His mother thanked Faruk for the soft blanket as soon as he entered. She said he had chosen exactly her favorite color. He looked at the package on the armchair and assumed his sister sent it. But the card bore his name in Merima's handwriting. He and Merima had separated five months earlier. Their breakup had been quiet, exhausted by long conversations, without one major event easily explained to relatives.
Faruk had not yet told his mother everything. He knew she loved Merima and would try mediating. He merely said they were busy and would not visit together for a while. Now he found that postponement folded into a blanket with a message speaking for him. His mother added that the earlier teas were good too. Those teas were another thing he knew nothing about.
After the visit he called Merima. She admitted sending gifts since the breakup. His mother had been close to her, and she did not want to lose that relationship too. Why his name, then? Because she feared a direct gift would look like an attempt to return. Faruk asked how putting his name on a card preserved anyone's honesty. She did not answer immediately.
Merima had neither taken his money nor requested repayment. That made the conversation harder: he could not demonstrate the problem through an amount. She spent her own money on something kind but used it to prolong a performance in which he remained her partner. His mother began planning a shared holiday lunch, convinced work was their only difficulty.
Faruk finally told his mother the relationship had ended. He acknowledged his own fault in avoiding the conversation. He explained the gifts without calling Merima a bad person. His mother said she would keep the blanket because it was warm but wanted to know who sent things in future. Later she called Merima herself. Their relationship could remain if it stopped hiding behind another signature.
Faruk and Merima met to return their last belongings. There was no renewed reconciliation attempt. She said losing his family had been harder than she admitted. He listened without offering his return as medicine. Several weeks later his mother showed him a postcard signed by Merima. He felt slightly uncomfortable but not betrayed. Everyone could finally choose their own relationship without a hidden intermediary keeping the former one alive for them.