When they arrived at the estate, Deniz and Bulut were loading baskets of fruit and vegetables into the pick-up truck to take to the village. Can parked next to them. He helped Sanem out of the car and walked over to give Deniz a hand.
MEANWHILE...
Mihriban took advantage of the moment of solitude and left the house dragging a trolley. Deniz and Bulut were in the village. And Can and Sanem would not be back until evening, She thought. It was the right time. She could not bear goodbyes. In her hand she clutched a letter. She took a deep breath and set off. As she waited for the taxi to arrive, decided to pass, one last time, through the vegetable garden. It was easier to say goodbye to her plants than to the people who lived with her. Then she arrived at the house with a swimming pool, where Aziz had been staying. She opened it, went inside, walked around and looked for the perfect spot. She placed the envelope on a spice rack on the top of the large kitchen island, so that it was clearly visible from the entrance. The envelope clearly read: "FOR CAN & SANEM".
Then she went out, closed the door and walked to the car park to wait for the taxi she had called. She arrived there with her head down, tears in her eyes. She stopped when she heard herself being called.
"Mihriban!"
She looked up and saw that they were all there. Can, Sanem, Bulut and Deniz staring at her. She was taken aback. And in that instant she noticed how everyone's gaze went from her face to the suitcase she was carrying. Now it was done. She had to face them. She wiped the tears from her eyes, took a deep breath, unleashed one of her smiles and approached.
"Sister Mihriban? What is that suitcase? What are you hiding in it?" asked Bulut.
"By any chance, have you decided to take my advice and go to a yoga class?" asked Deniz.
"We can accompany you, just in case. We are going to the village. It's on the way." said Bulut.
"No, guys. Thank you. No need." Mihriban said in a broken voice, holding back tears.
Can, who was closest to her, reached out a hand and laid it on her shoulder in comfort. "Sister Mihriban, are you all right? Where are you going?"
Mihriban exchanged a fleeting glance with Sanem. She had understood correctly.
Sanem stood petrified, her wide eyes unconsciously filling with tears. "No..." said Sanem with her voice barely coming out, not taking her eyes off hers.
"Guys, I'm leaving," said Mihriban.
"What?!" exclaimed Deniz.
"What?!" exclaimed Bulut.
"Why?" asked Sanem.
"Where?" asked Can.
"I'm going to Cuba. I'm going to reach your father. I have to talk to him face to face. Volkan, as you know has flown there. He called yesterday, found a lot of useful information. He photographed Selim with several people, he is still investigating at the moment. I decided to leave for that too. There's nothing I can do from here now. And I need to follow this story myself and see it through. I can't sit still and wait for someone to give me information. I need to be present. See and understand with my own eyes... and act accordingly." she explained, trying to be as convincing as possible.
"Mihriban, are you crazy? This is dangerous!" exclaimed Sanem.
"Why? For his father is not dangerous?" exclaimed Mihriban fiercely.
Everyone became petrified.
She continued. "He is! He is dangerous. And he is doing it despite the fact that he has nothing to do with it. And despite his health condition. And I can't stand it. I can't bear the idea that he is risking so much for me. I MUST go." she scanned the words well and strongly.
"I don't believe it. She has lost his mind. We really need therapy here!" exclaimed Deniz.
"I have not lost my mind. I am very lucid. Perhaps, I am much more lucid than I have been in a long time." she retorted.
"In these two days I have thought and realised that this is the best solution. Staying here at the moment doesn't make me feel good, I can't find peace. I must act." she replied.
"But how will you find Aziz in Cuba?" asked Bulut. "Do you need help? Can I..."
"No, Bulut, thank you." She quickly interrupted him. "I don't need anything. Volkan has tracked down your father, Can." she said, turning to him. "I don't want to involve you in this any more than you already are. You already feel sorry enough for me, and it's not fair. You are married, you are happy, your jobs are going well, the agency is doing well. You deserve the happiness and carefreeness that, for one reason or another, you have always lacked. And I won't be the one to take that away from you this time."
"But the estate? Do you really want to abandon your home?" asked Deniz echoing Sanem's question.
"The only favour I ask of you is this. Take care of this estate and its land. Guys this is your home. Can and Sanem live here. I could not leave it in better hands. And you..." turning to Deniz and Bulut... "This has always been your home. I would be very pleased if you would stay. Knowing that you will also be here at the estate... would make me happy, but you have decisions to make about your lives... and I don't want to stand in your way. I don't want to force you. Just know that this estate is open to all of you." said Mihriban barely holding back tears.
"I can't believe it! Really? You're leaving now?" asked Sanem trembling, pointing at the suitcase.
Can immediately pulled her close, massaging her back to calm her down.
"I have a flight from Istanbul at 9pm. And the taxi is coming." she confirmed.
