6. THE DEAL

I watched him as he slowly curled his fingers into a fist. He definitely has the kind of hand I would admire- calloused, rough, and I saw vein pop out when he did that. He pushed himself back, standing straight. Till then, I didn't realize that he was so close to me.

I got up, mustering all the energy I could.

He typed the pin on the keypad to unlock the door. I couldn't see it because his body blocked the view. For a man who just came from work, he looked so fresh. And his scent is entirely something else. I hate to admit that he somehow smells good- rich and evocative.

He walked before me into the house while I followed him, kicking the floor. At one point, I crashed into something hard- his chest. I didn't know when he turned around to face me. As soon as my head came into contact with his chest, and the gap between us closed, I gasped and stepped back, which was odd. The sudden touches make me wince violently- A fruit from the past- fear. I am repulsive to the touch of strangers, but, oddly, I am not afraid of him as much as I was yesterday. Maybe he didn't attack me yet. But he can, he's still a man.

He is looking at me suspiciously, observing every reaction my body is giving to our proximity. For the first time, I am afraid that someone could read my mind and see the fears and vulnerabilities I hide. His eyes landed on the heavy rise and fall of my chest. So I had to quickly take his attention back before he finds my weakness.

"You startled me," I said, placing my hands on my chest. "Why would you turn around so suddenly?"

"2 5 1 4 2." He replied and started walking again.

"What's that?"

That's the password!

I groaned in frustration, "2 5 1 ...what comes next?"

He answered with his fingers for the next two numbers. Four fingers for 4 and two fingers for 2.

I freshened up and wore Ridge's loose t-shirt which falls over my mid-thighs. My clothes were a mess because of the packing and unpacking, and I couldn't pack more dresses in my backpack.

He freshened up when I walked out. We faced each other, ready for the terms and conditions before the bell rang. Bash went to attend the door.

Bash is talking to whoever is present on the other side of the door, "No, I don't know there's anyone called MR. kız here, no.." Then he paused.

He looked at me and looked back at the person outside the door, "I think I know who MR. kız is." He says and walked back with pizza in his hand.

It was really hard for me to control my groan.

Ridge. Only he keeps names like this, and the worst thing is Bash understood that.

"Mr. kız," Bash called to hand me the pizza.

I think Ridge needs another cockblock.

"Let's discuss terms," He said before I even had a chance to look at the only good thing that happened in my life right now- my pizza.

"Let me eat. I am starving."

"Not my problem, and I don't have time to sit until you eat." He said, folding his hands across his chest. In these pajamas, he doesn't look like a boss of a company. He looked normal, young, and still, his aura hasn't changed. It is screaming his authority and arrogance.

"You don't really have to sit, you know. You can stand." I said and opened the box.

I heard him sigh. He walked toward me and sat in front of me at the dining table.

"Are you really a doctor. Is that true that you are doing MS in pediatrics?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I am certain you look like a high schooler." Was his immediate answer.

His eyes feature a heavy brow bone with a deep-set crease that when he opens those hooded eyes, the eyelid isn't generally visible and retracts into the crease. How can someone's eyes be beautiful ad scary?

"Do you really have those eyes? I am certain you use the contact lens."

He got up, his hands gripped the base of the table, and he bent his body towards me. Once again, he is so close that I am afraid of what could happen. But when I look into his eyes, I was no more afraid.

"Do they look like a contact lens to you?" He asks slowly. I could feel his breath on my nose.

"Huh?"

"My eyes."

Without my knowledge, my hand acted at its own commands. My fingers reached his bluish-grey pupil. They are like another world. Looking at them this close makes me admire them more. I touched his eyes with my finger, and he immediately pulled back.

"Fuck," He cursed. The word was unusually calm.

Then I realized. I was eating pizza. I prefer it very spicy. I am right-handed. So it's common to touch with the same hand we eat. And it is also common to feel irritation, and pain in the eyes.

But I don't understand his reaction. He is calm, and with the same calmness, he walks to the sink to wash his eyes. He even cursed calmly. Like it is an old pain. Bells rang in my head, reminding me that I am a doctor.

So I walked to the sink and held his hand, preventing him from rubbing the already poor one.

"I can do this myself." He said.

"I can do better," I told him. "Don't rub it," I ordered. I took a handful of cold water and washed his eye gently against his protests. Guess what? His eyes are as real as the color of the ocean.

"It was nothing. No big deal." He says

I continue to wash it and asked him to blink to let the tears flow.

