Page 1 of My Turkish Fling
Chapter 1
Emir
Two people so over-the-top in love should have come with a warning label, flashing lights and sirens. Then maybe I could have avoided the sickening displays of affection. Except I was at a family dinner, and there was no escape.
I buttered a dry piece of breadstick, trying my best not to look at my brother Cem and his fiancée Aria. Despite my carefully selective focal points of a half-eaten lamb carcass, brass candle sticks and my own plate, I’d already witnessed five achingly long looks, two lingering kisses and was certain Cem’s left hand was doing something inappropriate under the table.
“Could you at least try to look like you’re not here to murder everyone?” Cem hissed in Turkish.
“Could you stop the public foreplay?” I hissed back.
Mom gave me a warning look, then turned her sharp eyes at Cem. “Allah, Allah!Behave, both of you.”
Aria threw us a cautious look, nudging a little further from Cem. She couldn’t understand Turkish but must have picked up on the vibe. I tried to relax my face, counting minutes. How long would this dinner last?
“Did anyone want seconds?” Aria’s mother Lyn pushed the silver tray of roasted vegetables towards my parents. Mom smiled and refilled their plates.
“How are you supporting yourself, Cem?” Aria’s father, Greg, asked, leaning forward. “Apart from this… acting?”
Okay, now we were getting somewhere, I thought. I much preferred straight talk to this simmering tension in the air.
“I am an actor,” Cem confirmed with a wide smile. “I’ve mostly worked in Turkey, but I’m hoping to get English-speaking roles here in New Zealand.”
I was still angry with Cem for throwing away the biggest opportunity of his career on a whim. First, he’d mooned the paparazzi and ended up with scandalous photos all over the internet. Then, just as I’d found a solution by staging photos with a Kiwi actress who resembled his co-star, he’d fallen in love with the stand-in and followed her to New Zealand, ruining our million-dollar deal with Epic Studios.
I had to admit one thing, though: I’d never seen Cem this happy. Stupidly happy. Forget Epic Studios. He could have starred on Sesame Street without a hint of irony.
“Actor, huh? It’s a hard slog,” Greg’s mostly bald head bobbed,bushy eyebrows drawing together. “Good to have a fallback career, maybe?”
“Definitely!” Aria’s mother, Lyn, echoed. “Our Aria did the smart thing, moving back here and taking a job at the film office.”
Aria’s eyes flashed with alarm. “I’m thinking of quitting,” She nibbled at her thumbnail. “I want to try acting one more time. See how this film does.”
She’d recently starred in an American feature film with Cem. The film would premiere next weekend, and a week before their engagement party—the reason I’d suffered the endless flights to this far-flung corner of the earth, with my parents.
“Besides, Cem’s very successful in Turkey,” Aria added. “He’s making way more money with his endorsement deals than I ever did at the film office.”
Aria’s parents gazed at their future son-in-law, surprised. Did they not know the extent of my brother’s fame and fortune?
After the dessert, we moved to the worn leather couches in the living room.
Cem stopped me at the doorway. “Are you coming with us to check the farm?”
“What farm?”
“Aria’s boss’s place. She said we can use it for the engagement party.”
I shrugged, torn between the thankless jobs of babysitting my parents and third-wheeling the nauseatingly-in-love couple.
“You don’t want me there,” I said.
“True. But you don’t want to stay here.” Cem nodded at Lyn,who’d already placed two, thick photo albums on the coffee table, saying something about Aria being such a cute, fat baby. Mom attacked the first one like it was a new romance novel.
I turned to Cem, pain throbbing in my forehead. “I’ll come with you.”
Three months after our first visit, the air felt different. Warm and humid, like in a greenhouse. Early autumn heat wave, I was told. The nights were a little cooler though, which I appreciated.
We piled into Aria’s tiny hybrid car and drove through endless greenery dotted with sheep and cows. The emptiness soothed my nerves. I much preferred animals to people.
