KapCan & Macho World Tour

Chapter 44 - Hello, Again

– Can, stop! – Sanem shouted, Her voice full of laughter. It's been way past eleven and only by sheer luck they managed to get to Times Square before midnight. Can held her hand and pulled her into the crowd. Then he pointed at the Times Square Ball.

– Do you see it? – He asked. – At midnight it will drop, signaling the end of 2019.

– It's so beautiful! – Sanem looked wide eyed at the huge ball atop of the building. It seemed small from here. Thousands of small bulbs illuminated it's shape with blue light, changing its hue to purple, pink, yellow and eventually to white. It looked like a magnificent crystal that demanded to be watched. The dozens of neon lights and ad banners couldn't hold a candle to it.

– A minute before midnight it will start to drop and when it stops, it's gonna be 2020. – Because of the noise Can had to shout for Sanem to hear him. The crowd gathered on Times Square was vibrating with positive energy, people were holding bottles of champagne, balloons and party favorites. Many of them were already more than a little tipsy.

– What time is it?

– Five minutes to midnight.

– So that's almost seven in the morning in Istanbul. – She counted quickly. – Let's send our parents a video message.

By the time they finished recording, and Sanem had to show her folks everything, the countdown began and the ball was slowly on its way down. The crowd was counting aloud, couples were holding hands, from each side came pops of bottles being opened and the confetti flowed through the air.

– Fifteen! Fourteen! Thirteen!

The crowd counted down and Sanem let the atmosphere carry her.

– Five! Four! Three! Two! One!

The fireworks lit the sky and the cameras' flashes went off as Can turned Sanem around and kissed her passionately.

– Happy New Year, birtanem!

The first notes of Frank Sinatra's love song for the city filled the air and soon all gathered on the Square sang like a well trained choir.

Start spreading the news.
I'm leaving today.
I want to be a part of it,
New York, New York...

Yiğit disconnected the call and turned on the TV. He's been relatively new to the area and aside from his assistant didn't really know anyone on a personal level. Therefore this year's New Year's found him alone in his apartment with a small bottle of bubbly and a take-out sushi. He set them on the coffee table in front of the navy blue leather sofa, got some soy sauce into the small saucer and opened new set of chopsticks. The news channel was showing Times Square, where the countdown to midnight was already on the way. When the number turned to zero and the fireworks lit up the sky both over New York and over Baton Rouge, he popped open the champagne and took a sip. And right at that moment the cameraman showed a young couple kissing on Time's Square and he choked. Tears pooled in his eyes as he was trying to catch a breath and when he finally managed, he rewound the footage and paused the screen.

– No... – He wiped his mouth and looked at the photograph hanging on his wall. – It can't be you.

He stepped closer to the screen looking for something, anything, that would've told him he was mistaken. But he found nothing. Anger took over as he was looking at Sanem kissing Can in the middle of Times Square without an ounce of shame. Confetti was falling around them and they looked like the rest of the world didn't exist. Furious he grabbed his coat and went out. He needed some air.