Artemis (CanEm Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Eighteen

Ever since learning of Sanem's prospective date, Can was on edge. He was driving with his fists so tight against the steering wheel that he'd gone pale. He couldn't close his eyes without thinking of her with somebody like Osman or Sinan and it angered him. It would be happy for a moment – images of Sanem smiling and laughing flooded his mind before slowly being taken over by pictures of other men being the ones who made Sanem smile and laugh. It was a nightmare on loop and it just confirmed one thing – Can needed to sort this mess out and soon.

And in order to be successful, he'd done absolutely everything in his power to get him and Sanem alone during this camping trip. Their first night would consist of some team building exercises and setting up their tents and Can had purposefully made a map of where everybody would be pitching their tents; Sanem's adjacent to his. He'd even paired them up on the same tasks during the shoot. She was his assistant whilst he took pictures and she was his consultant later on in the day when it came to going over the said pictures. It was a win-win situation for Can.

However, not so pleasant for Sanem.

Like Can, she was also angry. She was angry that he was utilising his power as her boss to get her to bend to his will. She wasn't going to risk Leyla's job and so, she had to do what Can had wanted and she'd cancelled her plans to be at work.

"Bad king." Sanem muttered under her breathe as she aggressively stabbed at the ground with her tent poles. The mosquitos were already starting to bite her alive, squatting to fix her tent was straining against her jeans and she was slowly starting to sweat and yet weirdly freeze through her jumper. Understandably, Sanem absolutely despised Can for forcing her into the woods. He had done it one too many a time and she would much rather be in bed or writing at her desk.

"I can hear you, Sanem, dear." Can, whose tent was completely finished, was lying on a mattress staring at a visibly distressed Sanem. He rested his head on his hands and just watched her. He could watch her for days. She was definitely a simplistic, city girl and Can was enjoying the comedic sight of her in the middle of nature. She hadn't even come dressed prepared. She was minimally covered in a crop jumper and a pair of tight jeans – Can couldn't help but chuckle. Sanem, in front of him, was literally the embodiment of a what not to do whilst in the woods.

"Why do people do this for fun?" Sanem tried to avoid Can as much as she could and began talking to herself. "I do not understand."

"Maybe if you weren't so quick to jump to conclusions, you'd be able to take your surroundings in better." Sanem stopped herself from rolling her eyes in frustration. She understood the double meaning behind Can's words. Yes, he was talking about his love for the outdoors but he was also talking about their relationship. He had the audacity to call her out on jumping to conclusions when he'd done the exact same when seeing the pictures of her and Fabri.

"It's not about jumping to conclusions, Mr Can." Sanem frowned deeply before adding her own double meaning to her words. "I know what I like and what I don't and stopping to take in my surroundings doesn't change that." As she said this, Sanem was referring to Can and Polen. It had taken a mere few pictures for Can to change his complete perception of their relationship and that had hurt. He hadn't even bothered to ask Sanem for her side of the story before he had jumped to conclusions.

"But stopping to take in your surroundings means you can hear the music of the forest. You can hear the wind fly through the trees like a symphony. You can see the leaves dance to that same beat-" Can was getting lost in his words as he described the woods. The loneliness that the woods permitted had been so familiar to him at one time and it was refreshing to share it with Sanem. "You can feel that uncanny life in the soil beneath your feet-"

"Or I can see the mosquitos trying to kill me." Sanem cut off Can's deep analysis of the woods as a mosquito flew directly towards her. She karate chopped the air and tripped over her two left feet before flying towards Can and his half empty mattress. After that everything went in slow motion. One minute she was upright and the next, the world was tilted, and her body was flying sideward.

"Careful!"

Sanem tripped over leather lace-up boots and landed abruptly on top of Can on the mattress, her face planted deep into his chest. She had every intention of pushing away from him as soon as she realised the position that she had landed in but as soon as she felt him, she couldn't stop obsessing over the feeling. This was the closest they'd ever been. As a natural instinct, Can's arm encircled Sanem's waist, hauling her body impossibly close to his own. She could feel the outline of his abs and the hardness of his thigh muscles and Sanem found herself unable to move. She was frozen in that moment, their colleagues fading absentmindedly into the background. Her eyes were like diamonds in the slowly dimming sky and in them was the faintest spark of passion ... desire – something clearly displayed in Can's as well. A small but teasing smile crept upon his face, goose bumps arising on both their skins and soon, there was no smile on his face. All Sanem could feel was the hot intensity of his gaze that she knew was a sign – a sign of the inferno to come.

Hurriedly, Sanem forced herself away from Can and ran a frustrated hand through her hair. It had only been a few hours and she was already falling – literally – for Can. It was safe to say; this weekend was going to be the longest weekend of her life. And the only way Sanem knew how to cope with it was by drinking ...