Dear Mr. Alexopolous,

I have decided to accept your invitation to your villa in Cappadocia and I would be glad to perform for you in private. I am hoping that you give me the tranquillity my life needs right now. I expect to hear from you soon.

Yours faithfully,

Menekşe

I sent the letter from the hotel's lobby that same afternoon, after the Kirkland brothers left the hotel and I received a letter from him the following morning. I had already paid for another day with my savings and I realised that money was fading too quickly for my liking. My only hope is that he had accepted my sort of request. I would have to tell him about my economic problems. I hated to be a burden to everybody, but it was not like I could just ask my sisters, because they must have had their expenses back in Russia. Life was expensive there. I opened the letter, sitting in my bed after breakfast and beamed at what I read.

Dear Menekşe,

I am looking forward to see you perform in my villa and to have your beautiful presence again. I attached a train ticket to Cappadocia; I will be waiting for you at the terminal and will take you sightseeing in my own hot air balloon. I promise you and I will have a great time.

Yours faithfully,

Andreas Alexopolous

I giggled at his enthusiasm and as it was a really hot day, which was unusual, as summer was drawing to a close, I decided to take a long bath to clear my thoughts and be ready to take the train that would take me to Cappadocia that night. I had grown addicted to taking baths, but I didn't mind that, I loved them; they were so warm and relaxing that I got lost in their waters.

When midnight came, I was one of the last passengers to board the train at Sirkeci and arrived at Muşkara two days later. The terminal was crowded, as it was nine in the morning, but I was able to recognise Andreas, who walked over to me with a prominent blush tinting his face and a tulip in his hand, with which he was fidgeting while looking up into my eyes.

"Welcome to Muşkara, Menekşe. Allow me"

He grabbed one of my suitcases and we went through the crowd to the carriage that was waiting for us at the exit. He held the door open for me and while we were on our way to his villa in the outskirts of the city he realised he still had the tulip in his hand.

"This is for you... it's not much, but..."

"It's beautiful"

He smiled timidly and slid the tulip behind my ear. He looked at me and smiled broadly with a blush on his cheeks, which made me blush too.

"You look beautiful"

He said, while taking my hand into his. We continued our journey to his villa in comfortable silence, as he caressed my hand with his thumb while looked out the window. I was debating myself whether to tell him or not about my economic situation, but when I was about to, I began to think of Mata Hari, that character that Ambassador Kirkland had told me about and I was intrigued to know more about her.

"Andreas..."

"Yes?"

He turned around to face me with a small smile on his face, which made me smile.

"Do you know any woman named Mata Hari?"

He seemed to think for a moment and then answered.

"Yes, she is a dancer from Java. Why?"

I told him about my most recent dream of becoming a famous dancer in Paris and he told me that he understood it and that he was even going to support me financially until I made my dream come true but he asked me to stay a little longer with him, because he wanted to enjoy my presence a little more, he said. I had blushed and smiled broadly before pecking his cheek.

"You are so sweet, Andreas"

"And you are so beautiful"

That night, I danced for him in his villa. It was huge and looked like something right out of the "One Thousand and One Nights". He even had peacocks wandering around the flowery gardens! I couldn't believe that someone could be so rich. He showed me my room, which was even bigger than the one had at Sadiq's house, not that I was complaining about my former bedroom.

"Do you like it?"

Andreas asked, showing me around the large room, decorated in the exquisite Ottoman style. I was mesmerized by the beauty and I looked out the window to see the front garden, full of exotic flowers and plants.

"I love it!"

I said excitedly, bouncing up and down, then after blocking all guilty thoughts of Sadiq, I approached him with a coy smile on my face and a sway of my hips. I put my arms around his neck and pecked his lips, causing him a major blush. As I was still dressed in my dance outfit, most of my body was exposed to him. He couldn't tear his gaze from my bare midsection, which shone with the glitter I had applied before my performance. His blush darkened.

The following day, Andreas wanted to show me around a small nearby town called Göreme which was three-hour distance from Muşkara and then take me on hot air balloon ride over the city. I thought it was excessive, but I couldn't deny it was appealing to me, so I accepted and following a carriage ride spent in comfortable silence, occasionally stealing fond looks at each other, we arrived at Göreme. While we were wandering around the Tokalı Kilise church, in between the frescoes of the New Testament and the saints and martyrs, I began to think about my life and where was it heading. My relations with men were something I wasn't very proud of, but I somehow couldn't bring myself to settle down with a woman, as it was easier being with men than women. Besides, men had certain charms I looked for that women did not, and that was reason enough.

"Let's go"

"Where?"

Andreas took my hand with a smile on his face, looking up at me with twinkling eyes.

"To the sky"

The view was wonderful. I was mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the Mount Aktepe and the fairy chimneys that laid beneath the wicker basket of Andreas' hot air balloon. He giggled at my excited face as I looked down and rubbed my back.

"I'm glad you like it"

Before he could say anything else, I crashed my lips onto his', pushing us against the other side of the basket and gripping it tightly as I trapped Andreas, whose hands roamed through my body and rested on my thin hips. When we pulled apart he whispered, with a blush so deep I had never seen before.

"I want to make you mine"

"Then do it"

He looked surprised and I giggled at his expression. I opened the bag I had taken with me to the trip and rummaged through it until I found a small jar of Vaseline, which I put into his hands. He looked down at it and then back at me. The corners of his mouth rose up in a weak smile and he uncapped the jar as I began to take off my pants and underwear. Andreas couldn't keep his eyes off my manhood, which was erected at my arousal. In no time, he had removed his pants and underwear and began to coat his member with Vaseline. It was big, but not as big as Sadiq's. Suddenly, my head was filled with remorse but I decided to turn around and lean against the other side of the basket, looking down. The fact that the people in the ground could see us made me even more excited.

I felt his member slowly sliding into me, clenching my fists and shutting my eyes tightly at the burning pain that went through my body. But suddenly, a jolt of pleasure spread throughout my body as he penetrated me deeper. He groaned and fell flush against my back, sneaking his arms around my middle.

"You are so beautiful. I wish I could see your face right now"

I tilted my head backwards and we began to kiss passionately as he penetrated me slow and sensually, something I hadn't experienced in a while. I began moaning loud as his thrusts became faster and faster as each minute passed and I could feel droplets of sweat running down my forehead and to my neck, around which my scarf was still wrapped. Andreas moved it aside and began kissing the salty skin of the side of my neck, causing me greater pleasure.

"Oh, Andreas... I'm close!"

I moaned as I looked at a group of people wandering around the fairy chimneys in the ground. The wind ruffling my hair. He whispered against my ear as he grabbed a hold of my manhood and began to stroke it in time with his thrusts, making me sigh in pleasure.

"Me too. Let's do it together"

And with one final thrust we both released, he inside of me, and me on the basket floor. When we touched down after an hour more of balloon ride, we kissed passionately and ran away, giggling like two schoolboys that had just done something naughty... which we had, of course.

That time, I didn't even think back of Sadiq and felt like my life was beginning to normalise.