68

Tathi tried hard, not to wear her heart on her face as she trod into the studio, the following morning. She'd been unable to sleep a wink, the previous night and had spent the entire night, crying out heartbreak. All of this hadn't happened, because of the harsh things Demir had told her but because of how stupid she had been, to have been seduced by his warm eyes and the way he'd always made her tremble, whenever he called her name which only made her regrets deeper.

"Tahti." Her head whipped around to see Henry, sloping down the stairs, looking far from his usual bright and cheerful side.

"Hey." She replied, her voice almost coming out in a whisper.

"You look a little down. Did you spend the night crying?" Henry asked, raising his head hand to massage his shoulder blades and Thati froze, as his question has certainly caught her off-guard.

"No. I didn't..." She lied, her voice trailing off as she thought of what to say.

"Did you have noodles for dinner, then?" He asked and she turned to him.

"Huh?"

"I heard eating noodles for dinner makes one's face look all puffy, the next morning."

"Yeah." She replied point blankly, as they walked into the studio and Henry groaned miserably.

"God. I shouldn't have gone drinking."

She smiled. "You went drinking last night?"

"Yeah, with Demir." came his reply and the smile on her face froze, on hearing the name of the person she had been thinking about all night. "I almost died trying to keep up with such a good drinker as him." He sighed, raking his fingers through his hair as they walked towards her table.

Tahti's mind shifted back to the argument of the previous night and her demand of never wanting to see him again. She has realised too late, how unhealthy it was for her to have him around and it would only get worse if she still kept him around even as her assistant, as she knew he would invelsedge his way back to her, just like he had done in Santa Barbara.

"Henry." She called, after deliberating on the outcome of her decision, just as he made to sit and he turned to look at her.

"Yeah?"

"You don't need to help me with my piece anymore." "What?" He asked, searching her face for signs of unseriousness, but when he couldn't find one, he turned back to look at the piece, which was barely in it's state of completion, before he turned back to her.

"You're suddenly deciding that? Why?"

"Well..." She drawled, casting a quick glance at her piece. "I can handle it from here on. Exams around the corner too, so I wouldn't want to trouble you guys."

The disappointed look on his face showed that he didn't augur well with the news.

"I see."

"And... can you tell Demir about it too?" She asked, knowing she didn't have the boldness to face him after the confrontation of the previous night.

"Sure." He replied, strapping up his bag.

"Thanks." She smiled which he returned faintly, before he turned to head out of the studio, with his shoulders slumped.

Her eyes returned back to the piece and she sighed. So, it's just me and you now, she thought silently as she walked over to sit on her stool. Demir's help had made her piece look outstanding so far but she couldn't accept his help forever, and she had no choice than to rely on our own abilities to make it the piece a success.

She was just lowering her head to see Demir walking into the studio and a sudden rush of emotions, especially from the previous night's flooded through her, the moment they locked eyes.

Recalling the previous night's incident seemed to have done the trick of snapping her back to reality and she sprang from where she had been seated, walking past him to head out from the studio when he reached out to take her wrist.

Was he being serious? How dare he hold her, after being such a jerk to her? She wondered as she yanked her arm free, almost immediately and turning to cast a dirty glare at him before she stormed out of the studio.