Better Together

Family affair

Ozgur sat on the sofa, cuddling with Tesla and showering him with love. Ezgi walked into the kitchen to make her famous chicken soup. Famous only because that is the only thing which would taste the same every time, she made it. It was failproof. Once she put everything in the pot to cook, she hesitated to join him.

"Ezgi" Ozgur called her. She took small steps and stood near him.

"Sit" He ordered. She sat on the edge of the sofa and he shook his head.

"Tesla, this is Ezgi. We'll be living together with her." Ozgur figured out he had to fix the situation. He explained to Ezgi that Tesla could sense her fear. He asked her to relax and guided her hand to pet Tesla.

Though she was scared initially, Ezgi settled as she enjoyed running her fingers through its thick fur. As she eased, Tesla came near her. The timer on the pot went off after some time as they were playing with Tesla. Ozgur went to set the table. When he returned, he saw that his two partners had bonded well. They had dinner together and he even let her feed Tesla.

He loaded the dishwasher once they finished dinner and joined Ezgi, who was engrossed in watching something on the telly. It turned out to be something on paranormal activities.

"I'm going to bed" He stood up to go.

"Sit" She stopped him and motioned to sit.

"Why are you even watching it if you're scared?" Ozgur asked her as she squeezed his hand.

"I stumbled upon it. Now I can't relax till I know what happened." Ezgi answered him.

He tried his best to keep focus on his mobile and not to watch the screen. However, the eerie background score was disturbing him. The grip on his hand meant there was no chance of escape as well.

"Ezgi, I'm sleepy. I need to go to bed." He tried to convince her to let him go.

"At 10:00pm? Since when?" Her eyes were still glued to the telly aware of his late working hours. Ezgi started to explain what happened until then though he was uninterested in watching it.

"I'm not a fan of any kind of paranormal movies. They creep me." Ozgur finally admitted.

"What?" Ezgi turned and looked at him in shock. It was then she recalled them watching movies as kids and Ozgur cuddling to his mother at the scary scenes often. She laughed aloud as the image of that memory framed in her mind.

"Have fun on your own" Ozgur frowned and left.

She watched it for another half an hour and decided it is safer to watch it in daylight. She went to the bedroom and slipped into the bed, their backs facing each other.

"Still scared of Tesla?" She heard Ozgur's voice.

"I thought you were sleepy." Ezgi answered.

"Are you really scared of those movies?" She continued as the silence took over.

"Like you're not scared of anything...Who crawled into the bed last night?" He retorted.

"That's because you triggered this irrational fear of dogs in me..." She shot back.

"Still scared then?" He asked.

"I'm okay with Tesla now, he's all cuddly and nice... I'm not scared but I thought you would need me. I can go if you're okay" Ezgi tried to move out.

"Stay" He reached out to hold her hand and she turned towards him again.

"Ozgur Atasoy is afraid of something... that's surprising" Ezgi was curious to find out and tease him.