Seyda Bulak

ȘEYDA BULAK ; THE INTRODUCTION

NAME: Șeyda Bulak

NICKNAME(S): N/A

AGE: Thirty

RESIDENTIAL AREA: The Drive

OCCUPATION: Receptionist at Narcissist Salon & Event Planner

LENGTH OF TIME IN VANCOUVER: 30 Years 

CONNECTIONS SPREADSHEET & THREAD TRACKER & BIOGRAPHY

**

As Şeyda explained the various steps of the process, Mattie examined the candle as closely as she could without ripping the thing right out of the woman’s hands. Boyd was glad he had been able to impart some manners on his daughter, because that was the only thing stopping her; the girl was a little engineer in the making, and once her tiny wheels got moving, almost nothing could slow her down. “Daddy, can we do that instead?” Matilda asked, looking up at him and then back towards Şeyda. “Can you show me?”

Şeyda couldn’t believe how closely the young girl was looking at the candle. As Boyd’s daughter asked to do that instead, looking at her and asking for her help, Şeyda found herself looking at Boyd. Her eyes widened, looking a bit like deer in headlights as she didn’t know what to say. “Oh, uh, if your dad says it is okay,” she smiled at Mattie. “I don’t want to interrupt what you both had plan,” she said, mostly speaking to Boyd in that manner. 

The pumpkin pie eating contest was in full swing when Şeyda found herself making her way toward one of the drink tents. In turn, she was distracted by the cheers of the crowd, which caused her to run into someone. “Oh,  üzgünüm, sorry,” she repeated herself in English, “I got very distracted and thought someone had already won,” she laughed softly, turning to look back at the person that she ran into, realizing it was none other than Finn. She didn’t know why, but whenever she looked at him, she saw them both as teens, playing spin the bottle and sharing a kiss. It always came flashing back to her and tonight was of no exception. “Are you enjoying the festivities around town?” 

❝ at thrill-o-ween with @seydaxbulak —

Paintbrush in hand, Mari swirled the tip through a puddle of blue on her plastic palette. “Who do you think is going to win the costume contest?” She’d been eyeing up the contestants ever since sitting down to decorate a pumpkin, and now that Seyda was sat beside her she couldn’t resist ‘polling the room’. “I mean, definitely not the deer and dill pickle, right? What are they even supposed to be?”

Şeyda found a spot next to Mari, grabbing her own paints and pumpkin to decorate. Painting seemed to be an easier feat than carving but she planned on doing both. “Hmm,” she hummed and found herself wrinkling her nose at the couple costume. “I honestly I have no idea what they are,” she shook her head. “A pickle and a deer? I didn’t even think those things went together.” Şeyda twisted her lips in thought as she looked around the room. “I think the Addams family costume has done a really great job. I mean, I do love a good group costume.”

**

Boyd would like to think Seyda wasn’t nearly vindictive enough to bend down to Mattie’s level and tell her baldly, ‘your daddy pretended you didn’t exist so that he could date me,’ but he couldn’t be sure. They hadn’t exactly ended things on the best of terms, and he was well aware he was to blame for leading her on. So he knew he needed to play nice, to smile and nod along and not give her any further reason to hate him. “Yeah, it’s been great. We were just on our way to go carve some pumpkins…” Although horrifyingly, Mattie seemed much more interested now in the concept of candles. Pyromaniac…

“Woah, that’s so cool!” Mattie exclaimed. “How’d you do it?” He had hoped this would have been one of his daughter’s wise moments to become shy around strangers, but the girl had never been able to resist her own curiosity.

Şeyda smiled at Boyd, nodding her head. “Pumpkin carving is a lot of fun,” she had not made her way over to that part of the festivities yet. As his daughter seemed interested in her candle making, she found herself looking at Mattie. She wondered if Boyd hadn’t pretended that his daughter didn’t exist when they were dating if things would have turned out differently. Not that she had lingering feelings for Boyd, but she knew she wouldn’t have minded a minute if she had known about Mattie from the beginning. “Well first you get to pick what ever color wax you want, you can even pick more than one color.” She told Mattie with a smile, “then they have lots of scents you can pick from so it smells however you want it to. After you had the little wick,” she pinched her fingers,” so you can light the candle, you get to pour the melted wax and let it harden up and poof, you have a candle.”

