TWO BIRDS OF A FEATHER

For her beloved Albatross...

As with the light and the dark moonstone, each person has two sides. One that they show to others, and one rooted in the deepest parts of their heart and souls so much that they never show it to others. And that side is hidden away from others not because of secrets they try to hide, but because they fear that they would never be understood - not in the way that means to them. Until, they meet the person they no longer fear sharing their true self with. Until, they realize that this person is not afraid to accept them for who they really are...

Sanem left her home in the morning with Can on her mind and hope in her heart. Hope that what she was about to search for was still there. Because it mattered. It mattered to the person that she was years ago, and it mattered to the person she was now. As she stood at the foot of the abandoned manor, her heart felt relieved. But her mission was only accomplished by half. The manor still stood where it did years ago. In the same unchanged condition it did before. But the question remained, did whatever she hide within the walls of that place stand the test of time? To this day? Waiting there to be found again?

When she arrived at the agency, and walked to Can's office, she could not believe her eyes. Can Divit, international photographer extrodinaire, confident and purely masculine man, one of Turkey's most eligible bachelors according to gossip columns, was preoccupied with beauty and skin care cosmetics. And he was utterly frustrated. She did not have to wait long for him to complain about what he was doing. She had to smile, bit tried to hide her smirk. He knew everything. He was confident in his knowledge about everything there was to know on the face of the earth - except cosmetics and women's beauty products. He was hopeless. He was confused. He was completely exasperated. And he looked totally adorable in his hopelessness.

He asked her for help. More than that. He could not stand having zero knowledge about something that the agency was supposed to come up with advertising for. He felt so relieved to see Sanem come in. He just knew she would face the challenge of this campaign head on, and that she would ace it. He? Not so much. Embarrased to admit it, he told her that he was completely clueless about the products that lay before him on his desk. He tried the lipstick to understand its purpose, but he drew the line at that. Now Sanem had to laugh. She repeated his words just to be sure she had heard him right. He... tried on... the lipstick? Can Divit? Put on lipstick? She had to bite her lip pretty hard to keep herself from bursting out in laughter. But - he did need help, and this was related to business, so she took a deep breath, and explained a few basic elements of those beauty products.

To ease his mind off the intricacies of the mystery of women's skincare, Sanem suggested that she would take him someplace where he could forget about his current frustration. But she would not reveal where she wanted to take him. As puzzled as Can was, he realized that the instant thought of curiosity did take his mind off the cosmetics. And that could prove beneficial to his already growing frustration. So he agreed. He would let her lead him. He would let her take him to where she hoped he would follow. And he was beginning to like her sudden change in the dynamic of their relationship. She took command for the moment, even if a brief one, and it made his heart swoon. He also realized that she no longer felt shy to walk with him, and she proudly walked out of the agency with him, hand in hand. Just as he always hoped for...

They soon arrived in a secluded park not far from Istanbul's community where Sanem lived. Though they were still in the city, the area felt like it was miles away. Tall trees. Quiet sounds of nature interrupted by chirping of birds rather than the sounds of a bustling city. The rainy day weather only added to the aura of mystery, and it made Can think that whatever it was that Sanem wanted to show him was something that mattered a great deal to her. A great deal. And he wasn't mistaken. After he parked the car, they met with a very good friend of Sanem, whom she lovingly referred to as her uncle Ihsan. Sanem introduced the older gentleman to Can, and seemed very happy to see him. Even happier, after he advised her that he was able to bring with him what she asked for. Hearing this, Can's curiosity grew even more. And the more he thought about it, the more it began to grab at his heart.

They bid farewell to the older gentleman, and walked toward Sanem's secret destination. Just a short walk from where they parked the car, they came across the abandoned manor Sanem visited in the morning. Where Sanem was relieved and excited to share the magic and meaning of the place with Can, he could barely stand the suspense. So she finally revealed why she brought him there. Why that place mattered to her. Why it meant so much. She was a wandering child. As much as she restless, she also yearned to find a quiet place to write. So one day her steps brought her to the manor. She saw the aura of it. She saw the magic within the walls with hidden unsurpassed treasures of inspiration.

There was also something more that pulled her toward the manor itself. And that was the birds that flew in and out of the building, as if to signal that life itself lived in the manor. That life pulsed throghout its rooms and windows and walls. And because of it, the building became a part of her life, and a part of her world. Because that was the place where it all began for her. That was where she wrote her first words. Her first poem. Her first love story. That was where she first let her heart feel the hope for a love of her own that would one day come her way. If she was lucky enough...

There was something in the way that she spoke that got to Can. His gut turned. And as much as that feeling was totally unfamiar to him, he felt the urge to hear more to what she was revealing to him. There was something in the tone of her voice and in the rhythm of her words that pulled at him in a way he never felf before. Never. He also realized that he was beginning to feal something that he never felt before either. And that was the absence of fear. If she had nothing more to show him in that abandoned manor she brought him to, just the simple fact that she opened up to him about who she was on the inside would have been enough. But she surprised him again, and she mentioned that she hid something within the walls of the manor. Something she hoped to find years later. Something she hoped he would read...

As Can watched Sanem pull out a box from a hidden compartment in the empty fireplace, he realized that the key that Sanem asked him to hold onto matched the little keepsake box she pulled out of the fireplace. She gave it to him, and asked him to read it. What he read went straight to his heart. And it stayed there...

"If I have a boyfriend,
One day We will fly over the clouds.

If I have a boyfriend,
One day We will be together for always,
We will never leave one another.

If I have a boyfriend,
One day We will sit on the wings of an Albatross
And We will fly to the eternity.

If I have a boyfriend,
One day I will give this to my beloved Albatross
And We will read it together..."

She meant those words then, and she meant them a thousand times more at that moment. That very moment. Because it mattered. Because HE mattered. The tears that came to her eyes drifted right out of her heart. The moment he looked up and saw those tears, he knew as well. He knew what his heart was telling him for the longest while. He knew what his soul was trying to tell him for longer than that. As much as she was trying open up to him and reveal to him who she was, she already made him open up in a way she hadn't even imagined. In a way she hadn't realized yet. In a way he couldn't believe possible...

He brought her close, and whispered words he never told, and would never tell, to any other woman in his life, in all of his life. He whispered to her that they should never leave one other. He used her words from the poem, but in his own meaningful way. And he meant them with all that he was. They embraced each other for all the hopes and dreams that may come their way. And for all the love they felt for one another. Seeing that there were no more birds filling the halls of the manor, Sanem asked Can for help in hanging birdhouses all around the manor. As they hung them up, they worked together, they laughed together, and spoke of future plans together. And one though kept going through Sanem's mind. And that was gratitude. Gratitude for finding this place and finding Can. Gratitude for writing down her first words so many years ago. And for writing her words down for her beloved Albatross...