Five

It was only when Celia was gone that Jasmine realized she had no way of actually getting in contact with Burak, that she could only wait and hope he would appear again if they were going to make arrangements to meet Enes and Celia together.

She didn’t have to wait long. As she was preparing to close the cafe for the evening, the door chimed again, announcing the arrival of a customer. Jasmine looked up from the table she was bussing, hoping that whoever was about to grace her counter would keep their order simple enough so she could head home as soon as possible. It had been a good day but a long one, and she was ready to curl up on her couch with a glass of wine and Gator. If Cheddar wanted to join them—if he promised to keep calm and carry on and not stick his paws in her glass—then he was certainly welcome to do so.

When Jasmine’s eyes landed on Burak, she felt a thrill of anticipation run through her. No, that couldn’t be right, she thought. It must be anticipation of the excitement of arguing with him. There couldn’t be any other reason for her to be happy to see him.

And yet, as he walked closer to her, his own face splitting wide with a smile, she couldn’t help but smile back as she rose to her full height from the table she had been wiping, her eyes coming level with his.

“Good evening, Jasmine,” he said, his deep voice vibrating in her belly. “I was hoping I would catch you before you left.”

“And that you did,” she replied, shifting the tub full of dirty dishes onto her hip and turning to the kitchen. 

Burak took the hint and followed her, falling into step beside her. “I hope you had a good day. And I hope that, like me, you’ve only gotten more convinced that the two of us have work to do together. That we would make a great team.”

She stopped and faced him, her lips pursed. “How would I know that the two of us would make a great team? Apart from your name and the fact that you’re a real estate developer, I don’t know a thing about you.”

With a wrinkled eyebrow, he studied her. “I’d say you know a little more than that. I did rescue you from your own beast of a cat, after all.” Cheddar, as if sensing that he was the topic of discussion, meowed in greeting and pranced over to twine himself around Burak’s legs.

Jasmine shrugged. “Anyone would have done that.” She sniffed, turning back to continue her journey to the kitchen. “But I do agree about the colony, the work we need to do. I spoke with my vet’s girlfriend and was actually just thinking about how to get in touch with you so that all of us could meet up.”

Burak nodded, bending down to scoop up Cheddar into his arms. He flipped the cat quickly onto his back, petting his belly as the traitorous animal began to purr. Jasmine looked away from the sight that was stirring up uncomfortable and unwelcome feelings.

“So you’re setting us up on a double date with your vet? I have to admit, I didn’t expect that, exactly, but I’m game if you are.”

“It’s not a double date,” she replied through gritted teeth. “His girlfriend is my friend, and I told her about the need for a meeting about the colony. It was only natural to include her, considering that I’m friends with both of them.”

Burak’s grin conveyed that he was pleased with himself to a level that made her nervous. Had she said something wrong? “What?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“I’m just tickled to learn that you were speaking to your friend about me. You must have shared some intriguing opinions about me for her to decide instantly to have a double date to size me up.” He stood a little taller then, adjusting his arms—and the cat in them—in a way that suggested he just might be flexing his muscles. 

Jasmine rolled her eyes and huffed out a laugh. “That does seem like the kind of conclusion you would jump to, just based on my vast knowledge of you and your character.” As soon as the words were out, she wanted to recall them. There was a difference between a good-natured ribbing and needlessly criticizing someone who had, in fact, only been a partial source of annoyance since she had met him. There was plenty that he had done that was perfectly pleasant, even generous and kind. Still, why was there a part of her that wanted to tease him for every word out of his mouth?

Her stomach dropped with horror as a realization dawned on her. Was this like the feeling that had fueled her teenage crushes, making her say and do things that her rational mind couldn’t explain? 

Is there something about a crush that makes teasing an inevitability? Like, something evolutionary? she wondered, making a mental note to look it up later. For now, at least, she could extend just a crumb of kindness to Burak, ignoring the fact that her subconscious mind had all but told her she had a crush on the man.

She repressed a shiver at the thought and smiled as she turned to face Burak. “Anyway,” she continued, “Enes and Celia are some of my best friends in Istanbul—and he just so happens to be my vet, too. There’s no need to deprive you of the pleasure of meeting Celia by trying to keep things strictly business with Enes. If I’m going to meet him—if we’re going to meet him—then she should be there, too. And if it turns into dinner and drinks as well, then I really don’t see anything wrong with that.”

