{ Erik }

It wasn't until the door closed behind her that I finally managed to look away. My head was spinning, still not fully believing it: the girl I'd thought about so many times, the owner of that smile I loved, was no longer just a memory from the past but was there in the flesh. Truth be told, I'd thought about her, or rather, about how her smile made me feel, more times than I'd ever admit. Whenever I had a shitty day, her image would appear in my mind, warming my chest just by remembering her.

'You really liked that woman, eh?' my cousin asked, leaving a tray of empty glasses on the bar. Her voice made me disconnect from my thoughts, bringing me back to the present.

'You wouldn't understand,' I replied, with a tone that was half joking, half mysterious.

And it was true. No one could understand the hurricane of emotions I had inside at that moment. Falling in love at first sight with a stranger five years ago, and her laugh still having the power to brighten my day was a story worthy of a romantic poet, not an ordinary bloke like me.

'You gonna stop grinning like a fool anytime soon?' Nora joked, provoking a laugh from Callum on the other side of the bar. 'I'll have to get a photo of that woman to show you when you're being grumpy.'

'Don't you dare encourage him,' I warned Callum, who immediately put on an innocent face. 'I'm not a grump,' I defended myself, downing the rest of my beer in one gulp.

'But you admit that you do shut yourself off sometimes, don't you?' my cousin retorted. 'Her name's Andrea, and she's made it pretty clear she's not interested. I've tried,' Nora added, having played matchmaker with good intentions but no success.

'I know,' I replied with a sigh, leaning my elbow on the bar. 'Never been rejected so directly before. Guess she doesn't go for redheads... or tattoos,' I muttered, feeling a twinge of disappointment.

'Or maybe just not tramps,' Callum quipped, causing me to toss a paper serviette straight at his face.

'This "tramp" will push you off the cliff next time you go near the lighthouse,' I warned with a playful smile, unable to get Andrea's image out of my mind.

Callum and Nora had been mates since nursery. They'd grown up together, always thick as thieves. The attraction between them was more than obvious, but they both clung to the excuse of friendship, refusing to admit the truth.

'Anyway, she's staying at my parents' place, the house on the left,' Nora informed me, with a mischievous look that I pretended not to notice.

I took out a note to pay the bill and leave a tip before leaving. As I walked away from the pub, I couldn't stop thinking about Andrea. I smiled as I remembered how she'd adorably wrinkled her nose in distaste when the cold air rushed in when I entered.

She was beautiful, with her unruly, dark mane defying anyone who dared to stroke it, and her luscious lips always curved in a half-smile. Andrea had awoken a torrent of sensations within me that I hadn't felt in a long time.

When I reached the lighthouse, I took off my jacket and plopped down in the chair under the lantern, in front of the desk. I rubbed my face with my hands, trying not to think about her, but it was useless. Luckily, Finlay's voice brought me back to reality and made me forget, if only for a moment, those lips that were driving me crazy.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

'You back, Erik?' I heard his voice over the radio.

'Yeah, you can head off if you want,' I said, realising I'd forgotten to let him know. Finlay was my lighthouse keeper partner in Birsay, whose capital was Kirkwall.

We had an unwritten agreement to take turns going for dinner so there was always someone keeping watch over our coast. I took advantage of the calm to observe the vast darkness stretching out through the little window facing the sea.

Andrea crept back into my head. The image of her eyes watching me over her phone screen, even when she thought I wasn't looking, kept replaying in my mind over and over again. I had my back to her, but she hadn't noticed the mirror in front of me that allowed me to see her furtive glances. She didn't take her eyes off me all night, and I couldn't take my eyes off her either.

My thoughts jumped between one fantasy and another: the feeling of her unruly curls between my fingers, the depth of her eyes without the glasses that gave her such an intellectual air. I imagined the taste of beer on her lips and bit my lower lip as I remembered how much I'd wanted to wipe away the little smudge of sauce by the left corner of her mouth.

By Odin, that woman awakened a primitive instinct within me that had remained dormant since my life fell apart almost six years ago. I rubbed my face, trying to erase the echo of her voice that, just by remembering it, gave me little spasms of pleasure in my brain. She didn't speak English fluently, but her voice was so soft that I could listen to her speak in any language and be hypnotised.

I didn't dare approach her the day I fell for her smile, and I'd been torturing myself over it for all those years. Was I going to let the opportunity pass now that I knew we were on the same island? Definitely not. I had to find a way to talk to her.

'Erik?' Finlay's voice came through the radio again, making me pick it up to respond.

'Weren't you going for dinner?' I asked him, trying to clear my mind.

'Yeah, heading out now. Any fog at Noup Head?' he asked me.

I stuck my head out the window, waiting for the rotating flash of light to pass so I could check for fog in the area.

'Nah, can't you see the lighthouse light?' I responded as I climbed up to the lantern to check the lights again.

'Pretty dim, I think you've got some low beams,' Finlay said over the radio.

'Hold on, give me a minute. I replaced one of the LEDs yesterday and might have left it a bit too low,' I told him as I inspected the bulb I'd changed the day before.

Sure enough, some of the reflectors were lower than they should have been.

'How about now?' I asked him. On the next sweep of the light beam, Finlay confirmed everything was in order.

'Yeah, all good.'

'Go get your dinner, then,' I said as I headed back to the office to make a note of the reflectors that had come loose so I could keep an eye out in case it happened again.

In general, I liked the night shifts where I spent time keeping everything in order while reading or listening to music. But that night, it was impossible for me to concentrate on anything other than her sensual, curvaceous figure, capable of taking anyone's breath away. For some reason, remembering her flushed face, glassy eyes, and laboured breathing made me sigh with desire.

'Fuck,' I muttered, letting my hair loose and rubbing my temples, trying to relax a little.

By 4 am, I'd managed to concentrate just enough to read a chapter of the book I had on hand, but my mind had concocted at least twenty ways to ask her out for a drink. I was dying to get to know her, to look her straight in the eye and be the one to make her smile. Every time I thought about her, I felt a tingling sensation coursing through me from head to toe, so frustrated at not being able to do anything but think about her, I sighed in resignation and set the book aside, leaning my head back and staring at the office ceiling.

Tomorrow I'd swing by my aunt and uncle's place in the hope of running into her and asking her out for coffee.