Seasons Of Love ❤️

9. In Bela's arms

Mahir doesn't know what to expect, but it certainly isn't what Bela blurts out as soon as the door swings shut behind them.

"He's not my boyfriend."

Oh. Shit. Bela probably sees all emotions playing across his face - shock, shame, sorrow - and Mahir throws his head back with a groan.

"He's not my boyfriend." Bela repeats, softly this time.

Mahir squeezes his eyes shut and  exhales heavily. He feels Bela take his hand and hold them comfortingly. He doesn't know what to say.

"I didn't mean to..."

"Act like a jealous boyfriend?" Bela offers, and Mahir's eyes shoot open.

"Is that what we are?" He asks, his tone somewhere between hopeful and hesitant.

Bela smiles shyly and then shrugs. "Well, we have been eating lunch together every day for the past few months."

"Oh. I didn't realise..."

"That that's what we might be?" Bela finishes. "Neither did I, to be honest. Not until you started blowing off our lunch dates."

Mahir looks away sheepishly. "Sorry. I just- I couldn't... I didn't want to find out that you were already with someone else. I guess I tried to quit while I was ahead, you know?"

Bela tugs Mahir closer until they are practically breathing the same air. Mahir's heartbeat, once thumping near his stomach, is now pounding in his ears.

"Do you still want to quit while you're ahead?"
Bela asks softly, the words playing teasingly over Mahir's lips.

Mahir shakes his head the tiniest amount, causing their noses to brush.

"No?" Bela questions. Her eyes flicker down towards Mahir's mouth.

"No," Mahir repeats, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I don't want to quit anymore. I want to risk it all." And he moves forward, sealing their lips.

The kiss is chaste but rife with meaning, and Mahir's heartbeat finally settles somewhere low in his chest.

-

"Why art?" Bela asks when they have relocated to the loveseat in her office.

"The important thing about art isn't the quality of the work, or how much it costs, or how good people say it looks. It's about how it makes you feel," Mahir says, playing with Bela's fingers absentmindedly. "Why flowers?"

"I like helping others express how they feel," Bela answers simply. And sometimes they help me express how I feel.

"How do you feel?"

Bela pulls her hand from Mahir and tells him to stay put. She disappears into the storefront for a few painful seconds, and returns with a bouquet in hand. She offers it to Mahir.

"I put in a last minute order for a couple of these- that's what Jackson was delivering when you saw us through the window," Bela explains once Mahir takes the flower. She then answers the unasked question, "Emma told me that you asked who he was. You don't need to worry about him though - he might make me laugh, but he doesn't make me feel the way you do."

"And how exactly is that?" Mahir prods, his eyebrow raised curiously. "How do I make you feel?"

Bela gestures for Mahir to hold up the bouquet. She points  to two similar flowers, one white and the other pink.

"These are camellias. The white camellia says 'I think you're adorable' while the pink camellia expresses the feeling of longing."

Mahir smiles bashfully, and lets Bela explain the third flower, a thicket of tiny purple blooms.

"Syringa vulgaris, or the common lilac," Bela says tenderly. "It symbolises first love."

Mahir just stares at Bela with wide, unblinking eyes.

"Do you really mean that?" Mahir asks, wonder lacing his tone.

Bela gives him a soft smile, the apples of her cheeks tinged pink, and that is answer enough. Mahir gently puts the bouquet aside and tugs Bela closer, pressing his lips against her temple.

"I've never been more grateful to have been called out for staring at a cute girl on the street."

They share a laugh and another kiss, Mahir marvels at how much everything has changed in the space of a year.

──

It takes four seasons - summer, autumn, winter and spring - for Mahir to realise he's been dating Bela all along.

Maybe he was kind of completely oblivious...and maybe he missed all of the signs. But he still ends up exactly where he belongs - In Bela's arms - and that's all that really matters.

⦁─━━━⊱✿⊰━━━─⦁

Hi bishhhesss..
Hope y'all enjoyed this book. Thanks for the love y'all gave to this book.
Byeee <3