73
Exams commenced in earnest and at first, Tahti thought she would have trouble shuffling reading and working on her new artwork but things have turned out to be easy, thanks to Demir and Henry, who had volunteered to help out despite their exams.
She haf noticed that Demir had turned sincere, during the period of working with her again. She initially avoided working late nights, alone with him as she had feared he would cross the line but by chance, they had ended up working nights together twice and nothing had happened so far.
Henry had also turned out to be a great helper too, although he was still shuffling school with part-time work, which wasn't easy. Yet, he made out time to help out by assisting and bringing them lunch whenever he couldn't make it.
She was just walking to the studio on Thursday afternoon after the day's paper was done, only to see Demir had begun scrubbing of her piece.
"You're here?" She asked as she walked in and he turned to throw her a smile.
"Hey."
"When did you arrive?" She asked, walking over to drop her bag.
"This morning." came his reply and she looked down at her wrist to check the time. It was a couple of minutes past one, which meant he had been there for close to about five hours.
"Thanks." She replied and the edges of his lips curved up in a faint smile, which she reciprocated, before walking over to fetch her apron for work.
Was she supposed to feel different about him, now that they were working together again? Or was the fact that he seemed more devoted to the artwork than anyone else supposed to convince her, that he was a new man?
She wasn't sure.
One thing she was sure of, however, was the fact that working together with him felt natural and comfortable, just like nothing had happened between them. It was also the same, during night works too. He had never offered to take or walk her home after every night work, like ge used to do and had clearly kept distance with her by only discussing about of work-related matters. "You guys are here, already?" Henry asked, from the entrance of the door, just when she was about to begin scrubbing.
"Seems like I'm late again." He added as he walked in.
"Did you think you were early?" Demir asked, as he walked over towards them to drop a lunch bag on the table, which sent Tahti's head, going up to look at him.
"Ta-da."
"What's this?" She asked.
"Lunch. I figured you'll be famished, after your paper and Demir doesn't like to eat lunch in the cafeteria anymore, so I packed you guys some lunch." He smiled. "Thanks." came Demir's response, not tearing his eyes to look as him.
"Thanks."
"I'll set up the table, then." He said, reaching for the bag as Demir slipped off his apron.
"Aren't you going to join us?" He asked, when she continued scrubbing, making no attempt to take off her apron.
"You guys should eat it first. I'll have mine, later." She replied.
"We should have lunch together, first. I'm sure you're in need of some strength, in order to scrub off the residue." "Yeah. It won't be fun to eat without you." Henry added, and she slowly turned back to look at him.
It had been a while, since they'd argued about something and she didn't want to raise one out-of-the-blue, so she decided to close shop and shut it. "Alright." She replied reefing off her apron, before working towards them to join them.
Her stomach jumped in excitement when Henry uncovered the dishes, after they'd settled down, to reveal plates of fried potatoes with shrimped fried eggs, a delicacy she hadn't had in a long while and she felt thankful, to have an assistant, who worked as a part-time chef.
"It's been a while I had shrimped potatoes with eggs." Demir said.
"Me too."
"Really?" Hus brows slightly drew slightly together as he asked. "Then, you should try them, then. I begged my boss to let me make this for you, guys."
"Thanks, Henry." They replied.
The duo fell into silence as they ate, and Tahti's eyes widened in delight, on tasting the meal.
"How's it?" He asked, eagerly waiting for a response.
"Delicious." She replied, lowering her head ro resume her meal, when Demir dropped some slices of sheimped potatoes on her plate.
"You should eat some more. You look like you're losing weight." He said, avoiding her eyes as he raised his can to his lips for a sip, which made her reflect back to the nights, they'd been together.
He had ordered sushi one night and had have her taste it first, saying his mouth flet numb, whenever he had it, alone. She had just taken a spoonful and was about to comment on how good it tasted, when he had stolen a kiss from her.
She'd remembered blinking hard and he had threw her a naughty smile.
"Now, I'm sure it'll taste better." He had told her.
A smile crossed her lips and she remembered that but it soon faded as she resumed eating, recalling the fact that their relationship could never go back to the way it used to be, any more.
