Love Me Crazy

18. The Room Of Flight

My hand actually hurt from knocking on the door so long. I didn't know how many minutes had passed but I know the amount of time sent on the front porch wasn't normal. Just a few weeks ago, I had to be forced out of the car to come to this dwelling. And now, I had fled to it. What was wrong with me? Was there anything wrong with me?

I didn't really know as my knuckles rapped against the ivory door again. I clicked my heels against the marble front porch. The air was still and cold, the chilly December atmosphere seeping into the soles of my shoe. I glanced around as the feeling of excitement and hope began to subside within me. I no longer had that promising feeling within my chest. It was now just a dim candle on its way to be snuffed out.

"Hello…" I said, too low for anyone to hear.

And yet, when I was just about ready to helplessly turn around, I heard a rustle from within. I turned abruptly and placed my right ear against the door. It was eavesdropping, illegal, and just plain wrong but everything else about my behavior was so out of the ordinary, it didn't really matter. It actually fit in quite perfectly.

I placed my clammy palm upon the wooden barrier and listened closely. Someone was definitely nearing the entrance. Maybe…maybe it was him. Before I could decide which, the door bolted open and I fell head over heels on the ground. I landed somewhere relatively soft, thank God, as I heard a person's shocked gasped from above. I rubbed my crooked neck as glanced from the ground to the face. My face broke into a grin.

"Charles," I greeted in a loud voice as I quickly rose to my feet, "I'm so glad to see you."

I had almost forgotten the face of the kind butler. I had been away from the Welles home so long it felt like years. I inched towards the tiny opening that barely revealed Charles face. He didn't look as inviting and good-natured as he had in the past. His face had more wrinkles, his head had less hair, and his eyes were sunken in so far I could scarcely see their color. Things had certainly changed.

"Miss Brighton," he murmured, apprehension in his voice, "It is so nice to see you again."

I looked away coyly, "You too. I'm sorry I haven't come to visit. Things have been-"

"Miss Brighton," he said again, this time with urgency, "Certain circumstances have come about in the Welles family. I believe it would be best if you…not visit for awhile."

My stark smile and sparkly eyes all turned to gray when the words were uttered from his mouth. The dress, my excuse for coming, was now hanging limply in my hand. My head began to shake back and forth.

"I'm sorry," he said as he quietly opened the door and stepped on the porch, "This isn't meant to be any offense to you."

I looked away with a quick nod. I wasn't going to cry. I was just…I don't know what I was going to do. Probably walk away in complete embarrassment. Maybe drown my sorrow in another bucket of ice-cream. I would do anything to get him off my mind. And then, I would watch it all fail; it would fail. That was the inevitable.

"Miss…this house. Some things aren't meant for outsiders."

I slowly revolved around to Charles. He was staring off into the distance, as if there was some dream he would never attain.

"There some things…outsiders should never see. Miss…you should know that-"

"Mary!"