The piano keys, so delicately touched by her fingers, filled the small living room of the cottage Doyle with harmony. There was undoubtedly longing there too. It couldn’t be different, not when the man’s soul, which had been suddenly turned into guitar strings, accompanied that perfect music of the piano keys and her fingers.

There were only the two of them there: he and she, loneliness and music, longing and agony. She - sitting in front of the piano and singing the melody of her heart while he was standing in front of the big window, looking into the distance. His eyes didn’t look only at the distance but also at the future - that future when he wasn’t alone but he had her in his arms. Where exactly? In front of the cottage, on one of those wooden rocking chairs, with a mug of hot coffee in their hands, wearing white woolen gloves, and having blankets on their laps - blankets that had undoubtedly been woven by the hands of his mother.

Such a thought made Alex smile. He was so happy. The man was really fulfilled that night, finally having time only for the two of them, for melancholy, dreams, and illusions, even if those illusions were so empty at that moment. Yes, they had time for them too, just as they had time for thoughts like „Everything will be fine! It’ll be fine for both of us… at least from now on…”

It couldn’t be different when his heart happily shouted at him „Finally.” It was really „Finally” for them at that moment because this was what both of them had been dreaming of, right?! They dreamt of being together, even if it had been for an evening only, just to have eternity at their feet and the longing in their chests… The longing that had blue eyes or the one with long hair that had cunningly stolen the color of the ripe chestnuts, a color that would have kept Alex in love for his entire life, one color he would have missed forever.

Why would Alex have missed that chestnut hair? Because Kate was a stranger to him eventually. Yet, she was a stranger his heart loved, a stranger he wanted asleep at his chest every night. Still, she was someone else’s stranger because, despite everything that happened that night - at the party and then in the parking lot - he didn’t hear Kate saying, „It’s over! I don’t want to hear from him anymore!” Just as Alex didn’t hear the most important thing, „I want to be with you!”

This new thought made him wince. Looking in front, at the snow that fell from above in large quantities and lay in front of the cottage that night, Alex sadly smiled, still seeing happiness at that moment. What kind of happiness? That stranger in his arms, wearing a white cap and thick coat, stuck to his chest while their eyes - those eyes in love with life and beauty - were looking as charmed at the magic of the dance of the snowflakes that kept falling from the sky. Snowflakes that were eventually the only witnesses of their love, as it had been the red leaves when Alex had seen her for the first time that rainy autumn day, „The day when I fell in love for an entire life.”

His whisper made Kate raise her head and look at him for a long time. She saw only his broad back and that white shirt he still wore at that moment. Alex was still in front of the window, with a glass of red wine in his hand, a drink she asked for when Alex asked her if she’d like to drink something.

Alex asked her this, right after they entered the cottage. It was warm there and so pleasant. It smelled like beech wood and mint there. At the same time, it smelled like quince forgotten in some corner and longing. There smelled like home and passion in that cottage, something she felt so intensely dancing on her skin soon after this… It felt like the dance of the flames from the fireplace, flames that were hungrily kissing those beech logs that filled the room with a pleasant aroma of longing and dreams.

„I’d like a glass of red wine,” Kate whispered while allowing him to take the coat off her shoulders.

Alex said nothing after such words. He just smiled, put the coat on the hanger, and disappeared into a small room that was somewhere to the right of the living room, right after entering the cottage. A small room where Kate didn’t dare to follow him. Still, she knew that there might be the kitchen or the pantry.

What Kate did was take her shoes off, which she let fall on the floor. She didn’t just let them carelessly fall off her feet as a habit or something. No, she simply felt that she wanted to do that, getting rid of them as soon as possible. Then, looking around, Kate approached the fireplace, in front of which she stopped soon after this. She did that when she felt the warmth coming from the flames… those that were dancing on her skin too as they kept dancing around the logs… imaginarily turning her into beech logs from which those flames took their aroma later.

This new thought, born from beauty, made her smile. Yes, Kate smiled. She smiled with her heart, for the first time that night. Yet, her eyes were still filled with tears, but they didn’t cry because of sadness or because she suddenly remembered what happened. No, it wasn’t undoubtedly because of this. Kate’s eyes filled with tears because she suddenly remembered about home. It was also because she felt free and that she could breathe with all her chest while her arms and her skin seemed to be so eager to feel love - the one that had the face of another man and not of the one for whom she fought for years.

