A LEAP OF THE EARLY BIRD

Understanding two brothers...

Unresolved feelings lead to miscommunication. Lead to misunderstanding. Lead to misjudgement. All of those are true, especially when it comes to bonds between siblings. Between brothers. Sanem knew perfectly well what sibling rivalry meant, but she never imagined it could go as far as it did for Emre Divit.

Ever since Sanem started working at Fikri Harika she found herself stuck in between two brothers. Emre Divit and Can Divit. She met Emre and Aziz Bey on her first day. She immediately liked Aziz for his warmth and sincerity. She also took a cautious liking to Emre. Not only did Leyla speak highly of him, but he also helped her with getting employed at the agency. He appeared as a righteous man with the agency's best interest on his mind. Can Divit on the other hand blew her away from the moment they met. He was reserved and mysterious. She could not explain why but whenever he was around her her heart pounded and her skin tingled uncontrollably. Not to mention her stomach turned in knots. She attributed it initially to the fact that Emre painted Can as a bad man. But as time passed, she not only fell for Can, she realized which of the two brothers possessed a dark heart filled with envy and selfishness.

Knowing that she could neither tell Can the truth about her feelings and all the mistakes she had made or stay close to him any longer, she chose to end her employment and end the painful circle of confusion in which she was stuck with both Can and Emre. Can did not take it well. In fact, he did not take it at all. He would not let her leave his agency and his heart. Not that easily, at least. Likewise, Emre asked to speak with her. She knew they had to speak. What she did not realize was that she would get an opportunity to see Emre in a new light. A different light. She knew he was mad at Can, but she could not understand why. So she asked him. And for the very first time she received an honest answer from Emre. One that touched her heart and made her feel sorry for him. If only for a moment.

The story Emre revealed gave Sanem a better picture of who they were as a family. Emre felt jelous, but he also felt left out. He spoke of the opportunities Can received above him. Of their father's love being geared more toward Can, which only caused a rift between the two brothers. She was aware that there must have been more sides to that story, but she listened with an open heart. The more Emre revealed, the more she began to realize how honest he was with her. How uncensored, how sincere. Perhaps he was not at all a bad man, at least not entirely. Perhaps there was goodness in him, and even love for his brother. But he failed to measure up to his own image of Can, in every possible way. And that was what hurt him. Can was not a bad man, and neither was he.

Understanding the two brothers gave her the answers she needed to see. Needed to hear. But it also made her realize how fortunate she was to have a family like hers. They were not rich. They did not need to be. Because the true wealth of her family came in the form of their love. Love and support. And the fact that regardless what happened, in the end their love was a bond that forgave all faults and mistakes. That was what the Divit family never had. Never knew. Never felt. And she saw that right in Emre's eyes.

What she did not see was what their conversation did to Emre's heart. He already had doubts regarding his relationship with Aylin. He saw how much he hurt Can because of Aylin and her sick ambition. How much pain he caused him. The worst part about it was knowing that he was to blame. Not Aylin constantly feeding his unfulfilled male ego. Not Sanem bringing the photographs to him and doing as he had asked. As guilty as Sanem was, she was innocent. She was the victim in all of this, right from the beginning. He saw the guilt in her eyes. Guilt for having to work against Can. What he did not understand, even after Aylin enlightened him about it, was that part of Sanem's guilt was due to her falling in love with Can. But he did see that Can was not indifferent to her. And that made him wonder. And made him see that Sanem truly cared for Can. That she cared for him without asking for anything in return. He had not met anyone with so much kindness and sincerity in her heart. Perhaps that was why he had opened up to her about the feelings he hid for so long so deep inside? Because he realized she would not judge him? Because he hoped she might understand? Whatever the reason, he meant it when he appologized to her for treating her the way he did. And deep down inside he hoped that perhaps one day he might find someone as kindhearted as Sanem.

Emre tried his best to mend the bridge between him and Sanem before they parted ways. He was raised in a way as not to show emotions. Because displaying them was perceived as a sign of weakness. Yet he found it so cleansing to be able to speak with Sanem in that way. She asked without judgement or anger, so he answered in that same way. He apologized to her again, and tried to explain his relationship with his brother to her. But he only hurt Sanem's feelings even more. Unintentionally this time. And unknowingly, because he had not realized how correct Aylin's assumption was about Sanem's feelings for Can.

Emre assumed that the tears in Sanem's eyes were due to him hurting her. He had no idea how true that really was. Because she no longer had any illusions about her feelings for Can. No illusions about the fact that he would never forgive her. And no illusions that he would never leave...