Scarlett

Chapter 16: Childhood memories

I pressed the doorbell and waited. Mark dropped me at the Nolan's. To my dismay, he did not come along with me. Instead, he excused himself for the sake of his music. I did not refuse as his music career was his primary purpose of joining me for the trip. He had a huge event coming up and he needed to prepare.

I waited patiently but the anticipation almost killed me from within. I felt a shiver at the pit of my stomach. I was extremely nervous. I wasn't even sure if the Nolan's would recognise me as I had not called them or informed them about my arrival prior to reaching their home. I wanted to surprise them, but honestly, I was not sure if my presence would come out as a surprise or a shock to them. I did not want to intrude or try to force my presence into their lives all over again.  After all, I was gone for years. But my heart yearned to meet Stevie just for once. I wanted to see him and I hoped that he did well in life. I missed him but I did not expect anything from him in return. After all, fourteen years was a long time to forget anyone, let alone a childhood best friend. He had possibly forgotten me but my memories with him were just as fresh in my mind.

All of my thoughts faded away as soon as the front door opened. Mrs. Nolan stood in front of me. She stared at me in confusion for a moment and then raised an eyebrow.

"Scarlett?" There was a sudden change in her expression, from confusion to recognition finally to delight.

"Yes." I politely replied. It brought a smile to her face and she came forward to engulf me into a warm hug.

"You have grown into a beautiful young woman." There was a kind of a glimmer in her eyes when she spoke. The corners of her eyes had folds. She looked a lot older than I remembered. Of course, she would. Fourteen years had passed. I did not speak but only smiled at her praise.

"Come on in, dear. How silly of me to keep you waiting at the doorway." She laughed in embarrassment and moved to the side to give way.

I walked into the house and noticed that the place had been majorly renovated. It barely matched with my memory.

"You have renovated the house?" I asked as we walked through the hallway.

I saw paintings that hung all the way through the hallway. There were paintings of Mr. Nolan, Mrs. Nolan and Steve when he was young. I could immediately recognise the familiar boy in his childhood photograph. But then my eyes found a photograph of both parents and a young man. The man had stormy grey eyes and a smile that could make any day better. His dimples made the smile sweeter. His short brown hair was neatly brushed to the side. He was tall, even more than the two other members in the photograph. His face was familiar yet unknown. I immediately recognised that it was Steve. My best friend Stevie, he grew up to be a handsome man. His smile in the photograph radiated warmth even out of the frame.

"That is Stevie." Mrs. Nolan said when she noticed that I had been looking at the photographs on the wall. I did not say anything. Instead, I admired all the photographs that hung in the hallway. There was a photograph of the family with the Eiffel Tower behind them. There was also one with Mr. Nolan and Steve at the beach and one where the family gathered around camp fire. One thing that I noticed in all of the photographs was the each one of them looked happy when they stared back at the camera lens. The happiness was genuine and honest. I smiled to myself as I looked at the boy that I eagerly wanted to meet. Only, he was not a boy anymore. He was a grown up man and that was still hard for me to accept.

"How did you recognize me at once?" I asked Mrs. Nolan as I sat on the sofa. She offered a cup of coffee that I did not refuse.

"Actually, your father had called me up about fifteen minutes back. It was great to talk to him after so long. There is still so much to catch up with. He informed me that you had left home and were on your way over here. I was so excited. I can't even tell you how delighted I am to know that you are all right after everything that had happened." Mrs. Nolan said in her usual chirpy voice. I smiled and took a sip of coffee.