[•Nuri's POV•]
"Yeşim can you just chose one?" I said, "Hold on, will you! I am trying to help you, so stop complaining" she scolded and turned to look at the hanging gowns. The shop was so crowded and it was already afternoon. If Yeşim hadn't spent the last evening hanging around with the playboy, then I would have already been at the party.
"Yeşim, Look, Bashir will come to our door after... 5 hours" I said looking at my watch. "Tamam, try these two then, go on" she said and handed me a short pink gown and another blue silk gown. I liked the blue one better as it was longer. "No time to try, I like this one, it is my size too" I said checking the tag.
"Yup, even I think this one will be prettier" she said keeping back the pink one, "But it's so costly" I said, "Don't you worry about that, It's your first date after all... It's on me" she said and grinned, "Thank you Yeşim, but this is not a date" I said and we walked to the counter with the blue dress.
×××
Bashir will arrive after half an hour and Yeşim wasn't done yet and I was losing my patience. "At least leave my hair alone" I said, "One second... And there!" And I looked at myself in the mirror. I did look a bit more 'ladylike' and thankfully this dress didn't itch much.
At that time there was a doorbell. "That must be Bashir" I said, and got up "Hello miss Nuri" he greeted when I opened the door "Welcome Bashir" I said, he smiled at us and then spoke, "Ferit bey didn't want any delays, you know the weather is a bit bad" "The weather?" I didn't understand, "Yeah, the helicopter might face difficulties" he said, I was shocked.
"Girl! You are gonna board a helicopter!" Cried Yeşim, "Isn't it a ship?" I asked, "Yes, but the ship is already out at sea, there's a helipad on the ship so you can go and come back easily" I was dumbstruck. A helicopter!
I was actually going to board a helicopter! I remember looking up at the sky and gazing at a few but being able to get on one was like... Wow!
"Shall we go now?" He asked, interrupting my daydream, "Huh? Yes... Let me just fetch my purse" I said and took it from the couch. "Love you dear" said Yeşim as she kissed and hugged me. "Love you too" I said. Yeşim seemed to be more excited about the party than I was, "See you soon! Don't forget to tell me everything! And fly safe!" "Bye!" I replied and waved.
I expected Ferit bey to be in the car but the log didn't come. "Where's Ferit bey?" I asked, "He is coming with the helicopter said Bashir and we silently drove. We reached a helipad, a first for me, but I noticed the sky getting cloudy, Bashir waited with me, "He is late" I said.
Bashir smiled "Miss Nuri, It might be because of the weather, he is on his way" he said confidently, at that time, I heard a sound, it was getting louder by the minute. There was a helicopter in sight, It was a beautiful helicopter and it slowly landed in the right place. After a few minutes, Ferit bey got out.
He walked towards me and I felt my chest compress, a new kind of feeling. He took off his glasses and stood before me. First, he looked up and down at me but then he broke the silence, "For the first time, you look like a lady" he said grinned, there seemed to be something different about his eyes, about the way he looked...
But after that comment, I was able to breathe just fine. I frowned and looked away as I was really annoyed, I could never tell whether he was trying to be friendly or just annoying, still he always behaves like a log. Another man also stepped out of the helicopter and came and came towards us.
"Ferit bey, the controls are working fine, so are the blades, it is fully safe" "Good" he nodded and turned to Bashir, "Çıhan is waiting for you at the company, he called me" "Yes Ferit bey, I will go there now" he said and headed back to the car. "Shall we, Nuri?" He asked, I nodded and followed him.
The helicopter was really cool though it was a bit hard for me to get in at the front. There were so many buttons in front of me, Ferit bey got in on the other side. We seemed to be sitting two feet above the ground, I was really excited. Ferit bey wore something like a headphone and handed me a pair too.
"Will you be driving this?" I asked, "Yes, is there a problem?" He asked, "You know to drive a helicopter? That's great! Do you own this too?" I asked out of admiration, "Nuri, I own a lot of things... Now wear your seatbelt" he said, but I couldn't find it. Where was this thing?
