"Senin için deli oluyorum," he whispered, his eyes roving all over her face as he looked at her. Her sooty lashes, darkened with the strokes of mascara fluttered against her cheeks. He admired the simple but artful strokes of her eyeliner that made her eyes look like pools of rich, decadent espresso. Her grip increasingly tightening on his wrists. His fingertips caressed the soft silk of her skin and he noticed her lightly trembling lips pressed together. There was a ghost of a smile on his lips; she was nervous, but still anticipating his kiss.
Emre knew that the sweet scent of her cherry blossom perfume would be clinging to the fibers of his clothes, on the warmth of his skin and he relished in it.
Biting his lip, he closed the gap between his lips and her cheek, pressing a soft kiss on the flushed skin. He heard the sharp intake of her breath, or was it mine?, he wondered absently. Lingering, he savoured the softness of her skin and the warmth that suffused his lips. The tight grip that Kiara had on his wrists fell away - leaving a warm, pliant body under his touch. Lifting his head slightly he studied Kiara's face again, her lips parted, her warm breath a whisper on his lips. Caressing her jaw, her neck, his nose sliding against Kiara's, lips almost touching â
BANG!
Kiara sprang up in shock gasping, whirling around facing the door that had opened with loud crash, roughly slamming against the wall. She stood looking at her mother with fear radiating off her every pore. Her fisted hand pressed tightly to her chest as she breathed harshly. The delicious pink flush on her skin fading, leaving her ghostly pale. Emre didn't like what he saw on Mrs. Moussa's face; there was a chilling cunningness in it that made him squirm in discomfort. Standing up, he tried to impart some of his strength to a trembling Kiara beside him.
"Kiara. Come," her mother simply commanded and Kiara with unsteady movements collected her glasses, putting them on with trembling fingers and walked towards her mother. "Fix your makeup, before you come cut the cake," she ordered, as she walked out the room with Kiara in tow. Not sparing a single glance at Emre, like he ceased to exist the second Kiara left his side.
Emre sat down with a huff on the piano bench, his eyes falling on the bracelet still sitting pretty in the box on the white keys. Untouched. Emre hunched forward balancing his elbows on the edges of the piano, his hands interlaced as he rested his chin on them. Although his eyes were trained on his gift for Kiara, his mind kept going over what had just happened. Did that really happen?, he frowned. Yet, he could still feel the warmth of her skin on his lips. He could still smell the remnants of her feminine perfume in the hushed room.
He felt...confused...
Emre knew how protective her father was of Kiara. They were never really left alone whenever he was over all those other visits. Maria was almost always sitting in, or she had left the door open to be able to check in on them. To catch them pressed up close, no doubt to be had that they were either about to kiss or already done so, Mrs. Moussa was too calm. It wasn't that he was ungrateful that there wasn't a scene, he was. More for Kiara's sake than his, he was thankful that Mrs. Moussa hadn't thrown him out of the house kicking and screaming. The last thing he wanted was to embarrass Kiara in front of all the guests. But there was something cruel in the way she had looked at Kiara, and that uneasiness he felt at the hall returned with a vengeance, settling in his stomach making him feel sick. He swallowed harshly, the taste in his mouth suddenly going bitter, an odd feeling enveloping him as a sudden worry flared in his chest. Kiara.
He swiftly got up from the bench and picked up his gift for Kiara, as he tied it back up, he couldn't help but think about what his mother had said about the evil eye. And how she believed that it worked. He swallowed that bitter taste again and thought with a deep frown that maybe, just maybe Kiara really did need it.
Slipping the box back into his suit pocket, he straightened his clothes before closing the baby grand piano. He's watched Kiara do this so many times that he was precise with his movements as he closed the cover gently.
By the time Emre got to the main living room that had been cleared and set up for the party with all the other guests, Kiara and her parents were standing in front by a round table that had a three-tiered cake. It had fondant flowers and keyboards as decorating it, the colours being black, white, and pink. A photographer kneeling in front of them kept clicking away as Kiara forced a smile. His eyes were pinned to the tight grip that Mrs. Moussa had on Kiara arm and the icy smile that she had on her face. Mr. Moussa having had enough of photos, proceeded to clear his throat easily gaining the attention of the guests.
"Thank you everyone for coming to this little party celebrating our Kiara," he lovingly slung his arm around Kiara and Emre saw her flashing a small but genuine smile to her father.
"Sometimes it feels like I blinked too fast and meri bacchi kitni badi hogayi," he mused looking down at his daughter. When Moussa looked up at the crowd, he chuckled at some of the confused faces, "I mean to say my baby has grown up too fast."
"Come beta-ji, let's cut the cake," he said as he pointed her towards the cake.
"One minute," Salima's icy voice rang in the hall. "We also have another happy news to share," Salima looked over at someone in the crowd and waved at them, motioning them forward. Emre swallowed, his throat bobbing; the bitterness and dryness spreading down his throat as the seconds ticked by.
He watched a dark-haired head weave through the crowd and stand beside Kiara. It took him more than a few seconds for it to register that it was Ahad standing next to Kiara in a well-tailored, expensive looking navy suit and polished Italian leather shoes. He glanced at his own suit; bought second hand and altered by one of his mother's friends to fit him and clenched his jaw. With tension radiating through him, he watched as a cruel smirk curved on Mrs. Moussa's lips.
