Page 84 of Until You Came Along

I rushed toward him and we gave each other a tight hug until...

“Ahem, ahem,” a throat clearing behind us made us separate.

When I turned around, I found Hermes standing a few feet away from us, looking at us seriously.

“Little brother! What are you doing here so early?” Baco asked, surprised.

“Do I really need to answer that question? You know that Delfina is my girlfriend. Why do you think I’m having breakfast with her?” he asked ironically.

“Baco, have you had breakfast yet? Would you like to join us?” I asked, trying to downplay Hermes’ irony and seriousness.

“I’d love to,” he replied, and as the three of us headed toward the kitchen with Hermes walking ahead of us, he leaned close to my ear and whispered:

“This is going to be fun. Now you’ll meet jealous Hermes. Leave it to me.”

“No, Baco, please,” I whispered, and Hermes turned and stared at us, but Baco put on an innocent face.

“I was just thanking my friend for breakfast because I know it’s more complete than what I can prepare at home, and besides, what’s nicer than having breakfast with family?” he remarked with a broad smile.

Hermes looked at him suspiciously but sat down in the place he had been occupying before. Baco sat across from him, and I went to get everything necessary for him to have breakfast before sitting back down next to Hermes.

“Thank you, gorgeous,” Baco said when I handed him the cup.

Hermes looked at him seriously and poured himself a bit more coffee.

“What brings you here so early?” Hermes asked in his harsh tone of voice.

“Delfina, who else? I wanted to see her and talk with her,” after answering him, he looked at me to address me directly. “Delfi, you have magic hands, you always make me the best cortado. Can I come have breakfast with you all the time?”

“You know you can come whenever you want,” I replied. I won’t deny that I also enjoyed making him a little jealous.

“Actually, you can’t,” Hermes stated. “We’re here today, but Delfina will likely be spending more time at my place.”

“Then I’ll come whenever Delfina is here,” he said casually, while taking a bite of toast spread with jam.

“I repeat, you can come whenever you want,” I said, and noticed Hermes looking at me seriously.

“Delfi, what are you planning to do tomorrow? Because I have an invitation for you. Would you like to accompany me to an impressionist painting exhibition? I don’t want to go alone, and I know I’ll have a great time with you because you appreciate that art as much as I do. Besides, it’s a privilege to be accompanied by such a beauty as yourself.”

“Tell me something, Baco, don’t you have anyone else you could invite? In case you haven’t noticed, Delfina is ‘my’ girlfriend and it’s with me she should be making plans,” hestated, looking at him with a furrowed brow, which didn’t seem to disturb his brother.

“Why? Don’t tell me you’ve become possessive and jealous and won’t let Delfi go out with her friends? Let me clarify that this beauty is an incredible woman who has many friends who adore her, myself included, and we won’t allow you to keep her away from us.”

I noticed Hermes clenching his jaw and decided to intervene in this power struggle between brothers. I knew that Baco was doing this deliberately to get under his skin, but Hermes hadn’t realized it and was taking it very personally.

“Baco, I appreciate the compliments, but Hermes hasn’t forbidden me from going out…”

“Well, it seems like I’m going to have to do that. You’re not going out with Baco or anyone else,” he said, interrupting me.

“What?” Baco and I said in unison, while Hermes raised his eyebrows and challenged us with his gaze.

“You heard me,” he replied.

“You can’t forbid me from going out with Baco or any of my friends,” I stated firmly.

“No, you can’t,” said Baco, taking a long sip of his coffee.

“Stay out of this, Baco, this isn’t something you need to get involved in,” Hermes shouted.