I Never Thought I Needed You

Chapter 10

"Hey, Sanem!" Perry, the American intern, greets me as he pops his head into my office. He is currently taking classes at the Turkey/American college, while interning here. I smile, I can't help but admire his fashionable flair. I'm already dreading the day his internship ends because I've grown quite fond of him.

"I wanted to go over your new script," Perry says, settling into the chair in front of my desk. Today, he's sporting an orange-and-pink plaid shirt paired with a green bow tie, showcasing an even more eclectic style than yesterday.

"What do you think?" I've been working on a new series that I'm confident Aylin will approve. It's a comedic love story about a woman who unexpectedly falls for a man after crashing his wife's funeral. Things take a wild turn when she becomes entangled with the widower, who must grapple with his guilt for moving on so quickly.

"I love it!" He gushes. "But is she really crashing the funeral?" Perry asks as he crosses his legs, intrigued. 

"She ended up at the funeral because she mistakenly received the wrong address for a wedding she was supposed to attend. The wedding invite was from her ex-boyfriend and somehow she got the address wrong and ended up at that funeral home."

He laughs and we dive into planning the script and breaking down the episodes.

"Sanem," Aylin says as she busts into my office. In the beginning, she was quite understanding, but as time pass her demeanor shifted. She's become more demanding and passive-aggressive, and I noticed her taking credit for the work of the other producers. Although she is the owner of this company her behavior makes me uncomfortable. Recently, she has taken to entering my office unannounced to frequently ask when I'll have the script finished.

I try to calm my frustration by taking a deep breath. "We are going over the script right now." 

She pulls out her hand and makes a gesture for me to show her what I have. 

She scans through the pages. "Hmmm... I like it. Send it to me now." She rushes.

"It's not ready." 

"I have no time to waste. Netflix is here and I need have a contract." She walks out the office as I send her unfinished script. 

"Well umm." Perry says as he slowly walks out my office.

I release a grunt. Fuck! 

I fling open my office door and stride toward the ladies' room. Bursting through the door, I press my hands against the counter, leaning forward to catch my breath. As I look into the restroom mirror, I take a deep breath reminding myself. Think of the baby Sanem. A wave of frustration washes over me; I could almost strangle Aylin. I feel embarrassed and defeated. I feel like an idiot, a clown really, because I fell for her scheme. Being here has made me realize just how little creative input I actually have. Aylin tends to take my ideas and reshape them to fit her own vision. My life feels like a complete mess right now... Why am I still here? 

The truth is, I could walk away and Can would likely welcome me back at Divit. But I've worked too damn hard to reach this point in my career. I just need to endure Aylin's demands until I establish my name in the industry and then I can leave the corporate world to be a freelancer. 

I left the restroom with my head held high. Take it easy Sanem. 

"Aylin wants to see us all in the conference room. Some announcement." Perry says as he paces to the conference room. 

"What announcement?" I ask and look through the calendar app on my phone to see if I missed something. Nothing. 

"I don't know" he shrugs.

I followed Perry into the brightly lit conference room, where Aylin sat, seemingly engrossed in her perfectly manicured hands, oblivious to the fact that we were all waiting on her. After a few tense minutes of silence, she finally speaks. "I think everyone here needs me to light a fire under their asses. You're all incompetent! I haven't seen a single script that's extraordinary enough to land me a contract. For the next three weeks, I expect you all to work late. I need a fucking series that makes me money!" she shouted, slamming my script down in the center of the conference table. "As you can see Sanem, this script is pure garbage. Get to work!" Aylin yells and walks off the conference room.