Research

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...Aziz had to decide if he was going to call his daughter out on her obvious deflection of subjects, or give her a pass...

He watched his normally very confident and solid daughter fiddle with her napkin, avoiding eye contact with him. He ultimately left it open- for her to decide which way to take the discussion. "Evet, running a business is a commitment... but not one's only commitment in life I hope?" Sanem was quick to pick up her father's attempt to continue the 'relationship' part of their earlier conversation and met his eyes, raising an eyebrow at him. "One thing at a time, Baba." She finished by taking a bite of her dessert, then pointed her fork at him. "One thing at a time."

He took the hint, but didn't completely abandon his attempts. "Sure, we can try one thing at a time kızım (my daughter) but..." Now he took a fork and stole a bite from her plate, "Life does not always allow for one thing at a time, so we must learn to adapt, and prioritize the many facets that life sometimes throws at us all at once." Sanem got the feeling that he may have drifted into several subjects with that... not just those of her own, but his own as well. She decided to hit it head on then, abandoning the napkin she'd been previously abusing, along with her fork. "What has life thrown at you Baba?"

Aziz huffed a little and now found himself as the one avoiding eye contact. He suddenly took great interest in his tea, then in the scenery, and the other few people at the small cafe. He'd let his guard down and she'd caught him. Her unwavering voice broke in again. "Baba." He looked at her again, with pride and amusement in his face. There's my girl. "Sanem. I've been on this Earth for a good long while now so- I have had many things 'thrown at me.' Now is no different. Just one more challenge to rise up and meet." He raised his tea as a toast and drank.

Her eyes narrowed, shaking her head at her stubborn father- a smirk trying to escape her lips. She wanted him to give in and tell her the truth about why he was stepping down from the company. But she couldn't help but to admire his strength and determination in protecting her. And she loved him all the more for it. Her smirk shifted, betraying her now very sentimental thoughts. Aziz saw it, and it pained his heart. He knew she was onto him- he simply couldn't bear to have that conversation with her. Not yet.

He tried one last time, reaching across the table for her hands. "Sanem, if you've met someone, and want to explore that more deeply, I would never ask you to sacrifice that kind of potential happiness to run the company- you do know that don't you?" She conceded that they were at an impasse on the subject of his health. So she decided she wasn't going to budge either. "I know that Baba-" She slid one of her hands out from under his and laid it atop his, "But this isn't the situation." She raised her hand to stop him from trying to continue the 'relationship' line of discussion and cut in. "Why not Emre?"

Aziz took a breath, blew it out, then pointedly took another bite off her plate. He pulled his other hand from hers as he leaned back in his chair. Oh boy- here we go.

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Yigit had gone through Can's notes with him, discussing possible angles, different directions and potential applications for about 45 minutes, then worked out Can's next steps and Yigit left him to it, heading into his own office. Can started to create an outline, along with a timeline. Once he felt it covered all the main points he wanted to explore, he sat back for a small mental break, feeling satisfied with transferring his thoughts down to paper... well, to 'laptop.'

After no more than about 5 seconds of clearing his head, his thoughts went to her. Reliving their few precious moments together... He had, at some point unknown to him, subconsciously given up on the idea that his mystery kiss could have been with anyone else. He thought of that other-worldly moment and filled in the blanks with her. He had felt a woman's lips on his that night, but now, in his memory, he made those lips hers. He pictured her chestnut eyes closing when the kiss deepened, her felt her soft skin, smelled her bewitching scent.

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