„A futile battle and a useless one eventually,” Kate whispered, still looking at the flames.

Soon after that, Kate looked at Alex when she heard him coming out of the pantry and heading toward her. She saw him bringing a bottle of wine with him, which was already open, and two empty glasses. Not even this time Kate said something or he did that. Alex just made a simple gesture, asking her to help him with the glasses. Then, when she took the glasses in her hand, he poured the red liquid of love into them. After that, leaving the bottle on the small coffee table, which was between the two armchairs in front of the fireplace, he took one of the glasses from Kate’s hand, which he slowly touched to hers, whispering, „For us!”

Kate smiled again. „Why exactly for us?”

„If not for us, for whom then?”

„Just…,” murmured Kate, a little stuck up. „I just feel that this toast shouldn’t be for us but for others. Eventually, we don’t deserve to make this toast for us, at least not because we have tonight the chance to drink together a glass of wine.” Alex burst into laughter. „Did I say something funny?”

„Undoubtedly! Why? Because… you are strange sometimes. Did someone ever tell you that?”

„Honestly? No! And… I don’t understand what might have made you say something like this about me,” she whispered, sipping from her wine.

„Your innocence,” replied Alex after a few moments of looking at her - he looked so in love and fascinated with Kate. „Only your innocence can confuse a man so much, showing his respect just because he’s seen innocence in your eyes.”

„I’m not that innocent, Alex, and you know that. I’ve long ago forgotten what it means to be innocent. Or… maybe I haven’t ever known that?! Honestly, I’m also not sure of this.”

„Or maybe it’s something you don’t want to know,” the man told her soon after this. Such words made Kate look at him. She was so confused.

„I didn’t want to know them? What makes you say that?”

„Just something I feel. Something I think, it’s better to say because… I’ve gotten to know you, Kate. Even if it’s been only a little because of the short time we’ve known each other, but… I’ve gotten to know you. At least, I like to think that I know you.”

Kate said nothing after this. She kept silent for a long time. She did that because she felt that it was exactly what she had to do. The woman kept silent, trying to give herself some time to think about his words, their meaning, and what they meant for her. At the same time, she had to think if she knew Alex at least a little bit as he said he’d gotten to know her.

Just… no. Kate didn’t know him very well. She was pretty sure of that. She only remembered his face and his blue eyes. She knew that he liked books and loneliness, the smell of coffee and the noise of the raindrops dancing on the wet asphalt, a dance he loved to watch through the big window from his coffee shop. For the rest… there were only thoughts and assumptions about what he could think, what he felt in one situation or another, or what he would have done if he had been in her place. Thoughts that made her feel sad and hopeless.

Why did Kate feel all this? She also didn’t know that. She was only sure that it wasn’t because of what he told her. Was it because she regretted not knowing too much about him? Probably yes because… only by knowing things about someone, you can say that you really know him, love him, and respect that person for who he is and not because of an illusion you’ve created in your head and you’re stubbornly believing in it to the end.

Eventually, still embarrassed because of such thoughts and twisted feelings, Kate took a few steps away from Alex, approaching the piano. The musical instrument was somewhere to the left of the room, only a few meters from the entrance, to the left of it too. Once next to the piano, she sat down, on the small chair „forgotten” next to the piano for such „occupations,” and, leaving the glass of wine on the piano, she delicately touched its keys, releasing her dreams and feelings, leaving them run wildly through that room, in the sweet and tender embracement of the musical notes.

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When Kate started to play the piano, Alex didn’t approach her, although he felt he should have done that. What he did instead was to look at her and admire her from where he was. Looking at the woman who charmed him, he found her so beautiful, as he hadn’t ever seen her before. Alex found her stunning, a real goddess, someone he didn’t deserve to have with him. Even so, he could fully enjoy the feeling of having her there, with him, filling not only his house with happiness but also that world of loneliness where he was willingly withdrawing sometimes - somehow shy and afraid of people.

Thus, looking at her straight back, the one covered by soft waves of chestnuts, Alex felt that the entire universe belonged to him. He dreamt… of those white arms, which were stretched in front to be able to touch the piano keys, wrapped around his neck. His arms, strong and confident, were undoubtedly wrapped around her waist, holding her to his chest to be able to feel her so close… his and only his.

