He is gone, Can is gone, and Sanem must learn to live his life without the one who had become the centre, the essence.
Two souls hundreds of kilometres apart, lost but never forgotten, two hearts beating the same rhythm without having the courage t...
I wait impatiently for Sanem, she should be here at the agency by now, she told Deren this morning that she would come to return the laptop and pick up her things in the afternoon. With a squeeze in my heart the image of her sitting at the restaurant with that man comes back to my mind, a sudden wave of jealousy stops my breath in my throat and I feel the need to open and close my hands to ease the tension caused by the thought of that handsome man buzzing around her.
It's stronger than me, I know I have no right to her, but my heart doesn't know that I've ruined everything in the worst possible way and that, even if it feels it belongs to her alone, it can no longer claim her as its own.
The ringing of the phone on my desk brings me back to reality, it's the girl at reception who, as agreed, warns me that Sanem is coming to the agency. I hang up and dial Deren's number to tell her to be ready.
I walk out of what is Aziz's office and will soon be again. My father should be back in a month and I can't wait to hug him again and have him around every day in the agency, I've missed him so much.
I hurry down the stairs to the archive and join the others, everyone's attention is focused on the stairs and soon she arrives, she descends the first steps with her head bowed, clearly not thinking and it is only the roaring applause of all the staff of Fikri Harika that brings her back to reality. Her surprised expression soon turns into a deep emotion, and the boys come to meet her at the end of the stairs ready to embrace her and congratulate her on her success in winning the competition.
I stand back, I want her to enjoy the warmth of those who have believed in her and supported her all these months of work. Deren told me how she was able to make everyone in the team love her, motivate them and make them feel involved. As well as being a wonderful person, she also showed great managerial and interpersonal skills. She has been and can continue to be a valuable asset to Fikri Harika if only we can convince her to stay.
She is embraced in a thousand hugs, pats on the back and demonstrations of affection and esteem. She responds to everyone with sincere warmth and that wonderful smile of hers, which has always moved me deeply.
I let her enjoy this moment in which she sees her skill and merit recognised. I am proud of her as is Deren who, together with all the guys in the creative team, have learnt to know and appreciate her over the last few months.
The atmosphere is cheerful, Cey Cey set up the party with music, while Deren managed to prepare everything needed for a rich buffet in record time. The guys are dancing and involving her too, I can't help but be enchanted looking at her as it always happens to me when I see her moving freely and at ease to the rhythm of the music.
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I could stare at her for hours, just looking at her from a distance, breathing the same air as her is enough to make me feel complete, and I cannot understand how I could have thought of living the rest of my life without her when I took the inauspicious decision to leave.
When the party is coming to an end, as agreed, it is Deren who takes the floor. -Sanem, you have been invaluable for the success of this project, without you we would never have made it, we have known you as a good creative director and as a reliable and competent person. I speak for all of us, we ask you not to leave us, to stay and look after the advertising campaign to the end with us, thanks to you it will certainly be a huge success.
I see his expression surprised and moved at the same time by what Deren said, and then Emre takes the floor.
- I always believed that you could do it Sanem, I had faith in you and the facts have shown that it was well placed. When you accepted this assignment you were adamant that it would be up to the outcome of the competition, but we would be happy to have you with us again for the realisation of this campaign and maybe many more to come, please consider your intentions and stay with us -
It is now my turn to speak.
- Deren and Emre are right, you introduced me to the representatives of HXC Cosmetics as the creative director who will be responsible for the realisation of the campaign, but that's not fair. The project was your idea, it is the result of your hard work over the last few months, it was a success and you deserve to follow it through to the end and take all the satisfaction of seeing your campaign billboards on the streets of Istanbul. I join the request of the others and of all the Fikri Harika boys, continue your work to the end Sanem, it is right that you take all the honours of the campaign carried out and published on TV, in the newspapers and on the billboards -.
A roaring applause greets the end of my speech, everyone at Fikri Harika wants her to continue as creative director, no one would want to lose her. I see Cey Cey in his usual manner elbowing her to encourage her to accept, but she doesn't seem to react in the usual playful way that characterises their relationship.
When she starts to speak, her serious expression doesn't bode well:
- 'I thank you all, for accompanying me on this adventure and contributing to the success of the project, you have been fantastic. It has been an honour to work with you, I have learned and grown humanly and professionally thanks to what each of you has taught me. Fikri Harika is a great team, the success is not mine but that of everyone, no one excluded, but as I made clear from the beginning my journey ends here, with the victory of the competition. As of tomorrow my life will take a different street, I have chosen for a long time that it should be like this, I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart again, thank you -
She begins an endless round of kisses and hugs while I remain as if inebriated trying to assimilate the meaning of her words, what they mean to me, to the us that I hoped to find again.
When she comes to me, she approaches me slowly, looks at me intently for endless moments and then simply whispers - Hoşçakal, goodbye - exactly as I had done months ago, before turning my back on that woman whom I thought had become everything for me and whom at that moment I did not know if I would ever see again.
Now I'm the one who watches her briefly enter what used to be the archive, and had been her office for the past few months, pick up a box of her belongings and, after raising a hand in greeting to everyone, turn her back and walk up the stairs of the agency to resolutely leave my life, perhaps forever.
