The Return To Love

Chapter Thirteen

      He watched until she disappeared inside before pulling away from the front of  the hotel. His mind was consumed with all the details of her life of the past seven years that she had shared with him. 

      The thought of her with another man made him quiver. The thought of her wanting to love another man just made him want to die. Yet,... he knew it was all his fault. He had no one else to blame but himself.

      He glanced at his phone to check the time. It wasn't too late to make that call to his friend...the person he had trusted more anyone.....CeyCey. He had put it off long enough, he was ready for an explanation.

      Can found CeyCey's name in his phone and tapped on it. He was ready to find out why his friend had withheld such an important piece of information from him for all this time..... And why he had never old him about Richard, the man that Sanem tried so hard to love.

      CeyCey had wanted to call Sanem again, but thought better of it. He had made a mess of everything by trying to protect her and Can. 

      He had yet to hear from Can....and that was a call he wasn't looking forward too. " Maybe he should make the first move," He thought as he reached for his phone. It might ease the tension if he did.

      As he held the phone in his hand, debating the whole idea of making that first move, the phone rang, making him jump. The words "Can" popped up on the front of his phone....He closed his eyes and swallowed hard, and for an instant, he didn't want to answer.....but he did.

      " Can...hello. I wondered when I was going to get your call." He spoke quietly. " First, let me say I did not do this to hurt you...or Sanem. I did it because I love you both and didn't want to see either of you hurt again." He said quickly, before Can had a chance to speak.

      Can was quiet for a second before responding. " CeyCey, I know how much you care for me and Sanem..... but that didn't give you the right to lie to us. You knew I was dying without her,... I told you how much I missed her and how wrong I had been to walk away.... But you said nothing about her being here,...or that she felt the same way." Can stammered, his voice cracking as he held back the tears.

      CeyCey closed his eyes as he listened. Whatever reason he had at the time for not telling Can that Sanem was in Istanbul seemed irrelevant and selfish.. Both of his friends were suffering and it was because of him.

      " I'm sorry Can. I thought you had gotten over her. You had told me about another woman in your life a few years ago..... so I thought you had found your love." He mumbled. 

      " Oh really.... I never told you I was in love with another woman... I said I had been seeing another woman. It only lasted for a few months... and do you know why? Because I compared every move she made to Sanem. I couldn't get Sanem out of my head." Can expressed loudly.

      There was a long silence before CeyCey spoke. " I know I overstepped my boundaries as a friend by not telling you that Sanem was here...but I didn't know what would happen. I didn't want to see her hurt again. She had gone through so much.... I.... I...."

      " I'm not going to hurt her again...I promise." He said, interrupting his friend. " I can't stand the thought of not being with her, of not touching her. Nothing has changed for me CeyCey, I still feel the same way about her as I did before." Can confessed.

      Can took a deep breath, " CeyCey I love her. I always have and I always will. There's no one else for me. We have both tried.... we have tried to find that someone else,... that other person that would make us forget. But we couldn't..."  He admitted.

      " Yes, she told me about the other men. How she tried to fall in love with the guy in Dubai. But she couldn't CeyCey. She couldn't because she is still in love with me." 

      CeyCey knew all about the other man. The one that she wanted so badly to replace Can with in her heart, and he knew how she couldn't do it.. He knew all of it. " Can, I think you both need to take it slow.... be careful." He spoke quietly.

      " Huh, I don't think you get to do that anymore CeyCey... you don't get to give us advice." Can said with a slight laugh. " You get to support us in whatever we decide to do. You can be happy for us for finding our love again.... Or not. If you want to still be in our lives then you will accept us.."  He said, wiping away the tears..

      It only took a second for CeyCey to respond. " I love you both like my family. So I will be happy for you.... No matter what. Your love has always been more than anyone could have imagined..... so hold on to it."  

      Can and CeyCey had cleared the air... CeyCey had learned his lesson... not to try and fix something that had been designed by a higher power... A love that was meant to be... Only be happy that Can and Sanem never gave up on what was in their hearts.

      By the time Can had arrived back at the cabin, the need to hear her voice had almost made him crazy. He stretched out on the lounger, found her number and dialed. She answered on the first ring....

      " I know... I miss you too. I'm going to have a hard time waiting until tomorrow." She said as she answered the phone..

      Can smiled, " Yes... that's exactly what I was going to say. Just needed to hear your voice before turning in. And I wanted you to know that I have talked to CeyCey.... He is happy for us." He muttered, feeling a sense of relief..

      Sanem curled up on the bed, " Of course he is...he has to be." She said with a laugh. " I think he has learned his lesson, no more interfering. Now I just need to talk to my mom and let her know I'm still in Istanbul." The whole idea of that conversation made her nervous..

      They were both silent for a minute before Can finally spoke, " I wish I was there with you right now. It was hard to watch you walk into that hotel alone earlier.. But I know you're right... we need to take this slow." He said, almost in a whisper.

      The sound of his low, sensual voice brought a shiver of desire over her. She wanted him there just as much as he wanted to be there... but they needed more time to get to know each other again.

       Sanem closed her eyes, " Yes,...slow." she repeated, as she tried to convince herself...

      She laid there in the bed pressing the phone to her chest after they had whispered their good nights to each other. He still had the same effect on her as the first time they were alone together. That feverish and flustered feeling that stirred in her stomach....

      That was a feeling that came only with Can Divit.... exclusively. It had never happened with the other men she had been with.....  

      She wanted ' that feeling' for the rest of her life......