„The woman is like the roses, Alex: 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,” kept ringing in Alex’s ears since Mark and Erin left, leaving him alone.
What his sister told him made Alexander understand that maybe he was wrong when he thought that it wasn’t fair for a man to take another one’s woman. Yes, maybe he was wrong thinking like that because, you see… „What about my heart? Does it really deserve to suffer for an entire life while I’m thinking about someone else’s happiness? Definitely not because people generally do this: they, first of all, think about themselves, their happiness and fulfillment, and only after this they think about others. If they have time and inner resources to do that, of course.”
Yet, it wasn’t fair for him to do that. He felt this with his heart: that he had to stay away from that man’s relationship because he wouldn’t have liked another one to do the same to him. At the same time, his heart didn’t let him do that… a heart that was strangely pouncing in his chest, not allowing him to freely breathe while thinking about her when Helen of Troy wasn’t with him. Actually, he was unable to breathe normally even at that moment, although she was there, so close to him, and he felt this knowing that she wasn’t his.
Thinking about this, Alex smiled. He sadly smiled because he understood how weird he could be, thinking about himself as a rival. „And… I’m not my only rival, by the way. That Worthy man is another one,” he thought eventually. And yes, he was strange because, you see, thinking about someone else’s happiness, he got to split into two equal parts: the in-love Alex and the Punisher, two opposite He that couldn’t get to an agreement no matter what, at least not an agreement related to his feelings for her.
Yet, the two opposite sides of Alexander Doyle decided the same thing when they realized that she didn’t have any guilt in that story. He fell for her alone on that rainy day when he’d seen her heading toward his coffee shop. He’d also been the one who started to dream of her and want her with him, taken from the other one while she, not knowing anything about Alex’s thoughts, could only exist, smile even if not at him but at the other one, dream with his rival, but living in the heart of the hopeless romantic forever. Yes, Kate had a special place in Alex’s heart, the one who didn’t dare to talk to her, but who wanted her with him so much.
Eventually, he sighed and left the cloth of night act up, without being spied on by his blue eyes. Yes, that pair of blue eyes left the streets and the night alone and focused on her again, the one who kept reading in front of the fireplace, paying no attention to him. This hurt Alex a lot: her indifference, her disregard, and that she wasn’t seeing him, although he would have wanted that Helen of Troy to see only him and consider him her Paris. Later, in love with him and having no deal with the world, to hide at his chest and dream of a life together while two hearts - their hearts - were beating at the same time, somehow in the rhythm of the Clock of Time.
Yet, she didn’t dream about him but about another man. or maybe she was just dreaming of that beautiful love story that she was reading at that moment?! Alex wasn’t that sure. All he knew was that her presence pleasantly filled him inside and, despite the sadness and melancholy felt in his soul for knowing her there but that she wasn’t his, Alex was still happy. Yes, he was really happy because he could be with her at least this way - in his dreams and not in hers, although he would have liked to be otherwise.
Suddenly, when the piano keys had been heard in the distance, both Alex and Kate winced. None of them knew why they did that because of the pleasant music, but they still did it. At the same time, they considered that music so beautiful, giving them comfort as if their souls, starving for love and longing for it, waited for that melody in particular. It was a beautiful piano song that was heard in the man’s coffee shop, something that reminded them that there was still happiness in this world and that it wasn’t only written in a song that had been eventually played by someone at the piano.
Because of the same melody, Kate left the book on her lap eventually and closed her eyes. She did that, feeling a strange desire inside: to stay with her eyes closed for a while and be spoiled by the pleasant warmth felt from the flames from the fireplace. A warmth that she considered a kind of light breeze of a spring wind that touched the strings of her soul, making that piano song so similar to the one sung by their hearts. Then, when she felt the music with all her body, Kate leaned against the back of the armchair, closed the book, leaving it on her lap after that, and allowed herself to dream. Yes, she did that, even if that place might have been a strange one to do that: to dream of the dance of the sea and the song of the seagulls above the water when she was inside a coffee shop and not at the beach, a place where she felt not the salty smell of the sea but the sweet-sour aroma of coffee.