"When I came to New York after newly getting married, Laila Khan and her family were there for me anytime and every time I needed help. When they were children, we often joked about our children tying the knot. But you know what they say, jokes are more often than not real thoughts, real wishes," she winked charmingly at the guests.
"I am beyond pleased to announce the engagement of Kiara to their wonderful eldest son, Ahad Khan," he heard the words reverberate in his mind. "With this not only will we be strengthening the bond of friendship, but we will also be working hand in hand in the expansion of our businesses," Mrs. Moussa continued, visibly thrilled at her own words.
He could see Kiara look at her mother in open mouthed shock but covering it quickly with a tense smile, Kiara's father tense with his jaw clenched, and Ahad. Ahad standing there looking directly at Emre, winked smiling contemptuously.
"No," he breathed out, so low that no one heard him. He felt dizzy, like his world had suddenly spun out of control and he was stumbling and staggering even though statue still.
"Now of course, since we had only finalised their engagement last week the formal engagement ceremony will take place in a few months. But I do believe that Ahad here has a little something for his fiancée," she smiled with a curl of her lip, her expression dropping to a sneer for a second when she met Emre's eyes before quickly morphing back into smile.
He watched, with his heart pounding in his ears as Mrs. Moussa squeezed Kiara's elbow pushing her to extend her left hand forward. Smiling through her apparent shock, she extended her right hand. Grabbing it, Ahad slipped on what looked like a simple platinum band on her finger. Emre ground his teeth as Ahad wrapped an arm around a clearly uncomfortable Kiara as the guests applauded happily.
Ahad pulled Kiara in tighter, making a show of being a happy couple as a photographer continued taking photos of them. Emre couldn't keep his eyes away from Kiara and this time he saw her resigned expression as she looked at him from afar. He could see her unhappiness radiating from her eyes as she cut the cake. Those same dark eyes that minutes ago were twinkling full of mischief and affection, were now dull.
Forcing a smile as her mother instructed her to feed Ahad, gripping Kiara's arm ever so tightly. He could hear the chuckles from the guests, and it grated on his nerves that they thought it was cute that Ahad had to bend down to be fed the cake. He wanted to scream at them. Couldn't they see that Kiara was unhappy? Couldn't they see that she was forcing her smile? Couldn't they see...couldn't they see..., he felt a shudder wrack his body and he looked away...
He couldn't watch the spectacle that was going on anymore, so he squeezed his eyes shut and focused his gaze on his scuffed leather shoes. He didn't see Kiara as she tried to catch his eyes. He didn't see how Moussa discreetly ushered both Kiara and his wife out of the main hall. He kept looking at his shoes, the moment where Ahad slips the ring on Kiara's finger playing on repeat in his mind.
"So, you're more shameless that I could have ever imagined," he heard an amused voice say lowly next to him.
"She's engaged to someone else, and yet here you still are, waiting for scraps of her attention...," Ahad tsked, shaking his head. He made a show of looking at his expensive Rolex, "...fucking pathetic..."
"But there is something to be said about your tenacity though. That good ol' never give up spirit that you bottom of the barrel types have, huh," Ahad continued jovially, clapping his hands in front of him.
Emre nodded, squaring up his shoulders he faced Ahad and looked at him right in the eyes, his fists clenched by his sides.
"I don't give a fuck what you think. You think I'm pathetic? I'll live. At least I am not a snake like you. What about Raine?"
"What about her? It's over. I have a new business to take care off and an even newer fiancée to deal with," Ahad leered.
"Just like that?" Emre couldn't believe his ears. "You were with her for what...years? And you drop her, just like that. She is in love with you."
"And your point is?" Ahad frowned, as though unable to understand the sentiments that Emre was voicing.
Emre was completely speechless, he took a calming breath, "My point is, you are lower than scum. You could stand there that night and fucking accuse me of taking advantage of Kiara when all this time, you were doing that to Raine."
"I have needs," he said simply.
"I should knock you the fuck out. That's my best friend's sister you are talking about," Emre seethed, his fists shaking by his side.
"Try it and I will have you out on your ass before you could even swing," Ahad said arrogantly, sneering at Ahad.
"Go ahead, do it," Emre challenged, walking into Ahad's personal space, "But what are you going to do about Kiara, huh?"
Ahad ground his teeth at Emre's words, "What about Kiara?"
"How are you going to erase all of me from her mind, from her heart?"
Ahad scoffed at Emre's words. But Emre knew it was affecting Ahad, the vein throbbing at his temple was proof of it.
"You and her, it's all silly high school stuff. She'll get over it," he said tersely, the vein continued to throb.
"But you know what they say right, you never forget your first love. And it will always be me," Emre promised Ahad his voice shaking belying the anger that was just beneath the surface, "not bad right, for us bottom of the barrel types?"
There were a few gasps from the guests standing around them as Ahad grabbed Emre's collar with his firts, "Fuck you! If I ever find out that you even laid a finger on her, I'll fucking kill you."
Shoving Ahad away, Emre straightened his shirt his jaws clenched tight, "Unlike the snake that you are, I never had to touch Kiara for her to want me."
Emre walked out of the room, the guests tittering behind him at the little confrontation.