Chapter Four
OuroborosChapter Four
The room was still rather dark as the light could barely penetrate the thick maroon curtains with only slivers and small streaks of the soon noon sun piercing into the room. On the queen size bed a still slumbering figure rolled to their side as the bedroom door opened. Next was the sound of the curtains flinging open followed by a flood of bright light and the blanket of the sleeping figure being yanked off of her.
“Wake up sleepy or you will be late for your flight!”
The sleeping body merely turned to her opposite side with a whine, trying to hide from the overwhelming sunlight.
Suddenly two arms grasped at the ankle and pulled the sleeper down to the end of the bed and off it, eliciting a loud scream and yelp as her rear impacted the soft carpet floor.
“I’m awake! I’m awake, okay?”
“Good. You now have thirty minutes to shower and get changed. We leave in exactly thirty minutes.”
“But what about breakfast?”
“You can eat at the airport lounge. Driver Shin arrived early and is already here waiting for you, cause of your laziness he will have to drive fast,” the awaker told the awakened as she just as matter of fact stomped out the room.
“But Jihyo~ Wait, damn it!”
“Thirty minutes, Momo! Thirty minutes!” The shout echoed further out from the hallway getting further still as Jihyo walked out to prepare all the belongings.
Left to nurture her sore , Momo stretched her legs straight on the ground before finally dragging herself up and getting ready to shower. She had booked this trip very suddenly and she was lucky to have a secretary and a friend like Jihyo to take care of her schedule and all the preparations. She had a bad habit of being a little bit of a scatterbrain.
Just as she was ready to enter the shower she saw Jihyo round the door frame into the room.
“Oh and by the way, I’m coming with you.”
“Whaaa-?”
---
Frantic running steps echoed throughout the house as morning routines were being rushed faster than usual. The kitchen of the house was filled with the fragrance of mouth watering breakfast, steamed windows and the sound of sizzling. A head poked into the kitchen, hair frazzled and with crusty eyes.
“Mom, where are my silk shirts? I need the silk shirts!”
Without an answer the mom turned to look at her daughter before stuffing some food in .
“You need to eat some breakfast!”
“MOM!”
“They’re drying up on the roof.”
Without a reply the daughter disappeared from the doorway stomping her way up the stairs towards the roof of their house to get her thin shirts. She needed material that breathed well in the heat. On her way up to the roof a door opened from the end of the corridor followed by a loud shout from her sister.
“Hey Jeongyeon stop stomping around some people are trying to sleep!”
Running past her she flicked the younger sister’s forehead, “You need to get ready for school!”
“Hey!”
The next ten minutes was followed by incessant footfall and stomping as Jeongyeon attempted to pack her things as fast as she could while her sister and mother shouted various commands. She regretted not having packed the night before after work, but she had been way too tired as she came home close to midnight. Why had she booked an early afternoon flight anyway? They lived so far from the airport.
Eventually managing to finish her packing she found herself back in the kitchen as her younger sister had also woken up enough to make her way there. Jeongyeon stuffed her face with food while their mother served them, all the while berating her at the same time.
“This is why you’re always running late, you never do things early,” her mother told her as she stuffed more food into her daughter’s mouth preventing her from talking back. All she could do was whine back in a mumble.
“Uncle Kim is heading out for deliveries towards the airport in fifteen minutes, he promised to take you there.”
Her mother turned around to pack food into a tupperware container before turning back around.
“You were so lucky to win this trip, there’s no way we could have ever afforded something so expensive. So make the most of it you never know when you’ll get a chance again. And you should be grateful to uncle for taking you to the airport when you’re running so late.”
Finally managing to chew through all the food in she replied with more whining. “Mom, I know. I will.”
“Finish up eating and then take this food with you.”
“Mom they serve food on the plane!”
She disregarded this and stuffed the container in Jeongyeon’s backpack. “Who knows what they serve and if it’s enough.”
“Mom I can't take that through security.”
“Well then eat it on the way!”
“Mom!”
A couple of knocks were heard from the front door followed by a good morning. It was uncle Kim ready to leave.
In an instant her mother’s tone changed from her stern scolding voice to a bright one while she ushered Jeongyeon up from the seat to get ready to leave. Gathering her things and reaching the front door her mother finally slowed down and wrapped her arms around her for a tight hug before giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“Stay safe there and remember to call, or message at least. I love you.”
