Entering the coffee shop that day, Erin saw Kathleen for the first time. She was standing as usual on that big armchair in front of the fireplace, focused on the book she was reading, and with her back at the door. Thus, Kate didn’t see Erin entering and she also didn’t pay too much attention to her or seemed bothered by the fact that Erin insistently looked at her. Why exactly did Erin look like that at the stranger? Because… something told her that the mysterious woman, whom she hadn’t ever seen there before, had a certain charm and an elegance she had rarely seen in someone. Especially, what made Erin attentive and curious, was Kate’s manner of sitting. She had her back straight, even if she was sitting on that armchair, with her legs folded at the ankles and a little bit leaning in the area of the knees. „The way of sitting of the in-love aristocrats,” Erin caught a thought crossing her mind, although she had no idea if the stranger was or not from the upper class. Even so, the stranger’s presence in the coffee shop started to bother her, although she couldn’t explain why she had this feeling.

That feeling of concern suddenly vanished, being replaced by admiration. Yes, Erin started admiring that elegant and sophisticated woman, even if she was also considered an elegant and mysterious woman as many considered Kathleen. And, besides her admiration for the stranger, Erin Doyle also felt jealousy at one point. Yet, she wasn’t sure if she was envious of the stranger because she realized that there were other beautiful and elegant women in this world or simply because she felt that for a woman she’d seen around her brother, someone Erin adored and cared the most in her life, even more than she cared about herself.

That „caring about someone more than about her life” wasn’t at all an exaggeration for Erin because she really loved her brother and wanted to see him happy. She wanted at any cost to protect him from problems and danger, aware that it was normal for an elder sister, even if Alex should have been the one always ready to protect her once he was the man and she the woman in that family relationship. Yet, Erin didn’t care about such ranks, social roles, or other kinds of stupid things. She simply considered that all this was outdated and that the one who had the power and the desire to protect someone should have undoubtedly done that: because he wanted that and not because someone forced him to do that. At the same time, Erin considered that it was her duty to do that because she had seen Alex the day he’d been born. He had grown up in front of her, and she shared with him the same chocolate or biscuits so many times before even if they weren’t poor and they could have afforded to eat an entire candy. Yet, once they felt a special connection to each other, Alex and Erin had always shared things like brothers because both of them knew that it was a way of letting the other one know that they cared about him and that he was someone important to them until his death.

Then, there was the care for her brother, whom she considered naive. Erin thought that about Alex because he preferred the world of books and not the one of humans. Thus, somehow isolated from the rest of the world, Alex Doyle didn’t have where to know what one’s heart hid inside. Yet, Erin knew all this - that many considered Alex a kind of walking ATM and nothing more, especially the opportunistic women. That’s why Erin tried to be always close to her brother, to make sure she knew those women who were seen around him because she had already heard enough gossip in the town. Much of the gossip was about Alex and other women, gossip meant to give the opportunistic ones a chance to be seen by him and have a better life with him. At least this would have given them the chance to reach the upper class, one that was a kind of golden globe for many of the local women, who didn’t find their place in life yet and needed „extra help.”

Knowing all this and especially aware of what a woman’s heart can feel, Erin told herself that even if she wanted to see Alex happy and with someone, he had to be only with someone who truly loved him for his soul and not for his money. Because of this, at least one of them should have clearly thought, analyzing each detail while trusting their head and not their emotions. „As the in-love men generally do because if a man loses his head for an unscrupulous woman, he can lose not only his soul but his social position too.” Something Erin intended not to allow ever. She considered that Alex deserved to be happy only with a woman who would have loved him as he was - a weirdo sometimes, as it was characteristic of a hopeless romantic, while, most of the time, he was as shy as a young girl and had a huge heart, being ready to help all those who needed him, even if this meant he had to give up on himself or on the advantages he deserved.

Knowing all this and especially because of the fact she considered that none of the women deserved to be with her brother, Erin had always kept an eye on Alex. Even so, Alex hadn’t ever given her a reason to be worried about him, although enough opportunistic women hovered around him, whom he knew to keep away from him and keep his heart pure too. For this, Erin appreciated him a lot, loving him more than ever and considering him a man as so few others could be in this world, a man others could count on no matter what. Yet, even knowing this, Erin couldn’t leave him „on his own” because he was a man eventually, and men used to lose their heads for beautiful women generally.

