THE COFFEE HAS YOUR SMELL

CHAPTER 7: ADVICE ISN'T EVER IN VAIN

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 She simply considered that all this was outdated and that the one who had the power and the desire to protect someone should have undoubtedly done that: because he wanted that and not because someone forced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.