One day, two friends from London came to visit my grandmother. More precisely, the grandmother’s friend and her friend, also elderly women. They were very well-groomed and respectable-looking. And with them came a boy and a girl. They were seventeen. At first I thought they were brother and sister because they looked alike, but it turned out that they were dating, and after they came of age they have to get engaged because their families decided so. At the same time, the guys clearly liked each other, so further rapprochement could hardly frighten them. But they constantly communicated with each other in such a fake way that it looked too cloying. And the sight of them made my mouth felt sticky, like after an unripe persimmon. A little ter it turned out that the grandmother invited them deliberately, because John was about to arrive. Dad was unhappy, but grandmother could not be convinced. Dad told John. He, of course, was annoyed, but since he and Amber were no longer dating, there shouldn’t have been any problems.

  However, the appearance of my brother turned out to be more enchanting than anyone could have expected. He didn’t come alone. Next to him was a tall, hot brunette in a beige top with thin straps, a short leather skirt and shiny short stiletto boots. The shoes added to her height, and she was slightly taller than John. In addition, she turned out to be indecently thin. She ughed loudly and blew bubble gum. A couple of sweet guys looked at them with interest as they entered the building.

  “ I’m John!” My brother extended his hand.

  “I’m Non!” — the guy answered, “and this is my Nancy.”

  With these words, he sweetly kissed her on the lips. John wrinkled.

  “Let’s go, honey!”

  He hugged his partner around the waist and walked in with her. Grandma came out to meet him from the dining room.

  “Hello, grandma!”

  “Who else is here with you?!” The grandmother looked at the girl with displeasure.

  “The one I want to marry!” — John said cheekily, “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

  “Come to me, dear grandson!” Grandma’s face darkened. “Jack, this applies to you too!”

  Dad was holding my hand at that moment. He let go of it, nodded encouragingly to me, and John winked at the thin-legged girl, and they both left us.

  Then a noise was heard. Basically it was the grandmother who scolded everyone. Soon John came out and quickly walked to the backyard. Dad followed him out. I decided to go after them. But I stopped a little further away.

  “Wait, son!”

  “You knew, right? Didn’t I tell you to drive her away?!”

  “Wait, don’t get excited. Although we have our differences, I am not only your father, but also your friend.”

  “Then why the hell is she coming again?!” John screamed.

  “I would like to know if your grandmother seems to be up to something. She invited these too…” he looked towards the house, “...for some unknown reason. They follow each other all day long, like two doves. We need to come up with something…” Dad said.

  I decided to approach them.

  “Why did you bring the girl with you? And what’s her name?” Dad asked with interest.

  “Oh, this is Kylie. Don’t worry, she’s not that cheeky. We agreed so, but it seems everything didn’t go according to pn.”

  “Well... Oh, Chris, and you’re here.”

  “Hello, John. We finally said hello,” I said.

  “Listen, I don’t want to ask you, but I think I need help,” he scratched the back of his head, “anyway, Amber is coming today. I know you don’t like her that much, but she shouldn’t interact with Kylie no matter what I do.”

  I thought about it. Dad intervened:

  “Chris, John really needs your help. Besides, you haven’t talked to Peter for a long time. Is everything OK? Maybe you can take the girl to your company for a couple of days.”

  “Actually...” I started, “but okay, I don’t think it will be a problem.”

  “Well, fine.”

  Dad kissed me on the cheek and left.

  “Really, how is your boyfriend doing?” John asked, smiling tightly when we were alone.

  “I don’t know, everything is complicated here,” I answered. I was surprised at myself, but now I had no time for my feelings. I sincerely wanted to help him.

  “I need to write to Peter, let them meet with Amber, I don’t really want to see him. I’ll solve two problems,” I thought. I still felt bad for my refusal.

  “Did you quarrel?” — my brother asked with interest.

  “You could say that,” I answered absently.

  “Well, see you, Kylie is waiting for me.”

  He waved his hand at me and, grinning, headed towards the house, whistling something cheerfully.

  ***

  Peter didn’t answer right away, but he agreed to meet with Amber, and I was grateful to him for that. He asked me when we would meet and he wanted to try to communicate again. I agreed, but after Amber left. That’s what we decided on.

  The evening turned out to be quiet because John didn’t show up for dinner with his imaginary girlfriend, and Grandma met Amber and tried to treat her to a fruit dessert from our chef Marco. Non and Nancy fed each other strawberries. It was a little stressful. Amber, on the contrary, somehow became sad looking at them. The elderly dies were already pying checkers for the fourth round. The score was still a draw. Grandma tried to talk about John when Amber was about to leave, but I rather stood up from the table and said:

  “Grandma, we want to walk a little.”

  With these words, I pushed her towards the exit.

  “But,” my grandmother tried to protest my words.

  I grabbed Amber’s hand and pulled her along.

  “You’ll say thank me ter.”

  “What do you need from me?” — she asked tiredly.

  “I really suggest you join me for tonight. I don’t know if you’ll be interested, but I can show you a couple of pictures that I painted. At that moment we passed by the guest rooms, and a groan was heard from one.

  “What’s this?” Amber asked in surprise.

  But then the answer to the question came by itself. The door opened and John appeared. He was wearing a half-unbuttoned shirt and jeans.

  “Darling, come back quickly,” a female voice said. Then the brunette’s head poked out of the door. She pulled him by the shirt and, oh my God, she started kissing him shamelessly right in front of us. Moreover, he hugged her to him and reciprocated. In surprise, I covered my mouth with my free hand, but quickly came to my senses and pulled Amber’s hand.

  “Let’s go faster.”

  Amber was shocked. When we entered my room, I sat her down in a chair.

  “Wait, I’ll get some water.”

  She just nodded. I quickly went downstairs. There was no one in the kitchen. I poured water from the carafe and went back. Amber was still sitting in the position I had left her in, looking at her hands folded in her p with an unmoving gaze.

  “Hey. Drink and let’s go!”

  I tried to make my voice sound more cheerful, but I didn’t feel too good myself. I wrote an SMS to Peter:

  “This is a disaster! Come out. Meet me in fifteen minutes at the park.I’ll see her off. In my opinion, her heart has been completely broken. All hope is in you.”

  “Get up, you need to go out into the fresh air.”

  I felt like an adult compared to her at that moment.

  “I don’t want to,” she said in a dull voice.

  “I want.”

  I took her hand and led her. She didn’t resist.

  “Why did we stop?” She asked when we were already standing at the appointed pce.

  “Hello!” Peter approached unnoticed, and I shuddered.

  “Hello. She will tell you if she wants, but for now, accept her”

  “And you?”

  “I’ll go home, next time we’ll definitely talk. Bye.”

  Peter tried to hug me, but I deftly dodged.

  “Well, see you ter. I’ll see her off,” he said.

  And he and Amber went deeper into the square. I smiled, without knowing why, and went home.

  However, at home, I sat down in the same chair in which Amber had sat before me and repyed what I had seen in my head again. I felt a pang in my chest, and two tears quietly rolled down my face, one after the other.

  “If this is really love, then no one should ever know about it. He’s my brother. But I can’t get rid of feelings for him. I just have to learn to look at his strange behavior and control myself,” I decided .

  Amber stayed the night at Peter’s, which was unexpected. He didn’t usually do that. I don’t know what they were talking about, but it was clearly for the better. She returned only in the evening, and a day ter she went back to Northern Irend, thanking me not too verbosely. But even that was nice to hear from her. And I was no longer jealous of John for her. All that was left for her from my side was pity. Although to be honest, I myself was not in the best position.