The consequences of falling

Chapter 13

At the same time... Leyla's office... because it has doors.

That was a very serious discussion between Aydin sisters on the matters of utmost importance!

- So, what are you wearing for the big evening? That blue dress with silver flowers?

- No, Leyla, YOU are wearing that dress!

- Oh no, the front slit is too revealing! And it's too deep of a shade, I'll look pale...

- Nonsense! I'll do your make-up and hair and trust me – there wouldn't be a head left unturned after you!

Leyla scoffed in dismissal:

- Why would I need any heads turned after me if I'm going with Osman.

Sanem nodded solemnly – but also to hide a wicked smile on her lips. She loved Osman, he was one of her dearest friends – and Sanem didn't want him to end up in loveless marriage. Which would happen if Leyla continued with her misguided noble act of 'I promised. And I don't want to embarrass our family!'. Sanem couldn't care less about their family's embarrassment – Allah mia, their parents knew worse – but she also was weary of the fact how this imminent break will affect Osman. Sanem figured that the sooner Leyla comes to her senses and talks to Osman about her real feeling towards him – or lack thereof – the easier it would be for Osman to recover.

Unfortunately, Sanem failed to convince Leyla of her position. Cue Plan B – to make Leyla face her feelings towards Emre-bey and force her to choose. Leyla was too honest to play with Osman like that once she'd admitted she was still and always in love with Emre.

Cue Plan B – Stage Two: to make Leyla irresistible for tonight and make Emre-bey do something stupid and romantic which would force them to talk. Sanem knew her sister well and felt that Leyla was on a verge of falling hard – and Sanem was to make sure that Emre-bey would be there to catch her!

Leyla was not in on that plan and understood Sanem's concentrated silence with kaleidoscope of different facial expressions in her own way:

- Ok, I'll wear the blue gown. You should wear red then, that color suits you!

Oh, Sanem knew it suited her fine! She still remembered Can's bewildered expression when he saw her at Leyla's engagement – that was priceless! And maybe getting his attention today would be a good idea too...

But... he was so distant this past week. Sanem knew he was giving her time and space... and Sanem KNEW she needed that time and space... but some part of her still wanted to run into his arms and forget anything that has ever happened – apart for them.

'Them' she could never forget – even though she'd tried. Can was printed into her skin with invisible ink which was surfacing when her body heated from his touch... or even his presence. Can was written into her soul and all the stories that ran through Sanem's imagination and her dreams had some of that mysterious albatross in them. He was ever-present on all the pages of her life, even empty ones – like a binding that brought all of it together and made sense to it all.

Sanem knew she wasn't ready to forgive him because every memory of Can came with a bitter taste of the side-memory – he'd left her.

But she also knew she was ready to talk.

So red it is!

Later that evening... Dressing room in the conference hall...

From Can, 20:49:'I want to talk to you. I want to hold you and never let go of you. But Emre says you're hiding from me. I think, I understand. I hurt you and for that I'm very sorry. I hurt myself too but that's no excuse. I'll wait for when you are ready to talk. I love you, bi tanem! Good night!'

To Can, 21:17:'Give me a week. I can talk then. Good night.'

Today was the night. The one she was planning for in more than one sense. Was she ready?

Sanem looked at her reflection in the mirror then back to her phone with that one message from Can from one week ago then back to the mirror. Probably, red wasn't the best choice – she was too flushed for it. But other than that – she was ready!

Same time... Aydin house...

From Emre, 21:32: 'Spoke to Can – he won't bother Sanem anymore. They'd agreed on some waiting period and I'll make sure he stays away'.

To Emre, 21:36: 'Thank you, Emre-bey'

From Emre, 21:33: 'Maybe, a waiting period is a good idea... Can we agree to talk in one week? I promise to behave!'

To Emre, 21:45: 'Why are you doing this to me?'

From Emre, 21:46: 'Because if it's still doing something to you, means I have a chance. I only want to talk to you. Please.'

To Emre, 22:52: 'Yes. One week.'

From Emre, 22:52: 'Thank you. Good night!'

- Are you ready?

Leyla tore her eyes from her phone screen and looked at Osman. He was standing at the door, offering his arm to help her walk over to the car in her high heels. Osman look dapper with his three-piece suit and styled hair – perks of becoming a popular actor!

Leyla looked back on her screen and nodded:

- I am.

Finishing notes:

The timeline. While the premise suggests that this story is AU post Episode 30, that's not exactly the case. For Sanem and Can it's post Episode 30: Can has left, Polen has left too, Sanem has started working for Yigit and all that. For Leyla and Emre it's post Episode 34: they have had their conversation in the park, Leyla has left Fikri Harika and started working for Yigit. And some of the events are presumed to have taken place earlier than in the show: for example, that fiasco dinner between Divits and Aydins (Episode 35) did happened but before the breakup (I'll need that drama for a later story).

Number of chapters. When I began this story, I planned out the entire plot and it was divided by 28 chapters. As I'm writing the story some chapters grow to be too big and get divided by two, and also some side-stories are developed in more details and I add a chapter for that too. So, while the total count of chapters now stands at 32, that doesn't mean that I randomly get lost in my own story – the plan is still there =)

Next chapter. Ok, I just posted two chapters! Come on! =)

Next time I'll be posting would be this Sunday or Monday after that because this is when I get back from spring vacation with my family. And I'm not taking my laptop with me (or else work will find me!) so I won't be able to edit/write further.и

Rating. Eventually, this story will have mature context. How do I know? I'd just written it, about four pages worth of nsfw =) You've been officially warned!