The Greek man just smirked at me as if he hadn't done anything wrong. I was furious. Alex snapped, "What's your problem, man!" Ignoring them both, I got out of the water. Alex called out "Derya?" behind me, but I wasn't in the mood to listen to anyone. I couldn't control the anger surging inside me. He was literally going to kill me, that snob, I thought to myself.
I walked along the pebbly beach with my wet clothes and bare feet, then picked up my bag from the sand. I looked at my feet. My shoes... what was I thinking throwing them so far away? While the pebbles hurt my feet, I walked toward my shoes. I can't believe it, a total punk. And me? What about me? I really messed up by coming to this beach; why couldn't I just come in the morning? Honestly, I can't even be mad at myself anymore. That Greek man... AH!
Suddenly, I fell to the ground in pain. "My foot." A sharp, hard pebble had pierced my foot. Alex came running to my side.
"Are you okay?"
"It hurts a little."
Alex realized my foot was injured. "Do you want me to carry you?"
"I..."
"Okay, I'm carrying you."
The Greek man got off the jet ski and approached us. When Alex noticed him coming, he stood up angrily.
"Stay away from the girl."
"Move out of my way."
Alex stood there with clenched fists and a threatening look. Fearing he might actually hurt the Greek man, I tried to stop them both, but I fell back down before I could even stand up. At that moment, I prayed with all my heart for them to stop. The attendant at the gate came running toward us. "Hey! Stay where you are!" The attendant separated the two of them. Alex stood perfectly still with a threatening gaze until the Greek man left the scene. I didn't know if there was something between them, but they both scared me a lot.
Fortunately, it didn't last long. Once the Greek man moved away, Alex picked up my shoes that I had thrown earlier, came over, and gently put them on my feet. The Greek man looked back his expression was, how should I put it, like he was worried he hadn't done the right thing. Anyway, I couldn't care about him. Alex gripped me firmly by the waist and took me in his arms. The atmosphere was tense; I couldn't speak for a while, I just watched the sky.
"Alex..."
He looked at me. His explosive gaze had vanished.
"Hm?"
"Are you okay?"
"Maybe..."
"I'm serious."
"Okay," he took a deep breath. "Maybe I got a little angry." I could feel that Alex was still tense, but I couldn't say anything. He carried me in his arms all the way to the hotel. When we reached the hotel door, I touched his slightly damp shoulder.
"Alex... I'm better now."
"Oh, okay."
He gently lowered me to the ground. "Um... I'm sorry for what happened."
"Don't worry, it wasn't your fault."
I knew it was my fault. If I hadn't been so desperate to go to the beach, maybe none of this would have happened. I felt bad for Alex. I didn't want to drag the subject out.
"Good night, Alex..."
"Good night, Derya."
I headed to my hotel room and entered room 106. The group of three girls I had met during the journey were in my room. I couldn't make sense of it. I just stood there, looking at them in surprise.
"Derya," said Kiraz.
"What are you doing here? Did something happen?"
"Don't you know? They put us, the four of us, in the same room." Emilia and Sude nodded their heads in agreement.
"This can't be happening. I'm going to go talk to the staff."
"We already talked, but they said they couldn't make any changes because it's late. Maybe they just didn't want to bother," said Sude.
"Yes, I think we should stay here tonight and handle this tomorrow," added Emilia.
"Does she understand our language?" I asked about Emilia.
"She studied in Turkey for higher education; she knows our language a bit."
"Ah, I see. I'm glad to hear that." I turned to Emilia. "You're right, Emilia. Maybe we should just sleep tonight."
"Yes!" said Emilia. I walked toward the empty bed and collapsed onto it with all my exhaustion. For a while, I watched the ceiling in complete silence; it was empty and boring. Emilia was still looking at me in surprise.
"Are you okay?" she asked suddenly.
I turned onto my side. Looking at Emilia, I said, "I'm fine." They knew I wasn't really fine, but they didn't say anything. My eyes slowly closed. As the world went quiet for a few seconds, the questions in my head began to fade away.
In the early hours of the morning, as the sun was just beginning to appear in the sky, I started hearing some voices I couldn't quite make out.
"Yes girls, right there."
"Here?"
"No, no, the other side."
"How about here?"
"A little more to the left... hah, you're in the right spot. Set it down gently."
"Thanks a lot girls, I'm truly grateful."
Emilia and Kiraz were holding a huge, colorful vase. Before I could even ask the girls what was going on, my throat started to ache. I coughed. "Girls..." I said with difficulty. They rushed to my side, looking worried. Sude looked at me and asked, "Are you okay, Derya?"
