Keşke

Partnerships

"ARKADAŞ!"

Sanem's eyes were saucers and the Divit boys ceased their antics.  Can tried to recover.  "Evet.  Sorry, we got carried away."  Deren quickly recomposed herself as well.  "Eh heh- evet, evet- so easy to get caught up in the fun we have here."   Everyone got back on track.  Sanem glanced at her notebook, "Right.  Connection with nature."

The foursome worked through some high level concepts for about an hour, leaving about a half hour before their meeting.  Plenty of time to pull together some audio clips and rough imagery to accompany their ideas.  They were just finishing setting up the presentation boards when the team arrived and Emre began the introductions among their four representatives.  When Can realized the company they were fighting to represent was Compass Sports he hid his initial surprise well from his guests, but managed to slip Emre a look with raised eyebrows and a small nod that conveyed that he was impressed.  Emre returned the look with his own raised brows an only slightly smug smile as if to say, you owe me bro!

Welcomes and general pleasantries settled, they all took their seats as one of their executives apologized for another team member arriving a few minutes late.  Deren had just finished handing out hard copy outlines of their presentation when their fifth team member entered, apologizing and offering brief greetings to those at the table in front of her.  She'd simply glazed past Can's seat at the head of the table as she sat.

He was pleasantly surprised to see an old friend and decided to tease her a bit.  "Gamze, you won't say hello to me?"  She whipped her face back toward him with big eyes and a surprised open-mouthed smile, "Can?!"  He scoffed and they both rose to hug each other 'hello' as they exchanged a few words.  He then turned to the group, "Sorry to forgo the normal professionalism- Gamze is an old friend of mine-" the group nodded and acknowledged the small delay and Sanem gave her an extra 'once over' while the CEO gave a subtle sideways glance as well, and made a mental note to talk to Gamze about it later.

The Fikri Harika team led them all through their initial concepts, possible thoughts on supporting visual and audio, along with their anticipated budget and timeline.  Deren led the main creative points with Sanem filling in support where needed and Emre headed the financials overview.  On the walk out from the conference room, Gamze was held back by her CEO.  "Gamze...  you know Can Divit personally?"  She started with a simple "Evet," in response and was prepared to explain how they had met but, when she looked at her boss's face, she saw that it was not just a curious inquiry about Gamze's friendship with Can but rather, an opening to leverage it.  Gamze gave a look as she addressed her colleague, "Ceyda."  Ceyda's gaze had been following Can as he bid farewell to each of her representatives but came back to Gamze upon hearing her name.  "Hmm?"

Her other coworkers exchanged adieus with Can, mentioning there were another four agencies they were considering as Gamze rolled her eyes at her friend, "Don't even think about it Ceyda."  Ceyda acted insulted, "What?!  I'm just curious about him...  the Can Divit."  Gamze dipped her head and eyed her again.  She gave in, "Uff- Fine!  But you can't blame me-  look at him!"  Gamze gave a sigh, "Please Ceyda!  Please don't put me in an awkward position."  As they got closer to Can for their 'goodbyes' Ceyda whispered, "I just want you to ease an opening, that's all."  Then she turned to Can, "Thank you so much- the presentation was a strong one..." she added with a wink, "...possibly the one to beat."

Deren, Emre & Sanem all exchanged looks, but Can just gave a humble 'Thank you very much' and assured her that he and his team would be putting in extra effort.  In her wishful thinking, she raised an eyebrow, smirking, "Really."  Can completely missed the tone she had attempted, "Of course.  Nothing less than 110 percent!  Actually, I wonder if you could help with that part."  Now she was smiling from ear to ear, "Ooh, I thought you'd never ask."  Gamze was still standing just to the side and cringed at Ceyda's forwardness.  She saw Can's face - it appeared he was finally comprehending Ceyda's meaning and his expression wasn't exactly readable.  She figured he was either going to take the 'I'm flattered, but-' route or possibly more bluntly shut her down.