Hostages of Life- Part III

[FONT=&quot]Santajci … The blackmailer![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Aysun, walked out of the employees’ entrance of Akgun Palace, tying her scarf. She had changed into her long flowered skirt and a knitted salvar, the long sleeved blouse worn by women in her village. She rarely dressed as other women did in Istanbul…It was as though she did not want to draw anyone’s attention to her still youthful looks. Also, it was more comfortable on cold, windy days prior to the onset of winter… As her bus slithered to a halt in front of her, she heard someone call her name. She turned to find the beast Serkan waving to her to stop. Quickly, she got into the bus, praying for it to leave, before he got a chance to get in.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Luck was in her favour. She saw the grim look on his harsh face as the bus moved. What a nuisance the man was! She had made it clear to him that she was not interested in him… in any man for that matter… but…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]She waited for the ferry, in a corner. It would take almost 30 minutes for her to reach her modest home in the island of Buyukada… She had been delayed at the hotel. A European delegation of 20 guests were checking in early next morning and rooms had to be ready…quite a lot of elbow grease was spared by the Housekeeping department on Madame Erpence’s insistence.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]She waited till the last of the tourists alighted before going on board. As she settled herself in the enclosed cabin, she saw Serkan running towards the ferry. Cursing her luck, she quickly got up and moved to the open space near the stern where the winds lashed relentlessly at whoever dared to be out in the open. She hoped she had succeeded in evading the monster’s eyes! She also hoped that Emre would be waiting for her near the pier as he often did, especially on the days, she was late. Her face broke into a fond smile as she thought of her son… He was a good kid. With clean habits and little demands. He never hung around with the other teenagers of his area, making fun of girls or heckling tourists… He was a good football player… She wanted, more than anything in her life, to send him to the Sports Academy…she hoped Melek would understand …[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]As she thought of Melek, her hand involuntarily touched the cylindrical bulge in her handbag… Yes… it was there. Melek’s dream… Her conscience twinged a little… for Aysun had been brought up on high principles by her Baba and her Hala, her Baba’s sister. Aysun’s mother had died at childbirth leaving her daughter in the care of her grief stricken father and his stern but affectionate sister, Pervin… She quickly brushed aside her guilty feelings and concentrated on envisaging what Melek would say when she gave her the gift! [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]As the ferry drew closer to the pier in Buyukada, she could see Emre standing there to meet her. Relief flooded over her. Serkan would not dare to force his attentions on her in her son’s presence… She hurried towards her son, who put a hand out to steady her as she missed a step…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Melek was, as she had expected, thrilled by the gift. She squealed in happiness and hugged her mother and pranced around like a ten year old…The mother in Aysun could not but feel joy at her daughter’s happiness…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Next morning, as she was waiting for the first ferry, she felt the hair at the back of her neck prickle… sensing danger, she looked around and saw him… Serkan… watching her, lazily blowing cigarette smoke off his nose. There were not many people around and to her alarm, she noticed that he was wearing the winter coat worn by Turkish Polis… No one would interfere with the police, if they could help it, even if she screamed that he was no longer in service… As she watched, helplessly, he tossed the cigarette into the dark waters of the Sea of Marmara with a careless flick of his fingers and walked towards her. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Serkan leered at Aysun… God! She was beautiful…She was named right… ‘as beautiful as the moon’. He ignored the fear and anger that alternated on her face as he stared at her. The arrival of the ferry diverted his attention…but before she could escape him, he caught her arm and held on to her, guiding her firmly up the makeshift steps, onto the upper deck.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Coffee? He asked her. She shook her head. He lit another cigarette and blew the first smoke ring right into her face. She flinched. The ferry had started moving…The top deck was vacant thanks to the biting cold winds of early winter mornings. The sky was as grey as the chilling waters of the sea below. She felt a similar gloom inside her heart. Was he planning to molest her? She shuddered and shrunk into a shell praying for divine protection… [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]She was wrong… oh…How wrong she was! As he talked, Aysun felt her fear of molestation being replaced by another kind of terror. How had he come to know? Her only act of indiscretion in her career of 18 years…and the beast had seen her do it! She looked at him disbelievingly. He was smirking, lazily blowing concentric smoke circles into the air before him and watching them disappear… Like a cat playing with a cornered mouse…
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[FONT=&quot]To be continued...
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