A Necessary Journey

The Window

Pushing the door to the office open, Defne took a deep breath and stepped inside. It had been 6 months since she'd set foot in Omer's office, 6 months since she'd handed him her letter of resignation after their ring ceremony. Her heart thudded painfully, each beat agony as she let her eyes wander around the empty room. It had taken her 3 full weeks of being at Passionis before she could even bring herself to open this door again, and the emptiness inside echoed the one that she felt in her soul. Closing the door behind her she took a seat on one of the two leather chairs and allowed herself to stare at his desk, imagining him there.

She pictured his playful smirk and warm eyes, the way he would look at her as though no one else existed for him. An errant tear escaped and she wiped at it angrily. She couldn't go on like this, not moving forward and unable to go back, it was like treading water halfway between the shore and the ocean, dangerously close to being sucked under.

Long minutes passed before she scrubbed her face with her hands and pushed herself to her feet, smoothing the skirt of her dress down, turning to face the door she jumped when the handle clicked and it began to push inwards, eyes widened in fear and shock when she met the eyes of the intruder.

"Omer..."

Omer inched his way into the room, his crutches squeaking on the office floor, but stopped abruptly when his eyes met her beautiful reddened ones.

Defne's eyes flew to the ground, her hands clenched by her side, her face paling. Behind Omer, Iz stopped abruptly before she could knock him off of his feet, her eyes widening in surprise.

Holding back tears of anger, shame and nerves Defne nodded at them both, still not meeting either of the new occupants' eyes and started to push past them trying to exit the room.

"Excuse me, I was just looking for something..."

"Defne.."

The low timbre of his voice stirred her heart and she fought to maintain her composure.

"Excuse me."

She brushed past them both, her bare arm brushing against Omer's strong one and walked straight to the fire exit door, taking the stairs, clearly putting ad much distance between  them as she could.

Omer's eyes darkened in anger, at himself mainly. This was not the way he wanted them to meet. He shuffled into the room and around to his desk, folding the crutches onto the floor as he took a seat. Leaning back his eyes moved to the window between his office and Defne's, he wasn't even mildly surprised to see the blinds were drawn.

"Have that fixed please. Ask Derya to call maintenance."

"The blinds?"

"I want them moved to my side of the glass. I'll control when she does and doesn't see me."

Iz took a seat and sighed  "Back one minute and you're already trying to control her. You couldn't even say hello before she fled..."

"You'll be using Yasemin's office while she's away. Derya will be your assistant if you need anything."

"Clearly I'm being dismissed.. do you want me to get you anything? A coffee?"

"No, thank you. I have everything I need right here."

Iz patted her hands on the arm of the chair, the leather creaking beneath them as she pushed herself up. "Make sure you use those crutches... don't think I don't know about your bathroom visits without them... besides, it looks like you're going to be chasing Defne from now on, so you're going to need to get back on your feet as soon as possible."

He shook his head with an eye roll. "Don't forget the blinds. I want it done urgently, today."

"Sure sure."