Kate wasn’t the only one dreaming. Alex did the same. He was sitting on the windowsill, with his back to the window and the rest of the world, watching only Her. He was dreaming while having his eyes wide open and not closed as she seemed to do. Yes, he was also dreaming but not of the same thing as Kate because while she dreamt that she was dancing barefoot on the sand of a beach, kissed by the cold waves of the sea, he was dreaming that he was with her in that coffee shop… only they were there.
Yes, they were alone there. They were hugging each other in front of the fireplace, sitting on a white big bear fur that was on the floor next to one of the armchairs. He was leaning his back against that armchair, wearing a white shirt while she kept her head on his shoulder, dreaming while having her eyes closed. He considered her so beautiful at that moment, wearing the same black dress she wore that night at „The Helm.” What was different in Alex’s dream was that Kate wore that black dress only for him that night, making him the happiest man in the world. Yes, he was undoubtedly the man who loved the most at that moment, having her like his woman and not like an untouchable muse, as she appeared in his life to be with him forever as he would have liked to be.
***
Seeing her leaving his coffee shop that evening, Alex decided to do at least something to calm his heart that was strangely pouncing in his chest and didn’t let him freely breathe. What exactly he should have done that evening, he didn’t know because he couldn’t understand what could have tied them. He could have invented a reason to be with her, but he considered this weird and childish because… how to chat up with that beautiful woman without knowing what exactly he should have told her?! Yes, Alex really didn’t know what they could have talked about because, you see, she hadn’t ever told him something about her or talked to him about something in particular. She only thanked him for the coffee and that’s all. No, wait: she had told him once that she had felt good in his coffee shop. And, starting that night, he was smiling each time he thought about what she had said. „I also felt like a teenager since then. A kid with a pure heart, undoubtedly in love with her - a fairy from the tales, one about whom the man can always dream, even if he’s sure that she won’t ever be with him, allow him to hold her hand, or deeply breathe in the scent of her hair, telling her that he loved her.”
Suddenly, Alex winced. „What the hell am I talking about?” He whispered. „I have definitely lost my mind if I still dream of a kiss when I’m not even able to make up a reason to talk to her. That’s why, Alex: you should know your place and stop dreaming of the impossible. Yeah, you can dream of friendship… you have this right because you won’t hurt anybody by only being her friend. Only yourself, but… it’s better to be the only one suffering and not her because…”
Not finishing his thought when he felt the need to do something that night for her or at least to talk to her, Alex jumped from his place behind the counter, leaving the cups he intended to wash. And, grabbing his coat, which he put on while walking, he ran out of the coffee shop, intending to catch up with her. Not seeing her anywhere made him a little nervous because it looked as if she vanished somewhere. Yes, she’d been in front of him until not long ago because he looked behind her while she was leaving as he did every single evening she was coming to the coffee shop. Then, turning his back to the window, intending to wash the cups, she disappeared. In only seconds, she vanished somewhere. „Did her boyfriend pick her up with his car?” Alex thought, stopped in the middle of the road. „No, it can’t be because I haven’t heard her talking on the phone while she was still inside. I didn’t also hear that she received a text message or something. And, judging by the rhythm of her footsteps while she moved away from the coffee shop, she gave the impression that she intended to have a walk and not that she rushed somewhere because someone was waiting for her.”
This thought warmed Alex inside, making him smile. Then, he ran down the street again, where he had seen her heading when she left the coffee shop. While running, he thought that he’d have the chance to catch up with her. Then, in the rhythm of her footsteps, he’d have a walk with her and be with her for a little bit longer.
Already down the street, Alex didn’t see her though. He looked in front, at the large street that led downtown, but he saw nobody there. He also didn’t see anybody when he looked to his right, at the small park and at those few wooden benches on which the locals used to stay in the evenings, listening to the music of the surroundings. What was left was the narrow street from his left. Yet, he thought that his beautiful Helen of Troy couldn’t have chosen that street to have a walk that night. That street was too dark and somehow ill-reputed, even if Westport was considered a calm town, with low criminality. Even so, you don’t know what can cross someone’s mind when it’s dark and he meets a lonely woman in his way when nobody’s around and it is dark all over.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
This thought convinced Alex to choose that street too. He told himself that even if she hadn’t taken that street, he would at least make sure she was safe that night. And, if he hadn’t found her on that street, it would have meant that someone had taken her in his car or maybe she had taken a taxi eventually. Thus, making sure she was safe, he would have been able to sleep that night and dream of the next time he’d see her again.
