Chapter 36Honeymoon Serkan My wedding wasn't the dream wedding. Nor for Giulia. Many factors got in the way, but the important thing was that we were happily married. I couldn't be intimate with my wife as my parents were still at home, so we took a few days off at a luxury hotel on the Rio waterfront. The Hilton Palace might have seemed one of the most exquisite to Giulia, who was a humble woman. But for me, a well-traveled and experienced man, it was just another luxury hotel. I booked one of the best rooms and locked myself and my wife in it for days. We had never had so much sex, or as she preferred to call it, love. I was touched by her romanticism. It's a fact that Turkish men are romantic. When we want them to be. Not every man, of any nationality, is romantic without a purpose. In my case, romanticism came from feeling. I wanted to give everything to that girl and that giving everything involved my feelings and my possessions. It's how I was brought up. That's why I chose
EpilogueGiuliaWhen we got back to the Maiden's Tower in the Bosphorus Bay, everything had another dimension and connotation. I remembered when I saw her there for the second time, running away from me, desperate. I could see in her eyes that there was the memory of those days, which I wanted to forget. But then she looked back at me, smiling."The last time I was here was..."I put my finger on her lips affectionately."Please don't remind me what an asshole I was. We don't need that.""Yes, I know, but I was going to say that it was devastating for my self-esteem. And now, my life has changed so much that I feel so loved and so lucky, Serkan...""I feel that way too. And you know... " I paused " I'd be that man of legend who swims out there " I pointed " To rescue you from whatever it was and bring you back to me.'She smiled and clasped her hands around my neck."Even against an Ottoman army?""Even.""Even against the sultan's will?""Yes, yes."She was amazed. Her brown eyes sho
Chapter 1Surprises from the EastGiuliaNew Jersey. September 2019. 25 degrees.The only thing I craved more than a cold drink was an air conditioner that night. We didn't have air conditioning. It broke in the last blackout on our street. Some friends called me out and I looked at my watch. It was Sunday, still 5 pm. Well, it was better than just facing the noise of the spinning fan producing a hot wind all night. Plus the mosquitoes buzzing in my ears even with all the wind from the fan. I finally accepted the invitation because I wanted to celebrate my new job, so I told my parents that I was going out. I went back to my room after hearing some worried recommendations from my parents and started to get ready. I looked through the closet of clothes and nothing suited me. I decided and gave up on several dresses until an almost burgundy red one caught my eye. I didn't like that dress very much, I didn't like red so much, but I had tried everything in the closet and nothing I liked o
Chapter 2 The Boss Giulia "Is it for me?" I asked, extending my hand towards the soda can he was holding out. "Yes, yes, here! The man doesn't look at us!" he replied, amused by the situation. I let out a sympathetic laugh when I heard his accent. It didn't sound like Italian, Spanish, French, or English. "Thank you. Is it Arabic?" I asked curiously, intrigued by his masculinity. He stroked his chest, and only then did I notice that his shirt was slightly open, revealing a very athletic chest. "Turkey!" he replied. "Turkey! Ah, Turkey, soap operas!" I said, lost in thought. But why, Giulia? You usually follow Turkish soap operas on social networks, and he doesn't, for sure, he's a man. "Yes, soap opera!" he confirmed, handing me the can of soda. As I looked at his face, I could now clearly notice his distinctly Turkish features. I had been studying Turkish and French for the last few months, so I decided to take a risk and say a few phrases; after all, it was part of my job.
