Flipped

So We Meet Again

Can had arrived in the common area of the publishing house and took a few steps through the area, taking it all in.  There were a handful of workstations, some occupied, others empty.  He saw a couple of people off to the side at a little snack bar area and a couple others walking down the corridor, coming from Yigit Bey's office.  He was going to approach them to ask if they could point him in Yigit's direction, but Yigit himself had just emerged from his office a few steps behind them.  They caught each other's glances and smiled as they started walking toward the other, hands extended to shake their greeting.   "Hoşgeldiniz Can!"

Can was relieved to see Yigit was not in more formal business attire and immediately relaxed as they shook hands.  "Ah, teşekkür ederim.  Good to see you again Yigit Bey."  Yigit put him further at ease, "Ah- No 'Beys' around hear.  Please, just Yigit."  Can gave a nod as the handshake ended.  "Yigit.  Great- where do you want me?"  Yigit motioned back they way Can had come.  "Evet, let's get you set up...  it's a fairly loose structure here, really."  

They walked to one of the empty workstations and Yigit walked him through initial sign-on steps, a few smaller projects he wanted to get his feet wet on, and then discussed his hours.  "I really don't have any strict requirements on time of day so long as you are working between 20 and 30 hours a week.  You can work from here, or remotely, using the laptop...  just log your hours in the system every two weeks to get your paycheck."  Can followed through everything with only a couple of questions, familiarizing himself with the computer and asked about any deadlines associated with the small projects Yigit had mentioned.  They settled the details and Yigit excused himself, "I've got to run - meeting with a potential partner for a larger project we have coming."  Can thanked him and said he would just dive right in.

Yigit left the workstation and had just gotten out the doors at the front of the building as Sanem reached the bottom of the stairs, turning the opposite way, toward the entrance to his office space.  She wandered down the main hall, looking around at the handful of people moving through the space.  She hadn't seen Can in his work space and decided to just bite the bullet and go to Yigit's office.  She needed to talk to him and just officially end things before he got too far down his own hopeful path in his mind.  She reached his office door and knocked.  After a moment, she knocked again.

Can raised his head at the sound and saw someone at his office door.  He got up and rounded the corner from his work space to let the person know Yigit wasn't in.  "Oh excuse me- sorry, he's not- " his words fell over the edge of his surprise/relief/panic at seeing her as she turned to face him.  She'd heard a voice, seemingly addressing her, so she turned and was struck.  Holy shit, it's him!  They stood there in suspended animation it seemed, as they took each other in.  Wai.  Leyla wasn't kidding when she said he was in good shape. İsa. (Jesus). 

She recovered first and spoke as she pointed her thumb back over her shoulder toward Yigit's office door.  "He's not...?"  Can found his voice again, "Yok- Yigit isn't in there... yani, he just stepped out for a meeting."  Sanem gave a slow nod, "Ah... ok."  She stood there and just kept nodding, so Can mimicked and began nodding as well.  "Ya."  An awkward silence began to settle, neither of them knowing for sure if they should acknowledge the elephant in the room.  After a moment, they both spoke-

C:  "I can leave him a message for you-"    S:  "Were you at the waterfront last night?-"

Then...

S:  "No."  C:  "Yes."

They both smiled and snickered a bit.  Can started first this time, "Yes, I was going to ask you the same."  She pushed some fly-aways behind her ears, still smiling, "Evet- I thought I recognized you."  Can was on the verge of simply bursting.  She'd recognized him!  If only she knew we'd met once before, in the opera house.  "I hope the sea was soothing for you...  it was for me-  I was nervous about my first day here."  Her smile widened as she gave a sideways nod, "My worries were of a similar sort but- complicated with family stuff too."  Can's expression showed his concern so she tried to add a lighter note, "Yani, the time by the water was therapeutic."