Four
from her interactions with Burak when the cafe’s bell jingled to announce the arrival of a customer. “I’ll be right with you!” she called, from where she was ducking down to fill the pastry case with freshly baked poğaça and simit, just dropped off by the delivery boy from the bakery down the block.
“Take your time,” said a familiar voice, bringing a smile to Jasmine’s face and forcing her to her feet instantly.
“Celia!” she cried as she came around to the front of the counter to pull the woman into a hug. “It’s so good to see you! Are you back now?”
Celia was a fellow expat, and Jasmine had met her months prior, when her grandmother was still around. In early days of her stay in Istanbul, Jasmine had forced herself out of the house in search of some much-needed connection. She had run into Celia—and her partner, Enes, who was now Jasmine’s vet—on one such occasion, braving a meetup hosted by a local expat group in Taksim. The expat group hadn’t stuck—neither woman had gone to one of their events before or since—but a connection between Celia and Jasmine had been cemented that day.
Celia was nodding. “I just got back last night, so I’m going to be taking my coffee intravenously today, I think. Jet lag is no joke.”
“Oh you poor thing. You should have just stayed home and slept today. I could have delivered coffee.” Celia had returned from a visit to her family in St. Louis, where she had been for the last two weeks. “I bet Enes is glad you’re back.”
Celia’s smile at the mention of her boyfriend was so genuine, so warm, that Jasmine had to look away. It felt like she was intruding on a private moment, seeing unguarded emotion like that. “Oh, he definitely is. Badem is too, though I think the two of them bonded so much while I was gone that she hardly missed me.”
Badem was the cat Celia had rescued (or been rescued by, depending on who you asked) her first day in Istanbul and one of the main reasons she had decided to set down roots in the city. Of course, Enes had played his role in that, too.
And judging by the way Badem had looked at Celia on the occasions that Jasmine had been invited to the apartment she and Enes shared, there was no chance the space Celia occupied in her cat’s heart had been filled by anyone else. Badem could teach Cheddar and Gator a thing or two about making their human feel special. Didn’t they know the ultimate secret to feline bliss was manipulating human emotions with tail chasing and Puss in Boots eyes until you got every single thing you ever wanted?
Jasmine set about preparing a fresh mug of coffee for her friend, nodding towards the best table in the cafe. Celia looked grateful and relieved as she nearly collapsed into her chair, her hands coming out to encircle the mug as soon as Jasmine deposited it, taking the seat across from her.
“So,” she began, “how was everything?”
Celia took a long sip of coffee, closed her eyes, and let a slow smile spread across her face. “Exhausting. But that was just the travel. The trip itself was great, being back around the whole family. Eating all my favorite foods, of both the home cooked and the international restaurant variety. But as great as it was to be there, it’s even better to be back. This really feels like home now, you know?” She traced the handle of the mug. “It has for a while, but this is the longest I’ve been gone since Enes and I moved in together.”
Jasmine felt her eyebrows climb her forehead. “No kidding? Well, I’d say that’s a win. Good thing you didn’t discover that you actually liked living alone better than having him as a roomie.” As soon as the words were out, she cringed. “I don’t know why I said that. Enes is a great guy, and of course the two of you are happy together.” She sucked her lower lip into her mouth. “Actually, I might know why I said that. It’s possible I’m just anti-man today, and the thought of having to live with one sounds like my actual worst nightmare.”
That got a reaction out of Celia. Her brow quirked upward, and her mouth formed the perfect shape of surprise. “Okay, that got my attention. Spill. Did you get cat called today or something? Is there a skull I need to crush?”
Jasmine stared at her friend. “Wow, jet lag makes you violent. And also possibly inclined to overestimate the strength of those twigs you call arms…” She reached across the table, where Celia was flexing a bicep and glaring at her with indignation. “Okay, you proved me wrong. Those are definitely skull crushing muscles.“ She sighed as she pulled back her hand. “But no, I don’t think I need to call in your favors of violence and mayhem. Not yet, anyway. Do you know some real estate guy named Burak?”
Celia leveled a stare at her that made Jasmine snort with laughter. “You’re right, that was an absurd question. There are 15 million people in this city, so what are the odds you know some guy I met this morning?”
