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 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 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 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