“Thanks,” Hiten offered with a smirk. They looked around, perhaps it was the small town vibe that had ensured their experience of Halloween was… well, a bit over the top. With neighbours always trying to out-do each other. “This crazy? Alright, interesting. This whole thing distracted me from Diwali, which is kinda said, gotta catch that next year now,” they said, shrugging. “So I guess I should ask you about the best parties?” they asked. The introduction was surprising. The friendliness of Canadians probably, world-famous. “Hiten,” they said. They could be friendly too, at times. Under good circumstances. “Nice to meet you.” 

“You’re welcome,” she smiled back at them. At their question, she nodded her head in agreement. This crazy. It sounded far-fetched but Şeyda had been in Vancouver her entire life. “Oh, I don’t know about that,” she laughed softly, shaking her head. “There’s plenty, though, if that’s what you are looking for. A lot of the bars around town usually have a costume contest and lots of drink specials happening,” she told him, “and those usually turn into parties more than your average bar night with Halloween happening.” She told them with a smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Hiten.” 

Hiten felt the instant need to be dramatic, not because it hurt, not out of meanness, but mostly to make someone laugh. They used to do it… when it came to Cassie, their niece enjoyed the times Hiten made a fool of themselves. The memory was so vivid that while impulsivity drove them to pretending to be hurt far more than they were, the effort was lack-lustre. “Yeah, no, no worries,” they said with a wink. “Just hurt pride.” They looked around as well. “Jep, these people go crazy for Halloween. I thought it was just an American thing.” 

Şeyda laughed softly, “Hoping it recovers quickly,” she teased in reference to their pride. “They really do go crazy for Halloween,” she nodded her head at the thought. “I grew up in Vancouver and it’s been this way since I was a little kid, I never knew it without all this crazy. If anything, they’ve only added more to the week long festivities around town.” Not that Şeyda was complaining because she fully enjoyed the bringing of people together. And she was hopeful that the next Halloween would allow her an opportunity to jump into the event planning aspect. “I’m Şeyda, by the way,” she said, figuring she ought to introduce herself after nearly running them down. 

*magically this was always at the Fall Festival, and Boyd and Mattie were on their way to pumpkin carving*

Seyda had been something of a shameful failed experiment. Boyd was well aware that wasn’t exactly the nicest thing to say about a fellow human being, but in this case, it was also the most accurate. She was a nice girl — smart and funny, and fine, yes, he could admit to noticing the passing resemblance to Lila — and he thought that, maybe, he could give dating another chance. Needless to say it had failed spectacularly, not least of which because he’d somehow decided the best way to get around dating as a single dad was to simply pretend not to be one…

It definitely hadn’t been his finest hour, and he’d never attempted dating again.

It was fucked to run into her now with Mattie in tow, which is why he drolly thought he should have probably expected it. “Yeah, this is Tilly,” he said, a protective arm coming around his daughter’s shoulder. “Mads, this is Seyda. She’s an… old friend.”

As the brunette looked down at his daughter, she gave her a smile. “It is very nice to meet you,” she told her, looking back at Boyd as he mentioned that Şeyda was an old friend. She would be lying if she said that it hadn’t stung. It wasn’t the first lie he had told, of course, considering he pretended not to be a single dad at the time that they were dating and she supposed, she should leave it at that. “Where are you guys headed? Enjoying all the fall harvest festivities?” She quickly changed the subject, not wanting to dwell on the fact that she had been placed in such an awkward situation, for the both of them. “I just finished making my own Halloween candle,” she told Boyd and his daughter, holding the bag, the one that had thankfully not hit the ground. 

SEYDA. HARVEST FEST

@seydaxbulak​

“Hey!” Isla called to Seyda. It’d been a few weeks since she’d seen her as she’d left her old home, and she had been unsure of her next steps since the cruise unfolded into a night she was still struggling to come to terms with. At least with the local Halloween celebrations, she seldom had a moment to think of herself. Holding out the stuffed bat she’d won as a wave of greeting as she closed the space between herself and Seyda, “What have you been up to lately?”

