A Necessary Journey

The Assistant

Convincing Defne to work from the office had been no problem at all, however, she insisted that the blinds between the rooms remain closed to ensure that there were no distractions. He wasn't happy about it, but if it got her into the office and near him, he wasn't going to argue. He knew he could find opportunities to bring them together often. 

Sinan on the other hand was proving to be more of an issue. Yasemin and Sinan had been in discussions over the past few days about the future of their relationship, as if Omer didn't have enough worries of his own, Sinan was crying on his shoulder every opportunity that he got, and where Sinan was in his office, it meant that Omer couldn't find an excuse to be in Defne's office. 

She'd been back at Passionis for a week, and he'd seen so much less of her than he would like, in a couple of months she'd be gone again. He had his work cut out for him, she avoided him as much as she possibly could and he was running out of excuses beyond meeting a few times a week to discuss designs. God help him, but he might need to resort to tactics if she contained to freeze him out. 

A knock at his door made him sit up straighter, pulling the creases of his shirt down. "Come in."

Defne opened the door, her sketch pad in hand, pencils in the other. "I'm here for our meeting?"

"Of course, come in. Take a seat." He picked up the phone and dialled. "Derya, can you send in a coffee and tea please?"

Defne settled herself in the chair, spreading her pencils out in front of her on the small coffee table, her board resting against her legs, trying not to watch as Omer got up from his desk and walked the short distance to take the chair opposite her. His eyes drank her in, she looked as beautiful as always, but he noticed her forcing her eyes to remain on her pad, and so to alleviate her discomfort he nodded to it. 

"Do you want to show me your thoughts so far?"

"Huh?" He nodded to the pad. "Oh, yes, sure."

Omer got up from his chair and walked around to her side, sitting on the edge of the armchair, his thigh brushing against her arm. When she froze he could instantly tell that she was affected by his nearness, the quickened rise and fall of her chest, her refusal to meet his eyes. Shaking herself from it, she opened the pad and showed him her design, alongside the design of the dress that would be worn on the catwalk. 

"What do you think?"

Omer's eyes travelled over the curves of her lines, studied the detail of the heel and the textures of the leather. He nodded. "What colour were you imagining here?"

"Yellow, to match the highlights for the dress... do you think it's too bold?"

He smiled down at her, shaking his head. "No... no, it's not too bold." Yellow was the colour he associated with Defne. His mind recalled the morning he'd come home to find her leaving his house, thrusting the yellow plant and chard rolls into his hands. That morning, her yellow dress had contrasted beautifully with her hair. "You're definitely getting more confident in your designs, it's a good thing."

She couldn't help the small smile that graced her lips when she looked up at him and his breath caught, it had been some time since she was so unguarded around him. But then, just as suddenly as it appeared, her smile faded and she returned her eyes to her design. "So? Have you drawn anything?"

Omer smiled and stood, reaching behind her and taking the pad from his desk before handing it down to her. Frowning, she looked at the drawing in front of her, confused. It didn't seem complete somehow, there was something missing from it. She'd never had to critique his sketches before though, normally he was flawless in what he produced.