After She Said Yes

by Kaya Gravitter

  “Actually, I will email my new personal assistant to plan a nice day for us.” She just wanted an excuse to say her “new personal assistant.”

  “I am glad you are so important. I vas nervous I had to plan the day for tomorrow.” They both laughed. Melih continued, “I probably vould take us for gyros and shopping. Is your assistant from New York?”

  Aurora thought for a second. “Well, I cannot remember where she is from. But if she is a personal assistant here, I am sure she can help plan a day for some tourists.” They both laughed.

  Melih interjected and said, “I would like to take you to a Turkish restaurant tomorrow night. It will be nice to have a taste of home.”

  “But you will be going home soon.”

  Melih responded, “I know. I should have said that I want you to try a taste of my home.”

  “Whatever you like…. Anyway, I have a romantic evening planned for us tonight. Let’s go get a coffee.”

  “That sounds like an amazing idea.”

  Melih and Aurora finished up what was left of their noodles and Melih paid for the bill. They grabbed a coffee from a nearby coffee shop before hailing a cab.

  “To the Brooklyn Bridge!” Aurora waved her hand. “Please.”

  They got out of the car and started their walk. They both looked at the beautiful lights that were draped around the wires on the bridge. Aurora wrapped her right arm around his left arm as they walked. There was a light breeze that came from the East River, which made her get closer to Melih and hold on tighter to his arm.

  “Are you cold, Aurora?”

  “Yes.” She was shivering and her teeth were jittering. “How could you tell?” She giggled as she looked in his eyes and looked away. He squeezed her mitten-covered hand close to his heart.

  “Here you go.” Melih took off his scarf and wrapped it around Aurora’s neck.

  “Thank you, Melih,” Aurora said. “I have a question for you.”

  Melih replied, “What is it?”

  “Well,” Aurora said. “I was wondering, why are you so nice to me?”

  “Aurora,” Melih said. “You deserve da world.”

  “You are so sweet, Melih.” And your lips look as sweet as sugar.

  He turned her around and gave her a hug. He kissed her forehead, while an old grumpy man behind them was angry that they had stopped in front of his path. The two then continued to walk as the man behind them muttered something to him.

  “I guess vee are not in da Midwest anymore,” Melih whispered to Aurora. “I guess people are not as nice here.”

  “It is okay, Melih,” Aurora said. “You have to get used to it if you are going to be visiting me.” She giggled.

  “But do I have to?”

  Aurora rolled her eyes and Melih laughed. Melih continued, “On a serious note, Aurora, you vere not treated nice for a long time. Now that I am treating you dis way, you have become shocked, like you don’t deserve it.”

  “Yes,” Aurora said. “I am still healing, but you are helping me heal, Melih.”

  “Dat is good, but you don’t need me, Rora. You are stronger than you think.”

  “Maybe I am.” She shrugged her shoulders.

  “You are,” he said. Melih stopped again and turned to look at her. Melih studied Aurora’s lips as he thought about kissing her. As he hesitated to go in for a kiss, they begin to walk again when the old man behind them grumbled past them.

  “Thank you, Melih.”

  “Thank you for vhat?” Melih said.

  “For being here with me,” Aurora said. “This job and New York have been the biggest thing that has ever happened to m,e and you have been nothing but sweet and supportive.”

  “Do not tell me thank you. I keep telling you dat you deserve dis and more. You have to believe dat.”

  “I do,” Aurora said. I mean, do I really believe that, though? Maybe I still do not know what I deserve or if deserved anything at all. “You promise we will still see each other, Melih?”

  “Yes. In sha Allah.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “You mean, in sha Allah?” Aurora nodded yes and Melih continued, “It means, if God wills.”

  “Yes, if God wills it. If it is meant to be.” She squeezed his arm and pulled it tight to her. “It is meant to be.”

  Aurora and Melih spent the next day touring the city after having breakfast at her new place. He was shy to go to her place at first, but after eating a croissant with Aurora, as he watched her laugh and smile, he couldn’t have been happier. That night, as they ate at the Turkish restaurant, they both thought of how they were sad that they could not predict the future. Aurora didn’t know if they would be able to stay together after he went to Turkey because she didn’t know when he would be back, or how his family would react to her. She just wanted to enjoy the time she had left with him. Both Aurora and Melih wanted time to stop, but it seemed to them that it was only going faster. It had taken them so long to get to that point, that they were scared to let go.

  Chapter 32

  Aurora dreaded going to work on that last Monday before she left for New York. She was over her job there and was ready to leave. In her mind, she was already in New York. Aurora continued to work, though she did not want to. She only continued to stay there and work hard because she was worried her boss would say something bad about her if she didn’t work hard until the end. She was really tough at work when it came to getting stuff done. Sometimes, she would regret being from the Midwest and being too nice. She knew she wouldn’t be able to do that in New York, or people would walk all over her.

