The Wedding Night...

Some people tell lies to deceive, others hide things to protect...

It was the middle of the week and Baran sat in his office. He was trying hard to concentrate on the file in front of him, but he couldn't. Okhan texted him that he had a good lead on Mr. Abay Kaya's whereabouts, but that was on Sunday. Two days had already passed without any news. The office phone rang. "Yes." "Mr. Baran, you told me to remind you of the meeting with the design team." "Right, thank you!" He hung up and cleaned up his desk. He moved to the work table on the left side of the space and waited there for the designers. He wanted to add a few final details on the central piece of the collection, but before that, he sent a message. "I see you've had a busy day, Mrs. Karabey. You forgot all about your husband." He smiled to himself, he could count with his fingers the seconds it would take Dilan to reply, he could even imagine her typing fast mimicking her speech pattern.

Baran opened the design app on his tablet when the message notification came in. "Forgot? How can I forget? Even if I can't check on you during the day, I'm always thinking of you. You know that, right?"  Yes, he knew. But he liked to be reminded of it and teasing her was a bonus. He was about to reply when someone knocked on his door. "Come in." "Mr. Baran, good morning!" "Good morning to you all! Please sit around. And let's get to work." Baran was giving his last comments on the designs the team presented to him when Dilan entered his office unannounced. "Baran, you..." Her sentence was cut after she saw the people there, she blushed. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were in a meeting." She turned to leave. "Dilan, wait..." He looked around the table. "We are done." She realized she was blocking the way, so she moved to the side to let them exit the office. "We would do the corrections you proposed, Mr. Baran. And send it to your email." "Yes, thank you." He walked up to her slowly, making sure not to take his eyes off her. She looked mortified.

Once he reached her, with his eyebrow raised, he said to her. "I'm guessing my secretary was not outside." She began speaking fast. "Sorry, Baran. I don't know why I assumed you would be by yourself. I would never do that again. I promised. What those people must be thinking..." He cupped her face with his hands. "What can they think? That you came to visit your husband." She then appeared to have remembered something and she was suddenly angry. "This was all your fault and that stupid text you sent me. And why Mr. Baran, you didn't answer it? I was worried that you were mad at me or something." He was fighting to stay serious. "I don't know Ms. Dilan. Maybe because I was busy? But see, even if I have a lot of work, I still manage to send you a text so you can know that I'm thinking of you. Unlike someone we know." "Baran!" "Fine, fine." She was desperately searching his face. "So you are not mad at me, right?" "Why would I, my Dilan? I just missed you so much all the time." She kissed him. "I miss you too... Now I really have to go. I came out of in the middle of a meeting because of you." He laughed and kissed her on the cheek. "Go." She hesitated before leaving. "Go." He repeated.

Dilan apologized to everyone in the room before continuing with the meeting. But now, for some reason she had to make an effort to stay present, her mind kept going to Baran. There was something odd about his expression, it was more than looking tired, he was worried. "Ms. Dilan?" Someone cleared their throat. "Yes, sorry, you were saying." "We will move forward with the plan as it is?" "Yes, the only comment I would make is, let's not only use good grades as the measurement to rate the children's success and permanence in the program. Some of them are giving their best effort and still can't see results. So, let's assign one or two more psycho-pedagogues to help them and maybe see if there are additional factors to consider. " "You are right, we will look into that, Ms. Dilan." "Thank you, that would be all." As the room became empty, she decided to text Baran's secretary. "Sorry to bother you, but could you tell me if my husband had lunch today?"

She checked her phone for the reply on her way to her office. "No, Ms. Dilan. I mentioned it to him but he dismissed me saying he was not hungry." Dilan was about to call Baran's secretary when Zeynep spoke to her. "Ms. Dilan, your father came to visit you. He is coming up the elevator now." That was unexpected. "My father?" "Yes, Mr. Seyit." "Zeynep. Showed him in as soon as he arrives at this floor." "I'll wait for him then." Dilan placed her hand on Zeynep's arm. "Thank you." She dialed the secretary's number. "Hi, sorry to continue bothering you. I need to know what does Baran's schedule look like for the rest of the afternoon?" She heard the sound of paper. "Right now he is with Mr. Okhan in his office..." 'Okhan?' "He has two meetings ahead, but he will have a free hour between them." Dilan checked the time. "Okay, let me know as soon as Mr. Okhan leaves, please." "Will do, Ms. Dilan."