“I love you too, mom,” Jeongyeon replied as her little sister arrived at the door to see her off. She ruffled her hair before forcing a hug with her sister who tried to wriggle out of it before giving in. “And you little punk, listen to mom you hear?”
As she said that she glanced at the clock at the end of the hallway and was suddenly spurred with energy.
“I’m going to be late. Bye mom! Uncle, let’s go already!”
---
The perks of being wealthy and flying first class.
Even when running a little late Momo and Jihyo could breeze through security and immigration as express clients and then fill their gullet with amazing foods at the business class lounge. Driver Shin had been extra fast speeding just a little to make it on time, and with the assistance of airport staff the two rapidly made their way through all the checkpoints and to the lounge to eat.
Managing to get their fill there they then could walk past the huge lines at the gate as business class passengers and settle down in the luxurious well spaced seats of the Airbus A380 while almost immediately being offered a drink and some nibbles before takeoff.
Momo had a window seat while Jihyo sat next to her across the aisle. While Jihyo hadn’t informed Momo that she would be coming with her when booking the flights, she didn’t mind paying for her business class ticket.
She looked over at Jihyo already comfortably sitting in her seat sipping her drink. She was all for this life. Now that she had woken up properly she was quite glad to have the company it would be a lot more enjoyable trip that way, although Momo did worry a little how things would play out at the destination. How would she explain it all?
Initially Momo had been confused as to what could have prompted Jihyo to force herself along to the trip but she realised now that to everyone else besides herself her actions probably seemed very confusing and worrying. She wasn’t surprised if one of her family members had told Jihyo to tag along, but most likely she made that decision herself. She was a great friend even if she also was Momo’s employee.
Only three days prior Momo had suddenly decided to take a vacation to Istanbul in Turkey, right in the middle of a busy week as her father’s company was making new acquisitions. While her role in the company wasn’t the biggest as the assistant director of the marketing and design sector of their company, it was still a rather important executive position. She had always been a bit aloof but her insistence to leave and completely fighting any attempt to postpone the trip had set off alarm bells ringing in her family and friends. They probably were worried that she was having a mental breakdown or overstressed.
Feeling eyes on her Jihyo turned to find Momo staring at her across the aisle. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Momo replied with a smile, “I’m just happy to have the company.”
“How would you even survive there without me?” Jihyo chuckled as she returned to focus on her drink.
Momo’s adamant desire and need to travel right in the middle of serious negotiations had thoroughly worried Jihyo. The day she declared that she had to travel and buy tickets Momo had been so out of it, like she was constantly daydreaming and lost in thought and unable to focus on any one thing, especially on the present.
The following days she seemed to be mostly back to normal but her excitement for the trip grew by the hour. Whatever this sudden travel fever Momo had received was, Jihyo couldn’t let her travel alone and so had insisted that she take care of the arrangements as Momo’s assistant. This allowed her to book tickets for herself as well to keep an eye on her. Momo’s family had been very appreciative of Jihyo when she let them know that she was going along with her.
She glanced to her side to look at Momo who was full of excitement and completely focused on the view from the window as airport staff rushed around prepping the plane for takeoff. A small smile graced her lips at the view; maybe this trip was just the thing that Momo needed.
Peeking at her watch she realized they should have already started to leave. She looked over her shoulder and could see that everyone in the economy section was already seated. Getting the attention of one of the flight attendants Jihyo asked what the delay was.
“We are waiting for one last passenger. She just cleared security a few minutes ago and should be here any moment.”
Just as the flight attendant finished her explanation they heard running steps and a ruckus from the entrance to the plane as a sweating and panting young woman emerged, her light brown hair drenched in sweat. With a half broken canvas backpack, a shrimp neck pillow around her neck, and carrying a plastic bag with a tupperware container with what looked like the remnants of rice and vegetables, she was guided by another flight attendant to her seat.
“Well, speak of the devil,” Jihyo said, the flight attendant chuckled along kindly before moving on to prepare for takeoff.
---
The struggles of being poor and flying economy.