Chapter 3 America Giulia Serkan positioned himself beside me and gave me an irritated look. If it weren't for my first job as a translator and my need, I would have run out of there. My hands were shaking and sweating. That man could be even more handsome in daylight. "You? My interpreter?" He spoke softly and sat down. "Good morning, everyone!" "It seems so... um," I hesitated for a few seconds, "Mister Serkan." "Perfect, I will give you the instructions later. Introduce yourself to them as your first task. I wish you a warm welcome, and let's have a great job," he smiled an unwilling smile. "Perfectly," I replied. I introduced myself to everyone at the meeting and announced that I was the new translator of documents for foreign affairs. Then I sat down. "Well..." he gestured with his hand to continue the meeting, approached me, and held out a piece of paper that looked like a spreadsheet. "So, Giulia, it looks like you will be my advisor. Write down everything you think is
Chapter 4 Lies We TellSerkanAs if it wasn't enough to have been rejected by one of the few women I didn't consider a slut in the world, on top of that I would have to put up with that beautiful girl as an employee. Serkan, if she had slept with you the first night, she would not have been as exciting as she is now for you. She would have been just one more in the crowd of women that frequent the nights in the big metropolises. Of course she was different, she had a strong personality that I could feel from meters away. This attracted and repelled me at the same time. But, after all, I knew that I possessed a rather difficult temperament and was fully aware that I was mistreating her because I had been rejected. She was not stupid. I just didn't know what to do with her. But I had really important matters to attend to on that construction site. I had been hired as Albaf's general manager to manage and protect in court those projects that needed lawyers with experience in complicated
Chapter 5The word is silver, the silence is goldGiuliaThe day flew by. Soon I would have to leave for home, face the crowded subway and the heat; I was even too lazy to go out. The heels had already blistered my feet, I was a wreck. Suddenly my office door opened. It was the Turk."Are you going?" he stopped at the door and asked me."Yes, in a moment." He came into the room, and I looked up to observe his strange behavior."I wanted to thank you for doing what you could with the old man. I couldn't thank you until now." I lifted my chin after that look and crossed my arms."It's a shame they'll have to build mansions around a poor house, but it's his right.""Yes, but my office fails as conciliators if he remains unsold, and I have to break the bad news. But I noticed something...""Yes?" I was curious as to why he continued to pay so much attention to me."You managed to get from him the reason; until then nobody knew.""Maybe they didn't hear what he had to say.""I wonder if yo
Chapter 6"Too many problems, too few solutions."SerkanOut 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
EpilogueGiuliaWhen we got back to the Maiden's Tower in the Bosphorus Bay, everything had another dimension and connotation. I remembered when I saw her there for the second time, running away from me, desperate. I could see in her eyes that there was the memory of those days, which I wanted to forget. But then she looked back at me, smiling."The last time I was here was..."I put my finger on her lips affectionately."Please don't remind me what an asshole I was. We don't need that.""Yes, I know, but I was going to say that it was devastating for my self-esteem. And now, my life has changed so much that I feel so loved and so lucky, Serkan...""I feel that way too. And you know... " I paused " I'd be that man of legend who swims out there " I pointed " To rescue you from whatever it was and bring you back to me.'She smiled and clasped her hands around my neck."Even against an Ottoman army?""Even.""Even against the sultan's will?""Yes, yes."She was amazed. Her brown eyes sho
Chapter 36Honeymoon Serkan My wedding wasn't the dream wedding. Nor for Giulia. Many factors got in the way, but the important thing was that we were happily married. I couldn't be intimate with my wife as my parents were still at home, so we took a few days off at a luxury hotel on the Rio waterfront. The Hilton Palace might have seemed one of the most exquisite to Giulia, who was a humble woman. But for me, a well-traveled and experienced man, it was just another luxury hotel. I booked one of the best rooms and locked myself and my wife in it for days. We had never had so much sex, or as she preferred to call it, love. I was touched by her romanticism. It's a fact that Turkish men are romantic. When we want them to be. Not every man, of any nationality, is romantic without a purpose. In my case, romanticism came from feeling. I wanted to give everything to that girl and that giving everything involved my feelings and my possessions. It's how I was brought up. That's why I chose
Chapter 35The wedding GiuliaThe wedding had already started long before the ceremony.My mother-in-law really wanted to hold a henna night and kept pestering me to accept. In the end, I agreed, even though I didn't know anything about it. In the days that followed, I just looked it up on the internet and it seemed a bit complicated. Serkan was against it. He thought it was just another way for his mother to annoy me. Mothers-in-law... The most stressful part of the whole marathon was choosing the dress. We all went to a reputable store in the Laranjeiras neighborhood, where Eda had discovered beautiful dresses on the internet. The five women from the families went along, plus my friend Gisele, who wanted to be part of that moment. We hadn't spoken for a long time and when I mentioned everything that was going on and that I was going to marry my ex-boss, she had a bit of an outburst screaming in my ear on the phone. We freaked out together. At the store, Eda didn't like any of the
