A Dream of Little Robots and Fairies

21. Hide and seek

Eda discreetly disconnected her phone and placed it in her handbag. She let out a frustrated sigh as she examined the room surrounding her. She had to admit that it was lavish and decorated with taste. Not that it should have surprised her coming from Semiha hanim. The woman had enough money to decorate her living room like Buckingham Palace if she wanted to, so that was expected.

"Alright, I have five minutes. Why did you call me here?"

Semiha hanim made a displeased face but didn't react.

"Was it Serkan?"

"Sana ne?" Eda asked impassively, finally turning to the woman sat in the armchair in front of her.

"When are you planning on breaking off your engagement?"

"I can't just break off my engagement from one day to the other!"

"Should I remind you that we have a deal?"

"Yok. No need. How can I forget when you constantly remind me of it?"

"Güzel. Then don't take too long."

Eda glared at her in silence for a while. "Anything else?"

"I want you to come live with me."

Eda furrowed her brows. "Excuse me?"

The older woman nodded. "You heard it right."

"And why would I do that?"

"Since you moved out of your aunt's, then I guess you wanted some change of scenery. So what better way to do it than to come spend time here. That way we could get to know each other even better."

Eda laughed humourlessly. "You are so funny! Just say that you want to keep an eye on me! There is no way on earth that I would move in with you. And you perfectly know it."

"As you want."

Eda was so confused as to what could have gone through the older woman's head. She shook her head slightly and took her bag before getting up. At the same moment, the doorbell rang and Semiha hanim wondered out loud who could be calling at this hour.

"I'll leave you with your guest now. Iyi akşamlar."

"Merhaba Semiha hanim."

"Welcome! What a surprise!"

"Ah! Eda hanim. Iyi akşamlar."

Eda was surprised to find herself face to face with Prince Seymen himself and smiled a little, greeting him. " Iyi akşamlar Prince Seymen. I was just leaving."

"Oh, what a pity! I should have come five minutes sooner then."

Eda gave an uneasy smile while Semiha hanim spoke up. "Eda, will you stay for a cup of coffee with us? I'm sure Prince Seymen would be delighted. Wouldn't you Seymen?"

"I would. If it's not a problem with you of course," he added turning to Eda.

Semiha didn't let Eda answer. "Of course not. Come, let us sit all together."

The young woman sighed before she sat back on the sofa while Prince Seymen and Semiha hanim sat on their respective armchairs. The latter asked her butler to call for coffee and a few appetizers. Then, she started conversing with her guest while Eda stayed silent, only taking part when directly spoken to.

Serkan decided to go to the gym to release some more steam before going home. A few people were training on the various equipments in the weights room so he headed to one of the empty boxing ring. He did a few warm-ups before putting on his gloves and starting hitting as hard as he could. His trainer didn't say anything when he saw him lashing out at an innocent punching ball for the second time that day.