Can Yaman International Presents: Leaving Him

Chapter 3: "Running Away Again!"

At the end of Chapter 2:  (Can) He left not knowing where to go. Sanem was his only reason to stay in Istanbul. His only reason to stay... well, to stay alive. Before Sanem, he was just a ghost roaming the continents in search of beauty and purity. And he had been lucky enough to find it here, in Istanbul, of all places. Oh God, what he would do to have her secure in his arms! What would he give to feel her sweet breath on his skin! Unable to find comfort anywhere, Can fled to the seaside, his eyes looking on the horizon.

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Athousand thoughts and images were colliding and fighting each other in Sanem'smind. She had finally done it. She hadfound the courage to run away from the fire. The miserable moth that she washad found the strength to fly far, far away from him. Even so, she was stillunder his spell and there was nothing that she could ever do to escape him. Thatwas the curse of the one blessed with a photographic memory. She didn't needany photo of Can; she could picture him so precisely: his muscular legs, hisiron chest, his large back, his powerful arms, his handsome face, his darkeyes, his charming smile, his dimples when he laughed, his luscious hair... and hermost favorite feature, his hands.

For a man, Can had very elegant hands. They were not just powerful and masculine. They were god-like, as if they had been carved in marble. His long and supple fingers had the power to render her so docile under their touch. There was nothing she could do whenever he pressed them on her body. His hands had a will of their own and they were always trying to be in contact with her skin... enveloping... caressing... comforting... protecting her. God how she missed them! Especially now, after experiencing them for a whole night on each and every inch of her skin, in places she didn't even know existed on her body.

Sanem! Stop! This is not helping!

Can was gifted with a magnificent body that would turn heads wherever he would go, but he was so much more than that! He was a gentle soul that had wandered all over the world in search of beauty and purity. He was one of the kindest men she had ever met. He was cultivated but not bragging about it. He liked simple and genuine things. He was close to nature in which his wild spirit would bloom like a rare flower. He was an albatross... aloof yet sympathetic... beautiful yet untamable... lonely yet faithful to the ones he loved. He was simply her Albatross whose voice could transport her to another level of awareness.

Sanem's tears welled up in her eyes, already reddened by the lack of sleep and incoherent thinking. She felt so empty now. Would she ever be able to carry on living without him in her life?

And then she suddenly thought of her parents, her sister, her friends? What would they think of her? What kind of person was she? Was she that selfish? Deep down, she knew that they would never understand how she felt. Her mother had warned her about men like Can. She had never believed that he could be interested in the daughter of a grocer from a traditional Istanbul neighbourhood. She knew that her father would be heartbroken.

Nevertheless, it was just impossible for her to return there. Especially after her night with Can. She would not be able to face them. She would not be able to look them in the eye. She would not be able to be the daughter they needed after weeks and weeks of rumours. It was better for everybody... she tried to convince herself. It would be better for him. It would be better for her. There was no other way out. She had to be out of his life for good and that meant out of the agency and out of Istanbul.

It was the hardest decision she ever had to make. Yet it seemed so simple, so logical, so inescapable.

Fed by Mevkibe's comments on men like the Divit brothers, Sanem's brain had never accepted the fact that Can could actually, genuinely, be in love with her. What could he see in her that was so appealing? His infatuation would fade now that she was removed from the equation. He would be cured of his need for her scent. He would forget her and carry on with his life, even maybe go back to being a world photographer.