Damn it. I regretted not getting my license more every day. I glanced hopelessly at my watch. At three in the morning, trying to find a taxi or bus on foot in this area was asking for trouble.
So, defeated, I walked inside and shut the door.
I walked through the hall and peeked into the living room on my right. The furniture in the large living room was simple but looked very high-quality and comfortable. Other than that, there was no obvious sign that anyone else lived in the house. Maybe his family was on vacation or a business trip.
Leaving the living room and following the sounds I heard, I reached the kitchen a few steps further in. Like the living room, it was furnished with simple and practical pieces. While I was curiously examining his place, Kerem was sitting at the dining table, busy biting into an apple.
Seeing him made me realize I hadn't eaten anything since the cake I'd had at noon. Apparently, my stomach wasn't hurting just from stress.
"Don't you have anything more proper to eat?"
"I don't shop much. Whatever the woman who handles the house buys is what's there. Help yourself."
He gestured toward the cupboards, and without hesitation I started with the fridge, then rummaged through every cabinet, piling whatever I found onto the counter. There wasn't much, but it was enough to make a decent meal. It just required a bit of effort to prepare.
"Make yourself at home. I'm going to take a shower."
Once he left the kitchen, I took off my jacket and hung it on the back of a chair. It gave me a chance to look around more carefully, though there wasn't much to study. From what I could see, the kitchen was no different from the living room. Aside from basic everyday items, there wasn't a single personal object or keepsake in sight.
It felt less like someone's permanent home and more like a villa rented short-term. Which eliminated the possibility of a family he lived with just being away on vacation or a trip. It was pretty much guaranteed he lived here alone.
Still, wasn't this a bit too much even for someone living away from their family? The more I thought about it, the more certain I became that my first impressions of him were right. There was something off about this guy—and about his life.
The next moment, I reminded myself that neither he nor his life really concerned me.
Before getting to work, I turned on the TV mounted on the wall across from the six-person dining table. Then, without bothering with TV channels, I switched to the radio option and found my favorite station. Thanks to the music and keeping my hands busy with food, my nerves had calmed down a lot compared to when I'd first walked in.
When I finished, I took off the apron and hung it back. As the commercials ended and a new song started, I smiled and began to sing along. When the song ended a little later, I sighed with the bittersweet feeling of waking up from a favorite dream and pushed myself off the counter I'd been leaning on.
As I moved toward the cabinets at the other end of the counter to grab some plates, Kerem walked back into the kitchen. And just like that, I had to say goodbye to the calm mood the music had given me.
With my expression falling, I quietly took a couple of plates and sat down on one of the chairs. Every time I looked at him, that annoying scene in the shabby music hall replayed in my head. Even if I believed him when he said he hadn't gone there with bad intentions, I still couldn't shake the discomfort of walking in on that sight.
While I was filling my plate with food, he was rummaging through the cupboards. When he came to the table with a freshly opened bottle of wine, he answered my questioning look with a brief explanation.
"We should celebrate you getting through your first mission in one piece."
He poured the wine and sat down across from me, while I was still trying to figure out what exactly he meant. I took a small sip and set my glass back down, giving voice to my curiosity.
"What do you mean, 'first mission'?"
"You didn't think this was a one-time thing, did you?"
"How am I supposed to know what to think when you never explain anything, Kerem? I don't even fully understand what tonight was about. At first I thought you were just trying to teach me some stupid lesson because of what I said last time, but now I'm not so sure."
He kept eating calmly as he answered.
"A lesson, huh? I'm honestly sorry I made you think that. I came to you because I needed someone exactly like you—brave and smart—to help me find what I'm looking for. Isn't this what you were looking for too? To step out of your ordinary house and your ordinary life and dive into something more exciting."
He said those last words while looking straight into my eyes, and there was something unsettling in both his tone and his gaze. I watched him for a while before speaking again.
I still didn't know exactly why, but I no longer doubted that what I'd said that day had gotten under his skin. I mentally bookmarked the topic to bring up with him later and decided to ignore his little jab, focusing on the real issue.
"So are you actually going to share what exactly you're looking for with this supposedly perfect support you need?"
He raised his eyebrows with a laugh.
"Perfect, huh?"
When he saw I wasn't reacting to the teasing and was just waiting, he answered while continuing to eat.
"We're looking for someone. A man who has information that's important to me. That's all you need to know for now."