Burak nodded, but there was a mischievous smile playing at the corner of his mouth. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, either. Just like I don’t think there’s anything wrong with admitting that you want to go on a double date with me. Show me off to your friends or get their opinion on me before we take things further. I don’t know exactly what your motivation is there, but I’m on board no matter what.”

Jasmine gaped at him. “Did you forget to wear your hard hat today? And did, oh I don’t know, a piano fall off of one of your construction sites and land on your head?” She put a hand on her hip as she tilted her chin down to study him from a different angle. “Are you secretly a cartoon character?”

But he kept that same smug smile on his face as he shook his head. “None of those things. Why do you ask?”

“I just…” She set the tray of dishes down on the counter, then flung her hands up in exasperation. “Where did this come from, this sudden confidence that I want to date you? It’s not as if we have a long and storied history, sir, and I don’t believe there’s ever been any indication of taking our…er…acquaintanceship to the next level.” She shook her head. “Actually, scratch that. We did talk about taking our acquaintanceship to the next level of working together. But that doesn’t explain any of this.” She gestured between them. “You had better start making sense soon, or else the whole thing is going to be off.”

“The whole thing? You wouldn’t even let me go on our double date?” Burak grimaced as she crossed her arms over her chest, then he lightly set Cheddar on the floor. When he came back to his full height, he held up his hands as if to assure her that he was unarmed. “You’re right. There has, perhaps, been a sudden and sharp increase in flirty behavior on my behalf. I should…explain? Would that help?”

“It most definitely would. And whatever you say determines whether I kick you right out of here or help you sort out all your cat troubles, so…you know. No pressure…”

“Right.” With a resolute nod, Burak rubbed his hands together. 

He had the decency to look slightly sheepish, and as that awareness crossed Jasmine’s mind, she felt a wave of anxiety rush over her. “What?” she asked, before he could even begin to explain. “This feels weirdly sinister. Did someone put you up to this?”

His eyes widened. “Not exactly, but…wow. You’re pretty on the nose.” Off the look on her face, he rushed to explain. “I know your grandmother. The woman in the picture in the kitchen. I didn’t know you were her granddaughter when I met you, not until I came here and saw that and figured it out. We go to the same bakery. Chatted in line there at least a few times every week.”

Jasmine gawked at him. Why did his knowing her grandmother make her feel so exposed? Perhaps the more important question was, what had Viola told him about her that she would prefer he didn’t know?

The only way to find out was to ask. “And what, once you stopped laughing about me performing in the school talent show with my skirt tucked into my underwear, you decided to come here and torment me right to my face?”

“Believe it or not, no. If you’re concerned that your grandmother shared all your embarrassing stories with me, let me reassure you that she did not. I’d never heard of you performing in the talent show with your underwear on display until just now, and while I see how it could be humorous to some, I hope you’ll notice and appreciate that I am, in fact, not laughing. I’m sorry that happened to you, actually.”

“Then what?” Jasmine’s cheeks were flushing with the awareness that she had blurted her most embarrassing experience to this near-stranger, and she looked around for something to busy herself with to get some blood out of her face and back into other parts of her body. Why, oh why, was she so good at cleaning up as the day went along? If only she had a mountain of dishes, rather than a couple of loose mugs…

Burak’s hand fell on her forearm, the pressure gentle and his touch surprisingly warm. “Jasmine,” he said, and so help her, she loved the way her name sounded rolling off his tongue. “When I understood that you were Ms. Viola’s granddaughter, I believe I crossed some wires in my head and that came out in the way I was speaking to you. I apologize for that. Your grandmother and I, we are pretty friendly. She always makes me laugh, and I try to return the favor. I think I brought that same energy here to you today and let it make me behave as if we are better friends than we actually are. I hope that, with time, we will become friends. In the meantime, if you don’t want me to flirt with you, I will stop immediately.”

The thought of that was surprisingly unwelcome, but Jasmine wasn’t ready to examine that thought and certainly not to express it to Burak. So she did the only thing she could and played it off.