Even when you were running on time; security, immigration, and huge tourist groups trying to enter at the same time as you could completely screw you over. It was way worse when you were running a little late like she was. Luckily the neighbour uncle was kind and sped through the highway like something was on fire and managed to get her to the airport barely two hours before departure.
Rushing to the check-in counter she just about made it on time to check-in her luggage and following this the security and immigration were so full that by the time she was done with it she could hear her name being shouted over the terminal loudspeakers for her to immediately make her way to the gate, which of course, was at the furthest end of the terminal. Panting and sweating she made it just in time as they were about to close the gate and made her way in to the plane to be greeted by the stares of all the other passengers waiting for her arrival.
Her seat of course was also a middle seat and having arrived so late the overhead cabins around her seat were full, so together with the flight attendant they had to search for an empty locker to stuff her things in. Finally finding a space for them she squeezed herself into the middle of the aisle seats, stuck in between a larger man and woman who spilled over their seats and took all the armrest space, leaving her squeezed in between. It was good that she was such a lithe figure, but this was going to be a long flight.
She had sprung this trip on her mother suddenly telling her she had won a vacation trip in some lottery, while somehow managing to fandangle time off from her work in such a short notice saying it was a family emergency. Although her family finances were really poor and she contributed to the upkeep of the household helping her mom pay for bills, she was very good at saving money and had been saving up as much as she could over the years. This sudden last minute flight put a huge dent into her savings. However, if things turned out as well as she hoped she wouldn’t have to worry about that very soon.
Resting her neck in her neck pillow that looked like a huge shrimp, she nestled into her seat sweat still pouring from her brow and back soaked as well and prepared for the long stuffy flight across Asia. She was glad she managed to go on this trip alone; at least she wouldn’t have to pretend and act clueless once she got there.
----
“Momo hanimefendi, my name is Mr. Can and I will be your chauffeur. Let me take you to your hotel,” a short older man in a well maintained suit approached Momo and Jihyo as they came out of the terminal speaking in a broken but understandable English.
They had landed just a short while earlier in Istanbul and with their first class perks were spirited away through the huge Ataturk airport both through immigration and assisted with acquiring their luggage post haste. They had then been guided to a private pickup point where many different black cars waited for their prospective customers, all pre-booked and hired by companies and rich people alike.
As the man reached them Jihyo offered the luggage to him and turned to Momo, “I booked a chauffeur service for our use. They will take us wherever we desire in the city!”
“Ah, wonderful…” Momo feigned a smile and then made her way to the black car that was waiting for them already cooled down by the air conditioner.
Momo stared out the window at the busy road outside the terminal, cars and taxis rushing haphazardly without much care for any lanes marked on the road. It was approaching late afternoon but the sun was still high, clear of clouds and heating her face all the while the cars fans battled to keep it cool.
“Is… something wrong? Should I have not booked us a chauffeur?” Jihyo asked Momo as she entered the car while their chauffeur Mr. Can put the luggage in the trunk.
“I just…” Momo turned too look at Jihyo, “I just wanted to make it a little adventure you know? To not make it easy on us. Try use local taxis and buses, struggle to make purchases in the local language, explore the old city streets without a guide. Get away from the usual pandered first class experience.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before, we could have definitely done that. I had this whole itinerary...” Jihyo replied with a hint of disappointment in her voice as she lifted the programme she had made from her handbag. All her beautiful plans, the relaxing spa and sightseeing tours, all for naught. However, this was Momo’s trip and she was paying for it all so she had the last word.
Momo saw the twinge of sadness in Jihyo’s eyes knowing that she had planned a splendid trip and organized a lot of fancy things to do; she was really good at that. She placed her hand on to Jihyo’s.
“I don’t intend to scrap your plans. We’ll do a bit of both okay? Our return flight isn’t for what, another two weeks? So...” Momo said with a smile as she squeezed Jihyo’s cupped hands, ”let’s get ourselves back to the hotel, get cleaned, and as our first order of sightseeing business we’ll go visit this one place I really want to see in the old city okay?”
“A place you want to really see? What is it?” Jihyo asked, the earlier disappointment already subsided knowing that all had not been for naught and that she was getting to spend a holiday together with Momo.
Momo smiled at her and winked before turning her attention back to the road.
