Set You Free (CANEM)

I

The sun was gently setting over the Turkish coast as the taxi drove them closer to the party. Sanem and Leyla sat side by side in the back, with Leyla immersed in her phone but instead, Sanem stared out to the sea on the edge of the highway. 

She had been thinking a lot lately about her complicated relationship with her lover. It was hard not to with her photographic memory. To the outside world, Can seemed like an intimidating man. Tall build, muscular, bearded and emotionless. He seemed bold and reckless to some; that was how she viewed him when they first met, anyhow. 

At first, she was an unsuspecting intern in a new company that her sister had been working in. Young, oblivious and easy to manipulate. It was her first job. With what she had been told, she developed an unsuspecting hatred for him at first as he had taken the place of the old boss in the company; his father. To the current staff, he was merely an impostor that did not know how to manage a company and would take it to its grave. Due to this, she agreed carelessly.

All he was was a wanderer, a freelancer; unable to stay in one place for very long without rushing away like the wind.

Nevertheless, she learned to love him with an infatuation she could not control. It concerned her; she had never fallen in love before, especially with her boss. She was in her early twenties and she didn't know any better. The man that was more mature than her, had more experience in life than her and was from a different social class. 

She learned to simply deal with these emotions because everything stood between them. Especially Emre, Can's brother. Another of her bosses. A lanky man who at face value appeared kind and compassionate but was destructive on the inside. Only recently had she truly learned about the extent of his dislike for his own brother. 

She was under his tutorage in the early stages and knowing no better, she followed him blindly. Emre had her gather intel on her brother's dealings and his private life. He wanted to understand how he ran the business so he could jeopardise it - solely because their father chose not to hand the company over to him. From what she had learned, he had been setting up a new company with his girlfriend in advertising to destroy his own and take his brother's clients.

She had been a spy in the office.

Only a month or so ago had she found this out.

Sanem knew she had a part to play in all of this but nonetheless, it had been Emre who had forced lies between them. 

For a mere moment, Can and Sanem had shared a successful relationship and it was one of the best moments of her life. As it was frowned upon, the majority of it was in secret. But now, the man no longer trusted her or anybody else, even cutting relations with his own brother.

Sanem watched the road mindfully, coming back to herself and noticed that the night was drawing in. She breathed gradually, letting the negative memories gently flood into her mind.

From the beginning, their relationship had been on the rocks but it finally broke down when he eventually found out some of the secrets she had been hiding. The moments were still like a fresh wound. The way his once caring face turned hurt and injured. 

To the best of her knowledge, Can had experienced a tough upbringing and had difficulty letting people in, even beforehand. It caused him to be overly untrusting and he isolated himself. These lies only created a deeper, wider divide between them. 

She was the only person he considered, opening himself up for her. He lay bare, discussing his past and sharing all of his feelings.

But after her rejection from his life, he told her he could never trust her again.