“Right. And you aren’t even giving me a last name? Please.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Where did you meet him? Did he come here to ask about the building? Are you selling Kedi Cafe?” She blinked twice in quick succession. “Is jet lag making me jump to bizarre conclusions?”
Jasmine paused to think for a moment. “Well, I’ll admit I’ve never seen you like this. Though I have a feeling if I had known you when we were teenagers and we had pulled an all-nighter hyped up on sugar and rom coms, I would have seen this side of you. Lots of giggling, the origin of lots of inside jokes that would keep us laughing for years, even if they never made even one bit of sense.”
“Hmm.” Celia nodded. “It does feel a bit like that, I guess. For what it’s worth, I’m happy to laugh with you about my muscular biceps and Burak Whats-His-Name for as long as we both shall live.”
“Sounds great.” Warmed from within at something her friend had said, Jasmine smiled. It wasn’t as if her future in Istanbul was certain—Grandma would return from her cruise, after all, and everything after that was a question mark. Would she stay in the city, make her own home here? Or would it be time to move on? Either way, the likelihood of her friendship with Celia being a lifelong one felt far from a certainty, and it was bittersweet to imagine their blossoming inside jokes fading away until even the memory of each other’s faces had vanished.
“Right,” she said, clearing her throat. “So, Burak wasn’t here about buying the cafe or knocking down the building or anything like that. I bumped into him at the cat colony this morning—you know, the one over by the vacant lot? I’ve been feeding those guys for a while.”
“Was he feeding them, too?” At Jasmine’s nod, Celia reciprocated the gesture. “Right, so that’s a positive mark for him then. We love a man who looks out for all catkind.”
“We do? I know you certainly do, but I just met Burak, and it wasn’t love at first sight.”
Celia’s wave was dismissive. “What happened next?”
“Oh, you know…just a classic misunderstanding. And then he turned up here and pulled Cheddar’s claws out of my thigh and now he wants my help to relocate the colony and in return he’s going to do some light remodeling to the cafe free of charge.”
Celia blinked slowly, then again. “Am I hearing you correctly, or are my ears still messed up from the flight? This guy gave you a thigh massage and now he wants to do free work around the cafe?”
Jasmine nodded. “More or less. Less of a massage and more of a kitten extraction. And the free labor would be in return for my help with the cat colony.”
“Is this a scam?” Celia narrowed her eyes at Jasmine. “Is there some expectation that you will wire him money? Or did he claim that he’s royalty? Or…help me out here. I’m not that familiar with the current scams going around.”
“There’s no exchange of money, so don’t worry about that. And it’s not as if he’s going to knock down walls and build an extension or anything. We were just troubleshooting what to do about the curtains, since Cheddar insists on climbing them. Burak is going to install an awning.”
“Ah.” Celia gave a knowing nod. “So that’s it, then. ‘Burak is going to install an awning,’ she says, as if it’s the most normal thing in the world for a total stranger to do.”
Through gritted teeth, Jasmine responded. “Look, I know it all sounds sketchy. And trust me, I’m far from sold on the idea of this guy being my personal genie or anything like that. Why don’t I introduce you to him?” She rushed to clarify. “I don’t mean on like a double date or something…we’re going to need to talk to Enes at some point, get his guidance with the whole cat colony thing. You should be there too. See if you can suss him out, read his aura, or get a feel for his vibes, or whatever it is that you need to do in order to figure out if he’s a good dude.”
Celia looked skeptical. “Well, that isn’t even up for debate. Of course I’m going to meet him.” She scoffed. “Especially if it’s you and Enes making the decision on his character. You two aren’t exactly known for being discerning when it comes to meeting new people.”
Jasmine raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like a very concerning thing to hear you say about the man you live with. The love of your life. The co-parent of your cat.”
Celia sniffed. “Obviously, I was the exception. Plus, he had Badem to vouch for my character, and we all know she’s got the best taste in humans around.”
Jasmine nodded, but didn’t say anything in response. No matter what happened, it could be fun to get all four of them together in a room. And hopefully by the end of it, she would know what to think about Burak.