Can Yaman International Presents: Aşk ve Gurur~ Love and Pride

Chapter 10, Part 1: Hep Kalbimdesin ("You're Always in My Heart")

At the end of Chapter 9:  (Sanem)  I smiled, kicked off my shoes and impulsively ran and dived into the water. I came up for air and suddenly a rogue wave knocked me down and dragged me under. I was struggling to resurface when out of nowhere, I was scooped up into a pair of strong arms. Every cell in my body seemed to rearrange itself when our eyes met. I felt his lips on the crown of my head while he clutched me impossibly close as he strode out of the water. I wrapped my arms around his neck and sighed in relief. "Oh, there you are," my heart cried. And I said to myself, "Now I am finally home."

(Author's Note: Please read to the end of the chapter. Your comments and your vote will be appreciated. Thank you!)

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Can's POV:

I glared at Deren. We had arrived at the location for the agency commercial shoot and now I was sure she had manipulated me into doing the photography work. We were at an old Ottoman-style summer house set by the water. Although it was the perfect setting for what we had in mind, my admiration died the moment the housekeeper mentioned who owned the place.

"Funny how you failed to mention this," I said to Deren, in a sarcastic tone. She had found me at my lowest point one drunken night, and I'd told her almost everything.

She replied, "I didn't think it was relevant to our purposes here. The owner is rarely in residence. Isn't that right?" she asked, turning to the housekeeper.

The woman nodded. "Yes; she is very busy. We don't see her often," she said, turning to show us another room, a library with a large fireplace. My attention was drawn to several photographs on the mantel.

"That is Miss Sanem with her sisters," said the housekeeper.

"She looks very different here," Deren said.

She looked young and happy, I thought. This was the woman at the cabin. The one I fell... I viciously shut down that train of thought.

"Miss Sanem has always been the sweetest, happiest and most generous girl. Not like the wild young ladies nowadays who think of nothing and no one but themselves. So hardworking too. I've heard some people call her proud and cold, but I've never known her to be that way. " the housekeeper remarked, with obvious affection in her voice.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from the photographs and found myself asking, "Is she expected anytime soon?" But they had moved on and I was alone in the room. I turned in a circle to take in the huge ornate room, trying to imagine that the girl who had told me the story about Orion was also the woman who owned this place, a literal palace. I knew she was rich but I never really thought about exactly how rich. Now that I really knew what I had been up against, I realized we had been doomed from the start.

"My position in life is such that a marriage between us would be seen by some as diminishing," were the words I remembered her saying to me. She had not been exaggerating. The truth of her words was all around me. I tried to outrun the memories by rushing out of the first door I found and taking in deep drags of fresh air.

I had been trying to erase the memory of the last time I saw her for weeks, but now those memories all came rushing back into my head. Sometimes I would think I had succeeded in carving her out of my heart, but then she would come to me in my dreams with her maddening scent, her soft lips, and that smile.

With a sound of frustration, I scrubbed my hands through my loose hair. Then I saw the water and a dreamlike sensation crawled over me. A familiar pull grabbed me, pulling me in that direction. I looked out towards the water and stopped dead in my tracks. There by the shore was the author of all my current misery. Shit...shit...shit!

I turned around, determined to get away before she saw me. I should have never stayed here. I should have never come in the first place. After a few steps and against all of the common sense I should have mustered, I whirled around again. "I will just take one look," I promised myself. "One look to hold me for all of the lonely weeks ahead."

I drank in the sight of her like a dying man thirsting for water. Her hair was waving like a pennant in the wind. She was standing tall and looked like nothing less than a goddess. Then an unexpected smile broke out on her face and she suddenly ran towards the water and plunged in.

As if in a trance and against my will, I started walking towards her. When I saw that she had failed to resurface, I broke into a run.

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This is a work of Fan Fiction inspired by the characters of "Erkenci Kus". All photos, videos and characters belong to their rightful owners.

Written for Can Yaman International by a Mystery Writer; @pajarito1978 on Wattpad.

Edited by Mary Bloyd, Resident Editor for Can Yaman International.