The Ring (Complete)

Chapters 9 - 12

Note: Rated Mature for sexual situations

CHAPTER NINE

The entire morning at work Defne could feel everyone's eyes upon her. At first she assumed it was just paranoia on her part, but more than once she caught the girls in the warehouse huddled together in a group, staring at her. Even though she questioned them about it, they simply apologized and returned to work – only to go back to hushed whispering shortly thereafter.

Later that afternoon Defne was busy making the schedules for the upcoming week when Aytekin rushed into her office.

"I thought we were friends, Defne."

She looked up from the documents on the table to see an angry Aytekin pacing back and forth. "Did I ever say we were friends?" she asked, agitated.

"Well, I thought we were. Obviously that's not true because you didn't bother to tell me something so important."

Sighing, Defne leaned back in her chair. "Okay. What's going on? What top secret did I keep from you?"

He stormed over to her, pushing his cell phone at her face. Instantly, she felt faint. It was a picture from her wedding, probably taken by one of the Passionis staff while she and Omer had gone around to each table to thank them for attending. In the picture Omer looked angry, withdrawn, while she had a fake smile plastered on her face. After she'd confessed the truth, he'd managed to stay until the end of the reception. At that time she had taken that to mean there was still hope and they could work things through. From the furious expression on his face, however, it was obvious he'd already decided it was over between them.

"What's this, huh?" Aytekin asked before swiping right. "And this?"

The second picture was of them from earlier that day, after she'd changed into the second wedding gown but before she'd revealed the truth. Surrounded by family and friends, she and Omer beamed with happiness. Her heart squeezed with pain at the image of them together. Before she could burst into tears, she grabbed the phone from Aytekin's hand and smashed it on the table.

"What the hell?" he asked. "You don't even bother to tell me you were married to Mr. Omer and now you destroy my phone? What's wrong with you, girl?"

"Fuck you, Aytekin! It's none of your goddamn business."

He bristled, not used to hearing her swear. "All I'm saying is you should have told me you guys were once married. It's only fair I know."

It all finally clicked in her head, why all those girls were whispering around her the whole day. Pictures of her wedding were making the rounds, which meant people were also gossiping about why they were no longer together. Defne felt sick to her stomach, she wanted to throw up. "Get out, Aytekin. Get the hell out of here."

"First tell me what happened between you guys. I have a right to know. After all I work with the both of you. If he's going to be hostile towards you and our department because of the divorce, it affects me too!"

She forcefully shoved Aytekin out of her office, locking the glass door behind her. Her cheeks were red, her eyes teary. Everyone at the warehouse was staring at her, and she just wanted to disappear into thin air.

Every time she thought she was over that day it found a way to come back and haunt her. At Stil Vagon she'd finally found a sanctuary, a place where no one knew about her past and she could just work and be herself without people questioning her, but once again, thanks to Omer's return and Passionis employees in the same building, she was back to being gossip fodder. Why couldn't they just leave her alone? Why did she always have to be the butt of their ridicule? And why, after all this time, did those pictures still have the ability to hurt so much? She'd been so happy that day, ecstatic, a woman filled with hope and optimism at the thought of starting a new life with the love of her life only to have it all fall apart within hours. The dream of a wonderful future shattered into a million jagged pieces, permanently embedding into her soul, a constant reminder of what could have been.