Under_The_Whispering_Door_by_TJ_Klune

She walked through the door as she always did, mouth tight, the circles
under her eyes like bruises. She went to her usual table and sat without
speaking to anyone, though a few of the customers in the tea shop nodded at
her.
Hugo went back into the kitchen, and before the doors had a chance to
stop swinging, they opened again as Mei came out, standing at the register.
“Poor dear,” Nelson murmured from his chair. “Still not sleeping. I don’t
know how much longer she can stand it. I wish there were more we could do
for her.”
“So long as it has nothing to do with Desdemona,” Wallace said. “I can’t
believe she—”
“Who’s that?”
They turned to look at Alan. He stood in the middle of the tea shop next to
a table filled with people around his age. He’d been circling them since
they’d arrived. He was stopped now, gaze trained on the table near the
window and the woman who sat there.
He started to take a step toward her. Wallace moved even before he
realized it. Alan blinked when Wallace appeared in front of him, a hand
pressed against his chest. He looked down, frowning, and Wallace pulled his
hand back. “What are you doing?”
“Leave her alone,” Wallace said stiffly. “I don’t care about what you do to
anyone else here, but you stay away from her.”
Alan’s eyes narrowed. “Why?” He glanced over Wallace’s shoulder
before looking back at him. “It’s not like she can see me. Who gives a shit?”
He started to move around Wallace but stopped when Wallace gripped his
wrist.
“She’s off-limits.”
Alan jerked his arm away. “You can feel it, can’t you? She’s like … a
beacon. She’s on fire. I can taste it. What’s wrong with her?”
Wallace almost snapped that it didn’t concern him. He course-corrected at
the last moment, even though the idea of playing to Alan’s humanity seemed
so farcical it was ludicrous. “She’s grieving. Lost her daughter to illness. It
was … bad. The details don’t matter. She comes here because she doesn’t
know where else to go. Hugo sits with her, and we leave them alone.”
He was pleasantly surprised when Alan nodded slowly. “She’s lost.”