The thought that she hadn’t taken that street because it was dark and narrow had been wrong eventually. Kate turned left and took that street that night because she was too immersed in thoughts and didn’t spot where her steps led her. She realized that she had mistaken the route when two men, who suddenly appeared from the darkness of that street, blocked her way.
Seeing them in front of her, Kate stopped and carefully looked at them. She wasn’t skittish generally. Yet, aware that she was alone there while they were two, Kate started to fear. She could have turned back, but she thought that maybe it wasn’t the case and that they simply headed toward her because they took that shortcut to get to the main road. She understood she’d been wrong in thinking this when she heard one of them saying, „Which way, pretty bird?”
Kate didn’t answer. She just looked for her phone in her small purse, thinking of threatening them with calling the police if they hadn’t left her alone. The fact she ignored them made the second individual react. And, grabbing her left hand in which she held the phone, he made her wince and stare at him. Then, Kate told him through her teeth, „Let go of my hand!”
„What if I don’t do that?” He told her in a thick voice, although he tried to use a playful one.
„I call the cops!” Kate confidently told them, staring at both of them. Her words made them burst into laughter.
„Go ahead!” The first one who talked to her said. Then, taking a step toward her, hands in his pockets, he told her, „Yet, if you call the police, you should have a good reason for doing this. Otherwise, you can be accused of a fake call and pay for that, don’t you think so?”
„Maybe it would have been a fake call if you hadn’t blocked my way. Yet, once you have done that, it can’t be called a fake alarm. Do you know why? Because nobody stops a lonely woman on a dark and narrow street when you are two. It would have been true even if you had been the only one doing that because if a woman has no intention to talk to you, you just continue walking and leave her alone!”
„I don’t see why we should do that!” The second individual told her, making Kate wince and look at him, scared, at all happy with the tone of his voice. He instead, strangely smiling, approached her ear and whispered, „I mean… I don’t see why we should keep walking when all we do is try to get acquainted with a beautiful lady. Is this a crime too?”
Kate didn’t answer again. She only swallowed hard, feeling a strange knot in her stomach. She hated that feeling but she didn’t know what to do to get rid of it. Maybe she would have stopped feeling it if the two individuals had left her alone. Yet, judging by their weird grins, they seemed determined not to let her go, at least not that soon.
Someone’s footsteps, whom she heard running toward them, somewhere behind her, made Kate wince again. She even stared at that place, thinking that a third idiot was approaching her, something that would have endangered her for sure. „Or maybe not?!” She caught a thought crossing her mind when she saw the man, who had been squeezing her hand by then, releasing her and taking a step back. This let her know that the third man who was approaching them wasn’t someone they knew. This meant that someone saw her there and, thinking she might have been in danger, decided to help her.
She wasn’t at all wrong thinking about this because she recognized the third man as being the owner of the coffee shop „Aisling.” This gave her a certain confidence because even if she didn’t know him well, he seemed to be a good man, and she understood this even if they had barely exchanged a few words. He also seemed someone to trust because if he was there, it meant he’d seen her turning left on that narrow and dark street. And, knowing that it might have been dangerous to be there alone, he followed her.
What amazed Kate more than this was to hear him calling her name and telling her after that, „Have I let you wait for me too much, sweetheart?” Alex said that the moment he got next to her and, holding her hand, he pulled her toward him.
Kate said nothing. She only looked at his hand, which was tightly holding hers as though he was trying to give her confidence. At the same time, his warm hand warmed hers, which was so cold - partly because of the cold weather of November and partly because of the scare. Also because she was scared, she stuck her hand to his, wrapping her fingers around his. Then, when she could control herself, she approached Alex more, touching his arm with her other hand when she told him, „No, it wasn’t that much. Even so, I managed to get lost here, and these gentlemen had been kind enough to tell me which way to take to get to the hotel.”
