Ordinary Lives: Deniz

4

Although Deniz had spent the last few days in a state of intense depression and mixed emotions, when he arrived at Sofia airport, he felt a little more relaxed with the indescribable excitement of taking a step towards his new future. After he left the airport, he looked around in surprise for a while, still unable to believe that he had made such a decision. However, he hesitated because he could not see Katherina in the reception area. Normally, she should have been inside as they had agreed, but Katherina was not around. While Deniz was worried that she might have given up, he heard someone calling his name in a very soft voice. When he turned around, he saw Katherina standing in all her glory under the sunlight with her red dress, big brown eyes, wheat skin and long wavy brown hair. Katherina was a much more beautiful girl than in the photos and Deniz could not help but feel sorry for her misfortune..

Seeing Deniz looking at her with surprise and hesitation, Katherina took a few steps closer, shook Deniz's hand and kissed him on the cheek. This approach must have eased Deniz's tension because Deniz smiled broadly in return. Deniz was a man who did not like to waste time and was a very good planner, so before setting out on this journey, he had organized his two-month long journey from top to bottom, including the hotel where he would stay.

His hotel was only fifteen minutes away from the airport, but he still wanted to call a taxi and save Katherina the trouble of walking in her high heels. Seeing that Deniz was a thoughtful man, Katherina showed that she was more pleased by taking Deniz's arm. Wanting such trust and closeness to be established between them, Deniz did not resist this rapidly developing closeness. When they arrived at the hotel, Katherina must have thought that she would go up to his room with him, so she headed towards the elevator, but Deniz stopped her and told her to wait in the lobby. Katherina was not prepared for this, she was very sure that Deniz would expect a se*ual approach from her, so she spent a long time getting ready and was even late for their meeting. Understanding Katherina's concerns, Deniz said sincerely and clearly, "I do not expect anything from you in this direction, I am sincere, so please do not misunderstand," and then went to his room to get ready...

After Deniz opened his suitcases and changed his clothes, he quickly went down to the lobby so as not to keep Katherina waiting any longer. Katherina was sitting by the window, sipping her latte. It was obvious that Katherina was extremely distracted and anxious, and Deniz wanted to resolve this misunderstanding as soon as possible. He put a big smile on his face, sat down in the chair across from Katherina, and began to speak, choosing his words carefully: "Katherina, you are a very beautiful woman, I am certainly impressed by you. However, my desire to marry you is not based on any distorted thinking. I am aware of your concerns, but I will not engage in any inappropriate intimacy with you. So please relax and do not think that I will expect anything in return."

Seeing the surprised look on Katherina's face, Deniz continued to clarify his words a little more: "Try to think of me as a friend, a family member. This way, the years we will spend together will be much more enjoyable. I want you to live in peace and happiness after the divorce, not in sadness and anxiety."

Katherina, who understood better what Deniz meant, nodded in approval: ''As far as I understand, I will gain a lot from this marriage, both materially and spiritually. Deniz, you are a very good man, but no one can be that good, so please tell me clearly what you want from me, the terms of the marriage and why only I will gain. I do not want anything that can be considered a secret between us. Please remember that if there is no trust, there will be no agreement.''

Deniz was for some reason very happy that Katherina was as smart and careful as she was beautiful. He took a deep breath and continued without being able to hold back the smile on his face: ''My only expectation and gain from this marriage will be the child we will have together, but there will be no se*ual intimacy in our marriage, so we need to have a child through artificial insemination. Our marriage will last a total of five years, and as part of the divorce, I will buy a house with a title deed in your name in the area you want. When our baby is born, fifty thousand dollars will be transferred to your bank account. I will provide financial and moral support for the child for life. You will not lack anything, and I want to continue our cooperation with you as family and friends. Of course, if you want.''

"As I said, Deniz, you must be honest enough. Why can't we have se*ual intimacy and why does it have to be artificial insemination? And how can you make so many financial promises? If you have so much material wealth, there must be dozens of women in your own country who would open their arms to you, why me?"

Deniz smiled again, his problem wasn’t money. In addition to the regular income he received from his family and the olive grove every year, he also had a small fortune that he had made by making various investments in the stock market. He was saving this fortune, which no one knew about, with the intention of one day escaping abroad and disappearing, but he was too cowardly a man to put this plan into action. At least he could spend this money in a way that would bring peace to his family.

"Unfortunately, I am an impotent man. I am not sure that I can find a woman in my country who will accept these terms and continue her life with me. The medical field has advanced a lot and my impotence is purely psychological, so I am sure that we can have a child through artificial insemination. Also, if your mother wants to start a new life but feels helpless, I would like to give her ten thousand dollars as a gift after signing the contract for your sake. From what you said, I know that she is already a working woman and that with this financial support she can easily start a new life. I promise to provide her with a lawyer if she wants a divorce. What do you think Katherina, what is your decision?"

After Deniz's explanations, Katherina's face contorted with sadness, but with the excitement of what she heard, she reached out to Deniz's hand and grasped it tightly with both hands: "Would you really do these things? Would you save us?"

"Yes, no matter what, I am a man of my word. I have already arranged for a lawyer to explain the contract to you in detail, he is waiting for us in an hour. If you want, make your decision and let's get started."

********

As soon as they left the lawyer's office, Deniz asked for Katherina's mother's account number and, as promised, deposited the money into her account. Katherina immediately called her mother and explained everything in detail, reassuring her and warning her to keep all this a secret from her father. When Deniz saw Katherina's smiling face, he finally felt useful in life and felt like a new man with the peace of mind that came from being able to help someone. This was not a charity matter, Deniz had felt helpless all his life and still did, so being able to help someone in need made him feel like he was helping himself.

Although Deniz was a helpful, well-intentioned, respectful man, he had never been able to express himself properly in his life, could not express his feelings and thoughts with peace of mind, had no self-love for himself, was a coward, and he was very aware of this. Finally, for the first time, he felt that something inside him could really change.

His peaceful thoughts were interrupted by Katherina's worried voice: ''Yes Deniz, we have solved the protocol part of the issue but something much more difficult awaits us. We need to meet my father tonight and announce our intention to get married. He will not approve of us because only my mother and I work and bring money home. My elder brother left home a few years ago because he won a scholarship to study in America during his university years, so it is only my mother and I. Although my brother has been sending us money regularly for the last two years, my father does not know about this and therefore will not want to send me away. As you know, he is a man fond of gambling and drinking. He will expect money from you.''

Deniz was already prepared for something like this, he had plenty of money in his bank account. Still, he didn't want to give money to a man who saw his own daughter and wife as his source of income, but it seemed like he had no other choice. "Don't worry Katherina, we'll manage somehow. You must be hungry, come on, let's have dinner somewhere and then go to your house. I want to get you out of that house as soon as possible, we'll find you a room at the hotel, what do you say?"

For the first time in her life, Katherina felt safe and grateful to someone, and smiled sincerely: "No, if you don't mind, I'd like to share a room with you. It'll be a good opportunity for us to get to know each other."

Deniz just nodded in agreement. After overcoming the first difficulties of their new life, Deniz knew that he had to introduce Katherina to his family, so he had to teach her the necessary methods right away...