Redemption

Chapter 5

While waiting for Cey Cey to arrive, Aziz was sitting in his hotel room thinking about all he had heard and read in the past few days. He was appalled at the things he was finding out and wondering how everyone had just accepted what happened without any questions.

A knock at the door took him from his thoughts, He opened the door to find not only Cey Cey but room service standing there.

He motioned for both to come in. After the waiter had left he turned to look at the other man who was standing with Sanem's book in his hands.

"I started reading it last night." He noticed the saddest in the other man's eyes. "Please tell me you are still her friend."

Smiling Cey Cey shook his head yes.
"I am with her as much as I can be. I do not live at the estate but I go there after work on Fridays and leave early enough to get to work on Mondays. Muzo stays with her during the week and only leaves to run errands on the weekends."

"Is she ok?"

"She is not the Sanem you knew. She is a shell of herself, a lost lamb amongst wolves without her lion to protect her. The light and laughter are no longer in her eyes, seldom smiling."

He stopped to think about what to say next. Aziz waiting without saying a word.

"When Can left she was beside herself, she cried for days, not eating or taking care of herself. Her parents finally admitted her to a hospital for her depression. They controlled everything, who visited, when they could visit. They would not leave her alone except at night when they knew she would be asleep. No one was allowed to speak Can's name or say anything about what happened. They blamed him for everything. Leila turned completely against her because of her feelings for Emre. She believes he can do no wrong, she is blind to his bad ways."

Stopping to take a breath he finished what he had to say.
"She tried to explain things to them but they refused to listen. They yelled at her when she tried to tell them that she was at fault also. It finally came to the point that she didn't say a word at all. Remide Teyze visited her often, sometimes she would just sit outside sanem's room and the girl wouldn't know she was there. Other times she would come after visiting hours and they would talk until Sanem would fall asleep."

"Why were her parents so controlling?"

"Sanem was the talk of the mahala, this was an embarrassment to them. Her parents sheltered her from everyone, it was her own kind of prison. If not for the estate, I am not sure she would ever get any better. She blames herself, never letting herself forgive for not listening to Can." With tears in his eyes he said "she believes he will never want to see or speak to her again. All she says is how could she allow herself to be fooled again."

"They are both hurting Can is mad at himself for not giving her more time that night. He still loves her but he hasn't forgiven himself. How did she come to live at the estate?" aziz asked.

"One night when Remide Teyze and I were visiting her, she spoke about her parents and how they made her feel about herself. She said she hated the thought of having to go home and face all the gossip. She knew she would never be allowed to go out of the house without one of her parents.
She was terrified of going home."

"One night, shortly after that Remide Teyze was sitting outside of her room when Deniz, she lives at the estate also, was talking to a doctor. They were talking about how well Deniz was doing and how being at the estate was helping her." He sighed "when the doctor walked off Remide Teyze approached her and asked her about the estate and if she could help her get in touch with the owner. Deniz told her she would ask and if it was ok she would help her get in touch. A couple of nights later Deniz walked up to where she was sitting and asked her if she would like to meet with the owner. She said yes and was told that she was waiting for her in the cafeteria. So they walked down together and she spoke with the lady explaining what was going on and how she thought the estate would benefit Sanem. She asked to meet Sanem and they walked back to her room." Cey Cey stopped to take a drink of water. "Funny thing the two women knew each other for their younger years. Anyway, after speaking to Sanem she offered her a home on the estate all agreeing that no one would know where Sanem was living."

"Cey Cey, that is amazing! How did she get away without her parents stopping her?"

"Well, the doctor told her he would be releasing her in the next couple of days and she asked him to let her tell her parents and he agreed. When the Aydens came that night she told her parents the doctor said she would be released the next Monday, this was on Thursday evening. Sanem, for the first time in her life lied to her parents. She knew that her Anne would want to get their home in order and Nivet Bey would have to work at the store so that would allow her the next day to leave without them knowing."

"That night she wrote a long letter thanking her parents for all they had done and that she was sorry she lied to them but that she knew they would never let her leave if she told them the truth. Then she lied one more time and told them she was leaving Istanbul to get away from all the memories of Can and all the bad that had happened. She told them she would call them when she settled in her new place. The next morning after she was released she left the letter with the desk nurse and walked out with Remide Teyze to begin her new life. Muzo, Deren and I agreeing to keep her whereabouts unknown. It has been the easiest secret I have ever had to keep because I knew that this was the only way for Sanem to be able to heal."

"And so you find it has been beneficial to Sanem?,

"Evet! She has lived on the estate for about almost 4 months now and she seems more relaxed and a little better than when she left the hospital. Of course, the only way she will be able to heal totally is if she could see and speak to Can Bey."

"Well, my boy, we will need to try and make that happen for both their sakes."

There was a knock on the door and Aziz opened it to Remide and Deren.

He looked at Cey Cey saying "Well, let's get started bringing back our loved ones back together."