"My throat... cough, cough..."
"You probably got sick because you slept in your wet clothes yesterday."
"While on vacation? Seriously!?"
"Calm down. Once when I got sick, I had a special healing drink recipe I made for myself. What was it called... right, 'Green Bug.' I'll ask the reception to prepare it, you'll feel better."
"Green Bug?" I asked with fearful eyes. She smiled at me.
"The name is just 'Green Bug,' I wanted it to have its own style. Don't be so scared; it's a recipe that will heal you. It's made from natural vegetables."
"Really?"
"Yes, just stay calm and wait."
While Sude called the reception to give the recipe for the drink, Kiraz and Emilia were looking at me with sad eyes.
"I should be sipping my lemonade and sunbathing right now."
"How did you manage to get so soaked yesterday, Derya?"
"It's a long story..."
There was a knock at the door.
"Reception is really fast," Sude said. She opened the door. Alex was standing there, looking around curiously.
"Is Derya here?"
"Yes."
"Can I see her? Is she okay?"
"She's just a bit sick, but don't worry, she'll be fine. Come in and see for yourself if you want."
"Okay."
Alex walked in.
"Hi, Alex."
"Derya, you look really sick. Are you okay?"
"I... cough... cough..."
"It's all Chris's fault. You got sick because of him. I'm going to make him pay for this."
"Chris? Is that Greek guy's name Chris? How do you kno- cough... cough"
"It doesn't matter how I know. Just think about yourself; you look very ill."
"Alex, this isn't Chris's fault. Please don't blame him."
"But he tried to kill you!"
Emilia and Sude looked at each other in shock.
"Wait a minute, someone tried to kill you? Who and why?" Emilia asked.
Kiraz followed with a curious look, "What's going on girls, I don't understand?"
"Someone tried to kill Derya."
"What? Who?"
"Girls, I'll tell you later, please let me talk to Alex. Alex! Eh.. cough..." I took a deep breath. "Alex, I really feel terrible. Please don't try to do anything that would worry me."
Alex said, "Okay..." in an indifferent tone of voice. "If you need anything, my room number is twenty-nine."
"Thanks, Alex."
Alex left the room.
"Derya, are you going to give us an explanation?"
"Girls, I feel terrible. Please ask your questions later."
"Are you having a fever fit or something?"
Sude came closer and checked my forehead with her hand. "Your forehead is burning up; you're practically having a 'havale'."
"Havale? What does that mean?" Emilia asked.
"Emilia, 'havale' means a very high fever. In our culture, when our fever gets dangerously high, we say we're 'passing through a havale' instead of just saying we have a fever."
"Ohh... I see."
Kiraz jumped in. "Maybe I should open the window; the warmth would penetrate the room better."
"No, that's not a good idea, she might get even colder. Let's just wait for now."
I never thought today would turn out like this. While the girls were arguing among themselves, I was facing my own pain. But isn't that just how life is? It doesn't matter if the pain is big or small; what truly matters is who stays by your side to help heal your wounds.
"Girls. I want to get some sun."
"Derya, are you serious? I can't let you go anywhere alone in this state," Sude said.
"Sude is right, you're very sick Derya, you should rest," Emilia added.
"I can go with Derya, guys, don't worry."
"But..."
"Sude please, I can't breathe inside this room. Maybe the sun will help with these chills."
"Fine... then you only have a few hours. After that, we find a solution to break your fever."
"Okay." Kiraz took my hand and helped me stand up. I was staggering as I walked. My eyes kept closing from exhaustion. Worst of all, I was freezing. We made it down to the reception. Kiraz asked, "Are the hotel shuttles free to take us to the beach?"
"I'll have you wait one moment." The receptionist made a few calls. Then, he turned to us. "Our vehicle is at your disposal. I have kindly informed the driver, and he will be waiting for you in the garden shortly. Please, feel free to head that way."
"Okay, thank you." Kiraz held my arm, supporting me as we walked to the garden. I was leaning on her for strength.
While the sea tossed its waves violently, I was sunbathing on a lounge chair. Every now and then, the wind blowing through my hair made me shiver even more. Suddenly, a jet ski appeared in the distance. It looked like it was challenging the waves. It was getting closer and closer.
"Kiraz, is that thing coming toward us?"
"No, why would it? You're sick, maybe that's why you're seeing it. Try to rest."
"But... anyway, never mind, maybe I'm just talking nonsense."
Thinking I was hallucinating from exhaustion, I rested my eyes. After a few seconds of silence, Kiraz suddenly screamed, "Derya!"