Looking up as someone called out, she realized that this time, in fact, that it was her that was being spoken to. The number of times that Şeyda had looked up only to find that she was not being addressed was an embarrassingly high number. “Isla, hi,” she smiled at the other woman as she approached. “Me? Oh, nothing too much. Since the cruise, I’ve been busy working at the salon. Lots of appointments for Halloween festivities.” She hadn’t booked another event, unless she counted potentially working for Ben.

Şeyda was fully enjoying the Halloween festivities around town. The thrills and horror were not for her, but she loved the other aspects. Decorating with pumpkins, the color changing of the leaves and not to mention all the delicious foods. As she wandered around downtown Vancouver, the amount of people could be seen as overwhelming but Şeyda was in her own world. As she found herself headed toward the market of Halloween crafts, her shoulder hit into another. “Oh gosh!” She threw her hands up to her mouth, knowing that she was far too small to have actually hurt anyone, but her immediate reaction was to make sure the other was okay. “Are you alright? I am so sorry, I was so distracted by all -” she gestured around them, “all of this.”

Going on the haunted hayride wasn’t exactly something she was looking forward too, but when proposed with the idea by a friend, she knew she couldn’t say no. “Okay, you have to promise not to make fun of me if I scream,” she told him, looking over at him and placing her hand on his knee, “or if I nearly fall off this dang thing because of a jump scare,” she admitted with a laugh, shaking her head. “Are you nervous? I’m nervous,” enough that she was bouncing her leg. 

After the movie, the brunette headed straight toward the food trucks, finding that being scared in the local park was enough to work up an appetite. Şeyda moved toward the food trucks, where she found the line had already built up quite a length. Recognizing the person in front of her, she lightly tapped on him on the shoulder, “Elijah, hey,” she smiled at him. He was only a year older than she was, but that didn’t mean they were all that connected with one another. She noticed his bad boy reputation, at least until he seemed to settle down. Şeyda would be lying to herself if she hadn’t had a crush on him at some point with how easily she found herself falling in love back in the day. “Şeyda,” she introduced herself, in case he didn’t remember her. “You know what’s good here? I’m starving and I don’t think I can risk another line,” she laughed softly. 

**

With Lila slowly making her way back into Mattie’s life, Boyd thought it was important he still had one day a week, just him and his daughter, where they went out and did something fun together. This week was pottery painting, but with the studio not having any designated parking, they’d had to park a few blocks away and walk over.

He always tired to model good behavior for his child, so when he saw someone up ahead drop their bag, he rushed up to help them retrieve it. As soon as he realized who it was, he almost wished he hadn’t. “Şeyda,” he said with a mild tone of surprised, and he wasn’t sure he could have possibly thought of a stupider thing to say. As if she didn’t know her own damn name… “I, uh, hi.” He was acutely aware that Mattie had caught up to him, and was now standing at his side.

Seeing Boyd once more, she was hit with the memories of the time the two had spent together and more importantly, the way that he didn’t tell her about his daughter. As she moved her gaze to another figure that approached, she realized it was in fact, that daughter that he had lied about until it was too much to handle. “Hi, back,” she managed to finally say, looking back at Boyd with a small smile. “Is - this is your daughter, right?” In the years since their break up, the brunette had not kept in contact with him much, let alone met his daughter since. 

seydaxbulak​:

“That’s great to hear,” she always wanted the best for people she was fond of in her life. While it hadn’t exactly worked out with Boyd - Şeyda had never harbored any ill feelings toward Sawyer. “I’m doing well,” not entirely a lie. She had been doing better since she was out from under the grasp of Greg Walsh and coming into her own for event planning. “Alright, yeah, drinks,” she nodded her head, leading the blonde toward the bar, “free drinks, too, you can’t beat that, huh?”

—

Momentarily, Sawyer had forgotten that the drinks were free, and the realization made her laugh, head nodding along in agreement. “Free drinks are, like, definitively better.” Even if she had a feeling they were being watered down due to the size of the event…but again, free drinks. A small price to pay for there being literally no price to pay. As they approached the bar and awaited the bartender’s attention, she racked her brain for something to say, anything to ask, but the best she could come up with is, “so…are you here with anybody?” Odd thing, maybe, to ask her brother’s (whose name she refused to even think, still on strike from their latest fight) ex….whatever she was, but she was operating off limited knowledge here.

