Just Friends

Part 2 - Dance Partner

Can was back at the location of the photoshoot. He wasn't there to take pictures, he was there just for Sanem. Desperate to see her, finally at the end of the working day. This was the first day since...since forever that he had gone without seeing her for this long. Sometimes during the early afternoon, he had realized that ever since that day a few months ago when he started working at the agency and caught Sanem talking smack about him, she had become a constant presence in his life. Hardly any day went by without seeing her, hearing her laughter, getting into silly arguments with her. However, today when he had to go scouting for sites for their new ad campaign and she had to wrap up the photo shoot for Compass Sport, he had no choice but to go without her. They had been constantly messaging each other though. The pictures from the photo shoot she had been sending along with her smart-alec remarks and witty commentary were a poor substitute for having her near him. Then, she had suddenly stopped responding to his messages and hadn't answered the phone when he had tried calling her a couple of times. And Can was worried. He had rushed there as soon as his work had finished, hoping everything was ok with Sanem, searching for her everywhere since he stepped into the building.

Where was she? And why wasn't she answering her phone? Can was now getting concerned. It had been raining earlier that day and she had been riding her scooter these days. Did she...he immediately pushed the idea out of his thoughts, trying to keep his irrational fears at bay.

"Have you seen Sanem?" he asked a passing employee only to get shrugs and blank stares in return. He searched the studio where they had been shooting with a big green screen, then he went to the editing room, followed by the cafeteria. She was nowhere. Had she already left? But Cey Cey had told him just five minutes ago on the phone that they all were still at the location trying to wrap up. Maybe he should find Cey Cey or Guliz or someone, anyone who would know where she was. Frustrated and feeling strangely disoriented standing alone in the lobby of that building, he pressed his palms to his eyes. Just then a big group walked in through the door, and along with Cey Cey, Guliz, Deren and several other employees of the agency, there was Sanem. Today she looked particularly pretty, wearing a long-sleeved white t-shirt underneath a black dress that fell perfectly around her. Her hair framed her beautiful face in soft waves. The amber necklace; his gift to her was the only piece of jewelry she had been wearing. She was smiling at something and her cheeks had turned the palest shade of red. He exhaled a big, long sigh of relief feeling instantly less agitated than he had been since the afternoon. The relief was short lived however because in the next moment he saw who Sanem had walked in with. Sinan, the model for the ad campaign and her supposedly old school friend was next to her, holding her jacket in his hands. Whatever he was saying was making her smile, causing her to blush that rosy red. A vicious jolt of green, hot jealousy hit Can right in the middle of the chest.

"Hello, Friends!"

At his greeting, everyone in the incoming group stopped right in their tracks. His eyes were affixed on Sanem. He saw a look of surprise passing through her face that was quickly replaced by a look of defiance. She straightened up, her head held higher and looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Can! What a pleasant surprise!" Deren came toward him, her voice an octave higher than her regular high pitch. He wished Sanem could be half as excited as Deren. But she stood rooted to her spot, looking down at her feet.

What was going on, what did he do now? Can was pretty sure that Sanem's dour mood had to do with something he did wrong. How did he manage that? He quickly scanned the day's events and the messages he had sent her.

His day had started with Ceyda's message that he needed to start working on the fitness chain campaign ASAP. Their agency had landed this brand-new campaign through Ceyda's acquaintance. She had insisted the client was eager to get started and wanted them to check out the gyms across Istanbul that could be a suitable shooting location. Then she had mentioned that it would be a wise idea for her to tag along since she had been to a couple of their gyms before and knew people. Always preferring to work alone, Can had half-heartedly agreed to this arrangement. Though, Ceyda had been a decent enough company all throughout the day. They had gone to six different gyms, and he had short-listed two of them for the possible future shooting location. Throughout that whole day, he had been texting Sanem, telling her about the locations and campaign, sending her pictures of the locations, asking her opinion, missing her badly. And now she was upset for some reason, and he didn't even have a clue why.