Thinking about all this, Erin wasn’t at all wrong because she had had enough delusions in her life when she had been betrayed and abandoned for „other beautiful faces.” She did the same, abandoning those who loved her for „another handsome man.” That’s why she knew so well that a human’s heart was something insatiable and that feelings are transient just as the seconds on a winter day are. Knowing all that, Erin was sure that a bold woman would find the manner to open the gate of Alex’s soul one day and sentence him to suffer, something she tried to keep him away from at any cost. What Erin hadn’t ever thought about but she seemed to have found out at that moment was that Alex could fall not for an opportunistic woman but for a forbidden one. „A woman he won’t ever have, no matter what. Only… if he’d find the way to open the gate of her soul, which is closed with seven iron locks, as it seems that her heart is locked for other men,” Erin thought about this, eyes still on Kathleen, about whom she felt that was to blame for her brother’s clumsiness, something she managed to notice at him lately.

Actually, Erin noticed something strange about Alex since the beginning of November. Yet, she didn’t pay too much attention to this, thinking that it was something transient, something she had seen in him before. Soon after this, she understood that it was something different at that time when she noticed him one day staring at the screen of his laptop, for hours in a row, by the way, and doing nothing. Another day, Erin saw him in front of the window, also staying there for hours and looking in the distance while holding a cup of coffee in his hand, a coffee he didn’t sip from eventually. „Coffee he poured into his cup only to feel its aroma and because he thought about her. Yes, he thought about this beautiful Madonna, who stepped over the threshold of his coffee shop just to steal his heart eventually.”

Thinking about all this, Erin didn’t see Alex leaving his small office and insistently looking at her for a while. Then, when Alex understood that Erin seemed absent because of the stranger who was reading in front of the fireplace, he headed toward her, touching her arm eventually and making her wince. Erin even stared at him, confused, after she had felt his touch. Her amazement was related to the fact that she thought he wasn’t there that day because, when she generally came there, Alex was behind the counter. That day though, she saw only Robert there and thought that Alex was outside, solving things. Yet, she’d been wrong because he was there and this was somehow related to Her - that beautiful woman with chestnut hair, who was reading „War and Peace” by Tolstoy.

Erin didn’t say anything to her brother about her thoughts though. She only smiled, somehow clumsily when she caught his glance focused on her. Then, when he invited her to his office to sip a cup of coffee together, Erin straightened her back, and, looking straight into his eyes and smiling, she told him, „Why should we hide when it’s such a beautiful day outside?”

Alex didn’t understand the meaning of her words at first, something that made him frown. Even so, he didn’t ask her to explain what she meant. He only followed her to one of the tables that wasn’t that far from the fireplace but which wasn’t also close enough to it to allow others to hear what they were talking about. Yet, before following his sister, Alex asked Robert to bring them two coffees and prepare another one for that beautiful Helen of Troy.

After that, sitting on two comfortable armchairs and sipping from their coffee, Alex spotted Erin spying on the fireplace several times, where the stranger was reading. Erin was focused on the stranger because she saw Robert approaching her and changing her cup of coffee for another one, although she didn’t hear her ordering another coffee. It undoubtedly happened at Alex’s order, something that made her smile. Then, she thought, „I was actually right: the beautiful owner of the chestnut curls knocked on the door of his heart. And he, as it’s characteristic of the romantic in love with everything that’s beautiful, opened that door right away, without anybody entering his castle eventually. After that, already in love with her, he just stays and watches her from far away, lacking the courage to approach her and talk to her, even if this means solving all his problems.” Eventually, still smiling while looking at her coffee and not at Alex, Erin said, „You know, she’s beautiful!”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

„Who exactly?” The man asked. He was confused because he seemed not to have understood Erin’s hint.

„The one who receives soul coffees, although she hasn’t ordered them,” Erin replied in a cunning and playful voice.

