As Feyza called the waiter with a huge grin, I nodded eagerly, knowing what she was about to order.
"Yes, yes. I deserve this. Since you won't let me sleep, at least boost my serotonin."
When our new orders arrived a few minutes later, I stopped talking to the girls and devoted all my attention to the mouthwatering cake in front of me.
While listening to their conversation, I was also subtly observing Nil. From my first impression, she was a sweet, kind-hearted girl, even a little naive. Other than that, despite her social personality, she didn't seem to have a close circle of girlfriends. Yet judging by how easily and quickly she bonded with us, she didn't seem like someone who'd struggle to make friends.
Maybe it had something to do with spending time in a mostly male friend group. Honestly, I wasn't particularly invested in that part. What mattered to me was her personality. And so far, I hadn't seen anything that would stop us from becoming friends.
After eating the last bite of my chocolate cake, I leaned back in bliss.
"Feeling better?"
I confirmed Feyza's question with a satisfied grin. "Soft as cotton."
Soon after, Bora and Demir approached our table.
"Oooh, the red-haired angel is here too."
Great. As if the girls weren't enough, now these two were going to bother me too.
Right after Demir, Bora held out his hand to me and said, "High five, girl! My favorite redhead. I liked you the moment I saw you." Laughing, I slapped his hand.
While Demir sat down next to Aylin, Bora immediately sat beside Nil and wrapped his arms around her. After catching up with his girlfriend, he turned back to me.
"We got worried when you disappeared for days. Kerem vanished right after you too. He said, 'I'll come back once I ditch Chucky's bride.' And poof—gone."
Aylin was the first to question Bora's weird nickname. "Chucky's bride?"
While Nil giggled, Bora was grinning. "Burcu—Duru's contribution of negative energy to the universe."
And then something completely unexpected happened.
"What are you doing?" Aylin was glaring at Demir, and Demir looked just as confused as we were.
"What am I doing, exactly?"
"Don't you have a girlfriend? Why have you been flirting and winking at girls since morning?"
Oh no. Aylin's justice-warrior mode had been activated. If only we could get out of this before a fight broke out.
Demir furrowed his brows in equal irritation. "Why do you care, girl? What business is it of yours? Are you my girlfriend?"
That answer only fueled Aylin further. "Do I have to be your girlfriend to tell you you're doing something wrong? You don't stop acting all slimy with her even in front of everyone. At least don't cheat behind her back!"
Demir raised a brow and let out a sly laugh. "What is it, are you jealous?"
"Why on earth would I be jealous of you? If you were a decent man, you wouldn't flirt with other girls behind your girlfriend's back."
"Watch your mouth, unit circle. You're crossing the line."
It had become necessary for me to intervene.
"Aylin, honey! Can you come to the bathroom with me? It's urgent."
Aylin was just about to open her mouth and continue her dangerous outburst when she saw the desperate look on my face, let out an annoyed breath, and stood up.
When we hurried out of the café and entered the bathroom on the other side of the building, she pulled a spare pad out of her bag and handed it to me. She still looked pretty pissed off, so without reacting, I took what she was holding and went into a stall.
After waiting a bit, I stepped out of the stall. While I washed my hands and flashed her cute little smiles, I was also racking my brain over how I was going to fix things once we went back.
When we walked back into the café and approached the table, I saw I didn't have to worry and let out a relieved breath. While we were in the bathroom, there had been a small change in our group—Demir was gone and Rüzgar had taken his place.
As Aylin sat back in her seat, I instinctively took the seat next to her.
Of course, I was still keeping my distance from Rüzgar. Because he still looked at me like I was his next victim.
After Nil introduced him to Aylin and then turned to me, I gave him a small smile. I guessed it had been a little too small, because the girls were giving me strange looks.
"So, Feyza, who are you texting with so much excitement?"
At Nil's question, I automatically rolled my eyes. "Probably her new Mona Lisa."
It was only when everyone turned to look at me at the same time that I realized what I'd just blurted out.
When was I going to learn to keep my mouth shut?!
There was nothing to be done, so I gave a brief explanation. "Sapphire's boyfriends are usually covered in tattoos from head to toe, so they're not exactly far off from Picasso paintings. Naturally, with every new boyfriend, you can't help wondering, 'What was the artist trying to say in this piece?'"
While Feyza was shooting me a "you're dead this time" look, the others were laughing at my comment. Even Rüzgar had smiled.
Staring at him in shock, I nudged Nil, who was sitting on my other side. Without taking my eyes off Rüzgar, I cupped my hand over my mouth and whispered,
"Did he just smile at my joke?"
When Nil followed my gaze and understood what I meant, she giggled again.
"Don't let his cold look fool you. He's actually the sweetest one among them."
I immediately turned my eyes to her and frowned.
"Yeah, sure. And I'm a freaking mermaid."
"Give it some time. Once you get to know him, you'll see I'm right."