Sudden decisions

9 - Revenge and interest

Fikri Harika, a few hours before...

Emre

"He asked me to accompany him on Thursday to a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Istanbul, to the Aydin house, to ask for the hand of Sanem, the girl we are paying to sabotage his initiatives."

My mother has, as usual, melodramatic reactions.

"Whaaaaaaaattt!
Never ever, we can't allow such a thing Emre.
Who is this girl? A poor girl from the slums of Istanbul you say?
What does she have to do with us and our world?"

I look up while talking on my mobile phone I walk through the sliding door of the Fikri Harika, a nod to the receptionist and then start up the stairs heading for my office like I do every morning.

"Mom, relax. There won't be any wedding, don't worry.
I'll use Sanem's proximity to Can to continue sabotaging his every initiative to save the agency, but at the same time I'll make sure to create enough discord between the two of them to prevent him from actually marrying her.
That's the last thing that needs to happen, Can can't get married, he can't stay, in fact he needs to leave Istabul as soon as possible to resume his wandering life."

"Of course, you are right Emre, if he were to get married he would stay here and do everything to save the agency. We, on the other hand, need to get him out of here as soon as possible so that we can sell Fikri Harika and have the liquidity we need to realise our grandiose projects in South America".

I greet the various employees I meet along the corridor with a quick nod and enter my office.
"It won't be long now, you'll see.
Can will soon tire of being here collecting one failure after another, now I have to concentrate on finding a way to blow the deal with Fabri."

"Alright, but I'm not quiet anyway.
I want to come to the agency and see this girl, see if there's any danger of Can actually marrying her."

I sigh impatiently as I sit down behind my desk and start the computer.
"Mum, I told you that's not going to happen, just stay calm."

"I'm not at all, so I'm coming in this morning under the guise of seeing Can to find out what's really going on with this neighbourhood girl."

"No, Mum please, you better not let Can see you."
I tell her casting a glance towards the office next door where Can is already sitting at his desk focused on the laptop screen.

"I'll be there in a couple of hours Emre, end of discussion."

She hangs up without leaving me time to reply to try and convince her not to come. Damn!
I'm afraid that Huma might cause a stir, her relationship with Can is not good at all, but I wouldn't want her to let him know in any way the interest she has in selling the agency. That would be a disaster for our plan.

I walk out of my office to get to Layla's to drop off a file for her, and as I pass Guliz's workstation, I hear her talking on the phone.

'I'd like to book a seat on the 5pm flight to London please'.

I'm intrigued and decide to detour to the nearby refreshment corner for a coffee while I wait for the phone call to end. When I see her hang up I approach her desk to investigate.

"Hi Guliz, who did you book a flight for tonight to London?"

"For Mr Can, he's going to see his girlfriend I think, didn't he tell you?"
"No, I didn't know, he probably would have told me later in the morning.
Thank you Guliz."

I give her a curt nod and walk back towards my office smiling.
Here's a way to put discord between Can and Sanem.
Just letting her know that her almost betrothed is about to visit his fiancée will be enough to create quite a stir, I'm sure.

I sit in my chair and bring my hands behind my neck looking up at the ceiling, good, everything is going well.

I will do everything in my power to make sure Can decides to go his own way again. Up until now he has only been an occasional presence for me, stopping off for a couple of days in Istanbul at most three times a year.

I've worked hard for Fikri Harika, I've been breaking my back for years to make it grow, but it's never enough for my father, I know I'll never be good enough for him.

This is demonstrated by the fact that before leaving for his sea trip he entrusted the management of the agency to him, who has been out of it for years, instead of me, who has worked there for many years.

It was a clear demonstration that I am worthless to him, there is only his beloved Can and his precious agency. Hence my decision to destroy everything he has worked for, sabotaging every new project to force him to sell the agency and invest the money I am due from the sale in major real estate investments in South America.

It would be a just revenge on a man who never considered me a son, who reserved a couple of visits a year for me during my childhood and who never appreciated my work with him in the agency.

I move in search of Sanem to start giving her some information that will make her angry and bring her to my side. I absolutely need her cooperation, right now more than ever, without her I don't think I can carry out my purpose of ruining Fikri Harika.