Alex smiled. „She understood,” he thought, sipping from his coffee just to avoid answering his sister. Yet, spotting his sister’s glance focused on him, Alex finally understood that he didn’t have a chance to avoid answering Erin’s remark. That is why he rushed to tell her, „Just an illusion!”

„Do you think so? Allow me to think differently, Alex. Just as I’m sure that is not the same as your heart feels. It feels something totally different from what you say.”

„What makes you think that I’m not honest with you?” He asked her, clumsily smiling because he really felt weird talking to Erin about the stranger. He felt that even if it wasn’t the first time they talked about their relationship or women and when none of them felt something strange about this.

„Your eyes,” Erin suddenly said, making him wince. „Your eyes betray you, Alex. Those eyes that spy on her on the sly as if she is something forbidden, although you should have taken the first step to approach her already. If you had done that, who knows… maybe you wouldn’t have been single now.”

„Or maybe I would have been sadder now, Erin,” he whispered, thoughtful and melancholic. „Yes, this would have happened for sure because… even if I’m single, she’s not. Yes, she’s not single because… I’ve seen her accompanied by another man. Most probably he’s her boyfriend because she happily smiles when she sees him and seems in love with him.”

„You know, Alex: love is something transient and you also know that. Just as you know a woman’s heart is unstable if a good and handsome man gets to court her.”

„She’s different though. She has a boyfriend, whom I’m sure she won’t ever betray. At the same time, she doesn’t seem like the kind of woman who can betray her man.”

„Just a hypothesis, Alex. Something you can’t be sure of before trying this. And… she has a boyfriend, not a husband. Thus, as long as she isn’t tied forever by another one, as long as she doesn’t wear his ring on her finger, and as long as she doesn’t have his name on the passport, she can be yours any time. Do you know why? Because… a woman is like the roses: she belongs only to that man who dared to take the scissors in his hand and clean her thorns without hurting her or destroying her beauty.”

***

That day, Erin Doyle stopped by her brother’s coffee shop not to meet Alex but Mark, whom she asked to help her with something private. Instead of solving her own problems, she found out secrets about Alex and the beautiful owner of a pair of black eyes and brown hair. Secrets that confused her, although she didn’t know why. At the same time, she understood that her brother wasn’t as innocent as she had thought about him and that he was also capable of thinking on his own when it was necessary, just as he was able to find the perfect woman for him, as it seemed that he found her in that stranger in front of the fireplace.

„A woman that’s not single though,” Erin suddenly whispered, making Mark, who was to her right, wince.

„Who exactly?” The man asked right away, insistently looking at her while waiting for her answer.

Erin smiled, bowing her head. „A black swan,” she drily replied, making the man feel even more confused than before.

Although he didn’t understand the meaning of her words, Mark didn’t ask her to explain this to him. Yet, this didn’t mean he wasn’t curious to find out what Erin thought about at that moment. At the same time, he was jealous of those thoughts, and this was so because he would have liked Erin to think about him and not about a „black swan.” He would have also liked Erin to watch him and not the asphalt that was touched by the soles of her white shoes, eyes that seemed so sad at that moment, although Erin was only thoughtful.

Erin and Mark were heading at that moment toward her car, which she parked not that far from the park, thinking that she would probably have a walk with Alex after her meeting with Mark was over. And, as it was more comfortable to take the car from there to go to the office, she didn’t bother to park it closer to Alex’s coffee shop. Yet, she’d been wrong eventually. Alex not only didn’t accompany her to the car, but he also weirdly acted that day. He fugitively kissed her cheek when she told him that she was leaving, asking Mark to be with her until she climbed in her car and not leave her alone, although it was still day and Westport was generally a silent and not dangerous city to walk alone on the streets even in the evening. After asking Mark for this favor, Alex returned behind the counter and looked on the sly at the stranger, something he kept doing while the three of them had that conversation after Mark had joined them to have a cup of coffee with them.

This „disregard” made Erin feel strange. She knew that it was unfair for Alex for her to feel that, not while he had all the right in the world to fall in love with whom he wanted and pay attention to that woman and not her. Yet… „He didn’t ever do this before. He didn’t ever prefer „another woman” and not me and this already hurts.”

