A LEAP OF THE EARLY BIRD

Rediscovering what mattered...

What matters in life is just as important as what matters in love. And that is getting to know those close to one's heart. It matters not whether they and their actions are understood. What matters is that they are accepted for who they are. And, if it just so happens that a beloved chooses to show their deepest soul to the chosen one, well, it becomes the key that opens the gates to true love...

Sanem could not believe how much fun it was to work with Can. Directly and exclusively. Sitting across his desk and sharing ideas with him felt indescribable. Knowing that her thoughts mattered to him felt impalpable. And realizing that he valued her thoughts and took her seriously felt inexplicably surreal. Remembering where she started, being acknowledged for what she could bring to the table, and having her ideas chosen as those that would represent the agency made her feel happier than she could describe. And being told by Can that although she may not have much training, she had a talent made her feel as though she could climb higher than the highest of mountains.

They had spent hours working on the campaign. She began to understand a little more that the "Find Yourself" slogan meant a little more to her. Especially when she held up the sign and saw Can right behind it. Her heart grew ten times in size when, out of nowhere, he decided to confess to her that Gamze was just a friend. A friend, and no more. She pretended she was surprised and baffled by his admission, but her heart could barely fit inside her chest. His praises were one thing, but to actually hear him consider her so close to him that he felt the need to tell her about Gamze... She had no words for how that made her feel.

His words came at the perfect time, because Gamze showed up at the agency in less than no time. But she did not come alone. She brought Compass's CEO along with her. Ceyda rubbed Sanem in just about every wrong way possible. The only thing positive about it was that Deren actually joined Sanem in a mutual dislike and disgust of the excessively pushy and overly overconfident CEO. And Sanem could not dismiss the disbelief of how show-offy and obliviously obvious Ceyda was. Ceyda was as impressed with Can as a child would be looking at the newest and shiniest toy. But where Sanem felt appalled and jealous of Ceyda's jabs at Can and her obvious attempts to impress him, he actually saw right through her, and he knew he was not interested at all. She would only appear to him as a CEO that he would need to work with, but she lacked everything he was looking for. She had no depth, no brain, or interests beyond that which could impress the richest and influencial men. And she was as obvious as she could possibly be. And that was always a total turn off for him. He was actually glad that she mentioned riding elephants. He counterparted her attempt to impress him by saying he would never ever ride one, because he respected nature and actually spent time on one of his photoshoots working against tourism that used elephants. And his heart felt elevated tenfold when Sanem supported his efforts and agreed with him. It just showed him how much closer Sanem was to understanding him rather than trying to impress him.

Can did his best in trying to remain polite to Ceyda, knowing that she was not only Gamze's friend, but also a CEO of the company they were planning to work with. He was glad when they left. But Sanem was not. And it showed on her face, right down to the tip of her nose. He had asked her if she was hungry even when Ceyda and Gamze were still in his office. He tried to be polite, but Sanem was too sad and too affected by Ceyda's sleazy appearence to respond to Can the way she wanted to respond. Because, truth be told, she was hungry beyond words. And Can picked up on that better than she cared to show. But after Ceyda and Gamze left, she admitted to Can that she was in fact hungry, and agreed to go and get some food. Just as friends, of course.

They left the agency, and headed to one of Can's favorite places to eat. A tiny riverside seafood eatery. And it proved to be exactly what they both needed. As co-workers, and as hearts that still yearned for one another. Sanem could not believe how Can found a cozy place such as that, and Can could not believe how much she could eat. He also could not believe how beautiful she looked surrounded by moonlight reflecting in the waters of the Bosphorus. She mentioned to him that she was surprised by his unexpected choice of the place where they were eating. He smiled, and told her that this was one of his favorite places to in Istanbul. Not only did it offer the best sea bass dishes, it also felt like home to him. Because it did. She felt touched that he was opening up to her again. She saw something in him then that went straight to her heart. She saw a glimpse of Can that he did not show to many people. And it wasn't because he was selfish in doing so. He just chose to show his private side to a chosen few, to those who really mattered.

They enjoyed the time they shared. Can realized that food really did taste better when she was around. Looking at her, he also realized that she understood the aura of the place where they ate. The essence of it. The feeling of how the place made him feel. He also could not help but think that Sanem would fit everywhere where he would take her. High end posh restaurants, or down to earth tiny family owned eateries on the shores of Bosphorus. She fit everywhere because she made an effort to do so. And he understood now why he never showed this place to Polen, and why he never would have bothered to show it to someone like Ceyda...

Sanem smiled as they ate, and listened to Can's stories with gleam in her eyes. Can could not decide if the sparkles in her eyes resembled the moonlight, or if it was the other way around. Sanem ate the food with delight. She was clearly enjoying her food and the fact that he was there with her. The moment she mentioned that she would have loved to taste other cuisines around the world, a thought came to him. As wild as it was unexpected. But it felt so right to him. He told her that if she wanted to, he would show her the world. He would show her the world and all that it had to offer. She was completely surprised, and more touched than he would have understood.

She wanted to make sure she heard him correctly. So, she asked him, in a voice that came from somewhere deep inside. Would he really show her the whole world? He smiled mischevously, and repeated his words. He would show her the whole world, but there was a catch. They would first need to earn money for their travels. And, hence, Sanem understood that they needed to get back to work. But, not before she took his words to her heart. Because she began to understand the meaning of rediscovering of what mattered. And what mattered was that not only they were getting to know each other the way they did not in the beginning, but that Can forgave her enough to keep her in mind for his plans for the future...