Chapter 6
"Too many problems, too few solutions."Serkan
Out of all the foolish things I was capable of, that was one of the worst: judging your entire people. I couldn't go after that beautiful girl who was leaving; I was wrong. What was left for me was to wait for the next day to somehow redeem myself. I looked around, searched for my car with my eyes, and headed towards it. I heard the phone ringing in my pocket, and when I looked at the name, it was Eda. My mother?
“Annem?”
“Serkan, when are you coming back to Istanbul, my son?”
“Mom, I'm working, you already know that.”
“My son, we've set the wedding with Asli. It will be in five months.” I stopped in the middle of the street, in despair.
“What?! Mom, you didn't do this!”
“We did, her lovely mother chose a date, and we accepted. You know how wealthy they are.”
“Mom, I agreed to this engagement, it doesn't mean I'm going to marry Asli.”
“What do you mean, Serkan? Don't play games with me, young boy! You agreed to get engaged, and if you don't marry, what do your father and I do? What about our reputation?”
I thought, I thought... I looked back at Giulia, who was already far away. Suddenly, an absurd idea came to my mind.
“Mom, I'm actually engaged to another girl, an american.”
I placed my hand around my waist as I looked around, waiting for my mother's screams.
“What?!! Allah, Allah, I'm going to faint, Serkan! Is she at least Muslim?”
“How could she be, my mother? How can an american girl be Muslim?”
“Then what is she?”
“She... she... I don't know, Mom! I've never talked about that with her! I think she's Christian, she must be.”
“ My God, I swear I'm going to have an attack, Serkan! My son, stop being irresponsible, Asli's family is already looking at dresses!”
“Well then, Mom, tell them to stop what they're doing, I'm engaged to another.”
“You tell them, Serkan Sadik! You're already 32 years old, you're not a kid to play with that girl's family like this! By Allah, I'm going to have something! Metin!!”
When she called my father's name, I hung up the phone. Talking to my father was the last thing I needed at that moment. He might deviate from his usual calm behavior and yell at me like a madman, say that I dishonored the Sadik family in front of Turkish society, that I deceived the girl. All that would be true if it weren't for the fact that we no longer lived in Turkish citadels and that the Ottoman Empire had burn centuries ago. Customs were welcome in times of hardship, which was not the case at the moment. I walked to my Ford Mustang and got in. I let my body sink into the driver's seat, in the car's much-appreciated air conditioning. I spent some time looking at the city until I started the machine. I knew I had to go back and deal with that engagement at any moment. I also knew that I would have to introduce a current bride to my parents and my ex-fiancé's parents. I didn't know why, but my thoughts easily fly to Giullia. She seemed like someone who would accept such a proposal. If not her, I would have to find another girl who would accept it without money involved, and would any girl, of any nationality, accept it without a date? I hadn't made any friends in USA, I had no girlfriend, I had no one to talk to and explain to the point of proposing something like this... I was in trouble.
I went home, but not straight home. I stopped at the gym and changed in the locker room so I could work out. I had a habit of carrying clothes in a small backpack in case I needed to work out when I left the office, because I always left the office a little upset and stressed. Working out helped me sleep. When I walked out of the locker room wearing just a T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers, a lot of women looked at me. I was a good-looking guy, I knew that. I was also taller than the average American, I was 6'1". It was easy to go out with a beautiful woman from the gym and go straight to a motel, but I rarely did. USAian women were very assertive and confident. It wasn't easy for a Turkish guy to deal with such openness. Giulia caught my attention because she was shy, not pushy, and waiting to be wooed. Few women were like that these days. And her face came back into my memory. She wasn't gorgeous, but she wasn't ugly either, she had an angelic face, a beautiful smile, and long hair, just the way I liked it. But she was a tough girl. She found fault in everything. How would I get her to accept the proposal? I had no idea, but maybe it would be tempting to go to Istanbul. Who doesn't like to travel? And who doesn't like Turkey? If I said it was a business trip, she might be more receptive. I would be lying, but at that point I didn't know what else I could do to undo this engagement that was so wrong in so many ways. It was better for me to go to Istanbul than to wait for my parents to come to Manhattan, and I was sure they would show up at any moment. It was only a matter of time.
I would talk to Giulia the next day.
I came home, took a relaxing shower, as only Americans know how to do, and lay down on my bed, reaching for my phone. I searched for Giulia Machado on social media, and there she was, with an open I*******m profile. There were hundreds of photos of her, flowers, landscapes, outings, on the beach. I finally got to see her body. It was attractive, as Americans would say. I swiped my index finger across her face on the screen and realized what I had just done. Serkan, she's coming on to you... I decided to put the phone down and go to sleep.
