THE COFFEE HAS YOUR SMELL

CHAPTER 8: IN THE RHYTHM OF YOUR FOOTSTEPS

„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.