Zumrut had thankfully left them alone, albeit unwillingly, after some gentle persuasion from Ozan.
"But you're not even married, how can she stay here?" she had lamented.
"We'll be changing that real soon, anne, but it's our life, please, just let us be happy," Ozan said, hugging her to lessen the sting.
Zumrut couldn't argue with that. On the way out she pulled Esra aside. "Be good to him, he's loved you for a very long time."
"I love him very much Zumrut Teyze, I would never ever hurt him," Esra's face shone with sincerity.
Zumrut eyes searched her face, and she seemed satisfied with what she saw. "Tamam," she nodded, officially giving her blessing.
----
They were sitting on the couch watching a movie. This time it was Esra's turn to pick one. The last time he had picked a horror movie and she had spent most of it with her face buried in the crook of his neck. He realized he liked horror movies a whole heck of a lot more with her by his side.
Esra's much preferred romantic movies, so she had settled on 50 First Dates, and they watched it snuggled up under one blanket.
"That was not bad," he declared, "I thought it was going to be cringy. Poor guy, he really tried though."
"Hmmmm," she replied pensively.
He heard the disquiet in her voice and turned her head to face him.
"Esraa'm?" He mostly understood her moods and what made her upset but he couldn't understand the little pout of her lips and her sad eyes. This was her movie choice after all.
"Tell me what's wrong, sevgilim," he tried again.
She gestured at the TV, "Henry took Lucy for 50 first dates and we haven't even gone on one proper date," she said morosely.
"Ufffff," he hauled her to his chest and hugged her hard. She was right! They hadn't been on a proper date! Well nothing about their courtship had been proper but this truly was unforgivable. He would fix it, immediately.
He kissed her forehead, "I'm so sorry, I'm just terrible at this romantic stuff. Can you call in sick at work tomorrow? I will too. I have a plan."
She looked up at him skeptically, "You, Ozan Korfali, are going to fake call in sick at work??"
He grinned toothily at her, "Only for you..."
The next day they both left messages for their bosses, and then Esra put herself fully in Ozan's hands. She didn't even wanted to know the plan, she was letting him take control, a big step even for her.
When he drove them to the ferry , she clapped in delight. She loved that he knew about her love for the water, it gave her a sense of peace and one-ness with nature. They took the boat to Buyukada, a little island resort close to Istanbul. Esra had never been, although she had always wanted to visit. Ozan was already excelling at the first date thing, she grinned happily to herself.
The island was beyond idyllic. They fed the seagulls, and the many cats on the waterfront. They rented bicycles and rode along the cobbled stones, stopped for some ice cream and strolled through the tiny village square where local artisans displayed their wares.
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