For a moment my eyes went to Rüzgar again, but I turned right back to Kerem and smiled tiredly.
"It's nothing, Hotshot. I think I'm just hungry. I can't focus."
He studied my face for a moment like he was checking whether I was telling the truth, then sighed.
"Fine. What do you want to eat?"
My smile turned into a happy grin.
"Chocolate cake."
"Chocolate cake isn't a meal, Duru. It's dessert."
"So?"
He shook his head like he'd lost hope. After flagging down a waiter and ordering, he turned back to the others, cleared his throat, and waited until everyone's attention returned to him.
"Now that the witness plan is settled, we can move on to the other issue. We made a copy of the file you took, Demir. You need to find a way to put the original back where it belongs, and soon."
"No problem, bro. Leave that to me," Demir said.
The second Demir's eyes shifted from Kerem to Aylin, Aylin shook her head in panic.
"No way. Not this time, Demir. I'm out."
"Abandoning your partner in crime doesn't suit you, Jigglypuff. Didn't you say you'd do anything for your friend?"
At Demir's teasing, she frowned and turned to me.
"You know how much I love you, Duru, right?"
When I laughed and nodded, she looked between Demir and me and continued.
"But I'd rather go to one of Mete's creepy parties than be alone in the same room as your dad again. Do you know how that man looks at you when he suspects something? I thought I was having a panic attack trying to get out of his office."
"You're breaking my heart, Teresa. What's wrong with my parties?" Mete asked with fake offense.
She narrowed her eyes and wagged her index finger at him like a threat.
"Let's not get into that, Mr. Mete. I'm sure Duru remembers what happened very well."
This time I actually shivered and nodded.
"Oh my God. Please don't remind me, Teresa."
While Mete and Sapphire giggled, Kerem, Rüzgar, and Demir looked at us with curiosity.
"Stop looking at me like that. I don't want to talk about it," I snapped.
Mete kept laughing and waved his hand to draw their attention.
"Let me tell it. So last year, because of Maviş pushing them, those two naïve idiots ended up at one of our private parties without even knowing where they were going. One of the girls there took a liking to Duru and, under the influence of alcohol, decided to express that interest physically rather than with words. Naturally, things got a little chaotic. Poor angel still hasn't gotten over the trauma from that night."
When everyone, including Rüzgar, started laughing, I threw my hands up in outrage.
"Is that funny? I hope the same thing happens to you and then we'll see. And you, Ice Prince, I expected support from you. Joining them is not cute."
Rüzgar lifted a brow at the nickname I'd directed at him and repeated it.
"Ice prince?"
Realizing my slip, I clapped my hands over my mouth in panic.
"Oh. I shouldn't have said that to you."
Instead of looking angry, he looked almost amused, and the others started laughing again. I pouted, leaned back, and dropped my head forward.
"I'm not talking. I'm done."
When Kerem put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him, I grumbled. He laughed and kissed near my hairline.
Then he leaned to my ear and tightened his hold.
"You know, Sunshine, every time you pout like that, I feel like sitting you on my lap and kissing you for minutes."
I nearly choked on my own saliva. I grabbed one of the waters on the table and took a few gulps. Then I turned to him, pushed his arm away, and glared at him. The crooked smile on his face annoyed me even more because of what his words were doing to me.
I was about to open my mouth and go off when the waiter set the cake in front of me. I shot Kerem one last look, then focused on my plate.
"Thank you."
"Enjoy."
"Anyway, come by tonight and I'll give you the file, Demir," Kerem said. "How you handle it is up to you."
When Demir nodded, Kerem continued.
"Then that's it for today. Does anyone have anything to add?"
When no one spoke, I swallowed the bite in my mouth and spoke without lifting my eyes from my plate, remembering a detail from earlier.
"You said you were going to talk to Mete too. You skipped that. You didn't bring him all the way here for nothing, I assume, Hotshot."
I was about to lift another bite to my mouth when I noticed how quiet it suddenly was. When I looked up, everyone was avoiding looking at me, visibly uncomfortable. My brows furrowed.
"What? Why are you all acting weird all of a sudden?"
Mete's sudden reaction made everyone turn to him in surprise.
"What the hell is he doing here?"
As I tried to understand what was happening, I saw the color drain from my friend's face. Then a body appeared right beside us, and a voice followed.
"Hey!"
The second I lifted my head, I froze. Staring at him with my mouth open, I barely registered that the fork slipped from my hand.
"Efe?"