I was on a deserted beach. Giulia was there. Alone. But she decided to go for a swim, without knowing it. She was soon drowning and I had to pull her out of the sea. I ran towards her and swam for a while until I reached her. I was already tired, but happy to be able to get Giulia out of the sea alive. As soon as I got her onto the sand, I laid her down and only then realized that she was naked. I looked at her whole body with desire.
“Are you all right, askim?”
“ Yes, “ she coughed.”
“Why are you naked?”
She looked at my body.
“ So are you!”
I looked at my body and I was really naked. I felt the urge to kiss the girl. I didn't wait. If we were naked, it was a sign that she wanted me. I lay on top of her and started kissing her. I kissed all over her beautiful body, returning to her mouth. Giuliame looked at me with passion. We kissed intensely and were about to make love, when a loud noise started coming from all sides. The incessant noise was shrill and continuous. "
I woke up. Was it a dream? First thing in the morning? I looked down at my pants, I was in trouble. I dreamt about Giulia and woke up with a hard-on. It wasn't possible that now I was going to start dreaming about my employee! I had to relieve myself right there. I pulled down my underwear and touched the glans, already wet from pre-cum. I ran my hand down the length of my stiff member and sank my head into the pillow. I was really masturbating from dreaming about her. I ran my hand over my chest and down to my abdomen to intensify my pleasure, like a woman would. I squeezed my eyes shut when I felt I was about to come. What a morning delight... What lack of sex does to men... Waking up horny from dreaming about a girl I've never had sex with! Her face came to mind and what I was about to do that day was abominable, but I had no other choice. I didn't want to see my parents in USA upsetting me because of Asli. And I had no doubt that Eda would do that. My mother spared no effort to be unpleasant, with the excuse of family traditions. What she really hoped for was to be even richer, with the family agreements. I took a shower to cleanse myself from the orgasm and got ready for the difficult day ahead.
When I got to the office, I waited for her at my office door.
“ Giulia, come in.”
I stopped in the middle of the room, plucking up the courage to do what I wanted. She came into the room looking worried. She must have wondered what I wanted first thing in the morning. I should be ashamed. But since I had to stick to the plan, I took a deep breath. As soon as she entered, I asked her to close the door and our fate was sealed. Allah has crooked ways to teach us how to face problems. Nothing happens without his knowledge, no lesson is learned without his intervention. What for Giulia was just a trip to Turkey was salvation for me. As soon as she walked in, I already felt guilty and knew that I would be charged for my lie. Perhaps it would have been better to tell the truth, but I ran the risk that she wouldn't understand and would run away from me. If I were her, I would. I asked her to close the door. There was no other solution. I would be the bastard. I was used to being called that by women who didn't understand me. Giulias would just be another one. But why did her judgment affect me so much? I didn't know what I was feeling, but after the dream, I really wanted to find out what that feeling was that I'd never felt before.
Chapter 7Lovely proposalGiuliaThe next day, still very hurt, I arrived at work and went straight to my office. I didn't want to look around and feared that Serkan would want to apologize once again, but when I turned my gaze to the door of his office, I found Serkan staring at me from the doorway. He had a cute smile on his face and it didn't suit him. His gaze was languid too, another thing that didn't suit him. Then he called out to me." Giulia, come."He just commanded and I had to go, I hated it, but he was my boss. I walked into his office and stood in the middle of the room looking at him. " Close the door."As I turned around, I saw eyes from across the room watching me intently. Naturally, the company gossips wanted to know what the boss wanted with me. I closed the door and swallowed, dreading what he wanted to say. I slowly turned my body towards him."Giulia, I'm going to need one more job from you."I frowned without understanding." Extra service?"Wasn't it enough t
Chapter 8TemptationSerkanEverything was perfect. Giulia had fallen for my lie. I was even a little uncomfortable lying to her like that, but I didn't have much choice, my parents were supposed to come and visit me and meet this made-up fiancée. What if they did? I had to get ahead of the disaster. I wouldn't marry Asli, it was out of the question. At first, I was in favor of it just to get them to agree and be satisfied with an approval, but the two families took it too far. Asli also took serious, so much so that they were choosing dresses for the ceremony. I couldn't let them go on with their matchmaking. I was in the land where everything is possible, with a thousand and one possibilities knocking on my door, including getting married late and if I wanted to. USA is a country of contrasts, but of freedoms. Nobody meddles in your life, nobody looks too closely at what you're doing, as they do in Turkey. I just wanted to live a little of that. To be freer. The big problem was that