"And you wouldn't have told us anything? If we hadn't seen you with your suitcase, you would have left without saying a word?!" exclaimed Sanem crying in anger.
"Sanem, child, don't be like this. It is hard enough to leave you, believe me. I am not good with goodbyes." Mihriban replied.
"Then don't leave us." Sanem retorted.
Mihriban approached her, took her hands in her and said: "Sanem, my daughter, you should understand me better than anyone. You have been there yourself. I don't want to reopen your wound. But you felt the need to leave the neighbourhood, to move on, to act. And I need it now, too. And if I stayed here right now, it would be like giving up. You taught me to fight. And now I really want to do it."
"But will you make the journey alone, Mihriban?" asked Bulut.
"Yes, Volkan will be waiting for me at the airport when I land, to fill me in." said Mihriban.
"Can, son, listen, take care of Sanem," he told her.
"I will do that Mihriban. Don't worry." he replied.
"Ah! The taxi has arrived. I must hurry." she hastened to say.
She approached Deniz and Bulut. "Guys, I love you. Thank you for being here. Be sure to keep me posted."
"Sanem, my daughter, rest assured, everything will be fine. I cannot thank you enough for being here on the estate. You are the ray of sunshine that makes this whole place shine. I love you."
Mihriban hugged Can and Sanem tightly, then Bulut and Deniz. She walked to the taxi.
"Sanem, I am expecting to hear news from you soon. I am sure there will be. I can feel it, it's in the air." she told winking at her.
Before getting in, she turned one last time towards them and added: "And remember, this is not goodbye, but farewell!"
"Bon voyage!" wished her Sanem, followed by the others.
She disappeared into the car. Bulut closed the door. Deniz, took the bottle of water she had there, on Bulut's pick-up and threw some behind the taxi, as a sign of good luck. The last image Mihriban wanted to remember was Can and Sanem locked in an embrace as they greeted her, there in front of what she had always called home until then.
Sanem remained fixed, motionless, watching the taxi take Mihriban away. For her, every person leaving was a stab in the stomach. She could not stop the tears. It had all been too fast, too sudden. Her head was spinning. At one point she let out a sob. And Can still held her tightly against him, massaging her back.
"I can't believe she's really gone." Sanem said between sobs.
Deniz, also with tears in her eyes, approached her: 'Little lamb, don't cry. Just breathe. Calm down. She wouldn't want to see you like this. You heard no?"
"Sanem, my love, it's only fair." Can replied.
"I know. I know perfectly well why she did it. It's just that I'm sorry. We couldn't even tell her the news. The group was reforming.... We were all here, and now..." she said without finishing her sentence.
"What news?" asked Bulut.
"Come, let's go into the house. Let's talk about it there." said Sanem wiping away her tears.
"It was only a matter of time and I would have talked to you about it too. Let's go." she added.
They took a seat in the living room of the loft.
"That's it, Can and I bought the lower floor of the agency headquarters. It was my old publishing house. Where I used to work for Yigit.... You know, I told you about it." Everyone remained silent. Bulut inevitably looked down, nodding his head. No one was pleased to be reminded of that.
"Can and I were thinking about a location for the cream company and we were lucky that space was available."
"Exactly. So we bought it and it will become the company's official headquarters." Can concluded.
"There the meetings will take place, the encounters, we will create the designs, we will choose formulas and fragrances, in short... that way we wouldn't have to leave the building, as we run two companies. As well as Can's photos and my books." added Sanem.
"Wow! Sanem but that's wonderful. Little lamb!" said Deniz.
"Yeah, guys, finally the company will have a premises." said Bulut.
"That space will bring all our interests together. Not just advertising and creams, but more."
"And Fikri Harika and Sanem will work closely together." Can continued.
"Really good idea!" replied Bulut.
"Thanks to Sanem. She was the one who had the enlightenment." said Can.
"But it didn't end there, did it? "Can asked.
"True. I would have liked to ask you under happier circumstances, but we have to accept what comes from life and move on." she replied, trying to muster strength and smile.
"So...I would like to propose you something." she said.
"Would you like to be part of our cream company's team?" she asked them.
"Wow..." said Deniz.
"Um, I..." said Bulut.
"Wait, wait. Let Can explain." quickly stopped them Sanem.
"Well, what Sanem means is... we want a team made up of trusted people, friends, people we know. We have faced so many difficulties in the past in the agency by trusting people we thought were trustworthy and they turned out to be the opposite. So we decided to make trust our company philosophy. We want the people who work with us to be like family. Hence, Sanem came up with the idea of rewarding the talents of the people we have around us, lifelong friends and people who have stayed with us through thick and thin. And you are two of these." Can explained clearly.
"Yes, but what do we have to do with the company? What should we do?" asked Deniz.