He didn’t want her with him for a night only but for an entire life. Yet, Alex was afraid to talk to her about this. He was afraid to ask her to be his, and he feared that because he felt he didn’t deserve her. Why? Because he hadn’t been able to avoid her suffering that night. He also couldn’t protect her from people’s judgment, those who didn’t know how much pain was hidden behind those beautiful black eyes and in that beautiful chest of a stunning woman.

At the same time, the man felt that he had every right in the world to have her there. He had the right to dream of her, once her fiancé didn’t know how to appreciate her. Eventually, she wasn’t his, and this hurt him so much. Alex felt that pain with all his heart - the pain of having someone so close to him, but not close enough to make him happy.

Probably because of this, he approached the window eventually, allowing his twisted thoughts to overwhelm him - thoughts that were accompanied by those musical notes and by those beautiful sounds made by the piano. At the same time, the man allowed the dance of the snowflakes, which gave a certain color to the night and a certain charm to the love forgotten in his soul, making him dream. Still, that soul longed so much for happiness… not for any type of happiness but the one felt only in her arms. He dreamt of a happiness that wasn’t his eventually, and Alex knew that very well.

Eventually, Alex winced. He did that when he finally realized that someone was to his left. Looking over there, he saw Kate smiling at him. She was only one step from him, insistently looking at him… with a strange shine in her glance, something he hadn’t ever seen in her before.

„Is this love?” The man wondered in his head. „Does she feel the same? No, it’ll be too much. It’ll be too beautiful and so secret.” Yet, although he didn’t have an answer to such questions, Alex didn’t bother too much to find one. He only stretched his left hand toward her and, delicately, so delicately that he felt her suddenly vibrating, touched her cheek. Then, the man touched her lips, moving his thumb on them.

Why did he do that? Undoubtedly, because of the same kiss she’d stolen from him at the docks, something that charmed and obsessed him in the few weeks. He dreamt of that kiss on cold nights and sunny days. He wanted that kiss so close to him, at the distance of a hand stretched in front, something he could have at that moment… not only the kiss but also the woman whom he simply adored.

Not thinking too much about this, Alex closed his eyes and kissed her. He kissed her with his heart, slowly pressing his lips over her lips just to make sure he’d deeply feel their aroma. He also felt the warmth of those red lips, those lips that had waited for his kiss for so long… lips that had sipped for long from the coffee prepared by his hands. Yes, her lips had undoubtedly waited for his lips to be stuck to hers, eager to find longing and love in them.

That’s why Kate didn’t stay against that kiss. She only closed her eyes and allowed that moment to be only theirs. She completely stuck herself to his chest at one point when Alex pulled her closer to him. After this, Kate felt his chest, in which the wild bird with the name heart was madly beating, gently touching her chest… It was a secret touch, shyly in places, a touch felt on the sly, as though they were teenagers that kissed for the first time, teenagers that hadn’t ever dared to talk to each other about their feelings.

She liked that. Kate simply adored that kiss because it wasn’t anything similar to something she had experienced before. Yes, she hadn’t ever felt something similar when another man held her to his chest. It was something new for her, something secret that filled her inside. All she felt was something that Kate wanted to prolong, turning it into something more than this. And, feeling all this, Kate’s hand stretched toward the man’s shirt, unbuttoning it slowly.

It’s when she suddenly felt his fingers wrapped around her left wrist, stopping her secret movement. Yes, Alex stopped her from unbuttoning his shirt, after her fingers… soft fingers that he simply adored, had gently touched only three buttons. Then, ending that kiss and deeply and secretly looking into her black eyes, he whispered, „Let’s not rush, Kate! I don’t think that it’s fair to do that.”

„Why?” She whispered, ashamed. She also felt a little upset because it seemed to her that Alex rejected her.

„I just… don’t want to be the clout nail that you use to get rid of another clout nail.”

Kate shuddered after such words, taking a step back. More than this she couldn’t move away from him because she suddenly felt his palm gently touching her back, trying to impede her from moving further from him. She didn’t look into his eyes after this but somewhere past him. The woman looked at the dance of the flames when she told him, „Do you really think that, Alex? That the kiss, my dedication, and my wishes are just because I consider you just another man? The one I can use to forget… him?”

„Honestly, I don’t know. I’m not sure of this. That’s why I don’t want to rush. It won’t be fair for any of us eventually.”

„Even for him?” Kate asked right away, staring into his eyes this time. Thus, she let Alex see anger sparkling in her eyes, anger born from the disappointment felt in her soul. „He’d deserve that. He’d deserve my betrayal.”

