You come from Turkey. Somewhere in the east, I think. Your father is rich. He's in steel and owns a mine, or a mill, or something. He has always had money and you have always been spoilt, he bought you whatever you wanted. However he didn't always let you have your own way. He was strict and overprotective. He's quite religious, a Muslim of course. You wore Islamic dress from a young age, before you started to develop. Loose fitting clothes covering your body and the obligatory head scarf concealing your long black hair.
From the age of fifteen you begged him to allow you to go to London and stay with your mother's relatives. He was never going to allow that, no way! Your mum wasn't keen on the idea either. Not at such a young age. After you turned eighteen though, she came around to the idea. They'd brought you up properly and you'd always been a good girl. You'd studied hard and got into a good university. She knew you wouldn't get into any trouble. Besides a summer in London would be just the thing to improve your already excellent English.
Eventually, after months of pleading from you and persuasion from your mother, Daddy gave in. You could go to England for two whole months, on the condition you have lessons four days a week, every week. Also, you weren't to go out on your own, home before dark and absolutely no boys. You readily agreed. Anything to get to London!
Little did your father suspect, his wife's family no longer keep quite the same traditional values as he does. After years spent in England, they have loosened up considerably. The women no longer wear hijab and the kids pretty much do what they want. They weren't going to enforce any of his rules upon you.
Your mother was right though. You are a good girl and had no intention of taking too much advantage of the situation. You like studying so lessons weren't a problem. You didn't plan on going far on your own, you were afraid of getting lost in such a big city. You always went to bed early so you could be up at sunrise to wash and pray. And you weren't even interested in boys. Well, not much anyway.
No, the trouble was their choice of English teacher. It was decided that you should have private tuition. Your dad was happy to pay for it because it eliminated the the chance of you being in a class with boys. Your cousin phoned the local language school, who passed her on to one of their best teachers willing to give one on one lessons over the summer. That teacher was me.
Daddy had never even considered the possibility that they would choose a male teacher for you. And nobody thought to mention it to him. You didn't mind who taught you, as long as they were nice.
You arrive the first weekend of July. Unpack, get settled and your cousins show you around the local area. Your mum's family aren't as rich as your dad's. They do all right, but don't live in the opulence you're used to. Not that it matters to you. You're not a snob and are just so excited to be in a new city far away from home. You can't wait to see everything and experience new things. You've got it all planned out. The sights, the museums, galleries, theatre shows, tea at the Ritz, Buckingham palace. But first, lessons.
It's Monday, quarter to nine in the morning. You've taken the tube for two stops and are now walking the short distance to my house, following the directions on your phone.
You are immaculately dressed in the designer clothes you and your mother went to Istanbul to buy especially for this summer. Clothes your father would never have approved of, despite being far from slutty. You have on a pair of fitted capri pants which expose a little calf. A long, unstructured summer jacket with a lacy top underneath. It is very see-through, but you wear a camisole to preserve your modesty.
On your feet you have Gucci sandals, which show off your perfectly pedicured and painted toes. On your head, of course, you wear your hijab. You might be far from home, but god is everywhere. Today it is a brightly coloured and patterned scarf from Hermès. However, instead of being pulled tightly and pinned in the Turkish style as usual, you have it loosely wrapped. You even have a tiny bit of hair poking out from underneath. As long as you still pray five times, you are sure Allah won't mind. After university you'll go on hajj to Mecca, that'll erase any little sins you commit here.
As you walk you are aware of how nervous you are. You've never been alone with a man who wasn't a blood relative before, not even for five minutes. Now you are going to spend three hours with me, a man you have never met, at my house, in a strange country. It's not that you think I'll do anything. I'm a teacher, a respectable person, but you're still anxious. This is liberal London, it's perfectly normal for men to be alone with women here. You suppress your nerves and continue walking up the street of little terraced houses where I live.
You ring my doorbell briskly. I don't keep you waiting long before I open up. Immediately I am struck by your beauty. I was not expecting you to be this pretty. I don't know what I was expecting exactly, but I never imagined the vision of loveliness standing before me.
You are wearing quite a lot of make-up, even though you don't need any at all. It doesn't look tarty or trashy in any way, it's expertly done. You have huge, hypnotic, hazel brown eyes, which you accentuate with lots of mascara and heavy eye-liner. Natural coloured lipstick on your full, perfectly shaped lips. Your nose is cute, not too big or misshapen in any way. Strong, pronounced cheekbones and little dimples in your cheeks as you smile timidly. Your eyebrows are thick and shaped so that they are completely symmetrical. Flawless skin, you can tell even with all the make-up. Your complexion is a wonderful shade of olive. I don't think I've ever seen a girl quite like you before. For a moment I am dumb. We just stand there, staring at each other.
After I don't know how long, I manage to snap out of it and say, "You must be Selen. Hi, come in."
You don't say anything, just look down and giggle. I can tell you are a little embarrassed. As you walk past me, the air fills with a waft of heavy, Arabic style perfume. It makes me a little dizzy. I close the front door behind you and direct you through into the living room. As I watch you walk down the narrow hallway, you move with such elegance and grace that I feel unworthy to follow you. The perfume lingers.
You sit on the sofa and fumble in your big Prada handbag for a pen, notebook and your glasses. I desperately try to make small talk. Why is this so difficult for me? It's my job, for Christ's sake. I've done this many times with pretty girls and it's never been a problem. Somehow you're different. I look at you and the words won't flow. There is more to it than just your stunning good looks. Your aura, maybe?
"Can I get you something to drink?" I ask, "Coffee perhaps?"
"Er...Γ§ay?"
"Tea, sure, no problem." I turn on my heel and leave the room.
You are ashamed and curse yourself. You can't believe you forgot the word 'tea'. You can speak English, you always got top marks in it. Now, here in London, in front of your new teacher you call it 'Γ§ay'. You didn't even say please. You know the English are polite and you must always say please and thank you. While I clatter about making the tea, you wonder what I must think of you.
I didn't notice, at all. I'm more worried about how I am going to teach you for the next three hours, let alone the next eight weeks, if I am so overawed that I can't even manage small talk.
You make up for your perceived blunder when I come in with the tray containing teapot, cups, saucers, spoons, sugar bowl full of cubes and a little jug of milk. As I place it down on the coffee table you say,