TWO BIRDS OF A FEATHER

The merit of motherhood...

Can knew he could have kept going with examples of Hüma's presumed attempts of failed worrying, but he chose not to. It was useless. It was pointless. And above all it was far too painful. He bid Emre goodnight, and retired to his bedroom. Standing alone in the kitchen, Emre stood still. They were brothers. But how often did they actually act as such? He used to consider Can to be his rival. But not anymore. The more time he spent with Can, and to be honest - Sanem and Leyla, he was beginning to realize how important sibling love was. No one witnessed his mistakes and failures the way Can did, yet he forgave him. And for the first time in his life he felt a true brotherly love with Can, standing in that kitchen. Because Can did something he never had done before. He opened up to him. Though Emre grew up without Aziz, he never got to experience how it felt like being ripped apart from a parent. How it felt to be left behind. It never donned on Emre that Can wasn't jealous of his relationship with their mother, he was simply hurt because she left without him. And the fact that she returned ripped the wounds in Can's heart wide open...

The next morning Fikri Harika witnessed an unprecedented arrival of its most unwelcomed new guest member. Hüma Erdamar walked in fully expecting to be treated as the head mistress of agency, and it's owner. She immediately dubbed Ceycey with his new title of the "Office Boy" and downplayed Deren to a role of a quite low denominator. But that was not as much of a shock to all of them as it was to witness Hüma welcome Aylin with open arms. Aylin knew how to butter up Hüma's dominant ego, and Hüma accepted it all. It appeared that the women not only spoke the same language, they also shared the same train of thought. They went to speak in Emre's office, and Aylin spared no time in making sure she painted Sanem and Leyla in the worst possible light. Hüma took in all of Aylin's information, unaware that she should have trusted her sons more than she trusted Aylin.

No sooner did Sanem and Leyla made it in to the agency, Ceycey rushed to Sanem's side to give her the urgent news of Hüma's arrival. The news did indeed made Sanem tremble, but it wasn't so crushing until Hüma walked out of Emre's office practically embracing Aylin. Both of these women were bad news, but combined, who knew what that could mean for everyone's future. Sanem pretended Hüma's presence did not affect her, but Hüma made it a point to stop and look at Sanem in a way that made Ceycey cringe, literally.

Soon after, the Divit brothers walked in and greeted everyone, with a plan to finalize the Redmode campaign on their mind. That changed the moment Hüma approached them, again fully expecting to be greeted in a proper manner due to her status. Unable to stop himself, Can hissed at her attempt to greet them. He was not about to pretend he paid any attention to her, much less any respect. She was shocked. She told Can to treat her with respect. Can kept his cool, and advised her that respect was given when it was deserved. She was outraged. She was downright appalled.  She asked him in her best poised and collected way why would he ever dare to speak to her in such a way? He replied with full honesty. Would she really like to know WHY she was being greeted in exactly this way by him? She was speechless, but he did hit her in the exact place he knew where to hit. It wasn't her motherly heart that he hit. It was her pride...

Can walked into his office and closed the door to keep Hüma out. But not Sanem. She was always welcome, especially when she came with a cup of her çay. He smiled the moment he raised his head after hearing the knock on his door. Ahh, Sanem, ahh. She was a sight for his sore eyes after seeing Hüma. He needed to hold her, needed to feel her touch, needed to kiss her. She agreed to all except the kiss. After all, Hüma could come in at any moment to see them. And that was not something Sanem wanted her to see. Can chuckled. Hüma could sit right there on his sofa and look at him kissing Sanem for all he cared. He did not want to hear about Hüma, Aylin, Fabri, or anyone else for that matter. He just wanted to concentrate on work and their task of winning the Redmode campaign.

So, they got right to work. That is, Sanem did. As for Can? All he could concentrate on was Sanem. Sanem and her beautiful ever glowing face. Her lips, her eyes, her cutest buttoned nose. Ahh, Sanem, ahh was right. She was his distraction from Hüma's crushing presence, and the best distraction under the sun. He got so lost in his thoughts about her that he barely heard her calling out his name. But he did hear the ring of the phone. Sanem's phone. And immediately regretted looking at it. Seeing Fabri's name raised all the red alarms in his head. He picked up the phone and let his temper dictate his words. He not only told Fabri not to call Sanem anymore, he warned him not to do so. Fabri spoke little, but chose not to argue. If Can wanted to think he had won, Fabri chose to make him think that way, at least for the moment.

Can had little time to think about Fabri. He had other things to worry about. Namely, his mother. Hüma decided to make herself known to the agency's employees. But it wasn't about her getting to know them, it was more about them becoming fully aware of who she was, and what her position meant to the rest of them. Emre was beginning to suspect what she wanted to do. He approached her in an innocent way about it, but she simply replied that she wasn't just a guest at the agency, she would become a regular. And all they could do now was get used to it.

As soon as Hüma was introduced to the employees by Deren, she asked Deren if such a large number of employees was really necessary. Everyone froze hearing those words. Suddenly Deren turned from a demanding manager to a caring one, making sure she explained to Hüma that everyone was needed at the agency and everyone's work was much appreciated. Everyone's, even Sanem's. Though Sanem missed Hüma's main introduction, she came in time to hear Hüma's utter displeasure of the proposed Redmode campaign proposal. Hüma insulted Sanem left and right, even pointing out that she hid in the archive room to make sure others did not see she wasn't really working. It did not help that the employees advised Hüma that Can approved Sanem's project. If Sanem had anything to do with it, the project was and going to be a failure. She not only belittled the color scheme of the campaign that Can and Sanem both chose, she went so far as ridiculing her Sanem's çay. Although the rest of the employees missed her comment about the color of the çay, Sanem was perfectly aware that Hüma took a direct jab at Sanem's choices. All of them.

Sanem was hurt, but she accepted Hüma's insults. She was ready for them. What she did not accept was how Hüma reacted to hearing that Leyla was Emre's assistant. Hüma requested to see Leyla for herself. Aylin took the greatest pleasure in summoning Leyla, making it clear and obvious that her status as the agency's partner should be respected. When Leyla joined them, Hüma took Leyla's good manners and respect as a sign of weakness. Even more so, Hüma ridiculed the fact that Sanem and Leyla were sisters without any remorse, much to everyone's shock.

But there was one person that was not shocked. None by the least. Can came out of his office and watched with disgust in his gut as Hüma treated Leyla, Sanem, and the rest of his employees. Enough was enough. He walked up to Hüma and interrupted her loathesome monologue. This was no place for her, and definitely not the time for her to come in and expect for everyone to bow down to her. He crossed over to Sanem, and caressed her cheek to make sure she was alright. He turned to Hüma, and told her that she was the last person to know how the agency ran its business, and made sure to add that she would never understand the importance of the color of Sanem's çay.

After Can asked everyone to get back to work, Hüma stopped him. She wasn't someone who could be brushed aside, nor humiliated in front of others. She told Can he was wrong to trust others with work the way they did. She also mentioned that Aziz would never trust persons without merit and without proper experience. Can stopped her. He advised her that she was the last person on earth who could speak of any sort of merit or trust. After all, Aziz trusted her with motherhood, without any kind of merit of motherhood whatsoever...