NOMINATED FOR 2024 WATTY AWARDS!
This was not what Sanem had envisioned for her life. A young widow running her own publishing company..alone. She also never thought she'd love again. Her heart was broken and no one would ever be able to put the pie...
Sanem was racing around the office like she did most Monday mornings, with Vera hot on her heels screaming for coffee!
They had landed the next soon-to-be bestselling author the week before and as luck would have it, her photographer quit unexpectedly. He was moving to Istanbul and had landed a huge project there and Sanem didn't want him to miss out on the opportunity. She let him go, wishing him luck, not holding him to the 2 week mandatory waiting period. But now she was in trouble. None of the other contacts she had in the photography world were available on such short notice.
What are we going to do, Sanem?? screamed Vera. Sanem wished today would be the day Vera gave up caffeine but she was out of luck on that count too.
I'll figure something out, Vera. Please calm down. You've got the whole office on edge! as she watched Vera shake involuntarily.
She was a great editor but stress was apparently the drug she thrived on. She made simple every day events stressful. But today..today Vera had a reason to scream and shake and drink copious amounts of coffee.
Sanem was waiting for a few more contacts to get back to her but even she was starting to feel the stress. She needed a photographer now!
Her new up and coming author insisted on getting his cover done in the next two weeks before he turned in the last of his manuscript. His agent was not backing down on this request and Sanem didn't want to let them know about her predicament.
She and Nicolas had worked so hard to gain the respect that they had garnered. Several lean years trying to get their publishing house started and running had taught her how important gaining such a valuable author was to the success of their business. She had to make this work. Nicolas would have wanted her to do everything to see this through.
Nicolas.
Her thoughts stopped her in her tracks. How did she get here? Never had she dreamed of her life looking the way it did right now. A widow at 32. How is that even possible? They had so many dreams. SHE had so many dreams.
They had met and fallen in love in her sophomore year of high school. He was a senior and to her, he was so out of her league. She couldn't believe that he would ever be interested in her. Her..a shy daydreamer..always lost in a book.
She couldn't imagine how he even noticed her. She had friends that tried so hard to coax her out of her world of books but it was Nicolas who finally showed her that love could be found in real life as well.
She shook off those thoughts because she knew where they would lead her and today she couldn't let her constant companion of grief derail her. Her counselor called it "putting it in a box, on the shelf." She still struggled to put this into practice but today was a day to not bring down that box. She had to concentrate and stay focused. Nicolas would have wanted her to do that as well.
By lunch time, Sanem realized she had skipped breakfast and really needed to get something to eat or she wouldn't make it through the afternoon. Grabbing her purse, she called out to Gonul, her wonderful but nosy assistant, that she would be back soon.
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Sanem left her office and stepped out into the sunny streets of beautiful Positano, Italy. She and Nicolas had moved here from Rome where they grew up because they loved the Amalfi Coast area. It was their shared love of this seaside city that caused them to leave their families behind when they started their publishing house.
They had visited Positano on their honeymoon and dreamed of living there one day. Sanem was so glad that Nicolas could see some of his dreams come to pass before the tragedy and she would see to it that his dream of their shared business was continued no matter what..But she had to stop her thoughts once again.
"Focus, Sanem. Grab some lunch and get back quickly."
She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't see the man about to leave the cafe as she was stepping into it.
She had no idea that her whole life was about to change..
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Sanem had thrown on a light sweater over her favorite ivory pantsuit just in case she might need one. April in Positano this year had proven to be unpredictable. What was more unpredictable was the position she now found herself in.
As she fell forward, her head was propelled upwards in an awkward fashion, causing her to gasp just as the face of the man she literally ran into came down. What happened next was something out of a movie that neither of them could've seen coming nor could they stop.
The stranger's face came down as his arms went into a wild grab of Sanem's body, attempting to keep her from falling, and for just a few seconds, their lips touched!
Whoa, Can thought. who did I just kiss?
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Welcome to my first fanfiction! I fell in love with Erkenci Kus a year ago and it has become my absolute obsession. I quickly found out that I was not the only one. I have loved reading the stories here about them and decided to try my hand at it.
This is my love letter to Can and Sanem, for the impact they have made on my life. In my darkest moments, their love brought light back into my life in ways I never could have imagined. I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I will love writing it!