Chapter 34Night of pleasuresSerkanI couldn't stand the distance we were forced to keep. I was working a lot, putting up with my mother while adoring Ayla and my father, but I missed Giulia too much. She was taking care of the bakery until her father got better, taking care of wedding stuff, but in that time we didn't have any more space for ourselves. I decided to change that. After that dinner, which wasn't a total failure, I decided that I was going to take my fiancée to a motel. I simply told her that we were going to disappear for a few hours. Giulia perked up. I stopped by her house in the evening, after the office, with instructions on how to apologize to her parents. We agreed to say that we were going to look at ties for me. When I arrived at her door, Giulia quickly appeared, looking beautiful in a flowing floral dress that went down to her feet. She was smiling a lot and seemed very happy. As soon as she got into the car, she hugged me and threw herself on top of me. "I
Chapter 33 Part 2Between laces and hennaGiuliaThe dreaded dinner had arrived.It was 8 p.m. on Tuesday. My father had put on a pair of dress pants and a white shirt so that he would look like Serkan's parents. It was absurdly hot. I took his blood pressure, afraid that he might be emotional or tense and that this could affect his health, but he was fine. It was time for me to put on the lilac dress that I had kept in my closet for a long time. I'd never had the chance to wear it because it was a bit more social and even more sensual. It was knee-length and had a beautiful neckline. Jackeline seemed as nervous as I was. My sister made up my eyes with a light shade of brown and I left the same color as the dress for my lips. A beautiful lilac. My high-heeled sandals were black. "Come on, Jaque, don't take any longer, I don't want to see them alone. We still need to get the fans into the living room, I doubt his mother can stand the heat."" It's going to be difficult, Ju, I'm meltin
Chapter 33Traditions Part 1GiuliaMy father was finally home.It was a relief to have him there, recovering from everything bad, relieving us and making us happy with his presence. But he needed to be careful. Serkan's mother wanted to have dinner at his house for all of us, but my father had just been discharged from hospital, so how could I get back and forth? My mother asked me. "Go to Manhattan now?""I thought the same thing, Mom, but I agreed so I wouldn't have to explain. I don't know how Serkan is going to explain it to them and what he's going to say, but I hope it's soon.Jackeline approached with her cell phone in hand."Gi, I'm looking at dresses for you online, one more beautiful than the other.""We'll look together, Jacke, but let's sort out dinner first. I can't take our father to Serkan's apartment right now."We crossed our arms, thinking, in the middle of the hallway."We're not going. "It's dangerous for your father, the doctor has ordered him to rest. ""Then t
Chapter 32The visitSerkanAfter five days in hospital, my father-in-law was discharged. It was a joy for all of us and a relief for me. I went to pick him up from the hospital because we had to tell him the news of my parents' arrival. I was crazy to have my wife home, dying of lust for her and unable to touch her because she was working so hard in the bakery. I helped my father-in-law up the building's two flights of stairs when the recommendation was to rest for at least another fortnight. No hassle. How could I tell him what I needed to say? As soon as he lay down, I looked at the women in the house and asked their permission. They already knew what I needed to say and there was no point in beating about the bush. The longer we waited, the worse it would get. "Dad... " Giulia anticipated my hesitation.He looked at us, arranging the pillow under his head."What is it?""Serkan's parents want to meet you and they're arriving in the United States in two days."He arched his eyeb
Chapter 31In a hurryGiuliaI had to tell my mother and Jackeline the news.My in-laws would be arrive in Manhattan within seven days' time, wanting to meet my family. That Eda never ceased to amaze me and I doubt she'd leave me alone for a long time. I told her in the cab on the way home."But what do they want here?" My mother was indignant. "Giulia, my house needs a good tidy up to welcome these people!She knew what Serkan had told me about his family being rich and his mother being a snob. I was also pretty sure that Mrs. Eda would come up with something to humiliate us. I was counting on Serkan to hold on to his mother for as long as he was here, even if not all the time because he had to work. Sometimes I thanked God that my parents understood neither Turkish nor English. I could put up with the humiliations of that woman alone in English. "I know, Mom, Jackeline and I are going to tidy up the whole house and make everything sparkle and smell nice!"Jackeline looked at me wit
Chapter 30The bakery storeSerkanGiulia's neighbors were practically adoring my presence in the bakery. They would come in, sometimes alone and sometimes in droves to look at the novelty that was sitting on the till. But when I looked at my fiancée, she had a murderous look on her face. And it wasn't hard to understand why, the girls threw themselves on my lap and I didn't even know why. It could only be the work of Turkish soap operas. Women always think they can have a fairytale love in life and hardly give up that dream. We men are more realistic and practical. Beautiful, intelligent girls are good for marriage and that's it. We have fun with the more detached ones. In short, a night of good sex and nothing more. Giulia was different. She was beautiful, intelligent and charismatic. And she showed it even in a simple bakery. Simple because she was simple. We Turks are used to abundance and to seeing shop windows full of bread and sweets. My father-in-law's bakery was very humble.