Page 100 of My Turkish Fling
“Well, if you’re getting a shipping container, why don’t you ship it? Take it to New Zealand and I’ll help you set up a shop. You’ll get a better price that way. It’s all exotic and special over there.”
For a moment, he said nothing, gently leaning his temple against that oil lamp. Then his shoulders dropped, and he let out a longsigh. “God, I missed you so much!”
I hopped over a fallen coat rack to get to him.
We hugged there, surrounded by Turkey’s discarded, forgotten treasures, breathing in each other to drown out the smell of dust, decay, and cigarettes, feeling so deliriously happy it made no sense.
“Me, too,” I said.
We were so much better together.
Six months later
Emir
I dismounted Neil, a mild-mannered Arabian, giving him a pat as I settled at our favorite breakfast picnic spot overlooking the coast. Janie arrived a few seconds behind me, riding Molly. The early spring morning was still a little chilly with a shiny layer of dew coating every leaf and blade of grass around us. There were no people around, for miles. It was perfect.
I helped Janie off Molly, knowing she didn’t require my help. Molly had relaxed enough for Janie to ride her on her own. Ever since we’d introduced her to Neil, she seemed happier. We each needed a partner in life and Molly had been lonely, just like me.
I threw down the tattered blanket we always sat on and unpacked our simple egg sandwiches and a thermos of coffee. I’d thought of love as a mystical, overwhelming, dizzying ride I never againwanted to get on. I’d never thought it could feel like this—being part of something bigger and better than myself. Being a team.
In the last months, we’d worked hard, establishing a new business in Napier as we waited for the shipping container to arrive. When it finally did, we’d be ready, even if we were a little overwhelmed by the task at hand. The last week had been a flurry of action—painting and wallpapering the showrooms we’d leased in central Napier. The space was looking great now. Ready for action. The online shop was also ready to go, but listing the items would take a while.
With Josh still asleep, I’d enticed Janie away by packing us a breakfast she could only enjoy if she rode with me up the hill to our favorite lookout.
“I’m here. Where’s the breakfast?” She sat on the blanket, smiling excitedly. “And where’s the coffee?”
“Patience, woman.”
I set everything down on the blanket, deliberately slowly, until she grabbed the sandwich from my hand. I laughed. Hangry Janie was not to be teased.
After a few bites, she settled, and gave me a big smile. “Thank you! This is exactly what I needed.”
Turned out, it was exactly what I needed, too. Seeing her happy and relaxed. That’s all I ever needed. And I had something up my sleeve that could possibly make her even more relaxed.
“Janie,” I said, waiting for her to look at me. “About that spy cam—”
“Please!” She held up her hand, wincing. “You promised. Nomore theories. No more suspecting everyone we know. We have no evidence, and I don’t want to think about those videos being out there, circulating—”
“They’re not.”
“They’re not?” She blinked, the sandwich resting against her lower lip, eyes lit with hope.
“I’ve got them on a hard drive you can personally destroy.”
“What? How?” She was yelling now, sandwich forgotten.
“I had a hunch about that guy, Gus. I had a chat with him, and he confessed. But he insisted he hasn’t uploaded anything. I told him that if he can prove it, we might not take him to court.”
“But I can’t afford to take anyone to court!”
“He doesn’t know that, so he sang like a bird.”
Janie shook her head, processing the information. “Gus? Really? But, why?”
“He’s… infatuated with you. I think it was his twisted idea of intimacy. He’s a movie buff. Things on screen are more real to him than people. The more I talked to him, the more I thought he’s a bit insane. But the good news is, he handed over all the footage. I had it checked against what’s circulating online and they found no hits.”
“Wait… how do you do that?”
