You Will Never Walk Alone (DefÖm)

The End of an Era

An ordinary afternoon. Both Defne and Ömer were at work, each of them was in their offices. Ömer was working on a new shoe model and Defne did some work, related to her job as a Director of Logistics.

Suddenly, Defne's phone rang. She looked at it and saw that it was İso. Picking up the phone, she said "Alo, İso?! How are you?"

From the other side sounded İso's voice which was mixed with a little sadness "Defo, are you free right now? Are you able to talk?"

"Yes, I am, İso." Defne replied "What is going on? Is everything alright?"

"It is about S-Sadri U-Usta..." İso replied back

"Allah, Allah, what about him?" she asked him "Did anything happen?"

"S-Sadri Usta has p-passed away earlier today." he answered with a skipping voice

"NE?!" Defne exclaimed with a shock

"Yes, it happened..." İso replied

"D-Does Ö-Ömer know about it?" she asked her friend

"No, I have not talked with him." he answered "I thought it would be better to call you first. You will know the best how to tell him..."

"Tamam, tamam, I will tell him right away, do not worry." she replied

"Okay, Defo." he replied "Görüşürüz."

"Görüşürüz." she replied and they ended the phone call

Defne left her phone on her desk and thought about what İso just told her. Master Sadri's death was not something unexpected, but when Defne heard about it, she could not believe it. And she, also, had to tell this heartbreaking news to Ömer, as well. And she knew well enough how dear Master Sadri was to Ömer. However hard it was, she knew that she had to tell him one way or another. Defne then made up her mind, stood up from her chair and made her way up the stairs, to Passionis.

Lifting his head up from the paper sheet for a while, Ömer saw that his beloved wife was walking straight to his office. Ömer smiled and stood up to welcome her.

"Aşkım!" Ömer exclaimed, stretching his arms to hug her

"Ömer..." Defne replied, hugging him tight

"Ah, ne güzel kokuyorsun..." he said, inhaling her scent

She smiled and replied "Sen de..."

Ömer then pulled away and looked at her. He noticed the tiny bit of concern on her beautiful face and asked her "Defne, is everything alright, aşkım? You seem concerned."

Defne looked at him, took a deep breath and answered "Ömer, I need to tell you something really important..."

"Tell me." he replied

"İso called me minutes ago." Defne replied back "S-Sadri U-Usta has passed away earlier today."

"Ne?!" Ömer exclaimed with a shock

"Yes, it is true..." Defne replied

"Usta..." Ömer exclaimed with a hint of sadness in his voice

Noticing that he was trying to hold his tears back, Defne hugged her husband tight, giving him a shoulder to cry on.

"There is no need to hold your tears back." she said in the most gentle manner, stroking his nape "If you are feeling like crying, you can cry. Pour your soul."

Defne was speaking words of comfort, while hugging Ömer.

Ömer let it out and allowed himself to cry in his wife's hug for a while. Defne just stood there silently and hugged him until he was feeling at least a little bit better.

Ömer then sat down in his chair and Defne sat onto the desk, in front of him.

"Do you have any more information about this?" Ömer asked her

"No, I do not." Defne answered "İso, too, did not know much more than this."

"Tamam." he replied "Do you have any more work today?"

"There are a few more things, but they are not urgent." she answered "The important things are done."

"Okay, good." he replied "If you are done, let's go and see İso."

"Tabi, tabi, we will go." she replied

"Okay, I will tell Şükrü to prepare the car." he said

"Tamam." she replied "Then, I will go get my stuff."

"I will be waiting for you outside, then." Ömer said

"Tamam." Defne replied

Then Defne quickly went to her office to take her belongings, while Ömer called Şükrü to tell him to prepare the car. Ömer freed Şükrü for the rest of the day and got behind the steering wheel, and Defne climbed into the front passenger seat.

Half an hour later they were at the workshop where İso worked.

"Hoşgeldiniz." İso exclaimed, seeing them "My condolences, Ömer!"

Ömer nodded his head.

"When did it happen, İso?" Ömer asked him

"His son called me around noon." İso answered "He said the Master had passed away in the morning."

"Did he say anything about the funeral?" Ömer asked

"He did not say anything." İso answered "He said that once he had information about everything, he would call."

"İyi, tamam." Ömer replied

Two days later everyone who loved Master Sadri, or knew him at least a little bit, had gathered at the Master's funeral, to say one last goodbye to him. For some people he was father, for others - grandfather, for third - a coach in life, or just a dear friend. Ömer, Defne, Sinan, Necmi, İso, Serdar and Nihan, and Hulüsi, all were present at the funeral. Defne mostly stood there as a moral support for Ömer, since she knew how hard it was for him to lose a loved person like Master Sadri. In the end, it was him who made the shoe designer Ömer İplikçi.

Throughout the entire funeral Defne did not let go of Ömer's hand, holding it as tight as she could, assuring him that she was there with him.

After the funeral, everyone was invited to Master Sadri's home, to honour the loss of a great person like him.

On the next day Defne and Ömer did not go to work, because Ömer needed some time to process Master Sadri's death. Defne could not leave her husband alone in such a moment, so she decided to remain at home, too, thus Zehra was free that day and did not need to babysit Emine.

İplikçi spent the whole day together, in the comfort of their own home. Ömer showed Defne some pictures of his younger self and Master Sadri and told her about how they met and how Master Sadri awoke Ömer's passion for creating shoe designs for women. Defne listened to him with interest, while continuing to support him like she always did.

On the following day, İplikçi were back at work, doing their daily tasks.