Hearing her talking like that, the individuals excused themselves and moved away. They did that because it was one thing to mess with a lonely lady. Yet, there was a different thing to have to deal with the individual that was with her, one whom they had recognized as being the owner of the coffee shop from the corner of the street that was by the park. Yes, they recognized Alex even if it was so dark around. At the same time, they left also because they knew what family he belonged to. And, once everybody in town knew that nobody dared to mess with the Doyle family, which was respected and influential, more than because of fear, they decided that they should have better looked for prey in another place than take her from a Doyle, with whom they could have had big problems eventually.
Left alone, Kate suddenly withdrew her hand, making Alex wince. Then, he stared at her for a while, confused, after he had looked behind the two individuals all that time to make sure they were leaving. It’s when he looked at her and stuttered, „I make a pardon! I just… wanted to make them leave!”
„There’s nothing!” Kate whispered, hiding her hands in her pockets. „I can understand why you’ve done that,” she whispered after that, looking around as if she couldn’t decide which way to take to get to her hotel eventually. She could have turned back, but that path was leading toward his coffee shop, and Kate decided that her decision might have been misunderstood. To continue advancing on that narrow street wasn’t a good idea either. Not after she had been so scared after those two blocked her away and that it was so dark around.
Eventually, when Alex told her, „I’ll accompany you!” Kate looked at him, confused.
„Where?” She asked him after that, although she didn’t understand the meaning of his words.
„Where your footsteps will lead us eventually,” the man whispered, somehow nervous. He really felt clumsy next to her, exchanging more than two words with her than „Your coffee” or „Thank you!”
Kate clumsily smiled. She did that, understanding that it was the first time when someone offered to accompany her and this was because he’d seen that it was dark around or because he was afraid to leave her alone, as it seemed that Alex from the coffee shop „Aisling” was doing at that moment. This thought warmed her inside. She knew it wasn’t fair to do that because she had a boyfriend when Alex seemed to have been interested in her, and she understood that after she had spotted him spying on her a few times. That’s why she said eventually, „That’s not necessary. To waste your time, I mean. I can get to the hotel alone.”
„No bother at all! I was… going for a walk anyway,” Alex lied to her, suddenly looking elsewhere.
Kate smiled. „Such a trivial reason,” she caught another thought crossing her mind. After that thought, she felt that she even blushed. That’s why she looked elsewhere, touching her both cheeks when she felt them burning. They were probably as red as the fire at that moment, something that made her seem like a teenager, who had been deeply touched by the words of the most popular boy in school when he had told her he loved her. This feeling made her feel ashamed because you see… she was an adult woman eventually, and adult women never blushed like teenage girls. She was relieved that it was dark all around and he didn’t see her red cheeks. At the same time, she’d been also helped by the cold wind that suddenly started to blow, just to help her hide her teenage shame and keep her dignity - like that untouchable ancient Goddess.
Eventually, understanding that she should have said at least something, accepting or turning down his offer to accompany her to the hotel, Kate looked at the man, whom she saw watching her and waiting for her answer. That’s why she didn’t dare to say anything. She only nodded, letting him know that she accepted his offer. After that, feeling so clumsy, Kate turned her back to him and headed up the street where she had been heading when she was still alone.
Alex followed her right away. He didn’t quicken his pace but stepped at a reasonable distance from her, giving her the chance to clear her mind and recover from the earlier scare. He did that because he was sure that Kate had been scared, even if only a little bit. It couldn’t be different because if she hadn’t been scared when the two men blocked her way in that dark street when she was alone, she wouldn’t have grabbed his arm as she did and wouldn’t have talked to him so kindly as though she was definitely his girlfriend.
In the end, realizing that he got to her right, although he was sure he had been walking in the same rhythm, Alex winced and looked at her, scared. He was afraid that she would think that he looked for more than friendship between them. Yet, Kate didn’t look at him. She only squeezed her fists: probably because of concern or maybe cold. After that, she put her hands into her pockets, trying to hide the feelings she had too.
Her small gesture, of clumsiness or maybe teenage nervousness, although both of them were more than thirty already, made Alex smile. He also felt happy when he finally understood that if he could catch up with her it wasn’t because he quickened his pace but because she walked slower, giving him the chance to set up the rhythm of his footsteps to be exactly her rhythm. At the same time, Alex thought that this couldn’t be a simple coincidence and that she probably also didn’t consider him just another human being.