I sighed wearily, pushed my plate aside, and leaned my arms on the table.
"Let's say I accept that explanation, even though it's vague and weird. What I don't get is why you're dragging me into this when you have giant male friends you could use instead."
He set his fork down and leaned back, studying me carefully.
"Because none of them know about this. I need to be sure about a few things before I tell them."
For some reason, it was the first time in this entire conversation that I didn't doubt he was telling the truth.
"This is not something they'd handle as calmly as you do. Especially Rüzgar."
Just before he lifted his glass and drank almost all of it, I caught the strange look in his eyes. His usual relaxed, cocky demeanor had given way to something more somber.
"Why especially Rüzgar?"
When he turned his eyes back to me, he let out a deep sigh.
"That's all I can share for now."
Right after saying that, the mischievous glint in his eyes returned.
"What's wrong, sunshine? Having second thoughts about that exciting life you wanted, and this is only the first night?"
I rolled my eyes and shoveled the food on my fork into my mouth, grumbling a reply.
"You really need to drop this mysterious-man act, hotshot."
After swallowing, I took a sip of my drink and went on.
"And this is what you call adventure? If so, I can promise our idea of excitement does not match."
Thinking about my legendary acting performance earlier, I added with a laugh:
"Though I'll admit, the music hall part was kind of fun."
While I was grinning at my own words, he lifted an eyebrow and looked at me suspiciously.
"I'm hoping the fun part didn't include that hulk."
"Are you still stuck on that? He was just trying to help. I don't get why you're so hung up on him."
I stood up, gathered the empty plates, and carried them to the counter. As I tied the apron back on, he was mumbling something under his breath. When I picked up the sponge, he jumped in.
"You don't have to do the dishes. I have someone who handles that."
"I prefer cleaning up my own mess."
As I started washing the plates, he came to stand beside me. He leaned back against the cupboard and watched quietly, but he looked more lost in thought than interested in what I was doing.
When I finished, I took off the apron and hung it up again.
"Right. Now I can finally sleep."
As I loosened my hair to tie it up again, the smell hit me and I grimaced.
"Ugh, disgusting. I smell like an ashtray fell into a fryer."
"Come on."
He laughed at my disgusted comment and walked out of the kitchen, and I followed him.
We went upstairs into a large bedroom, and he pointed at a slightly open door on the other side.
"You can use that bathroom to wash up. I'll find you something to wear."
As soon as he stepped out, I jumped into the shower and dumped the shampoo on my hair without even checking what it was. In just a few seconds, going from bar-trash smell to attractive-man scent felt weird in theory but very, very satisfying in practice.
When I cracked the door open and saw that Kerem wasn't in the room, I quickly grabbed the clothes he'd left at the foot of the bed and went back into the bathroom. Once I slipped into the loose sweatpants and T-shirt similar to what he wore, I felt much better than before.
When I stepped out of the bathroom and back into the room, he was sitting on the bed, fiddling with his phone. He lifted his gaze from the screen to me, amusement flickering across his face.
"You're shorter than you look."
I loosened the towel wrapped around my hair and pouted at his comment.
"I'm not short. I have a cute height."
"I don't think I can argue with that. Especially in those clothes."
His sweet smile and casual compliment caught me off guard. How was it possible for such simple words to make my insides flutter like this?
With the atmosphere suddenly shifting, I looked away and shifted uneasily.
"Right. So, where am I sleeping?"
"Here."
That answer surprised me a little. From the look of it, this was clearly his bedroom. Considering he lived alone in a house with more than one room, giving me his own bedroom was a bit strange.
"What about you?"
He misread the hesitation in my voice and got to his feet.
"Downstairs, on the couch. You can lock the door if it makes you feel better."
"You stay in your room, I'll sleep downstairs. Unlike you, my cute height doesn't cause any problems on couches."
I grabbed one of the pillows and the folded blanket at the foot of the bed, but he stepped in front of me with a weary murmur.
"You are honestly the most stubborn woman I've ever met."
He took the things from my hands and added firmly:
"You're sleeping here, I'm sleeping downstairs. End of discussion."
I smiled, recognizing he was quoting what I'd told him the night he stayed at my place, and nodded in surrender.
"Good night, hotshot."
"Good night, sunshine."
Once I was alone, I turned off the light and slipped into bed. It was usually hard for me to sleep in unfamiliar places, but within two minutes of my head touching the pillow, everything started to blur.