Seeing me struggle, he leaned towards me, and gave a quick glance at my lips then looked back at my eyes. My heart was pounding madly, and I hope he didn't hear it. He gazed at me for some time till he professionally pulled the seat-belt down, it was a different kind of seat-belt, no wonder I couldn't find it. After he pressed it down, I heard a 'click' "There..." He said and grinned, returning to the steering like thing.
×××
It was so fascinating to ride in a helicopter, a lot better than planes, but the dark clouds worried me. "The winds are getting tougher" he said and kept talking to his headphones. "We will change course" he said, "Huh?" I asked, getting kinda scared. "There are dark clouds, showing signs of a thunderstorm in that direction, it is dangerous to fly through there, so we will head east" he said, "It will take an hour longer" I sighed.
After half an hour, there was a loud sound like a balloon bursted, I suddenly gripped the seat, "Ferit bey, what was that?" I asked turning pale, "Calm down... Let me see" he said, "The engine will start burning soon" "Wait... Wha!? Will we die?" I asked wishing I never accepted the invitation, "Nuri we won't die, but we have to land... There... See the island?" He asked, I saw a small speck in the distance.
"There are many small islands like this around, but people don't really stay there as they are all far apart" he said and then began talking to the headphones. He told them that we are gonna land, he also told the coordinates. I was feeling really scared and I gripped the seat tighter.
The island was very small, we hovered over it for some time and slowly came down but while landing the helicopter was shaking so much that I felt like a cat in water. I took deeper and quick breaths, nothing would go wrong. Finally, the shaking stopped, and we landed on the beach. My breathing was slowly back to normal and I let a sigh of relief.
The helicopter made like a small pit when it landed. "Are you okay?" He asked, I slowly let go of the seat. "I am" I said and tried opening the door, "Pull that handle" he said and when I did, the door opened wide. I just wanted to get out of that frightful vehicle. It was a bit hard for me to get out of the pit though. I was finally out of it and tried to dust the sand off of me.
Ferit bey got out too and came walking towards me, "What will we do now? Will it fly again?" "I will check that" he said, "What about the party? do they know about this?" "I have sent Miss Nazmiya our co-ordinates, if we can't get back, they will know where to find us, don't worry. Don't bother about the party" he said, and he turned to leave.
I was still in the shock of all that had happened. "Ferit bey! Where are you going?" "To check the helicopter" he said, "Oh, okay, but... uh... what will I do?" "See if there are people around here or find something to eat, just don't get lost" he said and dropped his coat on the sand and slid back into the pit.
I walked around the sand a bit. What fate! I had to wear a gown exactly on this day. It was so hard to cope with it, but I forgot all about it as I was lost in the beauty of the island. I have never been to such a beautiful place ever before. It grew thicker towards the center and I really wanted to go and explore the island better, as long as there were no dangerous animals.
Ferit bey won't definitely notice my absence for half an hour. I slowly moved into the forest, the floor was damp but the cover wasn't that thick. There was a beautiful fragrance coming from somewhere, something sweet for sure. I walked in deeper, I saw many birds and even spotted a monkey, The place was so lively and I felt the scent getting stronger.
×××
I realized it had become a lot darker, I lost track of time, but the scent was so near me. I ignored everything else and set out to find it. The noises of the night grew louder and I was deafened by the birds and insects. After passing a few more bushes, I came across a huge tree. It was so big and had thick canopies, the scent was obviously from its flowers but I couldn't find any, only something like... umm... black balls hanging from the branches?
Was it a fruit? I had no idea but it smelled so good, suddenly I noticed something moving. One of the fruits were moving, and something sparkled from it, I couldn't make out what it really was, but definitely not a fruit. I tried moving closer to the tree, to get a better view, but I tripped over its root. At that time, all the fruits started flying! I was scared to death.
They were bats, millions of them, They looked so scary at night with their massive wings, I tried getting up to run, then something green fell in front of me, it was a freaking snake! So the bats weren't enough!? I screamed with all my strength and got up and ran. Where? I had no idea, I was so scared that I couldn't even think!
But then something caught hold of me... Was it a bear? Oh god...