At that, Joanna stopped. She turned slowly to face Kasim’s mother. Then, in flawless Turkish, she said very quietly and very firmly, “You’re mistaken.”
“There may be a thousand cynical people like you. But there’s only one me.” And with that, she walked out of the house.
The evening air was cool, and a light drizzle had started to fall. The air felt sharp and clean, as if it could wash away the ugliness from inside that house. Suddenly her phone buzzed in her purse. Kasim was calling.
She glanced at the screen and hit decline. Her life had already started to change, and she knew it. Joanna walked quickly down the dark street, not really caring where she was headed.
The cold mist cooled her flushed face, mixing with the tears she stubbornly refused to wipe away. She didn’t regret what she had said. Not one word. But her heart was no longer whole.
Her phone buzzed again. She declined the call a second time, then a third. After that, a string of anxious messages started coming in from Kasim.
“Joanna, please, let’s just talk. You misunderstood everything. Mom didn’t mean to hurt you. Please give me one chance to explain.”
After reading that, she simply turned her phone off. Only then, for the first time in hours, did she realize how hard she was breathing. Back in her hotel room, Joanna went straight to the shower and stood under the hot water until her skin turned pink.
But the cold inside her didn’t go anywhere. In her mind, she kept hearing Nevin Hanım say, “You’ll find another one.” And Kasim had said nothing. Not one word in defense of their love.
Yes, maybe he really did love her. She believed that. But love without action is just a nice idea. Like a beautiful landscape painted on glass, or a sandcastle that looks solid until the tide comes in.
It may look lovely, but it won’t hold. When the sound of the water stopped, a hard knock came at the hotel room door. Joanna jumped.
The knocking came again, louder this time. She stepped into the small entryway and approached the locked door. From the other side came a painfully familiar voice: “Joanna, it’s me. Please open the door.”
She closed her eyes, tired already, knowing Kasim would not leave easily. Joanna opened the door just a crack, leaving the security latch in place. He stood there soaked through from the drizzle, anxious and out of breath.
“Joanna,” he said with obvious relief, lifting his hands a little as if to show he meant no harm. “I can’t take this silence. Please, just talk to me. Say something.”
“We’ve already said what needed saying,” she answered quietly. “No, we haven’t,” Kasim said. He stepped closer, though the latch stopped him.
“I… I really have been afraid of my mother. That’s the truth. I grew up in a house where she controlled everything. My whole life, I’ve been caught in the middle—trying to please my family while also trying to have a life of my own.”
He ran a hand through his rain-soaked hair. “But you… you matter more to me than any of this. I just…” He stopped, unable to finish.