---
Of all the things to happen after a long flight squished in between two large sweaty people was to have an issue with her passport at immigration and then be chosen for a random bag check at customs. If Jeongyeon didn’t know any better she would’ve thought somebody had placed a curse on her and the universe itself was conspiring against her to get to this place. Although this notion wasn’t totally off the mark, if she was completely honest with herself.
In the end the problem with the passport was some weird technical glitch and as expected her bag had nothing illegal, it barely had anything special to speak of. She then made her way to the taxi stands waiting in the long winded line in the heat of the sun eventually getting a taxi.
As she stepped in the taxi driver peered from the rearview mirror at her and attempted to speak to her in broken English asking where to go, before returning to Turkish asking the same thing, “Nereye gidiyorsun?”
Jeongyeon straightened her back and then leaned on the worn cushion seats of the yellow cabs back seat. Finally she got to flex these ancient language muscles. “Good afternoon uncle, do you know of the Iyi Uyku Hotel in Eminönü, on Tavukhane Street near the Sultan Ahmet Mosque?”
The taxi driver turned to look over his shoulder with wide and surprised eyes as this young Asian lady spoke perfect Turkish to him without a trace of foreign accent. Perfect, but also a little archaic. “You speak Turkish?”
“Yes, although it has been… some time since I spoke it the last time.”
“You speak well. Where did you learn it?”
“Thank you, I used to live here. Do you know that hotel?”
The driver sped off, and as was usual with foreigners who spoke Turkish he asked questions about where she learned it, what she did, how her family was; the usual. Jeongyeon explained how she had lived and grown up in Istanbul but hadn’t been here for many years, saying how her accent was a bit off because of it.
The route from the airport was both an experience of new and a trip down memory lane. The airport itself and many of the outskirts buildings were new, the skyscrapers and the highways new, but as they approached towards the centre and the old city a few familiar sights were beginning to appear here and there. The lay of the land with the hills, old buildings still the same from that time, and finally arriving to the hotel in a familiar neighbourhood. Home.
Iyi Uyku Hotel was nothing too extraordinary, more of a local quaint neighbourhood house that happened to be a hotel. It had a small archway with some vine plants wrapped around it and flowers perched outside. The street was rather quiet as this was a smaller side street that diverted from the main throughway to Topkapı Palace which was just around the corner. It was the old royal palace of the Sultan during Ottoman times a place she had had the privilege of visiting. Through another side street up the hill on the road you could quickly make your way towards the great Byzantine church turned mosque of Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque built by Sultan Ahmet I, the old water cisterns underneath the streets, and other old and famed relics of the Byzantine and Ottoman age.
As Jeongyeon paid her fare and got her luggage from the taxi she saw an elderly couple sitting in the small front garden of the hotel, sipping tea and having a conversation. Approaching through the front archway the woman perked up and got ready to intercept her.
“Good afternoon teyze, I’m Jeongyeon. I believe I’ve booked the loft apartment.”
Much like the taxi driver, she also recoiled in surprise at her speaking Turkish but quickly gathered and smiled warmly at Jeongyeon.
“Yes, please follow me. Do you need help with the bags?” The woman said as she slapped the shoulder of the older man to get his attention to help.
“Oh don’t worry amca, teyze, I have this. I’m pretty strong.”
She grabbed her luggage herself easily lifting it up and following the woman up the stairs letting the old man sit back and rest to finish his tea.
As on her way here with the taxi driver, Jeongyeon and the aunt who was the manager of this hotel exchanged the usual pleasantries and questions about her skills and whereabouts as she was lead to her loft apartment room. This hotel was more of an apartment rental and she had reserved it for the next couple of weeks.
Her loft apartment at the top was all one big room save for the small toilet that had been built into one corner. It had a sofa and a bed, a larger table that functioned both for dining and as a work desk. It didn’t have its own kitchen so she would have to eat out or eat the cooked food of the hotel. There were antique weathered oak cupboards to one side and at the end a tiny balcony opening up to the street. More importantly, the view from this balcony and apartment watched over the few garden walls and into a tiny little nook across the street from the hotel, one that had a statue of a woman in loose garb, a relic from the Byzantine Empire. The few walls and door openings revealed the chapel it used to reside in now mostly ruined.
