strange request
1567 Words
Aya stood frozen in the doorway.
Her grip tightened around the paper bag, crinkling it slightly. She blinked once. Twice. As if maybe—just maybe—she was hallucinating.
But no.
That brooding man at the table, with his expensive coat and complicated eyes, was definitely Demir.
The same man who once locked her away.
The same man who haunted her dreams—and not the romantic kind.
Her pulse raced. A thousand thoughts hit her like bricks.
“Is he here to take me back?”
“Did I miss something? Did Judy rat me out?”
“...Oh God. It’s the kidney, isn’t it?”
“He wants my kidney. Or my liver. Or maybe both. This is the mafia, after all.”
She took a slow step back, inching toward the door.
Judy noticed.
“Aya, don’t,” Judy said under her breath. “It’s not what you think.”
Aya didn’t answer. Her eyes were still glued to Demir, who had stood up now. Tall. Calm. Intense.
Too intense.
“Aya,” he said.
Her breath hitched.
She considered throwing the paper bag at his head and running.
But it was too late.
He was already walking toward her.
And then, the real disaster happened.
In front of everyone—in front of Judy, the barista, two old women sipping tea in the corner—
Demir looked Aya dead in the eyes and said:
“Marry me.”
Aya’s jaw dropped. Judy choked on her coffee and slammed the cup down.
“WHAT?!”
Aya stepped back, bumping into the doorframe, bag nearly slipping from her fingers.
“Are you—ARE YOU INSANE?” she blurted.
Demir didn't flinch. His voice was maddeningly calm.
“Possibly.”
“You kidn*pped me!” she snapped.
“No! I mean—yes? But—”
“DE-MIR,” Judy hissed, holding her forehead like a migraine was coming.
“This is romantic in your head? You think this is normal?”
Demir turned to Judy, exhaling like this was going worse than expected.
“I’m not good at... this.”
“Clearly,” Judy muttered.
Aya blinked again, her voice low but shaking:
“You think I’ll marry the man who once threatened to harvest my organs?”
He hesitated.
“I was never serious about that.”
“You brought anesthetic.”
“It was symbolic!”
“SYMBOLIC ANESTHESIA?!”
Judy burst into laughter. She couldn’t help it.
Aya, still stunned, finally muttered, “I came here to return a bag of bread, not get proposed to.”
Demir rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
“I’m not asking you to say yes right now. Just... think about it.”
Aya narrowed her eyes.
“You mean think about what part? The trauma, the psychosis, or the kidney theft?”
Demir gave a crooked smile. “I prefer to focus on the growth.”
Aya looked to Judy.
“Help me.”
Judy shook her head, grinning.
“Girl, I told you not to come in.”
The world didn’t spin — it cracked.
Aya’s legs felt rooted to the floor, as if even her own body refused to move without permission from her heart. Her chest rose and fell, heavy and sharp, like she had forgotten how to breathe.
“No,” she said at last.
Her voice was soft… but it cut like broken glass.
Demir flinched. Just barely. But Judy saw it.
“No to what?” he asked, knowing the answer.
Aya raised her chin, lips trembling, but her eyes… oh, her eyes burned.
“No to you. No to this. No to whatever sick version of love you think this is.”
Judy stepped beside her, arms crossed, nodding in fierce solidarity.
“And double no for me too,” she snapped. “Even if you had a crown and an entire country. I’d rather marry a lizard.”
Demir’s expression darkened. The tension around him shifted — not loud, not violent, just… silent and coiled. Like a calm sea before a hurricane.
“You’re making a mistake,” he said to Aya, voice dropping low.
Too low.
Aya clenched her fists. “The only mistake was ever meeting you.”
“Careful,” he muttered.
“Or what?” Judy spat. “You’ll cry into your designer suit? Maybe your therapist can help you—oh wait, mafia men don’t do therapy.”
“Enough.”
Demir's tone was like ice cracking. He looked at both of them—but his eyes stopped on Aya. And the air grew still.
Too still.
He took a single step forward.
Just one.
