Everywhere Still, A Continuation of Everywhere You Are

Chapter 12

Back at Happy Pie...

Arda returned to a quiet Happy Pie to explain what happened. Everyone gathered around the counter.

"Well friends...Cinar left," he told everyone. "He's gone back to Sinop."

The aunts laughed and danced with glee. Demir smiled, fully showing his teeth. He gave Arda a high five. Merve hugged Arda. Demir's mood instantly improved to hear Cinar was gone.  

"You've done well for us, Arda," Firuze complimented him, "but now what are the family's expectations for this evening?"

"I told them I was taking Selin out for dinner. So I'll go there this evening and pick her up--"

Firuze interrupted him placing her hand in the air. "No, no you won't."

"I won't be taking Selin to dinner?" Arda asked, confused.

"Arda," Firuze began slowly, "we know and you know that you're a nice young man with all the makings of a gentleman, but we need to ask you to conduct yourself in an opposite way in this matter, a way that will make Selin's parents question just how suitable you are for their daughter."

"Oh, I see! Would you believe I've already given them reason to question my suitability, when I was younger?" He laughed, but Arda was beginning to understand. "Would you rather I show up with a bucket of take-out chicken to eat there with her?"

Demir chuckled, then put a hand up to his mouth to stop laughing. All he could think of was the night he kept Selin from going out with Arda. "No, don't do that," Demir said. 

"No flowers. No chocolates. No gifts. And no picking her up at her door," Firuze ordered.

"No flowers even?" Leyla asked.

"Whoa, I feel I might be earning the potential honor of worst date of Selin's life!" Arda teased.

"No worries, I'm sure Selin's already assigned that to me and one of our disaster evenings together," Demir said thinking over how badly some of their time spent together went in the earlier stages of their house-sharing, including multiple trips to the hospital.

"The real question is where will you two go to dinner?" Merve asked.

Arda looked to Demir questioningly. Demir didn't want to seem so possessive that Selin couldn't just go out to dinner with Arda. After all, he had had breakfast with Arda just that morning, he was in town, and he was helping them.

"Did you want to go out to dinner with Selin to catch up?" Demir asked politely. 

"But maybe you could join us?" Arda answered respectfully. 

"I know! What if everyone came over to our place? We'll have a welcome home party. Selin's parents don't have to know," said Merve with excitement and doing a little dance.

"Our place?" Demir repeated with a certain amount of shock, looking at Merve with a knowing and yet unknowing smile but thought better of it and decided to save the topic for Vedat. "I think Selin would really like that," Demir agreed.

"Aunties?" asked Merve. The aunts looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Not this time, sweetie. You young people get together and we'll be preparing tonight for dinner tomorrow," Leyla said.

"One request. Can Ayda be invited to this party this evening?" Arda asked hopefully.

"Of course," Demir answered quickly then looked to Merve who put her head down, shaking it slightly. "No?" he asked Merve.

"We can invite her, Demir, but I don't think she'll come. We can discuss it later."

"I'd love to see her," Arda said. "Please tell her that when you invite her."