Unscripted love

49. On The Edge

April 2022

Can

A last greeting to my colleagues before leaving the studio after a short half-day of unscheduled work to fix a few delays in shooting before finally being on holiday for a few days.

I've been in the same show for sixteen months and, if it continues to be successful, it may be around for a long time. I'm happy with this success, the best of my career! A crime series with dramatic overtones and a hint of romance. I finally changed my style of show and I think it was the right time, my time. My main partner is just incredible: Elçin Sangu. Many fans dreamed of seeing us play together and well, it's done and the result is quite conclusive. I play a detective who has recently been posted to a well-known Istanbul police station after getting a promotion. It is here that my character, Miran, meets Ayse who becomes his teammate and with whom he gradually falls in love. She, a young single mother, is opposed to her ex who hit her and is involved in some nasty business. Between threats to her daughter and the fear of seeing her life go to hell again, Ayse is caught in the middle and Miran will try to free her from this shitty life that has always stuck to her. Police corruption will get in the way and he will soon realise that his two goals are in fact one and the same: to bring down the ex for his dealings and to free Ayse from her past.

Sixteen months I've been enjoying the rocky and exciting reading of this storyline every day.

In the meantime, I haven't seen my mother for a fortnight and she's going to kill me if I don't do my best to see her. Usually, apart from my professional obligations that take me away from Istanbul, we don't go more than a week without seeing each other, but now I'd better get off my butt...

The tone of my call insists and she soon picks up, her voice cheerful and surrounded by a rhythmic din. I can hear the sounds of her moving away.

"My darling! How are you? I thought you had forgotten you had a mother..."

"Mum! You know it's very complicated for me with the pace of the shoot."

"Mmm mmm, it's not that hard to go out to Ruby's with Burak and all your model friends..."

"Mama! It's really not what you think. This is professional. But that's not why I'm calling. Are you busy? I wanted to come and see you..."

"I'm with some friends at Café Mado but you can come by! We'll have a bite to eat together and you can take me to the theatre afterwards."

"Okay, I'll be there in fifteen minutes!"

I hang up with a smile. My mother knows exactly what she wants. If I don't give her her moment she'll let me know. I miss her too but I remember too much her attempts to set me up with the daughters of her friends' friends...real matchmakers! It at least made me realise that I wasn't ready to have a relationship with someone...else.

Paying for the taxi that took me to the front of the café, I climb the few steps four by four before reaching the entrance, faithfully guarded by a doorman. Having no doubt recognised me, he lets me into the room, which I look around. The music is cheerful and lively, it's crowded, but I soon spot a table a little way off where five women are laughing, sipping tea and eating sweets. I smile before my face freezes when I see features I recognise all too well. Demet is there, right next to my mother, making big gestures that make the crowd around her laugh. The women listen to her and put their hands over their mouths in astonishment. I stand there, torn between turning back and staying to watch her. She's always so beautiful...Where has that young woman I met four years ago gone? She still had the marks of innocence on her, whereas today she's a real woman, and yet one thing has not changed at all, she still turns my heart upside down.