"Hey, thank you for texting me and meeting me here. I'm sorry I ran a bit late. Louis wouldn't stop telling everyone that I went to school with you and stuff," Mila huffed, digging through her bag for her keys, and buzzed them through the door.
"And that's a pretty good disguise you got going on there," she said as she surveyed the light wash denim jacket and jeans, with a plaid shirt underneath. He had on brown boots, and a cotton keffiyeh wound around his neck, effectively hiding parts of his chin. The oversized sunglasses and baseball hat hid his easily identifiable green eyes and wavy chestnut hair.
"Where are we?" he finally said lowly he took of his sunglasses and tucked it into his denim jacket rubbing his eyes tiredly; he didn't get much sleep last night, interrupting Mila as she continued talking about the night before and how amazing the concert was. And how she was so happy for the band and their success while they climbed up the three flights of stairs of the apartment building.
Pausing at a door, she looked at him with a confused face, "I thought you said you wanted to meet Kiara. That's what we're doing." She inserted the key and twisted it unlock the door.
"Wait...wait...wait...This is Kiara's place? Are you sure we can just barge in like this? What if Ahad...," he trailed, trying to read Mila's face as confusion tore through him as she frowned.
Mila pushed the door open making a face of bewilderment, "Why would Ahad-"
"Ahad! No! Stop!" both Mila and Emre froze at the high-pitched screech that accosted them. Anger and a hint of panic evident in the voice.
"AHAD!" This time the panic rang clearer making Mila dropped her bag on the floor with a thump and that noise spurred them both to race through the apartment.
Ahad had grabbed Kiara by the front of her orange and purple printed kurta, his right hand fisted at the collar of her top while his left hand yanked her head backward roughly. Kiara struggled against his grip, as she pushed and shoved at Ahad's chest, her hands wrapped in her wrist brace.
"How long has it been going on? How long have you been seeing him behind my back?" he hissed venomously.
"Ahad," Mila's voice rang clearly and calmly through the apartment, "let go of Kiara. Let go of Kiara, now."
Instead of letting go, he dragged Kiara closer to him. Anger clouding over every rationale thought.
"Your baby is crying for you Ahad," Mila tried again, her voice now trembling in fear. It was as though Mila had said it and it was true. Suddenly Emre could hear the loud screams of a baby over the pounding of his heart from somewhere in the living room. He watched Ahad and clenched his knuckles again from where he stood next to Mila. He was surprised to find himself staring down into Ahad's manic eyes in the next second. He didn't know how or when he had wrenched Kiara away from Ahad's grip but there he stood, staring Ahad down while Kiara rushed behind him and picked up the screaming baby.
"So, you're here huh? Coming to fuck her behind my back huh?" Ahad sneered and Emre heard Kiara inhale sharply behind him. Emre kept his mouth shut, not wanting to anger a clearly aggravated Ahad. His priority was Kiara's safety.
"You need to go home, Ahad," Mila said as she helped soothe the baby in Kiara's arms. "You are married and have a child, for fuck's sake. When are you going to stop controlling Kiara's life?" Emre frowned at the words that sounded out in Mila's voice. Grinding his teeth, he schooled his face into a blank expression.
"Go back to your wife, Ahad. And just please leave me alone," he heard Kiara beg, from behind him.
"You're supposed to be my wife, Kiara. Not her!" he screamed as he lunged forward but Emre effectively blocked his path.
There was another jingle of keys and he heard Mila release a soft exhale of relief. With his eyes trained on Ahad's crazed expression, he heard Robbie say calmly, "Ahad, if you don't leave with your child right now, I am calling the cops."
"What about him? What about this fucker, why does he get to stay but not me?" he asked, anger melting away into a desperate sadness.
"He's not the one hurting Kiara," Mila said levelly, "You are..."
"But he did hurt her...me...us...," Ahad looked away. The color draining from his face like someone had pulled the stopper and all his fight went swirling down the drain.
"Bas karo, Ahad. Bas bhi karo," Kiara pleaded from behind him, her voice edging closer to where Emre stood blocking Ahad.
"If I leave now, I will tell everyone and anyone about this fucker being here," he sneered weakly at Emre.
"If you don't leave right now, we will not only report this to the police. We'll make fucking sure to get a restraining order for Kiara. Think about your wife, Ahad. Think about your family...," Robbie said calmly.
"With what proof?" Ahad scoffed, "I will tell everyone who will listen that Kiara is a jealous, desperate bitch and they will all believe me. I mean, why else would she insist on watching my baby, right jaan? So desperate for attention, for acceptance, for love that you would do...would accept anything for it..." He looked right at Kiara with half a maniacal smirk.
"We have cameras in the living room," Kiara said quietly after a beat. "And I don't need anyone to believe me. I just need you to leave. Take Aakif and leave. Go home," her voice shook, but Emre knew that there was a quiet strength in her.
Ahad shoved pass Emre, and with his outstretched hand Emre pushed Kiara behind him. He had seen from the corner of his eyes that Mila was holding the baby and he pressed closer to Kiara. Tensing his body to be an impenetrable fort, keeping Kiara as far away from Ahad as he could.
"Ahad," Kiara called from behind him and Emre stiffened even more, his mind running awry with treacherous thoughts of Kiara asking Ahad to stay. "Don't come near me. Ever."
He exhaled roughly at her words and watched both Mila and Robbie glower at Ahad as he snatched his baby out of Mila's arms and picked up a grey coloured nappy bag. They remained in that position even after the front door slammed shut violently. The shrill cries of Aakif still ringing in the emptiness of the house.
