Looking For His North Star

Chapter two

Yaman got over his initial shock fast.

"Get out!" He roared.

Zuhal raised her head, looking stunned.

"Yaman?" She asked. "What happened?"

"Get out of my room!"

He pushed the clinging woman away, feeling slightly sick. God, what had gotten into him? He'd almost forgotten that he couldn't stand Zuhal.

When he'd come home after the good news the doctor had given him, he'd wanted nothing more than to find Seher and hug her tight. Then he remembered her betrayal. Two months of absolute agony, endless nights filled with nightmares and her scent haunting him like a phantom... He was furious. How could he still want her after she called him a weakling to his face, mocked him for his sickness and ran away with another man?

He was so weak when it came to that woman...

He'd closed himself in his room, ignoring all the well wishes of the rest of the household. His mother had tried to talk to him about the money Nedim was supposed to send to her account. He'd ignored her too.

What a vile woman...

Come to think of it, all the women were vile.

He was still thinking about Seher when Zuhal came in, carrying a tray laden with a cup of coffee and a glass of water.

Instantly, memories burst inside Yaman's head. A thousand abstracts of Seher and him, the brightest being the rooftop coffee they had shared just after the surgery of his stab wound in prison, him- unconsciously revealing his feelings to her and her- adorably clueless. Coffee meant home to him. It meant peace and calm and shared smiles and being so close to Seher, he could drown in her vanilla scent.

Now all of it was just a shattered mess.

"Get this out of my sight!" He growled.

Sighing, Zuhal placed the tray on the table and approached him cautiously.

"Yaman, I understand you", she said. "More than you know. It's hard. Being betrayed by your closest one. My sister did the same to me. She left me alone, when I needed her the most. Just like Seher did, when you were sick"

Annoyance crept up inside him at her hypocrisy. Who was she to talk like she was some saint? This woman's whole life was a scam, carefully cultivated by her sister so they could get his wealth. She was no better than a leech- being devious through and through.

"But you're healed now. It makes me so happy", She was still talking. "Think about Yusuf. He needs you. He needs us. Maybe he needs to know what Seher did too- don't let her fool him anymore. Yaman..." She paused. "...I don't think that Seher belongs in this family anymore!"

Seher... Her name was a treasure to him. Something he'd kept safe, savouring the sound of it in his mind, dreaming about the day he could utter it without any regrets. Even when she had shot him and left, he'd finally felt free saying her name aloud and saying that he loved her.

He remembered the first time he'd kissed her under that tree, reveling in her silky brown hair under his fingers, sighing against the softness of her lips. Pure heaven... He'd never seen a more beautiful woman. Soft and tiny but larger than life with her will of iron. She was relentless when it came to protecting her loved ones. And her wide eyes, with their olive green depths...

He dimly heard a shocked gasp and raised his head.

The same eyes were staring at him as Seher stood frozen at his door. Shock, hurt and pain flitted across those expressive eyes. She abruptly turned and ran away. Yaman straightened.