“Yes, they are,” she knew that free drinks were definitely the appeal regardless of the event. Weddings, especially were the woman’s favorite place to find the drinks to be free. “Me?” She shook her head at Sawyer’s question. “Oh no, I am not with anyone. Mostly just working tonight,” she told the younger woman. Şeyda did not find herself involved with anyone at the moment, mostly due to how thing ended up last time for her. “Are you?” She mused curiously in response. 

seydaxbulak​:

“It really is, I think that I am ready for that.” She had spent far too long under the thumbs of others without a spine to stand up for herself. “I like it a lot so far, it’s a tough business but I really enjoy the work that comes with it, so I think that makes it better,” it was still new to her. While it was scary, it was something she had been wanting to do for quite some time. When Greg retired, it had been time to take the plunge while starting her job as a receptionist at the local salon. “I did, yeah,” her eyes lifted as she moved them around the room. There was so much work that went into it. “I’ve done a small wedding, an elopement,” she told Ben, “a few work parties and even a bachelorette party just a few weeks prior to this one. Though, truth be told this one has taken up most of my time so I’m not sure what’s next once it’s all said and done.”

.

“Stepping out my own was the most intimidating, best thing I ever did,” Ben tried to reassure her.  Different kinds of business and yielding different results, obviously, but the same concept at least.  “I think enjoying the work itself makes all the difference in how much you can handle, though.  The more you enjoy it, the more tolerance you have for small examples of things not going your way.” There was a moment, a pang, when she mentioned having planned a small wedding.  He and Val had really only kicked around primarily dates and a few other details of a wedding.  He wasn’t sure why just thinking about Seyda planning one was a little bit of a thing for him, but it was.  It was absolutely a welcome change of pace when she mentioned work parties. 

“Well, maybe your next step could be some kind of holiday party for my law firm.  It’s not as big as this boat, by a long shot, but you could have complete discretion over everything except the guest list.” 

“It’s definitely intimidating,” she could only speak from trying to step out into the event planning field, she couldn’t imagine being a lawyer, coming from a family like his. “You make a fair point,” the brunette noted with a wag of her finger. “The small things are far more tolerable when it’s something you like, like for instance, in another world I might have had a complete meltdown if I found out one of the servers was completely wasted instead of serving drinks but,” she shrugged her shoulders, “but tonight, that was manageable and problem taken care.” Şeyda explained with a smile on her lips. 

“Wait -,” her lips parted slightly, eyes growing wide at his offer. In talking to Ben, she didn’t expect to end up with a potential event to plan, just conversation to pass the time. “you’re serious?” Her brows came back to the neutral state, “I - I would love that honestly, if you - if you need it. I mean, wow, uh, that would be amazing.” She found herself stumbling over her words as she buzzed not only with the drink, but now the launching of her career. 

who: @seydaxbulak​

where: city brew pub

when: october 18th

Try as one might to avoid her, it seemed doing so was next to impossible these days. Everywhere he went, there she was. On the cruise ship? There. At his favorite coffee shop? There. Tonight, at City Brew Pub on a Tuesday? There she is, again. At this point, his father’s ex mistress was inescapable and unavoidable. And being that, Bram had one too many shot glasses already - his inability to ignore her was going strong. “Let me guess,” he slurs, when joining her at the bar. “Scoping out someone else’s husband? That’s your shtick, right?”

Şeyda had the next morning off from the salon and found herself at City Brew Pub before heading home. She sat quietly at the bar, stirring the ice in her vodka cranberry drink when a slurred voice caught her attention. Turning her head, she found herself looking at non other than Bram Walsh. While it seemed that her and Ben could find themselves on even ground, Bram clearly did not. Her cheeks flushed at the man’s comment, not because it was true but because she was embarrassed of what had happened, regretful of the way she was a fool and found herself in an impossible situation. “Excuse me,” she shot back, finding a semblance of a spine in that moment, “you have no idea what you are talking about.”