femme fatale //short stories

Secrets of the Heart®

Sorry for the long wait everyone! But I hope you will forgive me with this long one. It's a mini-book, practically. Literally over 7k words. Sorry, not sorry. 

Please enjoy the period drama esque gay pining and tension ;) 

-unedited-

I CAN'T EXACTLY say when I fell in love with Olivia Walker, but it must've happened sometime after she first stepped through the front door of Milobridge and graced my eyes with her immeasurable beauty, kind smile and full heart.

Ever since that moment, that one, incredibly short and seemingly insignificant moment in mid-July, my entire life had been left in ruin. All it took was one second. One measly second and my simple and quaint life in the countryside had changed indefinitely.

I couldn't hide behind the safety of rolling hills, fences, flora and high walls— I was left bare and defenceless to the immeasurable power of a heart's desire and it was all because of her.

She bore the face I would envision on so many of my storybook characters. She was the muse of my work despite our never crossing paths before that moment. She was beauty incarnate and I had fallen slave to her natural allure, completely helpless as my heart took the reins and lead me blindly down a traitorous and dangerous path with no end in sight.

She was the woman of my dreams. 

And yet that was where she was cursed to remain.

Unfortunately, life isn't all fairytales and happy endings. It's cruel, especially to those like me— a woman whose heart naturally yearned for the company of other women.

The reason Olivia Walker and her parents ended up at the doorstep of my family's home in the first place, was purely business. They hadn't lost their way like so many before them, they sought out restitution; another founding family wishing to form an alliance with mine. Since both our families came from a considerable amount of wealth— with the security of theirs dwindling with each lowly marriage, the Walkers claimed such a compromise would benefit both houses greatly if we were to combine resources.

That being said, the only way to bring our two families together in such a way was through a union, and that is exactly what the Walkers proposed when they appeared at our doorstep.

Olivia, the only daughter of Richard and Penelope Walker, aged twenty-three, arrived at Milobridge a promised woman, but to whom you ask?

My eldest brother, Milo, of course.

The eldest of my six siblings. The heir to the estate, and to my father's coal mines and business expenditures. Milo. The boy who couldn't tell his left from his right until the stark age of 14 and now?

He would be betrothed to an angel. 

Isn't that just wonderful?

I should be happy for my brother but I'm not and I can't seem to help to feel angry. The mere thought of her becoming my sister-in-law one day was torturous, so I've been keeping my distance. In fact, since her family showed up on our doorstep, I'm pretty sure I could count our interactions on one hand.

My mother thinks my behaviour is childish but the way I see it, by limiting the opportunities for us to get to know one another, in time, Olivia would become a fleeting memory. Just another page in my book, and that is exactly what I want. I don't want to feel this way for her any longer since it would only cause me pain when she does inevitably marry my brother and I would be left alone to wallow and deal with my grief in isolation.