Love Birds (Erkenci Kus) - Not just your average love story ❤️Canem Forever ❤️

Episode 22, Scene: The Colour of Love

After the magazine interview, Can could feel Sanem's uneasiness towards him. He was well aware of how evasive he had been about his true feelings towards her but he was still too proud to admit the truth: That he was well over their fight and wanted more than ever to be together with her again.

Can knew that he was being coy with Sanem but he always loved teasing her. He wanted to flirt with her while taunting her at the same time. Even now, when he wanted so much to tell her that he longed for her, he still wanted to keep her guessing, to make her suffer just a bit longer.

His ego may have been too big, but his heart was bursting to confess his love. Eventually it would have come out, especially when he was in close proximity with her. In the end he would reveal his heart to her indirectly, during a conversation discussing colour codes for their latest advertising campaign.

As a true romantic, Can would describe his love to her poetically—through colour—as a painter speaks through his canvas.  But it would have to be discreet as he wasn't ready to tell her quite yet.

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Can had become very anxious about the success of the new sports campaign that was to be presented to their clients the following day. These clients  would help revive the agency so Can desperately needed the presentation to run smoothly.  He even brought the entire team back to his house after work hours that night to make sure it was perfect.

It was getting very late and only the core group had now remained. Emre was working on the final financial numbers while Deren, Guliz and CeyCey finalized the creative details of the campaign. While everyone was preoccupied with their individual tasks, Can sat with Sanem and offered to help her with the graphics for the digital presentation.

This would conveniently require them to work side by side on Sanem's laptop. And as they did Can found a way to clear up any confusion she may have had about his feelings towards her, not in so many words but rather by way of a secret code... that is, in HTML digital colour code.

He chose the colour ACN3815, a web colour used in computer graphics for the colour red. And by no coincidence, according to marketing psychology, it was a colour that evokes excitement and passion...feelings that Can was certainly trying to convey as he spelled out the code to her which started a playful and flirtatious exchange between the two love birds.

As Can and Sanem collaborated on the project, their synergy was evident in every keystroke. They worked so well together. They were a good team. But as they discussed ideas Can couldn't ignore the growing warmth that grew between them.

"Ok, this is the front and the sides look like this" Sanem explained to Can showing her work on her laptop.
"How's it going ?" Can asked.
"It's going well", she responded. "I just need to match up the colours now."
"Hmmm, if you want, I could help", he offered, in a voice a notch higher than a whisper, "I can read the code out loud while you enter it" Can knew she really didn't need his help. The one thing he knew about her was that she was insanely talented. But it was any excuse to be by her side.
"You can"
"I want to, I'd love to help", Can insisted. "Ok let's do this"
"I'm ready" Sanem said.
"Alright, I'll say, you enter... "

At last, Can found his opportunity to express his feelings by way of a word game using the colour code as his cover.

After he read out each letter of the code, he added a word that started with the same letter of the code. But he didn't say just any random word...he carefully selected a word that best described what she meant to him—so it would be clear—that he still wanted her in his life.

"The code begins with an A, as in Ask [Love]", Can stated firmly.
Sanem was surprised and asked, "you mean not A as in Arcadas [friends]"?
Can insisted that it was not friends. "No, It's "Ask" [Love]. I like that better" he said as he looked deeply into her eyes.
"Ok then A is for Ask [Love]..."Sanem smiled smugly as she typed the letter on the keyboard.
Can then said, "next is C as in Canim [darling]".
Sanem repeated the letter while she held in her excitement.  She then made the entry as Can watched her.
"The next" Can says, "N as in Nadidenin inci/nesi [my Precious]".
Sanem took in a long deep breath, and whispered, "Is it hot in here, or is it because of my turtleneck?" She tugged the material around her neck while she gazed into Can's eyes.
"You better keep your top on or I might lose control" Can teased while gazing back into her eyes. Her talking about taking her clothes off only heated things up more.
"Next is 3" Can continued.
Sanem looked back into Can's eyes and responded "3 as in a Stray 3", (In Turkish, the number 3 is üç, pronounced "ooch" which conveniently forces the lips to form a kissing formation).
"Rascal 3" Can repeated the number while looking down at her lips.
"You're fooling me" Sanem joked. Can then whispered, "I want to do more than just fool around with you". He said in his low sultry voice.
Sanem swallowed and cleared her throat. She entered the number and then looked back at Can in anticipation of the next revelation. "Done".
"8-1-5" Can said quickly.
"Whoa that came out fast", Sanem teased him, not only referring to his speech.
"Are you tired?" Can asked, implying more than just the late hour.
"Tired? I never get tired when I'm with you". The words seemed to slip from her mouth naturally as she got lost in his charm. They looked at each other for a moment, then quickly snapped back to reality realizing they weren't alone.
Can cleared his throat. "Ok, now let's work on the presentation for the launch. I hope you're ready, because you will be doing the presentation", Can announced to her.
"You can't be serious!" Sanem exclaimed.
"I am" Can replied.
"It's impossible " Sanem insisted.
"I want you to"
"But I don't know how to give a presentation!" Sanem argued.
"I think you're ready to take on something like this. Come on" Can pleaded.
Sanem turned away and after giving it a quick thought, she accepted his offer. "Ok", she said.
"But we'll have to start working on it right away" Can said, excited to have another excuse to prolong the night with her. He felt good about the presentation especially having Sanem by his side.
"We don't have much time but ok" Sanem said.
"I think you should start with the PowerPoint" Can suggested.
"Don't worry I know what to do. I'm excited about tomorrow.  I just hope I don't mess things up".
"You'll be fabulous", he said to her. He couldn't resist pinching her cheeks and squeezing her nose playfully but stopped himself before the others caught on. She made him melt. He was enamoured by her.

By now the heat had intensified so much between Can and Sanem that both their cheeks had become as red as the background colour of their presentation. It was clear that they were going to need an enormous amount of self-discipline to stay focused that night. Nevertheless, our two love birds were destined to be together, and it was only a matter of time that this friendship game would soon become Endgame.

Canem Forever ❤️❤️