The phone rang and I picked the receiver. Hikmet Bey’s voice carried the sunlight of Antalya and the beaches of Alanya into my cage. He sounded cheerful and after expressing his sympathy for my miserable situation, he asked my husband and my children. Then our conversation turned to buying new fabric from his factory and dealing with the German buyers together. He asked me to lower the price but I kept telling him I cannot go lower than what I have offered two weeks ago. He insisted, I declined, he insisted, I declined... We could not find a midpoint so I asked him to talk with Tufan Bey about his request. He stopped talking and haedng up the phone without saying a good bye. I sat on the floor again and kept myself busy with the model drawings till Ahmet appear at the door again.
“Abla, it is lunch time. I brought you the lunch.” I stared at the gap and saw the tabledhote. I asked angrily “Ahmet, are you kidding? Where the hell is this technician? It has been three hours.” He pulled the tabledhote back and put his face down. “He is coming, Abla. This morning his wife’s water broke. He took her to the hospital.” I didn’t know what I should day. Should I be happy for the newborn baby of our mysterious technician or should I be upset for his wife’s delivery coincided with the broken lift? I chose the former one, trying to look positive despite the growing darkness in my head. “Wow, I did not even know he was married. Anyway, give me my lunch and tell the girls in the office to collect some money so we can buy a small gift for the baby.” He looked surprised showing all his yellow teeth again, “Valla Abla!, you are the kindest woman in this office. The other girls in the office don’t care about anything except for their hair and makeup.” He then gave me the lunch. I sat on the floor, at the middle of four candles and their flickering lights, I ate my lunch quietly.
I was eating the dessert and thinking of my son’s math exam. He must be writing the answers now or must be having a panic attack looking at the numbers. I tried to help him last night but the topics were too difficult even for me. When I was a kid, we learnt only add, subtract, multiply and divide. Now, kids learn different things. All this x and y! I was so absorbed by my son’s struggling face, I did not even hear Tufan Bey’s footsteps. He sat on a small stool, bent his loin, put his bag on the floor. “Fahriye, how is the lunch? Look, you are having a romantic one. Can I join you?” I swallowed the last morsel of the künefe and stood up again. “If you give me a glass of tea as well, you can join.” He shouted to Ahmet, “Ahmeeeeet, bring two tea here. Mine should be light.” Then he turned to me, “Technician is coming. Don’t worry! But even he comes now, it might take a few hours till he finishes the work.” and took the laptop from his bag “Here is a computer for you. Battery can last at least 4 hours so you can contact the other girls and finalize the model drawings. We need to send them to Germany tonight and without you it cannot be done.” I took the computer without saying a word, turned it on and waited for the screen to appear. Fortunately, wireless connection works here well so I felt a bit closer to the world. At least I am no more disconnected when there is no one near the door. When Ahmet asked me if I want one more tea, I had to say “no” as my bladder may not be able to hold the pee till the technician finishes his work.
I worked all afternoon, replied the e-mails of the clients, contacted the buyers from USA and Sweden through Skype, did the final touches to the model drawings. When the technician came and started working at the door, I did not even ask him where he has been all day. I just told him “Congratulations for the baby!” and continued working as if he is not the one who showed up there to save me. Somehow I was fine with my new office space and got used to it. Holding my pee to its unbearable limits, I focused on working, called the girls to exchange the papers, had a small meeting with my staff in front of the door and asked them to bring me the receipts of the purchases made in recent months. I also made a few more calls to make sure everything is being done in order with the new products. When the candles are used up totally, I asked for new ones. About 4 pm, to my surprise, the lift started working again. It slowly moved up and I walked out to the corridor. There were about ten people on the corridor waiting for me so once they saw me they started applauding. Şule and Buse hugged me and kissed my cheeks. Tufan Bey came and said “Geçmiş Olsun, Fahriye. Have a rest for a while and then go home. Today you worked enough.”
After the toilet, I sat on the couch looking outside the window and called my son to ask him about his mathematics test. He said “Mom, I did all questions except for the one about the speed of a lift.” I said “Don’t worry, my boy! Lifts can cost you a few points in the exam and they can also cost you an entire day of sunlight.” He did not understand what I meant and asked me. I said “I will tell you later in the evening. Now pick your sister from the school and go home, ok? I will come home early today so will cook mantı for you.” He kept quiet for a few seconds, perhaps hiding his excitement“Ok, mom! See you! Mantı, ohhhhhh… Byeeee”
The technician came and sat next to me, smiling from head to toe. I asked “How is your baby?” He stared at my face as if he wanted to say something very important. “Ohh, thanks abla, both the baby and the mother are fine. I just called her and talked with her. She asked about you.” I was not sure if I heard correct so I asked “She asked about me, why?”. He looked a bit shy this time, eyes rolling down and up, feeling uneasy. “She heard from Ahmet about your situation and admired your patience in the lift.” I told him to thank her for worrying about me. But this was not really what he wanted. He turned to me and waved his hand to the people in the office, “My baby is a girl and we decided to give her your name, Abla.” Then the office burst into laughter and applauds… I laughed, he laughed, they laughed… To have one more Fahriye in this world, another Fahriye needed to work in darkness for an entire day.
Before going to bed, my husband asked how my day was. I said “Started dark and ended lightful” to keep it simple with no more explanation. He smiled “Ying and yang, huh? Good! Mine was all dark. He he!” I did not ask him the cause of his dark day. I hugged him behind and fell in sleep…
Turkish words
Abla: elder sister (commonly used by younger ones to address middle-aged ladies)
Bayram: Religious or national festivities
Peynirli poğaça: a pastry with cheese filling
Bey: Mr
Künefe: a kind of Turkish dessert.
Geçmiş Olsun: condolences after someone recovers from a sickness
Mantı: a ravioli-like dish served with yoghurt and garlic
a little tears in my eyes...
YanıtlaSilgood! Thank you for happy ending!