"Meanwhile Bulut, you were a partner before you left. You can still be if you want, you never said you didn't want to be any more... so if you want, I would like you to take care of the flowers and the delivery of the samples. If I'm not mistaken, you said the other night that you like being both a lawyer and being in touch with nature in life, right? Well, we offer you both.'" Sanem replied.
"That's right, if you want, already taking care of Mihriban's garden, you could take care of the cultivation and collection of fragrances for the perfumes." he continued.
"And at the same time be Sanem's lawyer." concluded Can.
"Emh, wow, I don't know..." stammered Bulut.
"Think about it Bulut, you could combine the two parts of you, without having to give up your passions. Be a 'wild forester', as Deren would say, and a lawyer when needed. Who better than you could take care of bureaucratic matters, knowing exactly how the practical side of production works?" asked Sanem.
"Sanem... Can... I really don't know what to say, i mean... Thank you, really. I need to think about it for a moment. It's a great offer." he replied surprised.
"Of course, we don't expect you to give us an answer right away, but we hope you'll say yes". Sanem replied.
"We definitely need a figure like yours. At Fikri Harika we have Metin, and at Sanem we would really like to have an equally good lawyer. Anyway, you think about it, take your time." Can replied.
"I will, thank you for the offer," Bulut replied gratefully.
"And now we move on to Deniz." said Can.
"Me? How? Me too?" she asked surprised.
"Ah, Deniz dear, as usual you are missing the point. Obviously, not as a lawyer, but I would like you to have a role in the company too." said Sanem.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"I would like you to be my secretary and personal therapist if needed. You would be in charge of delivering messages, documents from 'Sanem' to Fikri Harika upstairs, and you would be in constant contact with Cey Cey and Muzo. And why not! Give us 'group company therapy' when we are all stressed out. You could even teach classes if you want." proposed Sanem.
"I accept. I won't take it twice! Sanem, where you go, I go! Remember? I support your idea. I love working with you and all of you, and I must say, I even missed the bickering with Muzo and Cey Cey these two years, so I accept! Thank you Sanem! Thank you Can!" said Deniz elated.
She hugged Sanem. "My little lamb!"
"Really? Ah, I'm so happy Deniz!" replied Sanem bringing back a smile.
"Of course, I would have liked sister Mihriban to be present too.... But... let's not think about that now." added Deniz.
"Yes, she could have been involved in this project too. She could have set up our sets. She is very good at that. Anyway... "Sanem said taking a deep breath.
''Tomorrow, how about dropping by the agency? You guys have never seen it. It would be a good opportunity for you, Bulut to see the place and get an idea of the context, if you can like it. And you Deniz, you would see the place. I warn you, you could start work right away, couldn't you Can?" his wife explained.
"Sure, you could have one of the vacant offices in the agency, as we are only staying at Fikri Harika for the time being." he said calmly.
"Yes, I agree," said Sanem. "Don't be scared when you see it, because Sanem's office has to be completely renovated before we can open it. So, Bulut? You have time until the end of the works to decide." she informed him.
"Yes, more or less it will take a month or so before we can finish it, according to the architect who heard Metin." Can added.
"Can, can I ask you a question?" he asked.
"Sure." replied.
"But does Metin work there permanently as a lawyer?" asked Bulut curiously.
"No, Metin is one of my best friends from childhood. He is my personal lawyer, and he also handled some of Sanem's matters. Recently, he returned to being our corporate lawyer, but he hardly ever works at the agency. He only comes to give us contracts or deliver documents, unless we call him. Why?" asked Can curious about the question.
"No, I thought he had his own firm, that's it... I was just curious," Bulut replied.
"Yes, he does. Metin is one of the most sought-after lawyers by big companies in Istanbul. He worked for my father for many years while I was travelling, and now he continues with me." pointed out Can.
"Ah, OK." replied Bulut dryly.
"He's not always at the agency, if that's what you're worried about," Can continued, seeing his expression.
"Worry? No, don't get me wrong. What should I be worried about?" he retorted.
"I mean... Bulut, I don't know... Maybe that he is close to Deren? Is that possible?" asked Sanem.
"Bulut, don't deny it, I saw you at the party!" confessed Deniz.
"Ah, don't start insinuating things that don't exist. Phew! It was just a question." he replied, huffing.
"Alright. It's fine. Don't get mad." said Deniz raising his hands. "I think it's really time for some yoga, come on. It will help you relax, come on!" said Deniz dragging him away.
"What are you doing! We have to get the fruit and vegetables to the village by dinner time. Hurry up!" he retorted.
"Uh! Right! OK, then we'll do it tomorrow!" remembered Deniz. "Don't run away from me!"
"Hurry up! Get to the car!" he insisted.
"Bye Can! Sanem, see you tomorrow!" shouted Deniz from the window, as Bulut sped off in the pick-up, honking his horn in greeting.
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Hello reader :)
Thank you for reading the 25th chapter.
If you like, please leave me a comment.
Until the next one!