Always Been You - An EsZan AU / Aşk Mantık Intikam

Chapter 1

Esra had just finished college when she got her first job offer in Istanbul as an intern at a well known marketing firm. She was beyond excited - it was everything she wanted. She had always dreamed of leaving the mohalle someday and living in the big city. As a bonus, the company would put her up in a shared room with another intern for a month till she found her own place.

All of her extended family, friends and neighbors came to bid her farewell, including Zumrut Teyze and Elif.

Elif pulled her aside and hugged her. "I'm going to miss you so much Esra. You're like my big sister. Especially after Ozan left, I've only had you to confide it and complain to about Anne. I wish you weren't going so far away but I'm so happy for you!"

She pulled out her phone and started typing, "Here I'm going to send you Ozan's new number. And I'll give him your number too.  Call him when you get there, tamam mi? I know you guys aren't close anymore, but he will be more than happy to help you out if you need anything, you know that, right? All of us practically grew up together. "

Esra nodded, wiping away the tears that had been steadily flowing all afternoon from the hugs and well-wishes of the entire mohalle.

The taxi pulled up to the front of the cafe and it was finally time for her to leave. Her mother sprinkled water after the retreating car for good luck, sobbing as Esra disappeared from sight.

Esra let out a huge sigh of excitement and apprehension once she stopped waving and settled in her seat. Her phone pinged again and she half-sobbed, half laughed at the message from her best friend Zeyno - "don't you dare forget me! I'm going to miss you like crazy canim."

Her eyes fell to the message below Zeyno's, the one from Elif with Ozan's phone number. She hesitated then clicked and added it to her contacts, certain that she would never use it.

They had been close friends since forever, from the time his dad had left and she had taken him to her boat hideout, and he had returned the favor by helping her with her homework. And they had remained friends through school, until he went away for college. Genius that he was, he had skipped two grades and won a scholarship to a prestigious engineering college. It didn't surprised her though, she always knew he was special.

What did surprise her was how different he started to look with each trip back to the mohalle. Tall and lanky, all sharp features and high cheekbones, his hair falling in a mess over his forehead, his eyes always so intent and focussed behind his big glasses, his brows creased in permanent thought. He was by every definition a dorky geek, and yet she found him increasingly endearing.

But somehow they didn't talk anymore. Things changed when he went away - they grew up, found new friends and new interests. She missed his friendship though. He would stop by the cafe some evenings on his visits from college, and order her mom's soup of the day, slurping at it greedily, as he worked on his laptop. He would stay late too, usually one of the last few to close out the restaurant. Sometimes she would try to talk to him about old times, but he would shut off after a little while, usually when one of her friends stopped by - as if he felt like he didn't fit in with them or maybe that she preferred their company over his.

Soon she started to leave him alone. She wasn't sure if he was tiring of her company, or of the company she kept. She didn't really blame him, she knew she had changed too. She had never left the mohalle and had more friends than she could count. While he, on the other hand, had withdrawn more into his shell. As the years passed she almost felt like he was avoiding her, he stopped coming to the cafe, and would give her a cursory wave or nod before hurrying off, every time their paths crossed.

She wanted to ask him what had happened? Had she said or done something wrong? Were they just too different now? She missed the easy friendship she had with him. He seems more diffident and distant with each encounter and she finally gave up trying, or even trying to understand. It was as if - for some reason she couldn't fathom - he didn't even like her anymore.