Thanks to the issues at the airport it had taken her a lot longer than expected to get to the hotel and the sun was already at an angle dipping down, painting the greens of the garden with yellow and orange hues, deepening the shadows of the little nooks and crevices left over by the ruin of the church. She stared at the garden and the statue for a while, her mind drifting off to memories of the past; of the last time they were here and saw it. And in the throes of her memory she somehow missed as two female figures had appeared within the hidden little room of the statue. Both dressed to the nines in high fashion and one of them observing the statue very, very carefully.
The distance was just too much to see their faces so Jeongyeon quickly closed the balcony door and grabbed her sunglasses as she raced down the steps, greeting the elderly owners on her way out and then slipped silently across the street and over the fence into the ruins of the church. She sneaked up around the little side entrance to the statue room. It was a tight squeeze to get through; one had to really want to go in to see what was there. She slipped in and rounded the corner to observe the two women standing there and hear their conversation.
“I mean, sure it’s a historical statue but what’s its significance?” The woman standing further back in the tiny room asked as the other woman close to the statue observing it kept running her hands close to it.
“It… is quite obscure sure. But more than anything I just wanted to see if it’s still here.”
To Jeongyeon’s surprise both were Asian women and they both spoke Korean. They were wearing light silky blouses, the statue observer in brighter floral colour and with dark sunglasses while the other had darker blue with a skirt, also with sunglasses on.
The blue shirt woman closed in on the statue to observe it together with the other. “So… do you even know the name?”
“St. Felicia…” the floral woman said.
“...the patron saint of farewells,” Jeongyeon said in Korean as she rounded the corner to reveal herself to the two.
The two woman startled looked over to see Jeongyeon, a woman in denim booty shorts, an almost see through white silk shirt and large dark sunglasses. Tall and thin she leaned against the entrance to the little room.
“Yes, how did you know?” the floral woman said as the blue shirt seemed to be on guard, taking a defensive stance clutching her bag tighter than before.
Jeongyeon reached up and took her glasses off. “Because this is home.”
As the glasses came off Jeongyeon and the floral woman could see into her eyes, she in return instantly took her own glasses off the two now face to face seeing each other’s eyes. Her eyes were full of tears in an instant and likewise in a flash Jeongyeon’s eyes had welled up and were pouring tears down her cheek.
“Jannah…”
“Móna!”
The two ran over and embraced in a hug, squeezing as tight as their arms could, straddling and cradling each other as the recognition and relief had hit. Quiet sobbing continued with the waves of relief that washed over and equally the tenseness that they both had been feeling for the past three days disappeared.
As the two embraced each other the third woman stood awkwardly to the side, completely baffled by the turn of events and feeling a hint of jealousy at the complete affection that this stranger was receiving from Momo. Who was this woman? An ex-lover? A current one? Old friend? All these questions were running in her head but she refrained from breaking this moment no matter how much she wanted to see the hug stop.
The hug continued uncomfortably long from an outsider’s perspective. The two didn’t say anything to each other they just held on as tears first flowed rapidly eventually slowing into small streams, and finally the creaks dried out.
They let each other go giving a good look into each other’s eyes, before Jeongyeon spotted the awkwardly standing and swaying woman behind Momo.
“I’m sorry this must be baffling. My name is Jeongyeon.”
Momo having been completely lost in thought suddenly remembered the existence of the woman in blue, Jihyo. She rapidly turned around with wide eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Jihyo this must so be weird,” she looked back at Jeongyeon, “this is Jihyo. She is my secretary, but most importantly my best friend.”
Cheeks flared red a little and Jihyo struggled to keep the smile from reaching her lips at the mention of this. She straightened her blue shirt and patted down her skirt before taking her glasses off too, to follow the recent trend of revealing one self.
“A secretary? Damn Móna, no matter what life you’re born into you’re always a baller. I’m jealous,” Jeongyeon chuckled giving Momo a little tap on the .
“Hi I’m Jihyo. I don’t mean to break this tender moment but I need to know, who are you exactly?” She said this as she pulled on her fingers nervously.
Momo turned back to look at Jihyo all the while grabbing tight onto Jeongyeon. I guess there was no hiding this.
“Uhm… she is my Sister.”
Comments