Emre wanted to turn around and fold the woman that never left his mind into his arms, but he was riddled with confusion. Instead of saying anything he stormed out to the balcony and leaned his forearms on the cool metal. Taking off his hat, he leaned his forehead on the railing between his hands and squeezed his eyes shut his body was vibrating with pent up energy.
Kiara's leaned heavily against the wall, her throat felt constricted and her heart was beating wildly in fear. "Why is Emre Ersoy in our living room, Mila?" she croaked. And it was then that the dam broke.
"Are you kidding me with that question Kiara?" Mila said scrubbing the tears that lined her face. "I was so so scared for you. I can't believe Ahad would ever do that to you....," Mila cried.
Kiara looked at her lilac painted toes, avoiding Mila's eyes. "It...this...this was the first time it happened...right?" Kiara hummed noncommittally, and heard Mila inhale sharply.
"Do you think Aakif will be alright?" Kiara pressed her hand on her still thudding heart.
"You're still worried about that asshole? How are you this kind, Kiara?" Mila screeched. Kiara could see the frustration etched on Mila's face. She knew if she could, Mila wouldn't hesitate to 'shake some sense into her'.
"It's not Aakif's fault," she mumbled lowly.
Robbie looked between the two women, one on the verge on sobbing and the other clearly haven't registered what had happened seconds ago.
"Give me your phone Kiara; I'll call Suhana to make sure Aakif gets home alright," he said calmly.
Kiara pointed to her phone on the coffee table and robotically recited her password. Her body still plastered against the wall. She could hear Robbie's low timbre from somewhere in the apartment and closed her eyes.
She felt a presence next to her, "Kiki, when did we get cameras in the living room? Mila asked unsure.
"It's a baby cam. It always bothered me whenever I had to use the bathroom that he would be left unsupervised, so I got one," she said slowly. "And don't worry, it's only on when Aakif is here."
Robbie walked back to the pair and handed Kiara her phone. "Suhana is all kinds of confused. But I told her that you are no longer available for babysitting duties. Indefinitely. And I know you won't agree with me, but I really do think you need to get a restraining order," Robbie paused, and he looked at the hunched over body on the balcony.
"You will need to speak to him to you," Robbie said lowly, his eyes on Emre. "Did you ever read Emre's book?" he asked randomly.
Kiara shook her head, swallowing. She knew it made her all sorts of a coward for not having the guts to listen to Emre's songs and read his words, but she didn't care anymore. Let them all call her different versions of scared, what mattered to her was keeping whatever that's left of her heart intact.
She didn't want to think of the man who was standing just a few steps away from her, instead addressing what Robbie had said earlier, "I'm not going to get a restraining order...I can't...I can't do that to Suhana...,"
"When, when are you ever going to think about what you need for yourself?" Mila said angrily. "What if Emre wasn't here? What if Robbie didn't come in when he did? What if you got seriously hurt?"
It was all valid questions she knew, and she also knew that Mila was afraid for her. Kiara pulled Mila close and hugged her tight, and she felt the first sob before she heard it. "Shhhh, I'm okay Mila. We're all safe."
"Kiara, I was so scared," Mila sobbed into her arms as Kiara stroked her hair.
"I'm okay," Kiara repeated. I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay, she repeated to herself, tying to calm her racing heart.
He heard the sliding door open and close softly. He knew it wasn't Kiara, the footsteps were firm and purposely. Robbie stood next to him, two big men crammed in one small space. He fished out the cigarette box from his back pocket and tapped it on the box before putting the filtered end between his lips. Picking out one, he silently offered it to Emre who pulled out a stick. Emre waited for Robbie to light his before he took the proffered lighter and lit up the stick that sat between his lips. He took a deep inhale and exhaled the warm, gray smoke.
"When did you pick this up?" he asked Robbie, as he looked at the red tipped stick between his fingers.
"A couple of years ago. Work has been...stressful...to say the least...," Robbie inhaled deeply, the smoke exhaled through his nose.
"You and Mila?" Emre nodded at the sliding door.
"Last year." Another smokey exhale.
"Congratulations, man...Are they...are they okay?"
"Mila is terrified; she is going through the motions you know. What if you weren't around. What if I wasn't around. What if Kiara got hurt?"
Emre tensed against the balcony, huffing.
"I am not so sure about Kiara..."
"I don't know what I am supposed to do..."
"Talk to her..."
"What if she doesn't want to?"
"Make her."
"Easier said than done, Robbie."
"Why? Mila said that Kiara told you things that she didn't even tell her."
"Five years is a long time. We've changed."
"Perhaps. But I don't think what you feel for each other has changed."
Emre just kept silent, as he sucked on the filtered end of the cigarette. Not wanting to overthink whatever Robbie thought he knew. Because the fact is that five years is a long time. The Emre and Kiara that Robbie knew were only teenagers who were bound to change, no matter what.
He looked at the shortened cigarette stick and looked around for somewhere to put it out. "Here," Robbie said handing him an ashtray from out of thin air, "Kiara keeps it out here for me."
Emre couldn't help the smile on his face at Kiara's thoughtfulness. Well, at least he now knew one thing about her that didn't really change.
The sliding door opened again, and this time it was Kiara standing there, looking between both men. Emre stubbed the cigarette on the ashtray and looked at Kiara.
"You wanna come in?" "Let's go for a walk?"
They both said at the same time and smiled sheepishly.
"Won't you get recognised?"
"I'm not too sure about that. But I don't really care," he exhaled deeply, willing her to once again come with him.
"...Okay," she said hesitantly, her nerves clear on her face.
A/N: sooooo...did anyone see that coming??? LOL ð¤