"Why do doctors exaggerate everything?" He muttered while obeying my command.

"Now you trust me that I am a doctor?"

"Is that why you did that? To prove yourself a doctor?"

"Trust me, I could have stabbed you and stitched back if I want to prove myself," I told him and resumed my previous action- eating.

Once again, he sat before me impatiently as if he had a plane to catch.

"Here's the thing. Both of us don't want this marriage."

"Disaster," I corrected him.

He released an exasperated breath.

"Whatever, We will be out of this in another six months. Till then, you will live here."

"No," I shouted.

"Yes."

"Why would I do that? I don't even want to look at your face."

He looked taken aback at my words for a second. Quickly, his cold demeanor took its position back. "You think I want to?" He asked raising his eyebrow.

"You are not to take lovers," He continued.

"Lovers?" I questioned him.

"Yes. If you think that I don't know about your boyfriend, you are false. I know that you kissed him before our marriage."

"Disaster," I corrected him again. "How?"

"Walls have ears and eyes too. You have no idea how much money I spent to shut those ears and eyes."

Someone saw us kissing. They went to him to blackmail, and he somehow buried the news. Ridge is not my lover, I want to say. I never had any lovers and never will. But I don't owe any explanation to him.

"You married me after knowing that I have a lover? Are you that desperate to get what my father has for you?" I asked him.

He scoffed, looking away. "And you married me when you had a lover."

"I have sent you a hundred messages to stop this disaster. I waited for hours outside your office to talk to you, to beg you to make this stop. And you not even once spared a second for me. And here you are talking about my lovers and my choices as if you are a saint." I didn't realize I stood up to shout at him. He is still calm.

"You texted me?" He asks.

"I called you too," I replied.

He shoved his phone onto the table, "Call." He demanded.

I hesitantly took out my phone and dialed the number Violet gave me. It was ringing, but his phone didn't. It remained as cold and silent as him on the table. He was looking at me demandingly as if I owe him an explanation.

"I might have gotten the number wrong. But I got your office right. You refused to see him."

"I didn't even know that you came,"

"Wouldn't you have done things differently if you know?" I questioned him.

His jaw tightened at that, and he remained silent. So, the answer is no. If I had met him before the marriage and told him that I don't want this, he still would have ended up marrying me.

Selfish bastard.

I laughed at my own situation. He looked at me, perplexed.

"I don't know if I want to look at your face right now. But if we are done now, there will be no reason for us to meet again. State your terms."

"One- I want you to stay here to avoid useless speculations about our divorce from the media. I have no time to deal with them.

Two- I don't want you to do whatever you do with your boyfriend publicly. I can't put my reputation at stake, and I don't have time.

Three- While you were here, upstairs are prohibited for you to enter. That's it."

"If I disagreed, what will happen?"

"Divorce will be delayed." He answered quietly.

"If I agree and later if you don't give me a divorce?"

"We will make a contract. You don't have to worry about that. There are so many things you think I am. Lemme add another one to that list. I am a man of my word. State your terms."

He spoke in such a way that it's hard not to believe him when he says that he is a man who keeps his word.

"You will not touch me when I am here. You won't harm me in any way- physically, mentally, or emotionally."

Suddenly his expression became serious. The hand he rested on the table clenched into a tight fist. "I will never harm you, Jela."

Something in the way he said that was different. His voice was hoarse, and he talked like he meant it. The sound of my name from his mouth gave me goosebumps. His voice is familiar.

"I don't know you," I said. "You won't force me to attend any kind of meetings, balls, or parties with you. And we will live like strangers under the same roof. You will have nothing to do with me, and I will have nothing to do with you."

"Okay," He agreed without any other protest.

"If you fail to live under these terms for another six months, you will lead your life wherever I chose for the next two years."

"What?" He asked, confused.

"If I don't obey your terms, you said our divorce will be delayed. If you don't obey my terms, you live two years of your life in the place I chose."

He rolled his eyes, crossing his hands across his chest. "You can demand something else, you know. Maybe .."

"Money?" I cut him off before he has the chance to complete his sentence.

"You look like you can earn it easily. And I guess you have lots of money, wealth, and assets. If there's one thing I know that is so precious for you, it is time. You don't waste your time at all. If you break the rules, I'll let you sweep the Sahara desert. You will put this in writing."

He exhaled. "I don't know if you are smart or a fool." He said.

"Then we have a deal."

"Deal." He agreed