A Necessary Journey

Disappointment

When Defne had arrived home earlier that day, she hadn't had the courage to speak with her grandma right away, instead going up the stairs and changing into her home clothes. She wanted to be the Defne that they knew and loved when she broke the news to her family, not Omer's Defne, not Defne the designer. She wasn't sure why that mattered, but it did. 

It wasn't until they were all seated at the dinner table, as the family chatted amongst themselves, that she found herself unable to deal with the tension any longer. 

Nihan was mid monologue about the proper way to make baklava when Defne blurted it out, everyone freezing in place, eyes shooting to look at her. 

"Omer's back!"

After taking a few seconds to get over the shock, Turkan shook her head. "What?!"

Serdar and Nihan looked at one another nervously. They knew, of course they knew, but they didn't know that Defne had any involvement with him since returning from Spain. 

There was no going back now. "Grandma, Omer's back... he's been back for a while, actually."

"A while?" Turkan looked shocked, eyes falling on Serdar and Nihan who looked away from her guiltily. Realising that she was the only one who had been kept in the dark, she turned to Defne, voice edging on anger.  "What's that? Days? Weeks?"

Defne sighed and dropped her eyes to her plate. "Months."

"Months!" Shaking her head in disbelief, Turkan turned back to Serdar and Nihan, her eyes narrowing in anger. "And clearly I'm the only one in the dark here."

"I didn't know." Esra seemed offended that she'd been left out. Esra loved Omer after all, had defended him after the wedding, praising him for going through with it before annulling their marriage the next day. 

Serdar turned to Esra with a glare. "Stay out of it, Sandwich."

Sighing, Defne took her grandma's hand. "Grandma... please? Yes, Omer left. But he wanted to come back, only... there was an accident, he needed physiotherapy for months on his leg, which was badly broken. That's why I went to Italy."

"Defne, do I need to remind you what state that man left you in? That he annulled your marriage the day after the wedding? That he walked away from you without so much as a backwards glance?"

"It's not like that grandma."

"It IS like that Defne. And Madrid, were you with him in Madrid? Is that why you left, so that you could be together?"

"No! No. I left to think things through. To understand what I wanted. I wanted to be sure that I could go back to Omer."

"And you're telling me that you want him? Is that it?"

Defne sighed, hating the angry, disappointed look on her grandmother's face. "I love him, grandma. I love him."

Turkan shook her head, pulling her hand away and without looking at anyone seated at the table, she strode away, and up the stairs to her room. Sighing angrily, Defne pushed her plate away. With a wink and a nod of his head, Serdar motioned for Esra to leave them, which she did sulkily. The sound of her feet stomping up the stairs was the only sound in the room. 

When she was out of earshot, Serdar turned to Defne was an exasperated look. "Really? You had to tell her now? Couldn't you have spoken with me first?"

"Serdar, seriously... I've had just about enough of people telling me how to run my life."

He sat back, eyes wide at the defiance. Nihan saw the potential for this to escalate and took her husband's hand. "Alright, okay... let's all relax, okay? At least it's all out in the open now."