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July arrived with a heat that had everyone melting at their desks. It was hot. Too hot. They must have bought out the entire local stock of fans as the whole office was full of them; a secondary battalion against the rising temperature. Most of the workers put up with the annoying buzzing in return for being able to stick their heads in front of the breeze, which they spent more time doing than actually working. Productivity went down the drain. The mournful death of the air conditioning a week into the heatwave sparked a riot led by Can himself. The fans alone were not enough; it was sweltering and Sanem was struggling.
The office closed for a few days while the repairs took place, providing Can and Sanem with the chance to lounge around the mountain hut, climbing in and out of the swimming pool when the sun became too unbearable. Arslan joined them at the hut and eventually joined them in the pool after Sanem's encouragement. It occurred to Can that it was lucky they had decided against building another pool at the house. The hut provided the convenience of a private place to swim without the dangers of a crawling baby wandering astray and stumbling into the water unexpectedly. It wasn't unheard of. But at least it wasn't something they would have to fret about while relaxing in the garden at home.
A few days later, he received the call that the air con was up and running again. He let everyone know they would be expected back at the office the following morning, but a part of him wanted to leave Sanem unaware so she could have a few more days off. His plan was thwarted when a message from Leila arrived on Sanem's phone, asking if she wanted to spend tomorrow's lunch break together.
"The office is open again?" Sanem puzzled, glancing at Can.
"Uhh, no..." But he had never been very good at lying.
"Leyla seems to think it is." She said, pursing her lips.
"I mean, yes. It is," He paused. "I just thought..."
"What?"
"I just thought maybe you could have a bit more time off."
Sanem rolled her eyes. "Can, we are not having this conversation again. The baby is two whole months away, I am fine, I want to be working and if you insist I stay at home all day and rest I'm going to claw my eyes out with boredom. I love you. But it's not happening."
It didn't stop his attempts to collude with Deren to reduce Sanem's workload, which only lasted a week before Sanem caught on and, in retaliation, hit him in the head with a paper plane that had the words 'Stop it' written in red letters. She was too stubborn. But if she wasn't going to take it easy at work then maybe he could at least make things easier at home.
So far, they'd been balancing the household chores evenly but it was immediately obvious to Sanem when Can began to not-so-slyly take on more and more of the jobs on her half of the list. It was a bit annoying. She was pregnant, not an invalid. But mostly she found it endearing. And if she was honest, there were certain things she was beginning to need help with. She'd been slightly mortified when she'd gotten stuck on the floor in the utility room one afternoon while trying to do laundry. Can had been in the kitchen when he heard her helpless cry of 'Caaaan'. He'd rushed in with a worried look on his face that nearly made her giggle. He blinked at her as she sat on the ground in front of the washing machine, a basket of damp clothes next to her.