“You didn’t flirt with my grandmother, did you? I mean, what is this? Am I somehow taking her place?” Jasmine shuddered at the thought. “If so, you know where the door is.”

“Your grandmother and I were friends, Jasmine. Friends. Nothing more and nothing less.” He chuckled then. “I showed her Turkish hospitality, but I certainly didn’t flirt with her. You know as well as I do that she wouldn’t have stood for it, not to mention the fact that she is totally and completely in love with Morty.”

“That’s true. It’s disgusting.” Jasmine shook her head. “I don’t mean that. It’s adorable, and I’m glad they found each other, and of course I’m glad she has a partner on her journey around the world. I think it comes with the territory of being single and jaded that you have to find other people’s relationships at least slightly disgusting, even if you’re actually really happy for them.”

Burak tilted his head to the side, as if he were considering her words and acknowledging them, but was being careful not to imply that he agreed with them. “Perhaps,” he finally said. “Though I have always found that feeling envy or jealousy for what someone else has that I do not is much more about me than it is about them. And if it pushes me to seek out or create that thing in my own life, then it only ends up bringing me happiness.”

“I’m not jealous of Grandma and Morty.”

“No?”

“Of course not.” Jasmine wiped her hands on her jeans, returning to the already wiped tables to once again polish their surfaces. This conversation had just proven yet again that it would be best conducted alongside a task rather than receiving her undivided attention. “And forget what I said about being single and jaded. We weren’t talking about me. We were talking about you and my grandmother and why you have suddenly become so…weird.” She gestured to him to continue with her free hand. “So what now? Maybe you should just go and we can cancel this whole thing between us and forget all this weirdness ever happened.”

“No, no. I don’t want that.” He held up a hand in protest, then moved forward to help her, traveling from table to table to straighten the sugar packets and salt and pepper shakers. “I’m sorry for not explaining myself sooner. After learning that you were the Jasmine that Ms. Viola always talked about, I was quite excited to see you again.” He looked up from his work to give her a warm smile. “Your grandmother is so fond of you, Jasmine. I don’t think a day went by that I didn’t hear a story about you, and with every story that I heard, I was more convinced that I needed to meet you and that I would really like you when I did.” His gaze dropped back to the table then. “Of course, it was also helped by the fact that your grandmother may have dropped hints—or perhaps hint isn’t a strong enough word—that she would like to set the two of us up. But I digress—”

Jasmine dropped the cloth she was holding onto the table as she wheeled to face Burak. “Are you kidding me? My grandma just…what? Decided to set the two of us up with each other and only bothered to tell you about it?” She leaned back over the table, picked up the cloth, and started scrubbing at invisible stains with aggression. “Oh, she is going to hear about this. I was giving her space, letting her enjoy her cruise, not wanting to bother her with any of the day-to-day cafe-related things. But she is going to hear about this.”

When she glanced at Burak over her shoulder, his gaze was down and his lips were a straight line, and Jasmine felt a softening towards him.

“This isn’t your fault, Burak. And I’m not saying that, like…I’m so upset at the idea of being set up with you that I have to call her and berate her for it. It’s more about neglecting to let me in on critical details. I’m not a fan of being kept in the dark.”

“I absolutely understand that.” He gave her a small smile. “And I do hope that we can be friends, even now that this is out in the open.”

“I think it’ll be easier to be friends now that we are both aware of the situation.” She wiped her hands on her pants and took a step towards him. “Do you think you can dial down the flirtation? Keep things strictly friendly between us?”

“If that’s what you want, then yes, of course.” The smile he gave her didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Naturally, though, if you change your mind and decide you do in fact want me to flirt with you, then by all means, please let me know.”

That got a laugh out of Jasmine. “It’s a deal.” She held out a hand for him to shake, smiling as his warm fingers wrapped around hers. “Just to warn you, it’s highly unlikely I’ll be changing my mind about that anytime soon.”

“A man can only hope.” He winked at her, followed immediately by a visible cringe. “Sorry about that. I promise to get my eyes on board with the rest of me. No more winking.”

“No more winking,” she said, giving his hand one more shake before releasing her grip.