A LEAP OF THE EARLY BIRD

A simple misunderstanding of facts...

Ahh, love, ahh. What is it that leads the heart to protect love and the heart of a person? What drives one to protect the love that blooms in the heart? What prompts the lips to speak the most awkward and not well-thought-out words? It is love itself. It is the understanding that love must be protected and cherished. That it must be valued. That it must be treasured. That it must be guarded at all times, and all cost...

Sanem found herself soaring higher than cloud nine. Not only did she have the man that she was madly in love by her side, but she was about to film her first commercial debut as a writer. To describe how she felt and to say she walked as if she floated above the ground was an understatement. She was proud of herself. She was proud of her work. She was proud of the fact that Can chose her neighborhood as the commercial's set. And that meant two things. Her neighborhood would be on display for all the viewers to see. And - and this was the scary part, their love would be on display in front of her parents. As such, she knew she would have to do anything and everything to ensure they would not suspect a thing.

Of course, as her luck would have it, no sooner that Can appeared at the location, Sanem's parents appeared right behind him. Bad luck or no luck, she could not decide. But aside from being worried about keeping their feelings hidden from her parents' keen eye, she had another matter to worry about. And that was the matter of the 40,000 lira she had already paid off as her parents' dept for their store. That was something her parents would not overlook, nor would they wait for an explanation. Can Bey or no Can Bey around her, she would have to explain herself. And no excuse would prolong the inevidable conversation she was forced to have with Mevkibe and Nihat. The fact that she evaded her parents only baffled Can. He greeted Mevkibe and Nihat, and approached Sanem and told her to go speak with her parents since obviously they awaited to speak with her regarding something urgent. And, unbeknownst to Sanem, he overheard Mevkibe asking Sanem where she obtained such an amount of money. She managed to ease her parents' curiosity, only to raise Can's...

As the day went, the production team needed to wait for the models to come to the set. No longer being able to stand the invisible proximal distance that separated him from Sanem, Can begged her for a secret meeting. Away from their colleagues. Away from Mevkibe and Nihat, who obviously kept too close of a watch. So they met, not many streets from Sanem's home, but far enough to feel safe. They were so captivated by their feelings that any moment away from each other felt unbearable. Every minute of standing next to each other without the ability to embrace felt excrutiatingly haunting. Every second of sitting side by side and being unable to hold hands, whisper sweet words, or gaze into each other's eyes felt like a punishment the new beloveds did not deserve.

The moment they were alone, their hearts filled with happiness and indescribable passion. They were alone, if only for a few heartbeats. Can could hardly describe how much he missed her scent. Their scent. He suggested that she should gift him with a vial of that scent. This way he could keep her close to him at all times. Not that he didn't already. She felt so touched by his words. By the sincerity of them. She knew how much that scent meant to the both of them. She complimented him on the way his perfume filled the air around him. She tried so much to match his scent with her creams. To replicate it. To no avail. It was of no use. Because his scent was one of a kind. It may have been imitated, but never duplicated. And she would know that better than anyone else. He in turn felt touched that she tried to create his scent, fully aware now of the meaning of the creams in her bedroom with the letter "C" written on them. That "C" meant so much more to him now. And it always would. He mentioned how painful it was for him to keep his feelings for her and their love a secret. He wanted to make his feelings show. He wanted everyone to know what she meant to him. But she was afraid. He did not know why she felt that way, but he agreed to do things her way. Because he would do anything for her...

As Sanem's fate would have it, her uncanny ability to adjust to the circumstances would prove crucial in most of what happened next. The models that came to the campaign shoot were all too model-looking. No worries, thanks to Melehat's miracle hands, the models disappeared faster than they appeared, no longer resembling model-like beauties, all to Sanem's pleasure. And approval. Though she pretended to be surprised, Can did not even loose a heartbeat over what had happened. He knew that it was all thanks to Sanem. Just as he knew she would have a plan to resolve that matter. And he was not mistaken. Sanem's quick thinking not only saved the day, it gave everyone an opportunity to see Ayhan, Aylin, Deren, and herself in a never before seen roles of commercial supermodels pretending to be everyday women. Everyone was surprised with how great it all turned out. Which is why Can's reaction blended easily with those all around him. But Sanem only saw him, and she knew he was impressed...

When the day was nearing its end, they decided to meet by the embankment. Can waited for Sanem. He stood alone and looked out onto the Bosphorus. It was as serene as it was majestic. It was as stunning as it was endearing. The moment Sanem came to him he felt as if he could look at her and hold her all evening long. He missed holding her. Embracing her felt so natural. And it always felt as if his life depended on it. He held her close, picked her up and spun them around. The moment felt perfect. They felt so happy and so free. And all of that changed the very second that Sanem saw her parents approach them. Her survival skills came at Can with full force. He did not know what to say because he barely understood what was happening. Why Sanem scolded him? For what exactly did she scold him? What other women was she referring to that he kissed on the set? And, why, on earth, why, was Mevkibe pointing at his cheek?

Can soon realized what Mevkibe was pointing to, why she was examining him with her stare, and why Sanem was acting the way she was. And yet, he had no idea what was  going on. Sanem had the perfect opportunity to reveal their relationship to her parents. But she opted not to. She instead chose to turn the situation around and put the blame on him for something he would never ever have done. Because he was not that kind of a man. Which in turn only made him look bad in her parents' eyes. And yet, however it looked and however it turned out, Mevkibe and Nihat seemed to act exactly how Sanem predicted. Though it was a simple misunderstanding of facts, which in turn caused more confusion in his own way of thinking, it helped him to see what kind of a family the Aydins really were. And one thing was for certain. They trusted their daughter, and trusted that whomever was lucky enough to find true love with her, would be a righteous man with her best interest at heart. And deep down inside he knew he was that kind of a man...