A LEAP OF THE EARLY BIRD

The breathless call of the heart...

To go through life and succeed offers an indescribable sense of contentment. But to go through life with someone that would stand by one's side is beyond any words. To be able to share moments, thoughts, laughs. To be able to finally find the courage to let one's guard down. To no longer be afraid to let love in. That was something Can never experienced in his whole life. Until he met Sanem and felt her love for him. And it was not something he would ever permit himself to take for granted...

Can found it calming to think about Sanem. True, she drove him mad half the time. The other half, she drove him crazy. And he could honestly admit to himself that he loved her more for it. Her laugh, her smile, her bubbling personality. He yearned for it like a flower yearned for sunlight. For that was how he saw her. She became a source of light for him, and so much more. The more he was away from her, the more he felt the need to keep her closer by his side. He had come to dislike weekends, because weekends equaled to days away from her beautiful face. And the weekend that was to come was no different. What was worse, Polen mentioned she was planning a small birthday party at his home. Which meant to him more of Polen, and less of Sanem. And that made him feel worse with every passing moment. He only hoped Sanem would think of him as much as he thought of him.

The moment Can opened the doors of his home to find Sanem and Ceycey standing there, he was sure she could see the contour of his heart push out of his chest. If he would have suspected that just thinking about her would bring her to him, he would not have stopped thinking about her at all. The fact that she stood before him on her day off brought a new sense of fulfillment. And happiness, and curiosity. He asked Sanem what she was doing, why had come. And he could not believe when Sanem replied she was there for Polen, to help with her party. And woth those words Can realized why the party grew to enormous proportions to even include the employees of Fikri Harika, and why Polen acted as of  most of it was a surprise to her. Because it was. All because of Sanem and her sneaky plan to make sure Polen would not end up alone in his house, and with him. He had to smile because he realized Sanem was a force not to be messed with, and that she did not like to loose. And if she were ever to loose, it would be on her own terms. And he admited her for it all the more.

Polen was no more surprised about seeing Sanem than she was about the party. She was so blindsided that she asked what she was doing at Can's house. Sanem replied that she was asking herself the same question, only referencing Polen's presence there. Sanem's reply caused Can to bite his tongue in an effort not to burst out in impressed laughter, and it caused Ceycey to scold her also because he caught the sarcasm in the response. Sanem worked with Ceycey, and realized it was time for her to leave, but not before she bestowed the gift of those raw cutlets to Can. She asked Can if he liked food surprises. He replied that it depended on who prepared the food. And he watched a new sort of light shine out from her eyes. She asked Can to join her in the kitchen. It mattered to her that he tried the cutlets when they were alone, with no interruptions, no witnesses, no Polen.

He was impressed with the way the cutlets turned out. So Sanem was not only a master when it came to brewing tea and making scents and perfumes. He could only anticipate how unforgettably impressive those cutlets were about to taste, after all, she was Mevkibe's daughter and Mevkibe was a champion i  the kitchen. He took the biggest and most appealing one. He bit. And immediately nodded in complete agreement with his assumption that thise cutlets were unforgettably impressive. But not in a good way. So totally not in a good way. He swore the tears that were fighting to burst out of his eyes were going to burn like peppers. He swore his beard was about to turn red from the intensity of the spice. To say that Sanem overspiced t unrepairable he cutlets could not even be called an understatement. He swallowed the piece he bit off, and every cell in his body turned against him.

He coughed, choked, made an inaudible reply he would only be able to decipher as a word not meant for Sanem's ears, and finally regained enough speech ability to ask of those cutlets were meant to turn out that way, or if she overspiced them by mistake. She laughed, and fully admitted that she had not followed any recipe, she just added more and more spices to ensure an everlasting taste. He agreed with here there, those cutlets would no doubt leave an everlasting taste. For years and for ever to come. But he also realized that she made them for him. She wanted him to forget Polen's cooking. She succeeded there, beyond any thought she may have had. One bite of those cutlets caused all of his taste buds to forget any other kind of food they ever tasted in all of his past.

As Sanem left, he still reeled from the intensity of what he just ate. But as much as the taste burned in his senses, it also made him realize just how much his life tasted better with Sanem by his side. How life felt better with her. How happier he was because of her. As the evening came and guests had arrived, he could not wait to see her again. His eyes and his heart searched for her in the faces of all guests that evening. Only to realize she had not come. He asked Güliz if she knew where Sanem went. And what he heard drained all blood from his heart. That heart dropped down to his feet and he all but could feel a knot tying his gut so tight that he could barely breathe. Güliz told him she told Sanem that not only Polen cancelled her flight, but that she was moving in with Can. He could not believe the words he was hearing. Güliz, in her most ignorantly gossiping way threw in Sanem's face the one thing Sanem was afraid of. He was furious. He was livid. But above all he was scared. Scared that what Güliz had just done would cause an unrepairable damage to Sanem's heart and their love.

He left. He needed to leave. He would not have known if he could go to Sanem. He feared calling her. He too now grew scared. He grew afraid. But then, a miracle happened. One text message from her. One word. "KEŞKE"... One word that opened his heart and burst into his heart with so much courage that he forgot he hated tuxedos. He changed in that moment, not only in appearence, but on the inside as well. The Can he was deep inside fought for that love he finally felt for the first time in his life with so much determination and urgency that he all but flew out of the house. He did not care who saw him leave. He did not care who he was leaving behind. The breathless call of his heart only yearned for one woman. And that was Sanem. He only hoped he was not too late. For her. For himself. And for their love...