27 Bathing in the Penthouse

Ozge sat in the hall rigidly like a stranger. Her lips were pursed and she looked a little nervous. Ferit was behind the kitchen table getting their dinner ready.

The door to Amanda's room opened and she scurried out, running towards Ozge excitedly. ''Mummy, mummy, did you come to see me because you missed me?'' Amanda hugged Ozge as she asked.

Ozge looked at Ferit before she turned to smile, pulling Amanda to sit on her laps, ''mm. I missed you so much. I wanted to see you''

''Are adults allowed to lie?'' Ferit asked as he raised his head to look at the two.

Ozge looked at him and furrowed her brows. She shifted her gaze to Amanda and asked, ''how have you been?''

''I'm fine. I was at grandpa's place and it was so boring. I almost gave up and then I saw my dad. I knew you would definitely see me before the day ended''

''If you know the reason why she is here, you would be so disappointed'' Ferit commented.

''Can you just keep quiet. It doesn't matter what brought me here. What matters is that I missed Amanda and wanted to see her face. I would have called or facetimed her before going to bed if I didn't come here'' Ozge retorted.

Ferit sent the plates of food to the table and called them, ''dinner is ready. It's late so I prepared something that would be easily digestible. Sit down''

Ozge went over with Amanda and they sat across Ferit. They looked like a family of three having dinner.

''Mummy, you've grown lean, eat more salad. Dad, why didn't you add a lot of meat? Mummy needs meat to grow''

''When a woman reaches your mummy's age, she doesn't need a lot of meat. She is done growing. You are the one who need lots of meat but it's already late, so let's eat lots of meat tomorrow''

''What do you mean I'm done growing? I'm not even thirty yet. Making someone look so old already. Are you bent on pissing me off today?'' Ozge looked at him with an annoyed gaze.

''Daddy made mum angry. Apologize to mum'' Amanda glared at her father and leaned closer and whispered, ''at this rate, you can kiss your chances goodbye. Why are you so slow?''

Ferit looked at Amanda and almost coughed. He calmed himself and turned to Ozge who was poking holes into her food.

''I… I didn't mean that in an offensive way. what I meant was, you…''

Amanda pinched Ferit's hand and he hissed and turned to look at her. Amanda chuckled and turned to Ozge.

''Mum, what my dad meant was, you are so beautiful. There are not a lot of women as beautiful as mum. I obviously take after you, right?''

Ozge chuckled and nodded her head, ''right, eat''

Ferit suddenly felt left out. He ate his food silently and watched as the two interacted without him.

….

Ozge placed the empty dishes in the sink and stretched her hand to pick the washing soup and Ferit stopped her.

''No, I will do it''

''Huh? No, you made dinner. It's only right that I do the dishes. Let me do it''

''You are my guest, I can't let you do the dishes''

''I insist. Go and do whatever you want. I will leave after doing the dishes''

''Are you not going to bath?''

Ozge turned and looked at Ferit with a reddened face and stuttered, ''ba… bath?''

''Didn't you come here because you had to bath? I will do the dishes while you take your bath''

''Oo'' Ozge turned on the tap and rinsed her hands. She turned and bumped into Ferit who was standing just behind her.

''I'm sorry, are you alright?'' Ferit touched her forehead which hit against his chest. He was standing so close that Ozge felt her body reacting to him. Especially, his scent. It didn't seem to come from cologne so Ozge concluded it was his shower gel. It smelled so nice that she wanted to sniff more of it. She subconsciously lifted her gaze and met with Ferit's eyes. They looked at each other until they heard a shutter sighed and turned to see Amanda at a distance with her phone.

''Mum and Dad look so cute together. Whoa, the picture is so beautiful''

''Amanda… you'' Ozge was about to walked over and Ferit went ahead of her. He took the phone from Amanda and smiled.

''Amanda, should I buy you a camera? You take really good pictures'' he commended her.

Ozge walked over and looked at the picture. It indeed looked beautiful but the atmosphere surrounding the picture was more intimate. Looking at the picture her face turned red and her heart started beating.

''Amanda, take mum to the bathroom and help her pick a few clothes from my closet to wear. I'm going to wash the dishes'' Ferit looked at Ozge and said before going to the kitchen. He kept the phone inside his pocket for fear that Ozge might delete it if he gave it back to Amanda.

He still had a lot of explanation to do!

''Mum, let's go to daddy's bedroom'' Amanda held Ozge's hand and they went to Ferit's room. Amanda opened the door and let Ozge in first before she closed the door after entering. She pointed at the bathroom saying, ''mum, that is the bathroom. There are towels inside for your use. I will pick a few suitable clothes and put on the bed for you. I am going to my room to reply to some messages my classmates sent to our group chat''

''Huh?'' Ozge was taken aback by Amanda's words. She knew she was intelligent and had inherited her father's amazing genes but replying to group chat messages was something she couldn't do when she was Amanda's age.

Ozge shook her head and sighed, ''why are the children born this time so advanced? I was so clueless about such things at my age''

Ozge looked at the room when Amanda closed the door. The room looked warm. It had warm colors. Her eyes landed on the bed and her face turned red.

''Ozge, you came to bath. Just do that and leave. Don't harbor other ideas'' she turned and entered the bathroom. It was bigger than the one in her room. Everything in the penthouse was bigger than what she had in her apartment.

Ozge looked at the shower gel and smiled, she poured a little into her hand and smelt it, ''this is it. This is the smell. So he uses Ever Bamboo Ginseng shower gel?''

Ozge took of her clothes and entered into the shower and started bathing.

….

''Daddy, how did I do? Did I do well?'' Amanda went over to Ferit and asked after returning to the hall.

''You did amazing. I am so proud of you''

''Then… if you are proud of me, why don't you buy me the latest Samsung iPad that will be coming out next week? Who knows, I might do even better in the future and before you know it, mummy will be living with us''

''Why do I feel that you are making a deal with me?''

''We are family, there is nothing like deals between a father and a daughter. You need a wife and I need a mother and she is inside there right this minute because of my brains. Daddy, you need to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar'' Amanda said eloquently and smiled.

''Smarty pants. I will buy it for you''

''Really?''

''Of course, when have I lied to you before?''

''Thank you, daddy, I love you''

''Daddy loves you more''

''I am going to bed. I don't want to be the third wheel between you two. Dad, don't make my efforts go to vain. Right, we have one more person on our side, Aunt Leyla wants mum to be with you, so give her a reward too''

''Right, I will do that''

''Good night, daddy. Fighting!''

''Fighting!''

Amanda hurried to her room, leaving Ferit. Ferit returned to rinse the few dishes left. He soon finished and started brewing tea. He went to the hall to watch TV while he waited and heard his name.

''Ferit… Is Amanda there?''

Ferit lowered the volume and stood up. He went closer to the door and asked, ''Ozge, did you call?''

''Yes, is Amanda with you? I need her to get me something?''

''She went to bed already. Is there something I can get for you?''

Silence issued for a moment before Ozge spoke, ''there is no towel in the towel rack. I didn't check before. I need a towel''

''If you don't mind, I can get it for you. I picked them from the laundry and forgot to restock them''

''I… I''

''Relax, I'm just going to place it by the door and go out''

''Oo'' Ozge said softy. She stepped farther back when she heard the door opening. Her face had turned red and her heartbeat increased. She was nervous and a little afraid. Not because of what Ferit might do to her but of what she might do to him. Her head had being a mess and she was trying to figure a lot of things out.