„Who wouldn’t deserve that is you, Kate,” Alex confidently told her. „You don’t deserve that, Kate. You deserve more than this.”

„Yet, I don’t deserve you, it seems to me,” she thought. Kate was so sad at that moment, feeling her eyes about to be flooded by tears.

Eventually, she could hold those tears and didn’t let them wet her cheeks. She didn’t want to cry: not again and not in front of Alex or because of him. He was eventually right because it wasn’t worth cheating on someone just because she’d been cheated on so many times before. He also didn’t deserve to be used by her… to be the „other one,” with whom she would have spent the night just to take revenge on Ward for everything he had done to her all those years.

With such thoughts in her head, Kate moved away from the man, heading toward the door. „I think I should go now,” she said eventually, taking his coat off the hanger. „It’ll be better for all of us eventually. At least I think it’ll be better if I do this.”

Alex said nothing. Yes, he kept silent, knowing that it was better for both of them if Kate had left. The man knew that if he had stopped her, he wouldn’t have been capable of rejecting her again. It would have been difficult for him to do that because of everything he felt and of that mad desire to spend the night in her arms. If they had done that… if they had spent that night together… he wouldn’t have been able to let her go after this. At the same time, he would have been unable to forgive himself after this because this would have meant betrayal for him. Yes, he would have betrayed himself if he had spent the night in the arms of a woman that wasn’t his eventually. He would have betrayed his principles too, those he had blindly believed in for years, solid principles that he’d built over the years, just as he would have betrayed his credo - the one of not harming another man when this wasn’t what he wanted for himself.

At the same time, the man knew that it wasn’t fair for Kate too. She wanted revenge, and Alex also knew that. He could have done violence to his conscience, at least for that night, and helped her feel better. Yet… he couldn’t do that.

What he told her instead was „I’ll give you a ride!”

„Not necessary!” Kate replied. „I can drive myself, returning to the town. I just… need your car if you can give it to me. I promise I’ll give it back to you tomorrow at first light. No, I’ll bring it to your coffee shop tonight. I’ll ask someone at the hotel to do that for me and you’ll find it in front of your coffee shop.” Then, feeling weird and that it wasn’t fair for any of them if she had stood there for longer, Kate put her shoes on and left the cottage as soon as Alex gave her the car key.

Leaving, Kate hoped that Alex would at least walk her to the car. Yet, he didn’t do that. Yes, he didn’t follow her as she had hoped he’d do. If he had done that… if Alex had followed her and asked her to stay with him… Kate would have done that for her entire life. She would have been with him, completely giving herself to him. She would have done that as he would have asked her to do: she would have broken up with Jonathan first, would have healed her wounds, and prepared for that new relationship before being with him. Yet, her desires had been only desires eventually. They have been unfulfilled dreams because Alex didn’t get out of the cottage for her… to tell her goodbye or something more… He didn’t do that, not even at that moment when it was sure that it might have been the last time they were seeing each other.

Entering the car, Kate pressed the gas pedal right away and rushed to leave that place. Tears bathed her eyes, just as her cheeks were wet because of sadness. She couldn’t feel different at that moment, not that night when life betrayed her twice. First - life did that with Jonathan’s betrayal. Secondly - life did that through everything Alex had told her. „At least, I would have liked him to tell me goodbye or simply… stay. I wished he had stopped me, but he didn’t do that. I can’t judge him though. I really can’t do that because… sometimes we have to act this way: trampling our heart and leaving another one to go, even if it means that he’s leaving forever.”

She had to do the same. Kate knew that she had to be strong and not give up. She knew she had to move on and live her life. It was necessary to do this. Why? Because she couldn’t wait anymore for love to knock on her door. She had waited for so long for someone to return to her and be with her forever. Yet, that one hadn’t ever come back to her. All this made Kate finally understand that it was time to stop betraying herself, giving it to someone who simply didn’t need that or her, or giving it to someone who wouldn’t have ever been with her… maybe.

Around her and around the car that advanced on that forest road, the snowflakes kept dancing while falling from the sky. Yet, Kate didn’t see them at the moment. All she felt were the flames from her soul. All her eyes saw was a long road in front: a one-way road, with no return to those places… a road that led toward nowhere. At the same time, that road led her toward new horizons, new ideals, feelings, and a new future. Yet, it seemed that that road didn’t also lead her footsteps back to happiness or… him.