Cingene Kiz(Gypsy Girl)

8. Hades's Footprints

Yusuf heard the knock on his door for the fifth time that morning and groaned.

"Go away Teyze."

"Yususfcigim, please, this is the last one, I promise."

He sighed and drew the covers away from his face. "Alright, the last one then. You promised."

His Teyze walked in dressed in a dress and heels, she had last worn to the night out with her colleagues from work. She said she wanted to make a good impression on them and so had dressed up carefully.

She was all flushed from her exertions and her hair was a wild tangled mess.

Yusuf looked at her in puzzlement and wondered why his Teyze was behaving so out of the norm.

She was least bothered about her clothes usually and wore the first clean thing that came to her hand. Her shoes were always a pair of comfortable flats that made running around the restaurant easier on the feet.

She had knocked on his door 45 minutes before to show him the first wholly impractical dress. Kiraz abla was supposedly not feeling well and indisposed, so Teyze had recruited him for the fashion parade she was putting on.

His eyes narrowed on her, and he thought back to the time he and his Teyze had helped his anne pick out dress and shoes when she was going on a date with this baba.

He wondered who she was trying to impress. He had an idea, though he did not want to think along those lines at all. It irritated him, his Teyze behaving like this.

"What do you think of this one?" She looked at him so hopefully that he wanted to let her be, but it was not possible.

"It's white, Teyze."

"So?" She had that stubborn look on her face. The one that said she was going to be the seven-year-old of the house that day.

"We run a restaurant, and those shoes have heels."

"Fine. Then I will change into this dress in the evening, before heading to the museum." She folded her arms across her chest mutinously.

"You are not the curator of that place, Teyze. You work at a dig site, practically rolling around in the mud." He raised his eyebrows at her absurdness.

She looked at him mulishly for a few seconds, then sighed and covered her face with her hands and groaned, "God what in the world am I doing. Thanks, Yusufcigim for being the voice of practicality."

She took off her heels and walked bare feet out of the room, a shoe in each hand.

"I don't understand who you are like sometimes. Are you your Teyze's nephew, or in fact the devil's nephew." She murmured under her breath as she marched out of his room heels in hand.

"I heard that." Yusuf yelled back at her.

She turned her head sticking her tongue out at his door and walked straight into a hard immovable wall.

"Careful." A low voice that was dominating her thoughts night and day, called out.

She blinked and looked up at him. Was he really there, or was he a figment of her imagination?

She felt the heat of his palms penetrate the silk of her dress, as he held her by her arms and his hot breath fanned her face with a minty fragrance.

She jumped back flustered, totally unprepared to face him.

God! She was a beautiful, hot mess!! Wild hair framed pink cheeks and a dress that...Wait!!! What were those shoes?