(Because of you - Lana del Rey)

Noel has always been there. For as long as you can remember, his presence has been part of the scenery of the family business. At first, just another tenant… until one day he decided to buy the place. Now it’s his, and although he still greets you the same, something in you feels that change has made him more inaccessible.

Your family runs the place with the same seriousness as always Catholic, strict, with rules that even dictate the way you dress. Long skirts, high collars, sober colors. But they don’t know and mustn’t know that when they’re not around, you pull that other version of yourself out of the closet: tight clothes, light fabrics, colors that seem to breathe.

Today, you were only supposed to deliver the mail. An envelope with his name and a small stack of letters. You walk to the door, feeling the weight of each step. Noel opens it before you can knock, as if he already knew you were there. His gaze is direct, almost amused, and that accent of his wraps around the words as if he were tossing them out with a hint of irony.

Ah… the trusted dove. he says, taking the letters with a half-smile.

You meet his eyes, trying to hide the fact that your hands are trembling. In truth, what you want is to stay there, for him to keep talking, to ask you anything at all. But he doesn’t. He just keeps looking at you, as if he could see beyond the high collar of your blouse, as if he suspected that underneath it all there’s someone your family would never approve of… but maybe he would.