Meryem strode into the office, her black mini dress hugging her figure, accentuated by a stylish brown jacket. She swung a black tote bag over her right shoulder and made her way to her desk, which was conveniently situated next to Shea's. Thick wooden partitions separated their workspaces from the rest of the bustling office.
Dropping her tote bag, she powered up her computer monitor and retrieved her cellphone. "Oh finally you're back to the office! I miss talking to someone like a normal human being in this place! And now tell me! How was your vacation?"
Shea swiveled in her chair, sporting a warm smile. "Oh, yes! About that..." Her words trailed off as she turned fully to face Meryem. "I wasn't going anywhere; I was just taking a week off for sleeping and watching Netflix all day and night!"
Meryem frowned. "Oh? So if you're not on vacation, why didn't I see you at the concert? It was Joe's concert, and we already bought the tickets!"
"Oh, well," Shea scratched the back of her head, "It just... you know, I actually went there but I didn't go in. My mood suddenly soured, and I decided to head back home."
Meryem leaned in, curiosity piqued. "Why? What happened?"
Shea waved her hand dismissively. "It's nothing, really. I was supposed to meet Ilker there, and he didn't show up. I called him a thousand times, and all he did was make some nonsense excuse not to come to the concert. I don't know; I don't really want to talk about it right now!"
"Of course, he wouldn't come. Are you kidding? What did you expect?"
Shea looked at Meryem with a mixture of shock and offense. "What do you mean by that?"
Meryem, sensing her coworker's surprise, glanced around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. Shea's eyes followed her every move before she whispered, "Please don't tell me Ilker didn't say anything to you."
"Say what?" Shea replied, her confusion evident.
Meryem leaned in even closer. "He was fired that day," she said in a hushed tone.
"What!" Shea exclaimed, her eyes widening. "I guess that was just the reason he made up for not coming to the concert!"
"No!"
"Oh my God! Are you serious?" Shea asked in disbelief.
"Yes, I'm serious! None of us really believe this, but what are we going to do? We can't do anything, of course!"
"Oh, God! I feel really, really bad right now. I thought it was just an excuse for him! You know, the day before that, he said, 'I don't think I'll come tomorrow; there's a possibility I have to come to the office tomorrow,' and it was Sunday! Our day off! How can I believe such an excuse?"
"Oh, Shea!"
"I mean..." Shea glanced at the desk calendar in front of her. "Yes, Joe's concert was on Sunday!"
"Well, I can't believe he didn't tell you about this. But everyone in our division was called to come to the office that Sunday morning!"
"All in our division? But no one told me to come?" Shea's face turned suspicious. "Don't try to cover for him, Meryem!"
"Oh, sorry, not all of our division! I mean all who are members of the 2025 project. I'm not trying to cover for him; he's not even working here anymore!"
"Are you serious?!"
"Yes, but sadly, we don't exactly know what happened and what the boss said to him. But we learned later that he was suspected of leaking information about the 2025 project."
"What!" Shea said in disbelief.
Meryem nodded slowly, one eyebrow raised.
"What really happened?" Shea asked, almost to herself.
Meryem shook her head and looked at Shea, who was typing something on her phone.
"I'm texting him," Shea announced. "I feel really, really bad! I'll meet him after work; I hope he's not mad at me! It's been a week since that day. Oh, God!"
"Yeah, I mean," replied Meryem, her eyes fixed on her phone screen, which suddenly lit up. "Oh, wait!"
Shea turned her head to see what had excited her friend. Shea peeked behind the partition of their desk to get a better look at what Meryem was seeing.
"Look! Joe is live on Instagram!" Meryem said, holding her hand out to Shea, gesturing for her to be quiet. "We'll talk about this later! This is more important!" Meryem chuckled.
Shea, who idolized Joseph just as much as Meryem did, had no interest in watching his Instagram Live. She tried to focus on her work, but her thoughts kept drifting to Ilker, occasionally catching in her throat as she swallowed hard.
"I don't know what happened," Meryem began, her voice tinged with excitement. She nudged Shea's arm with a grin. "Do you hear that?"
Shea snapped out of her thoughts. "What?"
"He's looking for the girl he met at the charity concert!"
Shea's smile widened. "What?" She tilted her head to get a better look at Meryem's phone screen.
"Yes!"
"Please, guys, if you are the girl that I'm looking for, or if you have any information about her, please tag me, mention me, help me find her!" said Joe on the screen. "And now I have to go. Bye-bye!"
Then, a second later, he ended his Instagram Live.
Shea looked at Meryem with a cute, excited smile. "Who is this girl?"
Meryem's excitement mirrored Shea's. "I don't know! What's clear is that she was at the charity concert, she's brunette, and she was wearing an electric blue sweater!"
"Huh?" Shea recalled that she had worn a blue sweater to the charity event. She was also a brunette and had met Joe, even though she hadn't attended his concert. But could it be possible that she was the girl Joe was looking for? If so, what for? Shea wondered to herself.