  That last week of her being in Madison was bittersweet. She was so happy that she was renting the furniture in her house, so she would have an easy move. She had a lot of packing to do, but she hated it, so she paid someone to come and pack up her clothes. She thought to herself that if she had the money, why would she not pay someone to do the packing for her? She also knew that packing might make her rethink her decision to leave Wisconsin. Aurora felt her heart torn between Melih and New York. She had fallen hard for him to the point that every time she thought of him, her heart would ache when she thought of him away from her. She would think to herself about how upset she was about the poor timing of their relationship.

  Tessa told her that she was taking her out to eat for a going away dinner. Though Aurora wanted to spend her last few nights with Melih, she accepted the offer.

  Tessa picked up Aurora. As Aurora got into the car, Tessa said, “So, where would you like to go?”

  “Let’s get a cheeseburger. I am craving some comfort food. Nothing like eating your feelings away, right?” She and Tessa both laughed.

  “I will take you wherever you like,” Tessa said with a smirk on her face. It was dark, so Aurora couldn’t see the face she was making. If Aurora had seen her face, she would have known something was up.

  Aurora and Tessa arrived at Zara and Sara’s place. Aurora said, “What are we doing here? You know where we are, right?”

  “Yeah, we just need to go inside for something quick.”

  “For what?” Aurora replied. “I will just wait in the car.”

  “No, it will take me a few minutes. I have to help Zara with something.”

  Tessa started walking toward the house and yelled back to Aurora, gesturing her to follow her. “Come on, Aurora!” Aurora soon saw Tessa disappear as she went inside.

  “Okay. Fine,” she said. I just want to eat, though I won’t see them for a while, Aurora thought. “I will just go in,” she mumbled.

  Aurora knocked on the door and opened the door and everyone inside yelled, “Surprise!” Oh God… Well, this is nice.

  Aurora was not a big fan of surprises, but she was happy they had done something like this for her. She saw some of her friends from work and some other old college friends.

  Zara and Sara had been planning a surprise party for Aurora that whole last week. So, Melih wanted to be in on planning the party. Everyone knew about the
relationship between her and Melih, but no matter how hard he tried to plan the party, Zara and Sara insisted on taking control of the situation.

  Zara told Melih, “You Turks do not know how to party like us Russians, da?”

  He agreed that he really had no idea about how to plan a party. He only wanted to do everything that he could possibly do for Aurora, even if he didn’t know how to do it.

  As Aurora ate and made her rounds to talk to everyone, she could see Melih always smiling at her amongst the people.

  When Melih saw Aurora no longer wanted to talk to anyone, he took Aurora out on Zara’s balcony, overlooking the street. He looked at her as she watched the vehicles passing by. They both stood there in silence. He grabbed Aurora’s hand and warmed it up for her.

  He said, “I am really going to miss you.”

  “I know,” Aurora said as she stared at his hands rubbing hers. “I’m going to miss you, too.” She continued, “Let’s just be quiet now. I want to pretend time is stopping, just for a while.” Melih put his arm around her and pulled her close, as he kissed her forehead. Ahhh, I hope he will kiss my lips just one time.

  “Aurora,” he said. “I vant to ask you...”

  As soon as he said that, she put her index finger to his mouth and said, “Don’t say it.”

  “No, it’s not what you think,” he replied. “I know you vere probably thinking that I am going to ask you to stay, but I’m not going to do dat.” Melih said with hesitation, “I mean, I vould love for you to stay, but dat is not what I vanted to say. Let alone….”

  “Well,” Aurora replied. “What did you want to say?”

  “I just don’t va…” he said. “I just don’t vant you to forget about me.”

  “There is no way I could forget about you.”

  Melih said, “That makes me happy, because there is no way I vill ever forget about you.”

  He then took his arm from around her and put his hand in his pocket. He pulled out a little black box. She thought, Not again. Not before I go to New York…. Not again.

  He took out a white gold chain link bracelet that had a diamond heart attached to it on one of the chain links. He didn’t get on one knee as he opened the little black box. He said as he put the bracelet on her wrist, “This will help you remember me.”

  She took a big breath of relief because he hadn’t proposed to her. Aurora thought he was going to. She didn’t want to be put in that type of predicament.

  “Wow, Melih,” she said. “I don’t know what to say." This bracelet is beautiful. He is beautiful. The street light made his face glow, and Aurora thought he looked like a Greek god.

  “You don’t have to say any-ding.” They embraced.

  “I don’t need this to remember you, though,” she said. “You will always be in my heart. Even if we are not together, I will never forget you. Nor could I ever forget you.”

  I just hope he will not be the one that got away. I don’t know if I can be committed to somebody who is not at least living by or near me. I guess if you want to be a successful woman, you cannot have it all, can you? I will just have to come to terms with knowing that being married may not work out for me…. Especially with Melih.

  Chapter 33

  Aurora loved her job in New York and how powerful it made her feel. She had finally found herself. She felt like she was on top of the world. I still feel like I am missing something because my heart feels empty. I have been alone in New York for too long.

  Melih visited Aurora a few times after she moved there, and she visited him. This went on for a few months, but they never became exhausted by one another. Their passion for one another never diminished until it all came to a complete halt once Melih had to go to Turkey.

