TE16 Turkish Delight

Altay Öktem the least I could do, and asked for a second glass of tea. “Milder this time, please.” Translator Rıza dropped the polite attitude, and started with what felt like an interrogation. “Why are you here, in Istanbul?” Honestly, this made me very uncomfortable. So, what, I couldn’t travel now? Having translated a news story, did he now have the right to interrogate me? He must’ve seen I was irritated, put the politeness back on. “I’m sorry if I was out of line. I really am just curious. You were in Munich prior to Istanbul. That model used to pose for Thomas Dumas here, though years ago. I wondered if she had something to do with you being here, that is all.” “That shouldn’t concern you,” I said, and made sure I sounded strict. “Thank you, for your help. Now, was there something else I could do for you?”

He was appalled. “No.”

He nodded and turned around. Right when he walked away, he mumbled again: “I can’t do anything else for you either…”

I kept looking at him until he disappeared behind a door. My nerveswereextremely tensewhen I began reading the translation.

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