Your Grace - Burak Çelik

CHAPTER 45

A/N: Another extra long chap :") + song uwu 

"You're going to Ozge's place later, aren't you?"

"Yeah, we planned to hang out today," said Ayedah, taking a sip from her teacup. Aunt Gab nodded, and peeked at the bright screen of her niece's laptop. "You're on holiday, why are you working already?" she asked, surprised. Ayedah shrugged; "Just trying to take my mind off of things," she said softly. "Didn't know what else to do." "Do something fun," chided Aunt Gab. "Not work. You deserve a break." "Writing is fun for me," Ayedah shot back. "And I don't need a break."

Aunt Gab cocked an eyebrow suspiciously, before taking the liberty of shutting Ayedah's laptop herself, nearly squishing her fingers in the process. Ayedah gave her a look. She sighed; "What's going on, Aunt Gab?" she asked, trying not to sound exasperated. "I should be asking you that," said Aunt Gab. "From what or who are you trying to 'distract' yourself?"

Ayedah groaned. "Can we please drop the subject?" she begged. "I don't want to think about hi- it." She squeezed her eyes shut when her aunt gave her a look, and sighed. "Look, I'm just stressed, okay?" said Ayedah. "I haven't talked to Burak in almost two weeks by now and well, one of the suggested dates for the court marriage was supposed to be yesterday." "And the second suggested date is in a week," smiled Aunt Gab. "Come on, Ayedah...you did give him time, did you not?" "I suppose I did," sighed Ayedah. "But I just can't help but...I don't know."

"Miss him?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the remedy of love is reunion," said Aunt Gab wisely. "Don't worry. He's a good, reasonable and intelligent man. And he loves you. He will come around." Ayedah nodded, and gave her aunt a small smile. "I'm okay," she said. "Don't worry. I believe that everything will turn out for the best." "That's my girl," said Aunt Gab, winking at her. "Now, shall I put on a movie? How about Raya and the Last Dragon?"

"That newish Disney movie that came out earlier this year?" asked Ayedah and her aunt nodded in response. "Yes, I just got it," said Aunt Gab, as they walked out of the kitchen to the living room. "Perks of the current cinema Standard Operating Procedures- we can watch any new movies in the comfort of our own homes. We can even watch Black Widow- unless you have already watched it?"

Ayedah gave her a small and melancholic smile. "I watched it with Burak, remember?" she reminded her aunt softly. "On our first official date as a couple. After our nikaah." "Oh yes," said Aunt Gab, clearing her throat in slight embarrassment. "I remember. It was a good movie, wasn't it?" "I quite liked it," shrugged Ayedah. "So did he...but Raya and the Last Dragon sounds like a good choice. I heard it was pretty wicked, for a modern Disney movie." Gabriella gave her a small smile before they sat themselves down on the couch and turned on the TV. She fumbled with the remote until she got to the channel that uploaded the new movies that would be in the cinema otherwise.

After Aunt Gab switched on the movie, she disappeared into the kitchen for a while before bringing back a bowl of homemade popcorn with her, and two cups of mint tea. "Popcorn?" Ayedah asked, her eyes widening. "Just like we used to do when you were younger," said her aunt with a wink. "When you were a child visiting me when I had lived in Paris, or vice versa in London." Ayedah chuckled as the two got comfortable together on the couch, and Stormy had shifted to place himself snugly between the two of them.

They were silent except for a few laughs and comments in between throughout the first bit of the movie; when they got toward the middle, Aunt Gab began to make conversation. "This movie is based on Southeast Asia and its traditions," she said softly. "Where your father and I were from." Ayedah looked at her intently as she spoke. "Where in Southeast Asia?" she asked. She had never known where exactly her father was from. She always knew that he and Aunt Gab were lone immigrants, but they had never spoken of their background- neither had she ever asked, even if she did wonder about it. "Singapore? Indonesia? The Philippines?"