10 Minutes

Now What?

It was 11:30 in the morning and he had already been up since 5:00 to get some weight lifting in before he started his day. A quick espresso was his breakfast along with the return of emails and phone calls. He'd spent another hour going though his notes before he closed his laptop, disconnected the cord and placed them both in his computer bag. He set aside the two case files he had been studying and made a few more notes on his tablet and then grabbed them as he stood to put them into his briefcase. He looked at the post it note on the top corner of the second file folder a thought crossed his mind once again. Her handwriting was impeccable and evertime he saw it on a document or her notes on a file he just couldn't believe she was gone. The note had a name underlined twice and in capital letters with a word beneath it, flowers and a check mark next to it. It had been just over three weeks since Sanem had been released from the hospital. All in all she had recovered miraculously well. There hadn't been any signs of long lasting issues from her harrowing experience and her injuries had healed well. While she was home and recovering he had done everything in his power to ensure that Yigit would never get out of prison. Insanity or not, the case was well documented with direct evidence supporting his plans to abduct and hold her captive. Along with the other claims against him and his cousin of corporate espionage he was not likely to see freedom until they buried him in the ground. Metin turned and picked up his briefcase, unzipped the side compartment and slid the thick blue file folders inside. He had an appointment with the lead investigator at the police command station later that afternoon. He would stop by Cans to bring him up to speed and check in on Sanem. He looked across at the empty desk just outside his office and frowned. Elif had been gone for more than a month now and he had not seen it coming. It had both disappointed and angered him at first but ultimately it had distressed him as time went on. She appeared happy and it seemed they were moving in the right direction with regard to a private relationship. Perhaps he had been more eager than her or he had waited too long. Even after offering her a higher wage, one he felt she deserved and had just waited to long to give her, she rejected it. Stating that she thought the move was better for her career. There would be more opportunities for her to assist multiple attorneys. She would be able to persue her own degree once her familial obligations were complete and the higher income and experience would help her in that respect as well. When she offered him the two weeks in order to train a new assistant he declined and gave her a severance package worthy of an attorney. She immediately rejected it but he insisted that she take it as he would not be employing her for the two weeks she had offered. As he stared at the empty desk that used to have fresh flowers in a crystal vase,
on the right corner, he sighed and nodded his head wondering if it would be appropriate to reach out to her and see how she was doing. He walked around his own desk and exited his office and now stood at her desk. It was as she had left it. Neat and clean and bare, as if there had never been anyone sitting at it for years. He reached into his pocket and picked up his phone. He searched for her number in her contacts and dialed it. It rang several times and then a message conveyed that the number was no longer active. He frowned and stared at the contact on his screen making sure he had dialed correctly. He had but he couldn't understand why she would have changed her number. He dialed it again, just to make sure and when the same message began he hung up. An alert on his phone sounded to let him know his meeting was in two hours. He sighed heavily and shoved his phone in his pocket. He would try and reach her at the law offices she had moved on to. They had parted on less than happy circumstances, for him anyway. There had been a lot going on and he hadn't been in the right head space to do more about her resignation letter than to just get upset and hurt. He thought there was something there between them but even if it had all been in his head he felt she deserved better than his cold indifferent attitude that he gave her. She had deserved better. It wasn't her fault if she did feel for him what he had begun to feel for her. He slung his computer bag over his shoulder and grabbed his briefcase and walked out of his office. He would make sure he made the time to see her and offer his apologies. Perhaps they could have some lunch and reconnect. As he stopped in to the lobby to take the elevators down the guard stood up, retrieved a large envelope from his desk and walked toward him "Metin Bay? I was about to take this to your office. A delivery boy just dropped it off". He handed over a  large white envelope to him. Taking it as he walked by  "thank you Ayaz. Have a nice weekend". He pressed the elevator button with his elbow as he looked at the senders address on the envelope. It was in an express carriers plain white envelope with the carriers logo on the top left corner. The address wasn't any he immediately recognized. It was heavy, no doubt it contained files he needed to read. He shoved it under his armpit and stepped into the elevator as the doors opened. He would take a look at it later, he had plenty in his plate to deal with right now.