  Aurora started to grow impatient from waiting for Melih. Though she didn’t have time for any relationship, she still waited for him and hoped he would run to New York to be with her. She knew that was too good to be true, but she kept lying to herself. He promised Aurora he would return, but his dad was a lot worse than he had anticipated.

  Aurora asked Melih to tell his family about her, but he would keep saying, “I vant to wait until my father is better.”

  Melih was on vacation from work and had been in Turkey for a few weeks. Then a position at his company became available at the branch in Istanbul. He took the job, as he knew he would be in Turkey for a while. He didn’t want to tell Aurora about this, but he had to. After being in Turkey for a month, he called her.

  “Why would you not tell me you got this job sooner?” Aurora said over a phone call, as she sat on the couch in her Manhattan apartment, overlooking Central Park.

  I will just FaceTime him. When he sees me, that will change his mind.

  Melih refused your FaceTime, the phone read.

  “Melih, why won't you at least let me see your face one last time?” she cried.

  “I can’t. It vill just...”

  “Please,” Aurora pleaded. “I have been waiting ar…”

  “I can’t,” he sighed. Though he never said it, he thought asking her to come to Turkey was out of the question because she was not ready for that type of commitment. He saw she was married to her job and he respected that.

  “I am sorry, Aurora,” Melih said. “I don’t know vhen I vill be back. I know I should have told you sooner, but I didn’t vant to hurt you.” Hiding this from me has hurt me more.

  “You know what, Melih?”

  “Vhat, Aurora?”

  “You didn’t hurt me,” Aurora lied as she said that and hung up the phone. She didn’t want Melih to hear her cry. She then threw her phone across her apartment and it cracked on the floor. She sat crying on the floor for hours, alone. She wasn’t crying because she was sad, she was crying because she was frustrated. She yelled out through her tears, why can't I just have it all like they do in the movies? The money, the career, and love! Why can't I have those things?

  Aurora knew that nothing she said or did could change the situation. She had just started her career and was not about to leave for Turkey. He couldn’t leave his father, who was suffering with Pancreatic cancer. The doctors were certain Melih’s father would die; they just had no idea when. Just as time was not on Melih’s father’s side, it was not on Melih’s or Aurora’s, either.

  “Why did I waste all of my time on him?” she kept yelling at herself. She was mad at herself for weeks because she had put herself in a position where she was with a man on the other side of the world.

  Now I know how Carrie Bradshaw felt when Big left her on their wedding day.

  --

  Aurora struggled to move on from Melih and tried keeping herself busy with the book she was writing. It was one of the only things that kept her sane in that concrete jungle. That book was her lifeline. After six months, Aurora finally finished and published her book. She made The New York Times’ best-selling list. She wanted to leave Gannon, that dark part of her past, in the past, but she knew it was a part of who she was. She could not run or hide from it, though her publicist tried to. Though Aurora thought about publishing it under a pen name, she would think, I am not a victim and I will not let people treat me as such. I am not a victim. I am a survivor. After the book tour and speaking events, Aurora grew accustomed to talking about her divorce and the abuse she had gone through. This helped her to heal. That is what pushed her to be the strong woman she was.

  At every book reading she read at, she would always look for Melih, in hopes that he would be there to surprise her. Any time someone walked late into a room, her heart would stop beating and she would look up from her book and look at the person who walked in. She always hoped it would be Melih, but it never was.

  Aurora thought to herself one day at work while staring out of the glass window of her office overlooking New York City, I thought nothing could hurt more than not being with the person you love. Then I found out the hard thing was that you could hurt much more than that. You and that person love each other so much that it literally
hurts to breathe because they bring the air to your body. You don’t even want to open your eyes because they are not in front of you. All you want to do is be together so badly, but it is impossible. Then you get so angry and sad because there is nothing you can do. That is the worst pain that there is. Not having the one you love. None of the abuse Gannon did to me hurts as much as not being able to be with Melih. I wish I could turn off my mind and stop thinking about him. I wish I could just move on. I wish I would just erase him from my mind, but he is engraved into my memory.

  Chapter 34

  Six months later…

  Aurora’s loneliness brought her to dating again. She could not find anyone her age that was not intimidated by her success. They always ended up breaking it off with her. She grew thick skin. I don’t need a man, she would mutter to herself. I will just adopt a kid if I want one.

  One night, at a party of one of her work colleagues, she was introduced to a very successful businessman named Anderson Scotts. He was a real estate mogul and was ten years older than she was. She did not intimidate him. He was one of New York’s most eligible bachelors, and was notorious for breaking the hearts of many women. After Aurora caught his eye, he was smitten. Aurora knew how he was, so she ignored his advances. He would send her flowers every day without knowing she was allergic. This made her so annoyed that she went to his office and walked through the door without knocking. His office was full of other businessmen. She looked at all of them in shock before storming off in embarrassment. She stomped her way down the hallway.

  While she was almost to the elevator, Anderson stopped her.

  “So?” he said while laughing. “This is how you announce your love for me?”

  “Believe me, I am not in love with you. I just want to let you know I am allergic to flowers, so please stop sending them.”

  “Okay.” He then looked at her with a smile. “I can do that. But couldn't you have just called me to tell me that?”

  “I do not have your number.”