„Do you mean the owner of that pair of black eyes from in front of the fireplace?” Mark asked her.

His question took Erin by surprise. This happened because she thought that she said those words only in her head. Yet, she had whispered it and this meant only one thing - Erin Doyle was unable to control her jealousy as Alex’s sister. Yet, even if she understood that, Erin didn’t try to apologize for what she felt or justify her feelings. She didn’t do that because she knew that Mark was eventually a smart man and that her words wouldn’t have deceived him. At the same time, being Alex’s friend, he might have known things about her brother and the stranger. Even so, Erin didn’t dare to ask Mark about this because she thought that it would have been unfair: Alex and Mark were eventually friends and had the right to have secrets even from her.

She asked him instead, „Do you know her?”

„The stranger?”

„Yes. I don’t know why, but I have the feeling that you know her. Actually, I’ve seen you looking at her since you entered. It was natural to also see her because she’s really gorgeous.”

„Are you jealous now?” Mark asked, smiling.

„Honestly?” Mark nodded. „Yes, I’m jealous of her because I have the feeling she steals my brother’s attention and love. And yes, I know that’s pathetic to have such thoughts, but I can’t control this.”

„That’s normal, you know?!” Erin looked at him, confused. „To be jealous because of Alex. Eventually, you grew up together, shared secrets, practically talked about everything, and asked each other’s opinions about things. Now, when Alex has a special interest in the stranger, you feel a certain discomfort and that you are left behind. Am I right?”

„Mostly, yes. Yet, I don’t feel this because I think that she’ll take Alex from me but because… I feel he’ll suffer because of her.”

„Do you say that because she belongs to someone else?”

Erin frowned. „Did you know that too?” Mark nodded. „Why?”

„Because I saw them at „The Helm,” the night I took Alex out. Using the force, by the way, because he was melancholic and immersed in thoughts. That night, passing by the restaurant, I saw her accompanied by another man.”

„Do you know him? I mean… the other one?”

„By hearsay only. I’ve never met him. Yet, I know his name: Jonathan Ward.”

Erin winced. „The entrepreneur? The one who has recently come to Westport to build the new port?”

„Yeah! Do you know him?”

„Let’s say I had the „honor,” Erin growled, irritated.

„Yet, you didn’t seem happy with that,” replied Mark after a few moments of silence. Erin nodded. „May I know why?”

„Because I have the feeling he’s a jerk. I don’t think I’m wrong thinking this, by the way, because… the night he’s been introduced to me, he hasn’t been with that beautiful Helen of Troy that we’ve seen today in Alex’s coffee shop.”

Mark smiled. „It was a dinner party, Erin. He might have gone alone there for a business meeting, as all the dinners you have are related to that: business.”

Erin forced a smile. „Maybe you are right and such business parties are boring for certain ladies. Yet… Mister Ward wasn’t alone that night but with another woman, Mark. And, as I said, that woman wasn’t his girlfriend but a blonde. Who was the „other one,” I can’t tell you because I’ve never seen her before. Even so, judging by their behavior, although they weren’t alone there, I understood that there was something more than business between them. And, honestly, I can’t understand him. I can’t understand how he can be with someone who isn’t even half of the one from in front of the fireplace, not when he has such a beautiful girlfriend. This suggests to me that he’s undoubtedly a jerk.”

„He’s not the first man doing this and won’t be the last one, Erin. I mean, he’s not the only man who cheats on his girlfriend with women who aren’t as good as her. Yet, this doesn’t mean he doesn’t respect or love her.”

„Well, Mark, I think differently. Why? When you love someone, you never cheat on him. That’s why I hope Alex will be courageous enough to take her from him because the stranger seems to be a good woman. They deserve to be happy, together, and not with bastards that only hurt them.”

Saying this, Erin felt irritated. Mark even thought that Erin talked like that because of her own experience and not because of the stranger. That’s why he looked behind her, confused, when Erin quickened her pace and left him a few meters behind her. Because of this, Mark even felt that Erin betrayed him because if she talked like that about „another man,” it meant she had feelings for that one and not for him. And yes, Mark Flynn had waited for years for Erin Doyle to see him and stop being alone and unhappy without her.