A LEAP OF THE EARLY BIRD

A simple change...

Knowing why they came to Agua did not make it any easier for Can. He had a plan. One he fully intended to accomplish. A contract with Arzu would guarantee inflow of work for the next two years. That wasn't the tough part. He knew he could convince her to sign back up with Fikri Harika. The tough part was having to spend time with her...

Arzu stood for everything that annoyed him about a woman. She was shallow, conceided, and so full of herself that he could barely stand being in the same space with her. But he had to. He had to put up a face of an executive who would do anything to gain her as a client. And he felt empty inside because of that. She had no inner beauty, no depth to herself. Definitely nothing to hold someone's attention. The fact that she tried to impress him as a man and not as an executive made him feel even worse. And then, there was Sanem.

From the moment Can realized Sanem was looking at them his total attention moved to Sanem. He pretended to listen to Arzu. Pretended to care. But what he really saw was Sanem. And he had to admit he was surprised. She was looking at them. No, she was looking at him. Though she pretended each time he gazed her way that it was coincidental, the fact that she was shocked each time to meet his eyes was enough of a proof for him. But why did she do that? Why did she continue? And what did she care about? She couldn't have cared about Arzu, that became clear when she tried to interrupt them again and again. Why did she care? And then it hit him. When he heard the fire alarm. And saw her next to it. Can realized she was the one who pulled it. She was either mad or a genius. Maybe a little of both. But, with a good laugh and a happy thought he had to admit, he owed her. If it wasn't for her he would have had to spend more time with Arzu. And he most definitely did not want to do that, any more than he had to.

This thought returned to him later that night. He felt bored. He felt annoyed. His mind was tired while his head wanted to run. He was a restless man, and the fact that he was spending an evening with Arzu and her selfabsorbed monologue about herself made him even more restless. He asked for whiskey. No, he begged for it. He looked deeper into the field behind the resort just to find something more interesting to look at. All of a sudden his heart felt a pang. Sanem. He saw Sanem. But not in person. He saw her in his mind. How did she get there so deep inside that when he was searching for any kind of rescue she came to his mind? Was he really that taken with her? He did not know her. Nothing really about her. Who she was, as a person and in real outside-of-work life? He never trusted easily. He never cared if he did not trust. But there she was. In his mind as clear as day. And all he could think of was that he'd most definitely would have felt better spending the evening with her than Arzu...

As a man of a gut feeling, he did as his gut told him. And he was glad that he did. The moment he saw her sitting at the restaurant he felt a big weight lifted off his shoulder. She was alone but clearly content. He approached her and asked if he could join her. And could not wrap his head around the fact that her smile changed his mood in less than a hearbeat. A simple change of scenery, of a person he sat with, made such a big difference. The simmering temper was gone. Nagging headache splitting his head in a half, gone as well. She calmed him. She had a way about her that brought him peace. When she smiled his smile matched hers. Without him even realizing it...

She offered him food. She felt so at ease. Gone was the tension of the day and the line between an employer and his employee. They were themselves. And that was what he needed. He quickly realized she did not care for his trophies or awards or international fame. She did not look to him to gain anything herself. She may have been innocent and new to the world outside of her neighborhood, but she was confident in who she was. He admired that in her. She did not pretend to be something she was not. She did not need to. That was what he found most refreshing about her. The fact that she could talk to him and see him as the man he was, not who he was, got to him. Got deeper into him than he understood or cared to admit. Or rather, dared to admit.

They dined together, shared food and laughs, and walked along the water's edge. The water was serene and clad in moonlight, the sky was lit with a million stars, and the sound of the gentle waves carressed the soul. She asked him about his emotions when he took photographs of the refuges and dangerous places. He had to admit she was the first one who asked him that and really cared for his answer. And he offered it with full honesty. He revealed to her that he felt more entrapped and overwhelmed by the shallowness and selfishness of the world whenever he returned back from his missions. He felt at home in the wild, yet strangely disconnected when he looked at people too concerned with their looks or reputation to see the real problems of the world. Because he opened up to her, she did just that herself. She revealed her dreams to him, one of writing, and one of Galapagos. More than that, she admitted she knew about the nature of the albatrosses and their attachment to Galapagos. And he had to admit that she glowed when she let the light of her soul shine...

But something changed when he noticed that light in her eyes. She hid that light the moment he complemented her. She asked how was it possible for him to be so kind if he were so bad? When she spoke to him he was such a good man, but implied he could have and had bad intentions. He froze, confused. Why did she ask that? Why would she ask? She did not see how much she hurt him just then. He never thought she could hurt him. But that forced him to realize she got too close. That he got too close. That was his mistake. One he chose to correct instantly. He told her he would make sure not to cross any more lines. He was her boss, and only that. Hearing those words hurt him more once they were said out loud than they did when he thought them in his mind. But they were said, had to be said. As much for his sanity as much for his heart. He vowed he would make sure he stuck by those words. He only wondered, for how long...