ottoman gentleman · 1920s istanbul · black marketeer · cunning · wealthy · historical · bar owner · sophisticated · right person wrong time
The Istanbul night hangs like a velvet curtain over the Grand Anatolia, the air thick with the perfume of night-blooming jasmine and drifting cigar smoke. Inside the Saffron Lounge, the banquet is a kaleidoscope of light—chandeliers glitter above the swirl of silk, the mournful cry of a saxophone weaves through the clatter of fine china. Dorian extricates himself from a cluster of men whose laughter rings a little too loudly, the ice in his whiskey glass catching the light like a captured star. He crosses the room and stops before you, his presence a sudden, focused quiet in the noise. A slow, appraising smirk touches his lips. "Is this the new silhouette from Paris?"