Chapter 9Love, love, business asideGiulliaWhen I got home on the evening of that request, I had to explain to my parents that I was going to Turkey. What a nightmare it was to convince them that I wasn't going to be kidnapped, raped, sold on a white slave ship, or anything scary like that. My father asked a million times why he needed to take me. I replied a million times that I was a contract translator for the company, and that's why he was taking me. But the reality was that I didn't even know what to expect. It didn't make any sense unless there was also an american or Spanish Albaf headquarters there. I went to sleep thinking about all this and that I needed to get up early to go to the federal police to apply for my passport. At 7am, to be precise. But how could I sleep? My head was spinning with a thousand thoughts about Turkey, the fear in my stomach wouldn't go away, and then there was ... him: that man who used to fill my waking Turkish dreams.Finally, the alarm clock on
Chapter 10CheatingSerkanI spent that day thinking about what Giulia had said about the trip to her parents. I'd never felt so guilty in my life for lying. I didn't know how much damage I'd do to the girl when she found out she'd gone to Turkey for a lie and not for work. She would hate me. But perhaps I could reverse the situation and try to convince her that she was saving my life from a meaningless marriage, promised to me many years ago by another Serkan who no longer existed. Giulia would understand, I had faith in Allah that she would. But even so, the phrases she said to her parents kept echoing in my mind all day. The only way to redeem myself a little would be to give her my full attention over the next few days, like taking her home in the middle of a storm. I didn't understand why she felt ashamed to show me her humble home. I came from a family that was p
Chapter 11The journeyGiuliaThat rude, vulgar boss of mine didn't even thank me for what I'd done. He just walked out of my office, leaving me in a deplorable state after talking loudly to me. I was afraid that I was in Turkey, a country I didn't know, that I didn't speak the language and that he was going to be rude to me. How was I going to get home? I didn't even have the money for my return ticket, because everything was his responsibility. I decided that I needed to think about my work first and foremost and started drafting Mr. Alberto's document. That man deserved a break from all the trouble those companies were putting him through. Lunchtime had arrived and I saw my office door open. When I realized it was Serkan, I shifted my gaze to the computer in front of me and didn't bother to look at it. More shouting? More attacks on my honor? I didn't even want to hear what he had to say."Giulia, I need to talk to you."I remained motionless." I need to apologize for the way I'v
Chapter 12TurkeySerkanThe journey was a little difficult.Giulia showed insecurity and fear during the first two hours of the flight, but then she slept on my shoulder and even drooled. I think she was so tired and had spent a sleepless, anxious night that at a certain point she couldn't take it anymore. Sleep and tiredness overcame her. I held her hand as she slept and turned my face to look at her angelic face. I had been so hard on her when I only wanted to help and now I felt like an insensitive ogre. I wasn't proud of what I was about to do, but she would soon forget. That was my most burning desire. The second was to get to know her better. I couldn't deny to myself that I felt a strong attraction to the Brazilian. As I carefully stroked her left hand, Giulia woke up and looked at me. Her gaze traveled the length of the plane and then back to my eyes. We stared at each other for a few seconds, saying nothing. I looked at her lips, she looked at mine. It wasn't right to play w
Chapter 13 The Princess's Tower Giullia I was scared to death and anxious too when I arrived in Turkey. It was a dream come true. Serkan's house was huge and beautiful, as if he could hide the fact that he was rich. That house gave away all the glamor in his life. I even wondered why he worked if he could live such a princely life in Turkey. If I had a house like that, I would never want to be bored with anything in life. It made me wonder why he was in Brazil. Boredom? Sex tourism? He didn't even look like a pervert. And I hoped it wasn't because I was staying at his house, with no one else around. That alone sent shivers down my spine. But then he gave me the most beautiful surprise of my life. The backyard of his house overlooked the Bosphorus Bay and the Princess Tower. I had seen that beautiful tower in Turkish soap operas many times. That tower and the Blue Mosque were strong symbols of Istanbul and Turkey. I felt like I was looking at history, at the ancient Ottomans, at a s
Chapter 14DisasterSerkanI was prepared for the almost foretold disaster that lunch would be.It was like preparing for a hurricane, when you know it's coming and you have to cover all the windows in the house with wooden siding like the Americans do. Earthquakes are unpredictable, but volcanoes were just like my mother, unstable, unexpected, even though all the gadgets say it could happen at any moment. And then, when it does, you can only run away from the wrath of the fire and the pyroclastic clouds. I had to take cover or run, because I knew disaster was certain. Knowing my mother as she did, she would try to ruin Giulia's reputation before the girl even opened her mouth. And if she managed to say anything, Eda would stomp on her head like they do with snakes, to make sure she died.I saw Giulia in the hallway as he closed the door to his room. She had made a ponytail out of her long chocolate brown hair and was wearing a long dress with high boots and a jacket. She knew how to