Erkenci Kuş One-Shots/Short-Stories #CanEm

10. Turning Point -Part 2

Continued from the previous chapter.

Sanem has resigned from the company and has decided to take up the offer by Yigit. I've taken some liberties with timelines. Yay for fiction 😊

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3 Months Later...

Sanem

The last 3 months had flown by for Sanem. She really enjoyed working at Yigit's firm. It was a small startup with a bare-bones staff. But Sanem was used to multi-tasking and Yigit had a brilliant, creative mind. They got along really well and she felt like they had been friends all their lives. She missed Can with every fiber of her being, but she realized that she needed this space to find herself. For the first time in her life she felt truly confident and self-assured. She even had her friends from Fikr-I Harika over for dinner once and invited Yigit and and her other colleagues at the new firm. Yigit was quite taken with Deren, and Sanem was happy to play wing-woman.

Can had left for London with Polen the following day, before she even left the hospital. Only Emre knew his whereabouts, and Sanem never brought his name up in conversation.

Leyla and Osman had finally done the sensible thing and broken off their engagement. Emre and Leyla were being a little more public about their affection for each other and he had even managed to win over a skeptical Mevkibe. Although Sanem wagered a guess that Can would always be her favorite Divit son, in spite of the turn of events. Mevkibe didn't know all the details but she suspected that there was enough blame to go around, and she would leave it at that. One of the best side effects of Leyla and Emre getting together was that Huma decided there was nothing to keep her in Istanbul and she went back to Switzerland. Leyla won many points at the office for that particular turn of events.

Since Can was no longer around, Sanem would stop by the old office every once in a while. Fikr-I Harika was still struggling from all the clients they lost, and Deren and CeyCey would often tell Sanem how much they missed her. Deren had become a closer friend over the last few months - although her frequent visits to Sanem's office had more to do with Yigit, and Sanem was quite okay with that. She wanted everyone around her to be happy.

At Ayhan's insistence she even went out for a date with Sinan once and didn't turn away when he kissed her lightly on the lips at the end. But Sanem had experienced kisses that set her on fire, and this one was a wet blanket at best. She could never settle for less. Sinan realized that too and they agreed to remain good friends.

Deren was visiting one day to have lunch with Yigit and Sanem joined them, when it suddenly hit her. She jumped out of her chair. Yigit was always amused by her extreme reactions. "Deren, Yigit, I have the best idea ever! We should merge the two companies! Harika needs a creative head and Yigit is brilliant at what he does, and this firm has already started building up a good client base and could use all the talent at Fikri. We would be a powerhouse together! Come on! You know its a fantastic idea! Deren, you and I would work together again! Oh, and even better, you and Yigit would be working together! See, you won't have to pretend to come see me when you want to spend time with him", Sanem teased.

Deren and Yigit looked at each other, this was actually a good idea! Sanem immediately called Emre and everyone gathered in Emre's office to discuss the options. Emre made some calls to the lawyers and sent Can an email as well, to keep him up to date.

A month later everything was set for the merger. Yigit would lead the creative side of things, taking over Can's position, and Emre would continue to be in charge of the finances while Sanem would return as Director. Everything was in place, the only thing remaining was a signature from Can.

Can

It was the longest 3 months of his life. He had headed back to London with Polen and left on assignment to Thailand the very next day. On the flight he managed to convince Polen that they really were well and truly done. It was a closed chapter.

Thailand was as beautiful as he remembered and yet somehow dimmer, less vibrant. Or maybe that was him. He felt like a part of his soul was missing. Emre was his only link to Istanbul and he would get general updates about the company and Emre's growing relationship with Leyla but the one time Emre tried to tell him about Sanem, he shut him down. He needed to severe all ties. But he wondered, ah, did he wonder.

Everything reminded him of her - at night when he looked up at the stars and searched for Orion, during the day when he tried a new dish and wanted to see the look of joy on her face as he described it, in the evenings when he reached for a book he knew she had read, and when the day was done and he lay in bed and looked at a picture of her every night before he turned in. She was everywhere.

8 weeks later he was done with the project, and he headed over to Vietnam. But only a few weeks later he needed something new and didn't know where to go next. Istanbul was out of the question, London did not hold any appeal. Sri Lanka - that's where his heart was pointing. He would go and visit the old couple again. Maybe they would help him heal.

A few days later he found himself at their doorstep. They were overjoyed to see him and welcomed him like a long lost son. Can smiled from his heart for the first time in a long time. He told them every thing that had happened to him since the last time they saw him. "Do you have another stone you can give me that can fix my heart and head", he joked. Nipuni, the old lady, smiled wisely. "The only stone you need is on a chain around someone's neck. Find your way back to that stone and everything will fall into place"

"She gave the scent away, Nipuni. That was supposed to be ours. Mine", he sulked.

Nipuni smacked his knee lightly in reproach. "Are you in love with her or her scent?"

"You don't understand, she lied to me, even though she knew it is the one thing I hate the most", Can said.

"Can, my boy, why did she do it? Who did she do it for? You. Always you. She thought with her heart and not her head, and that is hardly a crime. Yes, she is immature and impetuous, but she is driven by love, for you. How can you begrudge that? I'm not justifying her lies, but maybe if she thought she could confide in you, she wouldn't feel the need to lie. Everyone searches for their one great love, the one who will move heaven and earth for them. She did that for you, and then you pulled the ground out from under her. If you can't forgive her, who will you forgive?". She patted him gently on the cheek, "I think you know what you need to do"

He returned to the hotel and Nipuni's words kept playing in his head. Of course she was right. She was always right. His phone dinged and he looked down to see a message from Emre. Everything was in place for the merger and they just needed his signature to finalize the deal.

It was a sign - a turning point. He was heading back to Istanbul....

To Be Continued