Zoe's only wish is to be able to run barefoot through grass, but she knows it'll never happen. Ever since she was born, she's been unable to touch anything living without it instantly dying. It's a curse she would do anything to get rid of, but that...
When I stepped out of the Library, the sun greeted me. It wasn't high in the sky yet, just high enough for me to know that it was already well into the morning. Hopefully, it was high enough for Oak's Tea Room to be open.
It wasn't.
I could see the lights on inside, so most likely the owner was there, preparing for opening. I sighed. Having no idea what time it was and as such no idea how long until it would open, I turned to head back to the Library and the portal.
I hadn't gotten many steps when I heard the sound of a door opening behind me.
"Zoe? To what do I owe this pleasure so early in the morning and so soon after your last visit?"
I turned back around, and the owner stood there with his warm smile.
"Hi!" I said and smiled again for the first time since leaving Felix the previous evening, and it wasn't a forced smile. It was just something with the owner's aura that calmed me.
"I just had some business around here again," I continued. "And I was just checking to see if it was late enough for you to be open. But I won't disturb you. You can go back to preparing for when it does open."
"Indeed," he said. "I was preparing to open. But for you, I can open a bit earlier. Besides," he scrutinized my face, "it looks like you could need a cup of strong coffee."
"No need," I waved him off. "I don't want to be of trouble."
He chuckled. "Dear Zoe, as the most loyal costumer of this place, you can never be of trouble."
He stepped to the side of the door and waved with his arm for me to enter. I hesitated a while longer before going in. I really wanted, needed, that cup of coffee after all, not having slept all night.
There were a couple of bar chairs by the counter and I sat down on one of them. The owner immediately poured me a cup and handed it over.
"I'll have some freshly made scones done in just a jiffy," he told me before disappearing to the room behind the counter. The kitchen, I presumed.
I didn't really think about anything as I sat there. My mind was too exhausted for it. The emotional turmoil, all the information I had read, and the lack of sleep had gotten to me. I just sat there with my hands around the cup, looking out of the window.
Some birds would fly past on occasion, and their songs could be heard. Soon they would go quiet, since summer was coming to an end. I had no idea what kind of birds it was, but I assumed a lot of them would fly south.
I came back to myself when a basket was placed in front of me. In it were several scones, and the smell from them could make anyone hungry. The owner also brought out butter and marmalades, then he frowned at my coffee.
"Tsk, it's gone all cold. Let me get you a new one," he said and before I could protest, the cup was out of my hand. When he had handed me a new one, he drew up a chair behind the counter and sat down opposite of me.
"Eat! While they're still warm. Scones should never be eaten cold," he smiled at me and I obliged.
I took one scone and cut it open with the knife the owner had brought over as well. Then I started buttering it. As soon as the butter connected with the scones, it started to melt. I added on a good amount that made it glisten, before eating it.
It tasted heavenly. Warm and comforting.
I ate two of them in silence. Meanwhile, a question slowly formed in my head. When I was done with the second, I took a sip of coffee and asked it.
"What exactly did the previous owner tell you about me?"
The owner had been in the middle of adding raspberry marmalade to a scone, but at my question, he stopped and put everything down. He looked at me, with eyes that made me feel like he could see through me, for a moment before answering.
"Not much, only your name and that you come about once a year and that it was best to not disturb you when you came. And also that you, ehm... didn't seem to age and that he had been told about you from the previous owner that had been told by the previous one and so on. When I asked what you looked like, he simply said that I would know when I saw you. And know I did."
"With my clothing it's quite obvious," I mumbled, but the owner shook his head.
"It wasn't your clothes that made me sure that it was you. It was your eyes. They just seemed so sad and lonely. But..." He looked intensely at me again. "They don't seem as sad and lonely anymore."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well," he smiled gently, "you probably know better than me what has changed in your life during the little over a week since last you were here."
I took another sip from my cup before continuing to ask him questions instead of getting into what he had just said.
"You're always very polite to me. Other owners have looked at me with fear, but not you. Why is that?"
He looked perplexed. "Should I fear you? I've never seen a reason to."
"Well, you know I don't age."
"Ah! Maybe not, but that shouldn't be a reason to fear a person. It's just... a special quirk of yours."
I burst out laughing. It was such a fresh and unexpected view on things that I couldn't hold back. But my laughter died quickly as I decided to press on.
"What about my clothes? Have you never wondered why I dress like this?"
"Hm... Yes, but not in the sense I think most people have. I've mainly wondered why you would keep yourself imprisoned like this."
"Imprisoned?"
"Yes. I've seen the way you act when someone almost touches your face. Your clothing is obviously a way to imprison your body from touch, and I can't help but wonder if it might also serve as bars to keep people from getting close to your soul as well."
I frowned and didn't answer. I honestly didn't know what to answer or even what to think about what he said. Mostly, I felt he didn't know me and as such couldn't make claims like that about me. If he knew only half of what my life had been like, I felt certain he would say very different things.
"The person you've met since your last visit," he continued. "Are you keeping him out? Or are you getting ready to shed your prison? If they are worth it, if they are truly a good person for you, they will love the Zoe that is hiding behind her clothes as well."
"I didn't say I met someone," I pointed out, but he just smiled.
"Love is the only thing that I know of that can create such changes in such a short time." He stood up and took his empty coffee cup in one hand and the basket with scones in the other. "Be brave, Zoe. Be as brave as I'm certain that you have had to be for most of your life. Just direct that bravery towards honesty."
He turned around and disappeared into the kitchen again.
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