The Business Trip Part 2

Cagla

Cagla was a little low life who had no scruples, she made her own rules and played by them and if she took a fancy to someone, she saw to it that she either added him to her list of conquests or made his life miserable for refusing her. Most times she got what she wanted, but this time was different, she had been trying to get her claws into Murat for what seemed like forever, but he had always eluded her, for some reason he was not enamored by her charms, on the contrary, he was quite repulsed by Caglas obvious display of lust, but he was a professional first, and when it came to work he had to put up with the likes of Cagla, a fact that Cagla was well aware of and had hoped to use to her advantage. New York would have been the perfect setting, she had sensed that something was wrong when Murat had immersed himself into his work, he had barely taken any breaks and had worked day in and day out, she had never seen him on his phone or heard him talk to anyone besides Emir and the suppliers which had piqued her curiosity and made her wonder why Hayat was not calling him. But Murat being Murat would never discuss his personal life with anyone, so Cagla had waited for the right moment to weave her magic spell on Murat, but what she had not anticipated was that sober or not, Murat would never betray Hayat. So that night at the club when he had rejected her in front of a crowd, quite a few of who were well known to her, she felt insulted and vowed to revenge Murat and Hayat, she promised herself that he would pay for his actions.

Lucky that she had a friend who had perfect timing, he had got some great shots of them together, which she immediately had printed and couriered to Hayat. It looked like she had hit her target and Hayat had got the packet and had landed in emergency, but what she did not get was how they were still together. Caglas sources had informed her about Hayat's pregnancy and that sent another pang of jealousy, Cagla saw red and vowed to revenge Murat. If she could not have him, she promised herself, neither would Hayat, she would never let them live happily. She knew that Murat was still working on Emir's project, but she had no access to his designs, she did not even have a clue if she would be modelling any of those designs, but she had a contract with Emir and Emir always kept his word. She was always the showstopper and usually she would be let in on the designs and knew what it was and looked like but for some reason she still had not heard from Emir and had not been called for any fittings or trials. That had her a bit worried, she started nosing around a bit and found out that Emre had also been accepted at the Paris Fashion Week, interesting bit of information, she thought to herself, trying to put two and two together, she decided to pay Emre a visit and see how he could serve her, Emre's infatuation with Hayat and her constant rejection of him was quite well known in the Istanbul fashion circuit, and now with her working for him, changed the equation, she could surely put Emre to good use to get what or rather who she wanted.

As expected Emre was surprised to see her, "Well well well, if it is not Miss Uppity herself, to what do I owe this visit? "He pauses and then the dots connect, "let me guess, it wouldn't have something to do with a certain Ms. Hayat, who works for me now, would it?"

"Bang on Emre! I see you have not lost your touch! I knew I could count on you. Let me come straight to the point - Murat! I want to bring him down!" she barks.

Emre is taken aback by her tone and wonders what could have Murat done to bring this on, "Wait a minute Cagla, what makes you think I would be interested in this vendetta that you have against Murat? I am not concerned with it; I have just got the opportunity of a lifetime and I am not throwing that out of the window so that you can have your revenge."

"We all know Emre that you have been having the hots for Hayat for a long time now, I'm sure that fire has not been doused yet. If it were not for Murat, then Hayat could be yours. Its simple Emre, you scratch my back and Ill scratch yours. Help me here and Hayat could be yours forever."

Emre lets out a laugh, " In case you did not notice, Hayat is pregnant and very much in love with her husband, although something seems to be off, I don't know why she would want to work in this condition and that too with me." He mulls.

" Exactly" jumps Cagla, " Think, Emre think, why would she want to work with you when her husband cannot stand you, maybe she is trying to send you a message here, maybe just maybe all is not well in paradise, maybe she wants out with Murat but is not able to say it to you openly?" she adds fuel to the fire. And that was like music to Emre's ears, if Murat was out of the picture, then he could have a chance with Hayat, Cagla was right, why would she choose to work with him, after all that they had been thru? Was she trying to tell him something? Well, Cagla sure had sowed the seed of doubt in him.

" I could help you get rid of Murat forever Emre" Cagla goes on, "and what's there in it for you Cagla? Why are you so interested in seeing Hayat and me together, you were never that generous before, what am I missing here?" Emre asks suspiciously.

" Let us just say I have a bone to pick with Murat, I want him destroyed, I want to see him hurt and lonely, and the only person who can do that is Hayat. Hayat is the only one he cares about, and he will not be able to stand it if she betrays him. Use this to your advantage Emre, go for it, make a play for Hayat and let Murat see it!"

Emre thinks over it for just a second, and shakes his head, "Not happening Cagla, I have burnt my fingers once trying to get Hayat, am not going that way again. And if I, were you, I would do the same thing, Murat is not someone you want to mess with, I would advise you to stay out of it too. Let them be."

"Coward" Cagla chides him, "You want the piece of cake but don't have it in you to fight for it, come on Emre, where did all that love for Hayat disappear? How about, you do not do anything but leave it to me? I know Murat has been working on something which he wont share with anyone, no one has a clue what it is, here is what I'll do, I will try to get that design and hand it over to you, get the design ready and pass it off as your showstopper, Murat's designs are the best, you know that too, you will have instant success and he will blame Hayat for stealing and will never forgive her for it. Mission accomplished, Hayat will be a free bird and you can cage her, and Murat will be destroyed as Emir will be furious at him." She finishes.

Emre, however, is not sold on Caglas idea, he has his doubts, was it worth taking a chance? What if it all backfired? As much as his mind tells him to stay away from Cagla and her treachery, his heart was drawn towards that one last chance at trying to possess Hayat. He finally gives in to temptation and agrees to Caglas plan.