And when he spoke, it wasn’t a threat—it was a warning wrapped in velvet and poison.
“Don’t force me…”
His voice was soft now. Dangerous.
“Don’t force me to threaten you, Aya.”
The name slid off his tongue.
Aya's breath caught.
“Because if I do, I won’t be able to stop.”
Her heart pounded against her ribs, but she didn’t back down.
“You can imprison bodies, Demir,” she whispered, “but not love. Not mine.”
Demir’s jaw clenched. Behind his fury, something shattered. Maybe pride. Maybe longing.
Judy stepped in front of Aya again like a lioness.
“Touch her and I swear, they’ll never find your body.”
He looked at Judy.
“And if I wanted to be a monster again, you’d both already be in the back of my car.”
A long silence.
Even the café was quiet.
Aya didn’t blink.
“You already are a monster.”
And that? That hit deeper than any knife.
Demir looked down for a moment. When he looked back up, the fire in his eyes was dimmer.
But colder.
He straightened his coat. And said nothing.
He walked to the door.
Paused.
“This was the last time I’ll ask nicely.”
And with that, he left — the door swinging shut behind him like a final warning.
............
As the resturent door shut behind Demir, the air felt frozen.(It was a restaurant and coffee shop anyway.)
Aya didn’t move. Didn’t blink. She stood there like a statue—bag still in her hand, heart thudding in her chest like it wanted to escape more than she did.
Slowly, she turned to Judy.
Her voice was soft, disbelieving.
“Did… did Demir just ask me to marry him?”
Judy’s mouth twitched, caught between laughter and horror. “Uh… yeah. In front of me. At work. Like we’re in some kind of twisted mafia romcom.”
Aya’s face scrunched in confusion. “What is wrong with him?!”
She placed her bag down slowly like it had suddenly turned into a bomb.
“He just threatened me. Right after proposing. That’s not romance. That’s a crime.”
She ran a hand over her hijab, pacing in a tight circle.
“Oh God. I haven’t even seen his face in months! What happened to him? Did he hit his head? Drink poison? Fall in love with his own reflection?”
Judy flopped back into her chair, arms crossed. “He’s Demir. That is poison.”
Aya’s steps slowed. Her voice turned quiet. Worried.
“What should I do now, Judy?”
She looked at her like a lost child.
“I don’t want to end up like Lara. She was kind, you know? She smiled with her eyes. And now look at her…”
“Do you think he’ll break me too?”
Her voice cracked.
“Lock me up like Serkan did to her? Call it love while building the walls around me?”
Judy stood quickly and walked to her, gripping her shoulders.
“He won’t. Because you’re not Lara. You’ll bite the bars off before you ever let him trap you.”
Aya stared at her, still shaking.
Then suddenly, her eyes lit up.
A terrible idea.
A beautiful, terrible idea.
“I have to run away.”
Judy blinked. “You what?”
“No seriously. Like, gone. Vanished. Off the grid. I’ll change my name. Cut my hair. Live in a hut. Sell oranges by the sea—”
But Judy burst out laughing.
Loud and unfiltered.
Aya narrowed her eyes. “Why are you laughing?! I’m being serious!”
“Because you’re dramatic and I love it,” Judy said, wiping a tear.
“You’re not going anywhere. You think if you vanish, Demir won’t tear the entire city apart looking for you? Girl, please. Istanbul would be ashes in a week.”
Aya groaned and dropped her head onto Judy’s shoulder.
“Then what do I do?”
Judy smirked.
“We play smarter.”
Aya looked up. “…We?”
Judy’s eyes gleamed.
“You think I’d let you face a Turkish mafia boss alone? Pfft. Ride or die, remember?”
Aya smiled faintly. “I still want to run away.”
“Let’s plan that escape after dinner.”
Aya sighed.
“Fine. But if I disappear one night, just know it wasn’t aliens. It was heartbreak in a leather jacket.”
They both laughed — but in the back of Aya’s mind, the question lingered like a shadow:
How do you escape someone who’s willing to destroy the world just to find you?
- Writer
