I know you will love me: good or bad – as I am;
What delicious rest it is, as I slip into your arms.
It was already dark when they came out of The Cottons. Frank decided to call it a day. His team was to return to their hotel while Frank went to his brother's house. Once again he climbed into the car and asked the driver to take him to "The Roost" It was a funny name that the two brothers had decided for their home in their childhood.
"The Roost? Can you guide me?" his driver wondered.
Frank smiled and pulled out a map his brother had sent him. "Use this."
Then, he pulled out his phone from the inner pocket and called his brother to check if he had returned from work yet.
"Are you home yet Oliver?"
"I have just started; will take an hour and half."
"Oh!"
"Don't hesitate, Sara is already waiting for you. She wants to grill you a little, before I return. I think I saw that glint in her eye when I informed her of your coming."
"Is this a warning to stay away until you return?"
"If you can, that will be great. On second thoughts…I don't want to miss the fun."
"Oh well!" Frank sighed, "I fear you will have a blast." He knew Sara was annoyed with him for not visiting them. He had been avoiding her since past five years. He drew in a long breath and braced himself for an emotional night.
The Rolls Royce rolled once again and came to the dusty road. The familiar scenery sprung before him yet again. The night sky was bejeweled with thousands of stars. What soothing symphony of colors!
His thoughts took him down the memory lane to the night of the charity ball when he first met Lydia. He remembered her beautiful face as she looked at the stars, "What soothing symphony of colors!" she exclaimed in ecstasy.
And his thoughts invariably turned to her. She looked so happy and so radiant in Victor's arms...dancing to her heart's content... dancing like nothing existed other than him.
And Victor? - He was smitten - "Can't blame him... she was such a person!" he sighed. "Only if you had some morals - you could have married her and be the happiest person. If only..."
He looked above at the sky, "so many stars in heaven yet we can see only a handful of them. There is a star for everyone. You had yours Victor, too bad you lost it." He said with a sigh and that familiar pain resurfaced in his heart.
He had tried to find out where she went...where she came from...who her parents were but there was no trace of her. As if someone had wiped out all records of Lydia Rivers from everywhere except his heart.
How could she have vanished in the dead of the night? - He had often wondered. He had looked at all possibilities; he had even suspected Banks family and investigated them but there was nothing.
How lost ... how helpless he had felt back then. Frank Tulliver - who had all the wealth in the world - who was the son-in-law of the most influential family - could not find the trace of a little girl! What could be more frustrating than that?
He had learned the bitter truth - money cannot move mountains. That there are mightier people than him. He grudgingly surrendered and hoped where ever she was, she was safe and happy - that's all he could do - send her good wishes.
They took another turn and drove about a mile to the sparingly arranged villas. Frank noticed how everything was bathed in lights: the lawn, the houses and the pathways. The villas were arranged in a circle with a sprawling ground in the middle.
His Rolls Royce came to a halt in-front of a magnificently lit villa. He had barely come out of his car when two hands grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him into a tight embrace.
"What the hell!" Frank screamed and twisted the man's arms.
"Aaahhh" came the groan from his assailant.
"Who the hell are you?" Frank shouted in anger and turned around.
The man groaned in pain and looked at him with hurtful eyes, "I never did this to you when you used to hug me back then." the man complained.
Frank looked at the man attentively. He was dressed in a simple but neat white shirt and black waist coat. His grey hair cropped and neatly tucked away. The man looked at him through his round glasses and his lips were carefully hidden under the encroaching moustaches.
"Don't you know me?" the man looked at him. "Have you forgotten me so easily?"
Frank was taken aback by his emotional renderings and then something twitched in his heart. "Oh! John is that you?" he exclaimed
The man nodded vigorously.
Frank stepped forward to hug the man. "You have grown old, John. You have white hair now but you are still strong."
"Of course," the man replied in defiance while pulling himself out of the embrace. "I am not like you - lanky city boys."
Frank burst into laughter; no one had called him a lanky boy in ages. It sounded like old days once again and he felt young.
"Who is it, John? Has Frank arrived yet?" came the familiar voice of his sister-in-law.
Sara had left her window ajar so that she may catch the first sound of Frank's coming. She thought she heard Frank's voice but then he was shouting at someone! She was confused and so she came into the balcony to see what the matter was.
John came out of the driveway into the open. Sara was looking down from her room's balcony. He looked up and nodded his head eagerly saying - "Yes madam, he has come home."
Frank joined him and looking up said – "Hello there!"
Sara let out a scream of delight and ran through her room; then, crossing the hall, she glided through the staircase, ran along the big foyer and flew into the arms of her dear Frank - all the while weeping hot tears. It was truly a homecoming for Frank.