The Death of a Bachelor

Chapter Twenty two.

"I was going to give it to her," said Kieran, "but then..."

"Then what happened?"

A shadow fell over his face as Kieran scowled, when he remembered the events. "Pat happened."

Aaron was confused. "Pat? What pat?"

"That Pat," Kieran spat. "That Pat who seems to have been my replacement this past week. That Pat who's still going to be my replacement the next ten days while I sit here thinking about how amazing his hands are. That Patrick Caparo who she so delightfully addressed as Pat."

Aaron was trying to wrap his head around what he had just said. "I'm sorry, but I'm still lost."

"It doesn't make any sense," Kieran said, quickly rising from his chair and facing Aaron. "Let me ask you this, brother. Does it make sense for a woman to choose spending time with a friend instead of her betrothed?".

Aaron knitted his eyebrows. "Hm. Tough question," he said. "If the woman is Elena and her betrothed is you, then it makes perfect sense."

Kieran tilted his head to the side. "Whose side are you on?"

Aaron laughed lightly. "I don't even know the whole story!" he claimed. "Who exactly is Patrick Caparo?"

"No one, just some childhood painter friend of Elena's who popped up at just the right time, with his amazing hands, and made her forget about my absence." Kieran narrowed his eyes. "He is a weasel."

Aaron was thoroughly amused by the situation. "And how did he stop you from giving Elena the necklace?"

"What?"

"You said you'd have given it to her but for Pat. What did Patrick do?"

"He-!" Kieran pursed his lips and threw his hand up in an aggravated yet helpless gesture. "It's just his presence, Aaron. It annoys me. He annoys me. I thought that I would give her the necklace when it would be just her and me. When she'd been waiting for my return the same way I had been waiting to come back to her. When it'd be just us again."

He shook his head. "Pat, however, gives no opportunity for that. He has been hovering around her during my absence and is still hovering around her like a darn housefly. Buzz buzz."

Aaron bent his head, and laughed.

"What is so funny?" Kieran asked, failing to understand his brother's mirth.

Aaron held up a hand, signalling him to wait as he finished laughing.

"Okay, first of all, I'd think he's more like a bee than a housefly because of the subject matter," he pointed out. "And secondly...you are so jealous, Kieran." He grinned as he said this.

"J-Jay...what?"

"Jealous," Aaron repeated. "You're jealous of Patrick Caparo."

Kieran scoffed. "I am not jealous," he said. "I am simply annoyed by him."

"Because you are jealous."

"No," Kieran rejected the notion adamantly. "Jealousy implies that I want to be like him but I cannot, because I lack in some aspects. I do not want to be like Patrick Caparo, nor do I lack in any aspects."

Aaron nodded. "Jealousy also implies that you want something he has but cannot have it," he said. "I wonder what...or who that might be." He gave Kieran a knowing look.

"Yes, I do want Elena," Kieran bluntly said, "but only because it's what I'm entitled to. She is my betrothed so she should pick me."

"See, right there," Aaron pointed at him. "That aspect of possession is the root of your jealousy."