The Frills of Sanity

Knock Knock...Its Destiny..!

It was early morning, when Hope heard a knock on her door and repetitive ringing of the door bell that annoyed her. 'Why at this hour, God?' She thought, slightly irritated and dazed. She was not yet ready to get out of her comfy bed but she knew she had to stop that violently ringing door-bell. She rubbed her eyes, pushed away her blanket and climbed out of her bed. That's when the bell rang again, which made her anger resurface. 

"In a minute..!" she screamed, as if the person behind the doors could hear.

Hope  She quickly wore her robe and rushed down to the door. She pushed down the lock hard and the door opened with its creepy noise.  First thing she noticed that some man, maybe in his late fourties and wearing a black suit was gazing right at her, a little annoyance written all over his face. She quickly observed the person from head to toe and a pair of nice clean polished black shoes confirmed to herself that that man was definitely from Men in Black. She raised her eyebrows and slowly glanced up. His hazel curly hair was neatly set along his forehead and for some reason unknown, he seemed a little sweaty. She glanced at the Gate and observed the black BMW, suggesting that man's ride.

"Good Morning, miss. I am Mr. Maldonado. I have an urgent matter to discuss with you.", said the man while Hope was busy observing him.

"How can I help you, at this early hour?", asked Hope while staring at him, crossing her hands across her chest and posing the blank-look on her face. She was not  a morning person and this man had just annoyed her by constantly ringing the door bell. She wasn't going to go easy on him.

The man looked confused and took a moment before framing his request. He glanced towards the living and then back at Hope, suggesting her to let him in. "May I?"

Sure... Come in.", she glanced at the man making his way in to the living and before he could settle down, she fired, "What do you want? Are you a thief? Do I know you?"

The man, not at all bothered by her threat, settled on a sofa chair near the table. "No. But I knew your parents!" The man simply smiled as he rested his hand on the arm.

Hope was still standing near the door, a little shocked by the man's revert. She wondered how anyone like him would ever know her parents. People had stopped visiting the Orphanage after a while since the accident and then she had heard nobody willing to talk about it. Her father's fame was already taken over by so many authors that nobody even discussed his books.

But with this, she also saw a ray of hope. The questions she had in her mind for all those years crawled their way to the shore and her eyes let one drop slip away. 'This is an opportunity to get my facts straight!', she thought.  

"Excuse me for a minute" , said Hope and rushed to her room. She picked up one of her favourite comfortable sweat shirt and pants and put it on. She quickly fixed her looks and sat down for a moment. All the while, she couldn't stop thinking about what that man has got to do with her parents and why has he resurfaced today! She reached towards her phone and dialed Scotty, which as usual was left unanswered. She tucked her phone in a pocket and walked out of her room. She hurried down the staircase and stood next to the chair near the sofa, where he was seated.

"Mmhmm.." She coughed and looked at him. He looked up and smiled.

"you took more than a minute!" The man almost yelled. "But...please be seated. It is urgent, like I said."

Still confused, she nodded at his request. She sat on the other chair and glanced at the black suitcase he was carrying. 

He started speaking, finally, breaking the silence. "Hope, I am Malcolm. Maldonado. I work for CRIB. Your parents and I were colleagues for a long time. I am here to deliver to you a letter from Mrs. Green." He handed over the letter to Hope.