”

  “But it is, Aurora.”

  “Okay, Melih, Aurora said as she put down her chopsticks to grab his hand. “Can we not talk about this? Let us just enjoy this time together.”

  Aurora loved Melih. She just couldn’t push herself to really show it. She had never felt the passion for anyone like she felt for him. She would freeze as she felt butterflies flutter in her stomac
h every time he walked into a room, or the way he smiled at her, or the way he said her name in his Turkish accent. Everything about him drove her wild. It hurt her to act cold to him, but she wanted to make things easier on herself when she moved.

  Aurora heard her cell phone ring and saw “Sabrina Assistant” on the screen.

  “Hello?”

  Sabrina said, “The editors are calling for an emergency meeting.”

  “Really?” Aurora rolled her eyes and said, “On a Friday night?’

  “Guess so.”

  “Well, is Dean going to be there?”

  “Well,” Sabrina said hesitantly. “No.”

  “Okay then, it can wait until tomorrow. I am having dinner with my boy…” She stopped with what she was about to say. She looked at Melih and smiled and her cheeks flushed. She was going to call him her boyfriend to her new assistant, whom Aurora barely knew. They had never declared themselves as boyfriend and girlfriend. Aurora continued, “It is Friday night, Sabrina. Go out and have some fun.”

  Sabrina replied, “Staying home and reading a book is fun for me.”

  Aurora laughed. “You sound too much like me,” Aurora said. “Enjoy a book. Have a good night, Sabrina.” Before Sabrina had time to say anything, Aurora hung up.

  Aurora looked at Melih and said, “Sorry. The editors wanted to meet now, but I already met with them today.” She grabbed his hand again and continued, “Tonight is about you and me.”

  The gesture reassured Melih that things might be fine after all.

  “That makes me happy,” Melih said. “I thought I was losing you for a second.”

  “No, of course not!” Aurora declared. “Even if we are not together, I will always be with you, in your heart.”

  “Same here.”

  “So, tomorrow I am meeting with the editors for a brunch meeting, and then I will be free the rest of the day,” Aurora said. “Maybe you can plan a nice day for us?”

  “I know the city as well as you or even less, but I can try.”