Artemis (CanEm Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Twelve

Sinan was the man who had been following Sanem.

Sinan Ozgun had been Sanem's childhood best friend. Whilst growing up, she'd been a tom boy, much to her mother's dismay. She'd come home from school with mud on her knees and scruffy clothes unlike Leyla who returned primmer and more proper than from when she had left. All of the girls skipped rope or danced during their breaks whilst Sanem hit the football field with Sinan. They were mischief wherever they went. In fact, they were so alike, Sanem's parents were convinced the two were going to get married someday. They had been inseparable – joined at the hip - until Sinan's parents had moved abroad a few years ago.

"Sanem, is that you?" Sinan, in the looks department, hadn't changed one bit. He had that same curly hair and pale skin.

"Sinan?!" Sanem exclaimed, walking towards him hurriedly now instead of running in the opposite direction. "Oh my God, what are you doing here?" The two embraced and Sinan winced as Sanem's cold skin came into contact with his own.

"Dear God, Sanem, you're freezing!" He exclaimed as they pulled away. "Here, take this." Like a gentleman, Sinan offered Sanem his jacket and she accepted it graciously. It was then that she noticed how formally he was dressed; a pair of trousers, a shirt and a tie. His face hadn't changed but his clothes definitely had.

"Thanks." Sanem shrugged in the direction of the jumper. "I can't believe you're here, in Istanbul!"

"Yeah, there's a business deal here that I'm working on so I've moved back for the next few months-"

"Business deal, huh? Look at you!" Sanem would have never pinned Sinan to be the type of person who'd take on a nine to five job. She imagined he would have turned out like ... him, like Can – creative and spontaneous. The reminder of him made Sanem's mood lower significantly because she figured he'd be on his way to England by now.

"I know, weird, right?" Sinan looked down at himself and chuckled softly. It was funny how life turned out this way. But it seemed like it was destined for him to run into Sanem after all these years again. "But you tell me, why were you running like that?"

"Honestly, I thought you were some creepy stalker trying to follow me home." Sanem laughed and the two fell into a comfortable walking pace. "But I need to get home before Mother goes crazy."

"Ah, Mevkebe aunty! How is she?" Sinan remembered how Mevkebe used to scold him for being a bad influence on her daughter. Despite her scowling face and a slipper raised in one hand, she still invited him in for food and helped him get cleaned up before he headed back home.

"She's the same, really. She'll be ecstatic when she sees you, in a suit of all things as well!"

"Ha! She'll have a heart attack." Sinan and Sanem joked. "Why don't we catch up for a bit and then I'll walk you home? It'll give me a chance to see your parents again."

"Of course! They'll be so excited to see you, they'll completely forget the fact that I was late."

"You haven't changed a bit, Sanemsi." Sinan wrapped an arm around Sanem's shoulders as they walked.

In all honesty, his words had been a bit of a white lie because Sanem had changed. Her humour and her child-like excitement were exactly as he remembered but this wasn't the tom-boyish girl he had always loved. She had grown up and blossomed beautifully and Sinan would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't attracted to her. But with his little crush aside, Sanem had always been his best friend and he was glad they'd met up so spontaneously.

"So, tell me, Mr Business Man, how's living in the USA?"

As the two old friends began to catch up on the years of each other's lives that they had missed, Can and Leyla were on the other side of town losing their minds ... Can especially.

Leyla had told him everything and Can felt silly, silly for ever doubting Sanem. Can smacked his hands against his steering wheel and sighed heavily. He'd put Sanem through a lot of grief and he'd thought some awful things about her when all she had been trying to do was be helpful. He wanted to run to her and pull her into his arms and just hold her. She'd been smart and caring and she'd thought of him and the agency before herself. She didn't think about the repercussions if Fabri came after her, all she thought about was making it up to him ... and she had. This was the Sanem that he'd fallen in love with, the woman who was caring and happy, regardless of what life dealt her.

And with the truth now laid out before him, Can was even more adamant on finding Sanem. They'd checked his cabin in the woods and then headed down to the shore, but their search had concluded with nothing. They were back at square one.

"Where is she?" Can let his head fall against the wheel, profanities slipping from his mouth in a way that would make any mother get angry at her child.

"Mr. Can, I don't know." Leyla was slowly growing more impatient as well. She was certain that they would have found her by now and she was starting to worry, desperately.

The unlikely pair sat in the car, parked by the coast, in silence. They were both thinking of possible scenarios in their heads and Can's weren't pleasant. He was growing angrier and angrier at himself for driving Sanem away and he knew he wouldn't be able to go on if she was hurt because of him. Meanwhile, Leyla tried to stay as optimistic as she could. She was a calculated person who was trying to think of plausible places that Sanem could be until finally she thought of something that her and Mr. Can had completely looked over. It was then that a light bulb went off over Leyla head. "Mr. Can?"

"Yeah?"

"The lawsuit against Signor Fabri must have angered him greatly."

"Yes, probably." Can's voice was sad, almost like he was on the verge of tears, and Leyla urged him some more.

"And he'd probably want revenge, right?" This was what got Can to lift his head and make eye contact with Leyla. His motion was so abrupt he was certain he'd given himself whiplash. "What if he has Sanem?" Leyla gulped audibly. "I should have never told her to reach out to him ... what if he does something to her?"

"Over my dead body." As soon as Can pieced together what Leyla was trying to say, he put his foot down on the gas and headed towards Fabri's office. He wasn't going to let that scumbag touch a hair on his beloved's head.