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for rafael
“Hey... do you remember that time Burak snuck me the Rakı?” Is perhaps not the most normal way to start a voicemail message, but it’s what Demet is going with nonetheless. Rafael didn’t pick up this time, but she also wasn’t expecting him to, knowing he’s busy with MILF right now. It is the lunch rush, after all, and he’ll check his phone as soon as it clears out. “You distracted mom while he poured it into my cup, and then I had to bold-face lie to her and say I was drinking milk at eleven o’clock at night? With ice?” She laughs lightly into the phone receiver, grinning to herself. “Thank goodness Esma wasn’t home, or she would’ve snitched on us so fast.” Esma always did consider herself the most responsible of the group of siblings, even over Burak. It’s no surprise she was the only one to become a parent.
“I still don’t know how we got away with that, in all honesty. It had to be suspicious.” Maybe it was her big blue eyes that saved her, that doe-eyed innocent look she can put on and pretend like she has no clue what someone is talking about. It’s served her well over the years, her most useful tool even though she isn’t the best of liars. Demet chews on her bottom lip in thought. “Do you think she always knew, and just decided to let us think we were so sneaky? Like... letting us have it as a bonding moment?” The older she gets, the more she thinks back on their childhood. Their mother, more specifically, and everything she put up with from them over the years. “I know, this probably seems like a weird thing to call and talk about, I just... it’s been on my mind, I guess.” She looks down at the bag she carries in hand, the name of a liquor store imprinted on it’s side. “Anyways, long and reminiscent story short, we’re sharing a bottle of Rakı tonight at dinner. And you’re going to pretend to turn a blind eye when Filiz sneaks some into her glass, and offers Yusuf a sip.”















