The days that followed the death of my beloved Sadiq were grim and sad for me, but overall, I felt numb and lifeless. The days came and went as if I was a simple spectator of someone else's life, rather than mine. I could hardly do the daily tasks I used to do without thinking, like getting dressed, brushing my teeth or even getting out of bed in the mornings. I spent an entire day just laying in bed and crying on my pillow to muffle the sounds of my sobs.

One night, I had a beautiful dream that changed my point of view: I was sleeping on my bed and suddenly the window opened and the form of Sadiq entered flying like if he was some kind of angel coming down from Heaven to my arms. He fell over me with a surprisingly slight strength and we began to kiss passionately, our tongues fighting for dominance. My hands roamed his entire body as I craved him so much. We pulled apart, and not by my choice, and Sadiq spoke on a breath voice, looking down at me with adoration in his brown eyes.

"Vanya, my beloved Menekşe, you can't do this to yourself"

"What are you talking about?"

I asked confused, as I still couldn't believe he was actually there with me after having, apparently, lost him forever in the warfront. He kissed my cheek and his rough stubble scratched pleasantly my smooth skin.

"You can't shut yourself to the world. You have a natural talent; make a good use of my teachings. Don't deprive the people of that"

And just like that, Sadiq was gone and I found myself wide awake in my bed in the middle of a hot summer night. The following day, I got out of bed with Sadiq's words still fresh in my mind as I took a bath, my fingertips tracing my entrance under the warm water. I threw my head back as I penetrated myself with one of my fingers, slowly, remembering how Sadiq used to do it. I started to stick my finger in and out of my body, and as the pleasant feeling grew, I decided to slowly add another finger until I was pumping three fingers in and out of my entrance, moaning in pleasure as my sweet spot was hit over and over.

"Oh, Sadiq"

I felt tears in the corners of my eyes, not only because of the pleasure, but the memory of my beloved Sadiq. The water was moving widely and spilling out of the bathtub as my pace quickened and became more erratic. When I released into the water I did so with a long moan of pleasure. I was feeling exhausted after my orgasm, but dragged myself out of the tub anyways. A couple minutes after, there was a knock on the door and Heracles opened it without me even saying a word. I was about to tell him not to open the door, as I had been laying on my bed covered only in a towel coming down from my high and trying to cool off. Heracles blushed upon seeing my state of nakedness and I tried to cover myself with the blanket. He turned around and faced the open door to the corridor.

"I'm sorry, Menekşe bey, but breakfast is ready"

"Thank you, Heracles"

He turned around and bowed before leaving the room. I quickly got dressed and, feeling better than any of the days that had preceded my delightful dream with Sadiq, went downstairs to have breakfast with Ayşe, who had been dressed in mourning ever since. I sat down on the table, opposite to my former lover's sister.

"Good morning, Ayşe"

I said with a smile on my face before adding a little sugar to my tea. She looked genuinely surprised to see me in such a good mood, as I had been really melancholic those couple of days. She had a sip of her tea and put the cup on the saucer, wiping her mouth with the napkin that rested on her lap.

"I am planning on going to the city today. Would you like to come with me?"

"Oh, no, thank you... I rather stay home"

Ayşe said, looking down at her plate with a rather sad expression. I put my hand over hers' and caressed it with a sympathetic look on my face. When I finished having breakfast and thanked Heracles for his services, I put on my jacket and wrapped the scarf around my neck even though it was hot enough to fry an egg on the street, and was off to the city.

Wandering around the streets of Constantinople, I found myself at the very same souq I had visited while I waited for Sadiq to come back from the front. The memories flooded my mind and I decided to leave the place before I had a nervous breakdown, but a small hand on my arm stopped me. I turned around and saw the smallest of the three girls that I had encountered my first time there. I looked down at her: she seemed excited, as her eyes were twinkling.

"I've finally found you! Come with me"

Unable to say a word, I let myself be pulled through the crowd by a girl that could be no older than fifteen years old. We weren't much apart in age, but her being so small and me being so tall, it was a scene that needed to be seen in order to be believed. We arrived at the same secluded place where they had showed me all their tricks for belly dance and the two other girls were having tea in the warm stone room. They got up to greet me as if I was some kind of celebrity.

"How did you find him?"

One of the girls asked the girl who had brought me by the hand. She looked up at me and spoke with a soft voice.

"He is not difficult to spot. Pale skin, purple eyes... quite a sight"

The three of them giggled and I couldn't understand anything of what they were talking about, because I had been brought there so suddenly that I didn't have time to think. They seemed to get that I was, in fact, lost and motioned for me to sit down on one of the pillows and offered me tea, which I declined because it would have made the heat I was feeling, even worse.

"We have a job for you...?"

"Menekşe... and what kind of job could you possibly have for me?"

I asked them, truly intrigued by that point. The three girls sat down and poured some tea for themselves. I couldn't understand how they could be dressed like that and drinking hot tea in that unbearable heat.

"We have been dancing in secret for a man called Gupta bey and his friends during private parties, but now he will be hosting a party for aristocrats and diplomats from all over the Empire and he is looking for a male dancer; something exotic. And we thought: what could be more exotic than a pale boy with purple eyes? This is your time to shine, Menekşe"

One of the girls said before having a sip of her tea. I was a little surprised by the fact that those girls, who I barely even knew, had considered me for a job. I was really flattered and was about to decline, but then thought back of my dream and how Sadiq had told me not to shut my talent to the world, so I decided to do the only thing I thought correct, I accepted. The girls gave me the address of the manor belonging to Gupta Muhammad Hassan, Gupta bey for short. I went back to the house to get changed into the dance outfit that Sadiq had given me.

"Oh, Sadiq... I miss you so much"

I allowed a few tears to slide down my cheeks as I put the outfit on and covered myself with my coat, sneaking out of the house in absolute silence and going over to Gupta bey's house. When he finally received me I was surprised that this man could have so much power as the girls said he had. He was small and cute, with tanned skin and a smooth face. We went to his study, which reminded me of the General's, but in a different style of decoration. He sat down on his high-back chair and, sucking on his hookah, he smirked at me.

"Do you think you can dance? Then show me what you've got"

I took my coat off and left it neatly hanging from the back of the chair that was opposed to Gupta bey's on his desk. I began to dance to the imaginary music, rolling my hips with my back at him, my wrists over my head, and doing every dance move I knew in order to impress him, which I did because after I finished my "audition", he got on his feet and clapped with a smile on his face.

"You weren't lying when you said you were trained by the great Sadiq bey!"

His hand travelled all the way down my back to my supple backside, where he gave a light squeeze. He looked up at me with lustful eyes, something I could, by then, recognise easily. I looked at him with slight shock in my eyes.

"I can't wait to have you dancing for me tonight"

I couldn't wait either.

Hello, my dear readers, I want to tell you that I have already a small diagram of how the story must develop and what pairings to use, but I would like to hear your opinions on the matter, so review and tell me if you like the story so far and what pairings would you like.